Latest Blog Posts

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 Winter 2022 issue titled […]

Choir Halloween is a great opportunity for breaking up the monotony of “regular” rehearsals and providing a memorable and productive experience. If well-planned, this special rehearsal or (group of pre-Halloween rehearsals) can be creative, meaningful and serve as a way to infuse energy into your program. Check out my latest blog post:  11 Choir Halloween Tricks (and Treats)   […]

In this episode, filmed in front of a “live studio audience” in the form of my students, I have the opportunity to sit down with one of our generations finest compositional voices, Jake Runestad. With the help of my students, we have a spirited conversation about the value and genesis of creativity, the special nature […]

By Benjamin Amenta  I am taking a bit of a Choral Ethics break for my birthday, and today we have a guest blogger. I continue to work on Choral Ethics Blogs, so if you have a Choral Ethics dilemma or query or comment, please email me: . This guest blogger’s opinion is we partake of […]

This is the fifth blog post in a series: https://choralnet.org/archives/662762 Happy October! How ya’ doin’? My fall has been an absolute whirlwind of chaos and beauty. My ensemble numbers are finally rebounding and the enthusiasm of my students/singers is contagious! And fortunately, that’s been the only contagious thing! Excuse me while I knock on lots […]

As a church musician, I believe that the confidence ensembles have makes a profound difference in their ability to lead worship. Part of that means knowing what choir needs. Sometimes that’s the appropriate technical information with ringing or singing; for example, a reminder about breathing for a vocal choir or flow in how a bell […]

The October issue of Choral Journal is available online. Following is a list of the articles you will find in this issue, which features 3 composer anniversaries from 2022. 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 you are […]

Do you feel your rehearsals could be more productive? Are your students losing their focus, disengaging, and slowing down the flow of your rehearsal? These 12 tips and tricks will create more focused singers in your rehearsal.   Check out my latest blog post:  Hocus Pocus: 12 Tricks for Rehearsal Focus

In this episode I sit down with THE Middle School choir guru, Dale Duncan to talk about sweet spot for success in Middle School vocal music. Middle School Singers are often overlooked and underestimated. What they need is an educator that believes in them, and provides high quality instruction in a school that supports them. We talk […]

“Sometimes when you’re overwhelmed by a situation – when you’re in the darkest of darkness – that’s when your priorities are reordered.” Phoebe Snow Sometimes I search for the epigraph for my ChoralEthics blogs before I write them and other times, after. I usually know exactly what, or whose, quote I want but many times […]