Latest Blog Posts

by Stuart Hunt The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines music as “the art of combining vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.“1  To that is often added, something like the following: Sounds and silences organized in time. A pattern of regular or irregular pulses, some stronger some […]

I wear many musical hats: Choir Director, Singer, Pianist, and Handbell Ringer. From my perspective, in each of those roles, rhythm and tempo are fundamental. As a conductor, it’s a joy to unify pulse and rhythm. When that happens, the choir is able to listen better and make quicker adjustments with dynamics, intonation, vowels, and […]

The November/December issue of Choral Journal is available online. Following is a list of the articles you will find in this issue, which features a collection of articles on the voice. ACDA members can log in with their username and password to view and download the newest edition. You can also read our electronic version. If […]

  Should Choir Members Be Forced To Sing By Themselves? This age-old question is usually met with strong, opposing viewpoints. As I advocate for self-selected ensembles, ones where ANYONE can join, I have an opinion I would like to share. I hope this blog post presents some food for thought! Here is: Should Choir Members Be Forced To […]

Obvious: All humans need to feel connected and have a sense of belonging. Less obvious: Teacher’s have less power to actually achieve this with all students than we think. We can WELCOME all students. But belonging has to be mutual and organic. Hot take: not ALL students need this from their school or ALL of their […]

“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” Albert Einstein  Happy November everyone! In two more months, and we will be out of 2022, a very difficult year for most of us. It has been tough, but I have a tough question for you; did you stay with it?  […]

In Episode 11, ChoralEd begins a new series on vocal exercises.  For the first episode of the series, ChoralEd host Micah Bland shares some general considerations for incorporating vocal exercises in the choral rehearsal. In rehearsal, the vocal warm-up should not be taken for granted.  Vocal exercises provide conductors with a dedicated time in rehearsal […]

In my last post, we looked at the brain’s response to stress and the importance of understanding stress not only as a “feeling” thing but also, a “thinking” thing.  The effects of stress can negatively impact our short-term memory and our ability to manage the details of our professional and personal worlds and can have […]

The October 2022 issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “George Walker: His Story, His Song, His Legacy” by Vinroy D. Brown, Jr. This article highlights the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth in 2022. Following is a portion from the introduction. _________________ The year 2022 marks the anniversary of several composers and […]

Is 10/31 (HALLOWEEN) going to be just another ORDINARY rehearsal? Do you want to make your Choir Halloween rehearsal memorable and highly productive? If so, this blog post is for you. It’s not too late!! This blog post shares 9 choir Halloween ideas that you can implement IMMEDIATELY, with little or no preparation.   Check […]