Latest Blog Posts
ChorTeach Summer 2021 Preview
ChorTeach is ACDA’s quarterly online publication, designed for those who work with singers of all levels. A full annotated ChorTeach index is available online at acda.org/chorteach. Over 160 articles are organized into seventeen categories. For submission information, to view the index, or to read the latest issue, visit acda.org/chorteach. Following is a list of the articles in the Summer 2021 […]
It’s All in the Story with Cecilia McDowall
Another Installment of the Oxford Series on the Choralosophy Podcast Cecilia McDowall has long been one of my favorite Choral composers. If I were to boil down my reasons for this it would come to her masterful ability to transport both audience and performer through space and time with her writing. In this conversation, I was […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Father’s Day Ruminations
“You don’t have to deserve your mother’s love. You have to deserve your father’s.” Robert Frost As I write today’s blog, I am sipping a glass of iced tea, brewed with mint from my own garden. The mint was the first thing we planted when we bought our house 27 years ago, but we should […]
Stories of Newness: Healing and Reimagining with Amanda Stevenson (Omaha Children’s Choir)
This week’s blog is sharing highlights from a conversation with Amanda Stevenson, founder and artistic director of Omaha Children’s Choir (OCC), an organization focused on making choral music education accessible to all children. OCC just wrapped up their 6th season (2020-21). You can read more about OCC and their amazing work here. In late January […]
Modulating/Adjusting to a New Era: Transitions in Music, Part 1 of 2
Welcome to this summer series on questions and possibilities for a new era in our personal lives, professional lives, the choral landscape, and in society! I’m so glad you’re here for the journey. Despite the seemingly impossible circumstances during the pandemic, I’ve been amazed at how choirs have adapted to provide meaningful art. Even […]
CJ Replay: International Conductors Exchange Program to Sweden
The May issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “International Conductors Exchange Program to Sweden: Building Bridges Through Choral Conductors” by Jeremy D. Jones and Joshua Habermann. You can read it in its entirety at acda.org/choraljournal. Following is a portion from the introduction. _______________________ Jeremy D. Jones Following exchanges with Cuba in 2012 and China […]
Legitimate Love and Suffering in the Choral Classroom with Dr. Ryan Board
In this episode, Dr. Ryan Board of Pepperdine University and I discuss the role we see for Choral Music education in filling the void of psychological and emotional development of young people and adults. The epidemic of the loss of resiliency in young people is well documented. Dr. Board walks us through the work of […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Being A Lady
“Power is like being a lady… if you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.” Margaret Thatcher When I was a child, I was often reminded by Mom to behave like a lady. As a 7- or 8-year-old, I was never sure exactly what that meant. I thought it might mean wearing fancy clothes, […]
Stories of Newness: Healing and Reimagining
We are very pleased to introduce a new voice to ChoralNet blogging today. Shannon Gravelle posts today and beginning next Wednesday, will be posting every other week sharing interviews with a variety of choral professionals about their experiences during the pandemic and their plans as we look forward. In March 2020, choral professionals made massive […]
An E Natural in an E Flat Major World: Modulating/Adjusting to a New Era
We are pleased to introduce a new blogger to ChoralNet. Austen Wilson, a church-based choral conductor, will be writing weekly about the ways that he and choral colleagues are making the transition back into a post-COVID world, or at least looking ahead toward that. Enjoy! During the first week in March 2020, a good friend […]