Latest Blog Posts
Universal Design for Learning: Embracing Learner Variability in Choral Ensembles
The March/April 2024 issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “Universal Design for Learning: Embracing Learner Variability in Choral Ensembles” by Kathryn L. Evans. Following is a portion from the article. _________________ Our choirs are composed of individuals with diverse experiences and a wide range of abilities, learning preferences, and interests. To best meet […]
Can We Meet Kids Where They Are Without Lowering Standards? With Jonathan Talberg
Is “Tough Love” outdated? Or is it the tool of caring parents and educators? Recently, a “Facebook post dialogue” of sorts went viral amongst music educators between Juilliard professor Geoffrey Keezer and James Falzone. Professor Keezer made a relatively short post related to the problems he is seeing in his teaching position related to reliability […]
Choral Ethics: Choral Culture
“People don’t mind being mean; but they never want to be ridiculous.” Moliere Another week, another group of emails. The emails I usually receive are about similar dilemmas and sometimes I wonder if it’s the phase of the moon or something. Perhaps it’s just that certain times of the choral year present similar problems for […]
ChoralEd: The Female Changing Voice
In the adventure that is the adolescent voice much attention is given to the male changing voice. While the male voice change is more drastic in terms of pitch fluctuation, the female voice change deserves equal attention. In episode 31, Dr. Jamea Sale discusses the phases of the female voice change and provides resources to […]
Resisting the Tyranny of the Barline: Teaching Metric Stress and “Meter” in Renaissance Polyphony
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 Winter 2024 issue […]
Rise Up and Sing with Shanan Estreicher
Queens is one of the most diverse places in the world. How can music serve as a “common language” for diverse students? This week, I am joined by Shanan Estreicher, a middle and elementary music teacher in Queens, New York. Shanan is also a composer, and songwriter who has found a magic formula to reach […]
Building an Ensemble of Growth
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 Winter 2024 issue […]
Girls Voices Change Too! With Dr. Bridget Sweet
Dr. Bridget Sweet is the first scholar to examine adolescent female voice change through systematic research protocols This week, we fill in a major gap in programming on the Choralosophy podcast. This is the FIRST episode on the feed diving into research and teaching practice of the female changing voice in adolescence. There will be […]