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August Choral Journal Preview

July 7, 2020 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

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 issue. If you are not already a member of ACDA, join today to start receiving your monthly Choral Journal! Associate members can join for only $45 a year.
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Inside the Choral Classroom: Advice for the First-Year Teacher (Part 1) by Amanda Bumgarner

A New Vivaldi Discovery in Warsaw: Credo RV 592 by Gregory M. Pysh

Between Stage and Choir Loft: Church Music and Opera in Leipzig Before Bach by Markus Rathey

Sacred Music Choral Reviews

Current Events: A Section of Articles Related to COVID-19

Repertoire and Resources – MS/JH Choirs
Vision for Success: A Guideline to Creating and Offering an Exemplary Choral Music Program at the Middle Level Intro by Nathan Dame

An Interview with Roland M. Carter by Kevin Ford

Graduate School Auditions for Choral Conductors by Micah Bland

Summer 2020 ChorTeach Preview

June 8, 2020 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

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.

Volume 12, Issue 4, is now available online and contains the following four articles:

Virtual Rehearsals in the Time of the Pandemic by Darius Polikaitis

“As I write this, the evening news is reporting on the latest government guidance regarding social distancing, and preparations for combating the coronavirus are in full swing. The markets are undergoing precipitous declines, and events are being cancelled left and right. Some grocery staples are sold out, and many of us are feeling apprehensive or, at the very least, uneasy. Yet even in these unsettling times, people are finding innovative ways to share the gift of music with each other.”

Knowing the Score: Where Pedagogy and Classroom Management Meet the Unexpected by Thomas Blue

“Knowing the choral score leads to a better understanding of vocal and choral pedagogy and a more student-centered approach to what is in the music. Knowing the score results in the teacher having to focus less on time-consuming and often energy-draining classroom management. This article will share an approach to score study focusing on vocal and choral pedagogy for adolescent singers and how this focus can improve ones planning, teaching, and performance.”

It Starts with a Dream! by William Bennett

“One summer night about a month before school started, I drove out to the school. The campus was pitch black since the security lights hadn’t been fully installed, and a bright moon lit the grounds of the campus. It was a warm, foggy summer night, and I was the only person on campus. Aside from the occasional car passing, it was almost silent and very still. I drove to the outside of the choir room where there is a window into that room. I stood looking into the room, and I dreamed.”

Planning Ahead: Five Considerations for Future Choral Music Classrooms by Andrew Lusher

“My school has an unwritten rule: When something goes wrong, take four minutes and fifty-nine seconds to be emotional. Then it’s time to move forward. I admit that it’s taken me a bit longer, nearly six weeks, to fully grieve the loss of the end of the school year. When the quarantine mandate was issued, my students and I were two days away from premiering a commissioned work from an internationally-known composer, five days before our annual state assessment, and just over a month until our annual musical production. It felt like the house that we had been designing and building together all year had just disappeared.”

June/July Choral Journal Preview

June 1, 2020 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The newest issue of Choral Journal is available online. Following is a list of the articles you will find in this issue.

Expressions of Grief through Choral Settings of the Psalms of Lament: Recommendations for High School-Level Choirs by Patrice Madura Ward-Steinman

The Chorus as a Dramatic Force in Wagner’s Operas by Yunn-Shan Ma

ACDA and the Church Music Institute by Charlotte Kroeker

Student Reflections on the Importance of Choral Music in Secondary Schools by Paulette T. Sigler

Works by Women for Lower Voices by Christopher Kiver

A Technology Q&A with Andrew Goren by Kyle Hansen

Book Reviews

Choral Reviews

Choral Journal Index for Volume Sixty

CJ Replay: The Singing Sergeants of the U.S. Air Force

May 4, 2020 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

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The November 2019 issue of Choral Journal features an article titled “The Singing Sergeants of the U.S. Air Force: A Career Path for Singers” by Technical Sgt. Jilian McGreen. You can read it in its entirety online at acda.org/choraljournal. Click “Search Archives” and choose November 2019 from the dropdown menu.
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Right now, United States Military musicians are stationed throughout the world, using their musical skills to serve our country. The wide range of ensembles includes rock bands, jazz bands, concerts bands, and, yes, choruses. Choral musicians at every level should know about the opportunities that exist for them in each branch of the U.S. Military. In the U.S. Air Force, this opportunity is called the Singing Sergeants.

The Singing Sergeants, the official chorus of the U.S. Air Force, is one of six ensembles under the umbrella of the United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C. The eighteen-member chorus has been permanently stationed at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling since its inception in 1945. Initially an all male group, in 1973 the Singing Sergeants became the first American military chorus to enlist women. The group strives to fulfill the mission of the United States Air Force Band: to honor those who have served, inspire Americans to heightened patriotism and service, and positively impact our global community.

Honoring Veterans

The Singing Sergeants honors veterans through more than 200 public performances each year in the Capital region and across the country. The chorus embarks on several tours each year to different regions of the country, performing in a variety of venues including concert halls, sporting arenas, theatres, high schools, and community centers. Repertoire for these concerts includes traditional choral selections, music from Broadway shows, pop tunes, holiday favorites, and patriotic selections. Each concert ends with patriotic music and a medley of the armed forces service songs during which veterans in the audience stand to be recognized by their community. Chorus members often have the opportunity to speak with veterans before and after performances, thanking them for their service and hearing about their experiences in the military.

We also honor America’s veterans on locally- and nationally-broadcast television events commemorating patriotic holidays such as Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Independence Day. The group has been seen on the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks broadcast as well as the PBS National Memorial Day Concert.

Additionally, the chorus performs for groups of veterans visiting Washington, D.C. Through the Honor Flight Network, veterans from around the country visit our nation’s capital to see the memorials dedicated to honoring the service and sacrifices of themselves and their comrades. As part of each visit, Honor Flights are welcomed at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling for a performance highlighting repertoire from the World War II, Vietnam, and Korean War eras.
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Read the rest of this article (and more!) in the November 2019 issue of Choral Journal, available online at acda.org.

CJ Replay: Choral Elitism is Real

April 27, 2020 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The June/July 2018 issue of Choral Journal features an article titled “Choral Elitism is Real: What It Is and What We Should Do about It” by Chris Maunu. You can read it in its entirety online at acda.org/choraljournal. Click “Search Archives” and choose June/July 2018 from the dropdown menu.
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I have been a high school choral director for over eleven years. The last decade has been filled with so many beautiful moments, wonderful music, and students who have learned a few things about music and even life. My life has been enriched beyond what I could have ever imagined. I owe so much to the field of choral music for so many of the blessings I’ve experienced in my life.

As I look back through the years, however, there has been an ever increasing awareness of something else—something that presents itself in a less-than-overt manner. Many of my years have been spent second guessing myself, wondering if I’m good enough, comparing myself to others, and suffering from imposter syndrome. Much of my journey in working to get over that in recent years has involved recognizing my own innate insecurities as a conductor. It even took some time in therapy to get to the heart of something else going on in the choral landscape of the United States that I’ve come to recognize as a significant contributing factor to those issues: choral elitism. I couldn’t put my finger on it in those early years, but as I look back on it, choral elitism was at the core of a lot of my anxieties as a conductor.

What is Choral Elitism?

Oxford Dictionary defines elitism as the belief that a system should be led by an elite group. I believe choral elitism is deeply rooted in the culture of our profession. It stems partially from the comparative aspects of what we do. We can all agree that excellence is valued highly in any artistic medium, but because there is no one universally accepted definition of what a great choir sounds like, the only way we can assess our own level of achievement is by comparing it to other work that has already been presented.

We spend a great deal of time listening to great recordings and performances to shape our personal understanding of what constitutes high artistry. At the core, this is not a negative thing. We need to be pushed by one another to reach greater heights of musicianship. Elitism shows up in what we say to each other or about one another, how we assess each other’s work, how we view the various levels of musical education, and our general attitude and arrogance about the various aspects of our profession. Here are some things that I felt and observed in my career:

“I’m better than you because my choir is performing at this level and your choir is not.”

I’m sure very few have actually come out and said this, but it’s felt in the underpinning of a comment, body language, or facial expression. It’s in a simple statement like, “You’ll get there.”

“If you are not as experienced or your choir isn’t performing at a certain level, you aren’t as valuable to the profession.”

A colleague of mine shared a story about performing at a state conference for the first time. One of her students came up to her and asked, “Are we supposed to be here?” Confused, the conductor inquired what the student was talking about, and he explained, “I overheard someone say we didn’t deserve to be here because you’re such a new teacher.” My colleague was mortified that (a) a music teacher thought that and (b) had the nerve to say it aloud in front of students.
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Read the rest of this article (and more!) in the June/July 2018 issue of Choral Journal, available online at acda.org.

CJ Replay: Teaching Adolescents with a Holistic Perspective

April 20, 2020 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The October 2016 issue of Choral Journal features an article titled “Keeping the Glass Half Full: Teaching Adolescents with a Holistic Perspective” by Bridget Sweet. You can read it in its entirety online at acda.org/choraljournal. Click “Search Archives” and choose October 2016 from the dropdown menu.

Below is an excerpt from the article.
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“When describing the young adolescent, floods of words come to mind. Unpredictable.

Emotional.

Hilarious.

Moody.

Angsty.

Perhaps, however, the word “individual” is the most appropriate, because each adolescent is unique and progresses through adolescence in his or her own way. It is for all of these reasons–and many more–that educators enjoy working with adolescents so much. This paper comprises two main sections. The first addresses emotion and physical development, which are two key adolescent characteristics commonly encountered in the choral classroom; the second concerns puberty and adolescent voice change.”

Emotion
In my work with adolescent singers, I have found them to be smart, clever, hardworking, and extremely loyal once you get them on your side. Because these students truly straddle both child and adult worlds, however, identity navigation and decision-making are not always accomplished in the most sophisticated ways. As a result, general public perspective of adolescents is one of deficit, anguish, unpredictability, and irrational behavior. Fueling the stereotype are adolescent emotions, which have a tendency to run high and fluctuate often.

Many of our choral students will experience difficulties during adolescence, but we can choose to focus on this population with a “glass half full” attitude and remain resolute that “‘Storm and stress’ is not a universal experience of early adolescence. Some individuals are (or seem to be) well adjusted.”1

Attempts to control or direct adolescent emotion in the choral classroom are as pointless as trying to prevent the ocean from crashing against the shore. However, through acknowledgment of adolescents’ emotional fluctuation—embracing it, even—our work as choral music educators can be less burdened. When students seem emotional or angry, there are only benefits in honoring what students are experiencing, even if we (as adults) find the reason for their despair to seem a bit trite. A simple, nonjudgmental comment such as, “I am so sorry that you are feeling this way,” can go a long way with adolescent students who crave validation and belonging.2

Thomas A. Regelski, Teaching General Music in Grades 4–8 (New York: Oxford University, 2004).
Ian McMahan, Adolescence (New Jersey: Pearson, 2008), 185.

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Read the rest of this article (and more!) in the October 2016 issue of Choral Journal, available online at acda.org.