Latest Blog Posts

This time of year is typically challenging. Not only are there extra rehearsals and concerts or services, but there is much less daylight, at least in the northern hemisphere. In addition, there is something about being so close to the end of the calendar year that have me eager for a break after Christmas. Mentally, […]

ChorTeach is ACDA’s quarterly online publication, designed for those who work with singers of all levels but specifically K-12 and community choirs. A full annotated ChorTeach index is available online at acda.org/publications/chorteach. Over 160 articles are organized into seventeen categories. For more information, email  or visit acda.org/chorteach. Following is an excerpt from an article in the Fall 2022 issue […]

Your students can grade their own concert performance!  When I want to keep things simple (and teacher-led), I grade my concerts on a 4 point system: – 1 point for being on time – 1 point for being dressed appropriately – 1 point for being focused and engaged while performing – 1 point for being […]

The American Choral Directors Association is the largest organization of choral musicians in the world. ACDA sets the tone and direction of choral music in the US and has a major impact on the global choral music community as well. The newly appointed Executive Director of the organization, Robyn Hilger seeks to usher in a […]

 I’m rerunning some Choral Ethics blogs from years past with a few modifications where needed. Two of my MOST REQUESTED December Blogs will be making their yearly appearances, including today’s. Happy December! ~MLGA I love “Messiah”. Truth be told, it is probably one of my favorite large choral works.  There’s a little something for everyone–from […]

This is the sixth blog post in a series: https://choralnet.org/archives/663789   How is your December going, everyone? What a busy time for us. I had my first set of concerts and am now riding through gig season personally. Peace, joy (and wine if that’s your thing) to you all.   I did not have a […]

Sounds like the title of a new novel, but today’s post wraps up our fall exploration of brain health and how it intersects with our life as conductors and teachers.  We started by looking at how our brain reacts to stress, then unpacked how we can mitigate stress in rehearsals with our breathing and movement […]

The International Journal of Research in Choral Singing (IJRCS)  is ACDA’s scholarly publication that welcomes studies that apply rigorous, systematically-grounded methodologies, either quantitative or qualitative, to investigate phenomena of potential interest to all who sing in, work with, or are otherwise interested in choral ensembles. Below is the abstract from this article written by Justin […]

Sometimes we overthink our concerts. We over-program or focus on details that are truly insignificant in the big picture. I want to share 10 SIMPLE concert tips that will make your concert more successful! There is no “rocket science” here; I give you 10 “no-brainer” things you can do to create a better performance: both for […]

There is an often felt, but rarely quantified sense within ensemble music experiences that something truly MAGICAL is happening that changes us profoundly. However, recentscientific discoveries (link to sources below) are adding a more concrete validity to that which experienced musicians already intuitively know. Studies that reveal the physiological and psychological processes of cooperative effort, […]