Latest Blog Posts

I am taking my Choral Ethics Blogs to my chamber choir’s Facebook page for the foreseeable future. Please join me there this morning! https://www.facebook.com/themidwestmotetsociety/

Like many music educators, Remel Derrick (high school choir teacher at Abilene High School and choral composer– find his music here) found out about his school closing the week of spring break in March 2020. They were given a week to adjust and then made the switch to virtual. During remote teaching, his students recorded […]

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.  The pandemic has thrown a wrench in a wide variety of organizations, including summer conferences. Out of caution, some organizations have decided […]

The International Journal of Research in Choral Singing (IJRCS)  is ACDA’s scholarly publication that welcomes studies that apply rigorous, systematically-grounded methodologies, either quantitative or qualitative, to investigate phenomena of potential interest to all who sing in, work with, or are otherwise interested in choral ensembles. Below is the abstract from this article written by Antonis Ververis titled […]

Singers often have the mentality that if they go to the audition and don’t get the gig, they have failed. Choral directors often feel that if someone doesn’t hire them for the tenure track, or the honor choir gig, then they have sufficiently been told “no.” “I guess this isn’t for me after all.” The […]

“A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order.” Jean-Luc Godard It is Storytime here at Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics with a story from my own life and career. I hope it will get you thinking about how you treat those you work for and with, in the […]

So…You Want To Write A ChoralNet Blog?

Do you have a choral-related topic that you are passionate about? Is there something in your rehearsal or classroom process that you are really really good at, that you want to share with other choral colleagues? Is there some part of the choral world that really speaks to you – and you want to share that excitement with others? Then perhaps consider writing a blog for ChoralNet!

The last time we left off, the Philadelphia-based PhilHarmonia Chamber Choir planned to premiere a brand-new, historically significant piece called Remember the Ladies by composer Dr. Melissa Dunphy in November 2020. This commission was in collaboration with the Museum of the American Revolution and all were excited. Unfortunately, just as plans were underway, COVID struck. […]

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 […]

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 […]