Latest Blog Posts
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: My Quirky Choir Members
“Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.” Abraham Lincoln The last few days, I’ve been thinking about a few of my more memorable students and choir members, starting with one of my first jobs, and continuing on to the group I conduct now. Some of them were funny and some were […]
2020-2021: The Year That Was Not Lost
By William O. Baker On a December Friday evening in Basehor, Kansas, as the sounds of organ, bells, choir, and audience rose in the ancient carol, O Come All Ye Faithful, there was another sound, an outpouring of sobs from the gathered, but masked and distanced assembly. The year was 2020. The occasion was the annual […]
The Conductor as Yogi: Three Things
It’s been almost a year that I have been blogging from the perspective of wellness, inspirational writings, and yoga practice and principles, connecting to our lives as conductors and humans living in a wider world. As I prepare to take a bit of a break this summer for recalibration and to focus on some other writing, […]
June/July Choral Journal Preview
The newest issue of Choral Journal is available online. Following is a list of the articles you will find in this issue. ACDA members can log in with their username and password to view and download the newest edition. You can also read our electronic version. Below is a preview of the articles you will find in this […]
Self-Selected Choir vs Non-Auditioned Choir: 12 BIG DIFFERENCES!
A non-auditioned choir is only as good as it’s strongest singers. So where are your strongest singers? Are they in a select group instead? This blog post offers a different approach to a traditional choral program. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between a Self-Selected Choir and a Non-Auditioned Choir. check out my latest blog:Self-Selected Choir vs Non-Auditioned […]
“I Shine!” Music as Self Care with Sarah Quartel
Another Installment of the Oxford Series on the Choralosophy Podcast I had the joy and privilege of chatting with Oxford Choral Composer, Sarah Quartel. We centered our conversation around the ideas of collaborative music making, and choral music specifically, and their ability to build community, increase well being, flourishing and growth. We ranged also to “how […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Mother’s Day–Songs My Mother Taught Me
“Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.” William Makepeace Thackeray This Sunday is Mother’s Day in the United States. I am a mother but am also a daughter, missing her mother especially this year. I think back seven years ago, Mom’s last Mother’s Day, and wish I had […]
Leading Voices: Initiate a Discipline with Lesson Prompts
“Do you call yourself a vocal music teacher or a choir director?” At first, this question seemed relatively simple and straightforward. I was wrong. I was asked this question along with a few of our colleagues during an interview for a research study earlier this year. As each of us took turns responding to the […]
Spring 2021 ChorTeach 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 Spring 2021 […]
Head to Head Audio: Choral Tracks vs Kinnision Choral Co.
Who makes the best choral rehearsal tracks? You listen and decide. We are going to compare the approach, the value, and most importantly, the sound quality of Choral Tracks and Kinnison Choral Co. These are two great companies who offer a great service, but they are different. Find out what works best for you and your choir! […]