Latest Blog Posts
Leaving Mask Judgement Behind in 2021 and Teacher Burnout
Perform! And be proud of it! Audiences NEED us this Holiday season. Our singers need to perform. Children need to see smiles. We inject so much joy into the world when we perform. In this short episode I discuss a few topics briefly that I felt the need to get off my chest. Including the […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: This Is Christmas
“At Christmas play and make good cheer, for Christmas comes but once a year.” Thomas Tusser For the month of December, I’m rerunning some Choral Ethics blogs from years past with a few modifications where needed. Two of my MOST REQUESTED December Blogs will be making their yearly appearances. Happy December! ~MLGA Today is the […]
Stories of Healing and Reimagining: Commonalities Part 2
As choral professionals has navigated COVID, many have taken a hard look at equity in the field. Some have focused on addressing systemic issues within the field, while others have worked within their spheres to make changes in their classrooms, rehearsals, schools, and sacred spaces. As I asked choral professionals about ADEI, some were more […]
Creating Transformational Experiences: Emotional Resilience
This point of the year is always tiring, especially with extra performances, events at church, or end of semester grades due. Unfortunately, we can add the Omicron variant, quarantines, and contentious times this year. On social media, I’ve seen posts about wonderful performances, as well as stressful scenarios such as a large portion of a […]
CJ Replay – Choral Conversation with James Benjamin Kinchen, Jr.
Choral Journal’s ongoing column called “Choral Conversations” features interviews with noted choral conductors and composers. An interview with James Benjamin Kinchen Jr. is featured in the December 2020 issue. You can read the interview in its entirety online at acda.org/publications/choral-journal. Click “Search Archives” and choose December 2020 from the dropdown menu. _____________________________ What principles and core […]
Your Singer MISSED The Concert….What Do We Do? – Use The 5 “E”S
Do you have singers who miss your concert? – Do you have parents of singers who booked a family vacation that conflicts with your concert? – Do you have singers with personal conflicts that prevent them from attending the concert? – Do you have singers who get sick the night of the concert? – Do you have singers who are a no-show at the concert? […]
Health, Happiness and Balance for the Choral Director
At times, we, as working professionals, struggle to maintain our health and balance. As a result, our happiness suffers. In this episode, I will share my thoughts on this as well as get a reality check from my wife, Beth, on whether or not I am “balanced.” The Inaugural episode of the Choralosophy Podcast was […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Let There Be Peace on Earth
“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” Leonard Bernstein For the month of December, I’m rerunning some Choral Ethics blogs from years past with a few modifications where needed. Two of my MOST REQUESTED December Blogs will be making their yearly appearances, including […]
Advocacy, Collaboration, and … Podcasts!
Finding yourself traveling this season? How about a podcast to keep you company on that long drive? The ACDA Advocacy and Collaboration (A&C) Committee has been curating advocacy and collaboration-focused episodes on the Music (ed) Matters podcast as a place for members to spark ideas, learn, and get invigorated. The A&C series kicked off with […]
The Conductor as Yogi: It Does Not Go Unnoticed
We made it through the semester. Our return to in-person music making. I have been reading our singers’ reflection papers, their one-page response to three prompts: What did you learn musically? What did you learn beyond the music? What suggestions do you have for the future? On music, they wrote about re-learning how to sing […]