Latest Blog Posts

At my previous institution, I taught a senior capstone class. The class could be about any topic in performance, theory, or history, which left it pretty wide open. I felt strongly that the students should have a class on what I called “silenced voices,” a class that went back and covered the same survey timeline […]

The May 2022 issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “Rejuvenating France’s Choir School Tradition: An Interview with Mark Opstad, Artistic Director of La Maîtrise de Toulouse” by C. Michael Porter. You can read it in its entirety at acda.org/choraljournal. Following is a portion from the introduction. _________________ Woven into the DNA of England’s choral identity […]

If your group is performing for Memorial Day, this blog post may be right up your alley. So often, our ensembles serve the community. These performances are completely different than our typical chorus concerts as there are many factors not in our control. This brand new blog post explains how to impact audiences at community events such […]

In Collaboration with Oxford University Press to Bring You Great Conversations In the next edition of the Oxford Series, I am excited to bring you a new voice in their catalog, Brittney E. Boykin. I had an open and refreshing conversation with her about her journey through the choral world as a conductor, teacher and then […]

“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” Marcus Aurelius  The end of the choral year is fast approaching and ChoralNetters have some thoughts. Jock* tells me it’s been an almost normal choral year for him and for his high school students. There were two times […]

Imagine walking onto the set of a potentially epic movie with a seemingly large task ahead of you: create an “award winning” choir out of a collection of humans, none of which have ever sung in choir, in one month, with one hour of rehearsal a day. Go! Daunting? Fun? A bit intimidating? But possible […]

Early on as a blogger, I posted “Living Your Namaste” in the wake of violence that escalated on a national level in late spring of 2020.  It was a way to reflect on the moment and bring something from the yoga practice to inform our thinking so we might move toward a better life in […]

One of the many challenges that leaders of community choruses faced when Covid-19 lockdowns began in March 2020 was figuring out how to sustain a connection with their audience members in the absence of live performances. The forced cancellation of concerts nationwide led Philip Brunelle, founder and artistic director of VocalEssence and organist choirmaster at […]

A brand new sight-singing tool just came out that has made sight-singing FUN and EXCITING in my choirs. My students and I were fortunate enough to be beta-testers. The very first time my students used it, their eye lit-up and they were sold! Now that it has officially been released, I want the choral world […]

A hybrid episode! We run the risk of oversimplifying educational concepts, packaging them in seminars and professional development sessions for sale, and actually HARMING students. Or at least not helping them. Educational theories often carry precious little evidence, but we as educators frequently feel ill equipped to question them. Often times these oversimplifications are simply […]