Latest Blog Posts

I am taking a bit of a Choral Ethics break during the summer, and this is the first of my Choral Ethics Blog repeats, taken from Choral Ethics blogs from 2018 through 2019. We will also have a guest blogger a time or two.  I will be working on the fall’s Blogs during the summer, […]

As discussed in last month’s ChoralEd post, there are two primary sections to any classroom management plan.  In part 1, we looked at preventative classroom management techniques, which addressed ways to minimize and prevent behavioral issues before they occur.  While it’s every teacher’s dream to prevent all behavioral problems before they occur, we must also […]

As Director of Music at a church, I often need to think about logistics during the service. Especially on Sundays with multiple choirs, I need to think about getting a choir to the correct place in the Chancel. If I need to switch to a different location in the Chancel, I often need to figure […]

  The June/July 2022 issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “An Introduction to Jennifer Higdon’s Choral Works” by William Skoog. The 2023 National Conference will feature a premiere of the ACDA Brock Commission, composed by Jennifer Higdon. Read an introduction to the composer’s choral works in the current June/July issue acda.org/choraljournal. Following is […]

I hope your summer is going well! I’ve been writing nonstop and have a lot of new, exciting projects to share in the next few months! I wrote a new blog post about rounds and the different ways they can be used in concert. Whether you have a y’all come choir or a select choir, there is […]

Straight out of the archives! Most of my live presentations are reserved for Patreon Subscribers, but I felt so strongly about the ideas in this presentation, I decided to air it out for everybody. It is my belief that when we talk about building choral programs, or any program for that matter, we do WAY too […]

“A single conversation across the table with a wise man is better than ten years mere study of books.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow I’ve written quite a few times here about my conversations with choral friends, most of whom I’ve known for decades. Some of them have shared conversations with me they’ve had with their choral […]

Those who step into leadership know, or quickly learn, that it’s not an easy role. For every kudo and thanks you receive, there is often a complaint or demand placed. Decisions have to be made that don’t always make everyone happy. Obligations don’t always fit easily into the time allotted. ACDA runs on volunteer leadership. […]

In my previous blog post, I wrote a bit about perfectionism in the context of my career as a teacher/conductor. I recalled conducting a concert and mentioned that as I was conducting this performance, an inner voice was assessing the concert in real time. As I reflected on this, I realized that this voice was […]

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 current Spring 2022 issue compiled […]