Latest Blog Posts
Rejuvenating France’s Choir School Tradition: An Interview with Mark Opstad
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 […]
Memorial Day Performance? Keep It Simple!!
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 […]
Finding My Voice with Brittney E. Boykin
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 […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Try Mind Over Matter–If You Don’t Mind, It Doesn’t Matter
“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 […]
Best. Interview. Ever! “Doing whatever it takes” with Superstar Deke Sharon
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 […]
The Conductor as Yogi: Living Ahimsa
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 […]
Musical Moments with Philip Brunelle – Composer Resource
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 New Sight Singing Tool That Has My Choir SHOOK!
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 […]
“Belonging” Isn’t Top-Down
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 […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Self-Fulfilling Prophesy
“America’s future will be determined by the home and the school. The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live.” Jane Addams I have been around the performing arts, LITERALLY, all my life. With an opera singer mother and a tap/ballet dancer/choreographer/stage director father, I […]