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.

Volume 11, issue 3 contains the following five articles:

• Stronger When We Work Together
Michael Jeffrey, Pine Island Schools, Pine Island, Minnesota

“‘Today we’re going to start a group project…’ Those are words that are dreaded by every type-A student. As a high school and college student, there were few words that I hated more when they came out of teachers’ and professors’ mouths. Now, as an adult, my experience with collaboration is very different. It has led to some of my favorite musical performances in the last several years. I have been consistently surprised at how much collaboration I have found in southeast Minnesota. Youth choirs, including Bella Voce, the Honors Choirs of SEMN, and Northfield Youth Choirs, are working creatively with other ensembles and musicians for their concerts.

“Choral Arts Ensemble, an adult, auditioned choir in Rochester, is hosting its third annual Singing For Life High School Festival for which three regional high school choirs attend and perform with the Choral Arts Society in a side-by-side concert. Events like these abound, and they result in performances that are creative, engaging, and memorable for audiences and students alike.”

• I Heart (Love) Sight Singing!
Jane Vanderhoff , Garden City High School (retired), Garden City, Kansas

“Sight singing is the unbreakable principle, the sacred cow, the ‘must do,’ most days, anyway! It is the key to a singer’s progression/growth; it breaks the artificial ceiling of rote singing; it gives students independence and musicianship to get started. It is the key to their success! In my classroom it takes many forms. I use different books from year to year or throughout the year, write exercises on the board, use portions of songs, have students sing in groups or alone, sing the exercise backwards, switch from line to line, sing portions of a song, have one group clap the beat while another counts/claps the rhythm, anything to keep the brain moving in a musical direction.

“For beginning sight readers, I have assigned a pitch to a section (SSA or TTB usually), and they must sing their pitch as it occurs in the exercise, in rhythm. If there are more notes than sections, I sing the leftovers. If they sing on their own, they can choose any exercise in the book for me to sing on the spot. All of these ideas have been stolen from someone else!”

• Ten Commandments for the Children’s Choir Director
Henry Leck, Indianapolis Children’s Choir, Indianapolis, Indiana

“The following material was developed to convey, in a condensed form, some of the important elements of being a children’s choir director. By seeing these ideas as ‘ten commandments,’ one should not construe that this writer has seen the burning bush. As we all know, teaching and conducting are a continuous process of learning and growth. Children make that process an exceptionally joyful one, for they have a tremendous intelligence and artistry within them waiting to be nurtured.

“If a choral director takes the time to understand the child’s voice, its subtleties and capabilities, the results can be completely rewarding artistically and personally.

“1. Create good mental focus. Rapid learning only occurs when the mind is focused. Excellent musicianship becomes apparent only when the mind is acutely sensitive to its physical and aural environment. With this level of mental intensity, the text can take on life and begin to link the singer aesthetically with the audience.”

• Catching Up with VOCES8
Patrick F. Casey, Newberry College, Newberry, South Carolina

“As a lifelong instrumentalist heralding the virtues of chamber playing, I am increasingly drawn to the amazing world of vocal/choral creations. Since first hearing VOCES8 perform in the winter of 2014, I have found this ensemble’s impeccable sensitivity and synchronicity to be completely engaging. I managed to visit with co-founder Barnaby Smith in Greenville, South Carolina, on November 13, 2018, after VOCES8 worked with area choirs in a ninety-minute master class.

“Barnaby, as the ensemble’s co-founder and artistic director, will you briefly share the early history of VOCES8? The group was actually founded out of a group of friends. We met when we were singing together in the Royal School of Church Music’s Millennium Youth Choir. When we were about college age, we got a little bit too old for that choir, so my brother, Paul, and I started to arrange sleepovers for our friends at our parents’ house, which was an excuse to socialize and have a bit of a party, and then, of course, do a lot of singing together.”

• The Care and Preservation of the Voice
Tony Thornton, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts

“As conductors and singers, we work very hard over a period of weeks to prepare for performance. Concert week may include additional rehearsals and certainly a dress rehearsal. This added stress can cause the immune system to weaken, making the body susceptible to illness. It would be a pity to become ill right before the concert. Below are twenty tips to help conductors and singers maintain excellent vocal health throughout the year.
• Strive for good general physical and mental health at all times through exercise, meditation, and proper diet.
• Get plenty of rest. If the body is tired, the voice is tired.
• Along with proper diet, a daily multivitamin, extra Vitamin C, or zinc may help you stay healthy. However, always consult with a physician before adding new supplements.
• Always warm up the voice before teaching or singing.
• Speak, conduct, and sing with proper alignment, which will allow breath to move more efficiently in and out of the body.”

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 11, issue 2 contains the following five articles.

• A Conductor’s Greatest Untapped Resource
William Hienz, University of Louisiana-Lafayette and Conservatory of Music, Lawrence University, previously

“While many practitioners have not had the opportunity to study with virtuoso conductors or even excellent teachers, we can now study the traits and styles of conductors of our choosing. We can be inspired by observing the best of the best. Whether we are beginners or professionals, conducting large or small ensembles, choral or instrumental focus, young singers or a town and gown community chorus performing major oratorios, we can learn by watching both the good and the bad. With that in mind, consider three overarching areas where the plethora of videos available provide valuable instruction: knowledge of the score, baton technique, and stage deportment.”

• A Community Divided: Gendered Discourse in the Ensemble Classroom
Eric Rubinstein, Queens College, Melville, New York

“In a world where “boys will be boys” and “you _______ like a girl,” we often do not realize the negative impact our words and actions have on adolescent males and females. Many of our teaching practices tend to reflect our implicit and perceived sex and gender biases. Based on my experiences in both secondary and higher education, I find that discussions regarding diversity in education focus more on socio-economic status and cultural identity and less on gender discourse. In this article, I hope to show that despite our ongoing work to promote gender equality, we may actually be making it worse.

“In our attempts to treat all students equitably, we might also be encouraging more divisiveness (whether we are aware of it or not). I also wonder if this is a never ending cycle. Are we really doing anything different or are we talking about diversity just to check off a box? Outlined below, I challenge all choral directors to decide whether their repertoire choices, ensemble structures, curricula, and pedagogy are fair and equitable for all students, male and female alike.”

• The Unique Attributes of a Collegiate Ensemble Director
Sarin Williams, University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Ohio

“As an aspiring college professor, there are a variety of positions one might consider for the future. Collegiate music faculty generally fall into three main categories: academic instructors, applied music instructors, and ensemble directors. Not only are these very different types of positions with radically different daily duties, but within each position, applications can vary greatly.

“How, then, does a student make an informed decision about which jobs to apply for and what type of career they would most enjoy? One answer is to seek advice from knowledgeable faculty already in these positions as to the positive and negative aspects of every job and institution. This article attempts to aid in such a search by sharing the wisdom of six collegiate ensemble conductor/teachers and their insights into the diff erent world their positions occupy.”

• Asking Facebook Colleagues What Enhances Choral Sound – A Pilot Study
Derrick Thompson, Staunton River Middle & High School, Lynchburg, Virginia

“During the school year, conductors introduce many methods and approaches to help their students recognize the importance of proper singing technique and singing together as a group. These approaches can be presented through warm-ups, the repertoire chosen, or by listening to other high-quality performing ensembles. But the question is, what does choral and vocal pedagogy look and feel like, in action, in the classroom? What are we choral directors doing to enhance the sound of their choir and help our singers grow?”

• Sight Singing for Others at Your School
Lindsay Brazell, Chesnee High School, Duncan, South Carolina

“Sight reading is often something we practice in the comfort of our own classrooms. Maybe once or twice a year, we sight read at a festival or at an adjudicated event. That is all well and good, but I’d like to challenge you to do something that might make you a little uncomfortable—sight read in front of an audience. Not in front of judges or other choirs, but in front of non-choir folk, or as I like to call them, regular people.”

ChorTeach is ACDA’s quarterly online magazine for choral directors and music educators. The articles in each issue are gleaned from ACDA state and division newsletters and from submissions. ChorTeach is specifically designed for those who work with amateur singers and are looking for practical material to apply to classrooms and rehearsals.

Below is a preview of the articles in the Fall 2017 issue, available for download here. The annotated ChorTeach index has also been updated. Click here to view. Email editor Terry Barham at for submissions or questions.

Teaching Habits of Mind in Youth Choirs: Adapting A Mind-set for Learning to Enhance the Choral Experience by Lindsey Blackhurst

Using as a framework the ideas provided by Kristine Mraz and Christine Hertz in their guide for the elementary classroom teacher, this article discusses practical implementation to fostering a mind-set of learning within a choral ensemble.

Preparing for the First Rehearsal: A Guide for Choral Conductors by Timothy Mount

Careful planning and mindful techniques are the foundation of a productive rehearsal. The author of this article shares keys to efficient choral rehearsals, using Bach’s motet Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 227 as a sample guide.

Reconsidering the Use of Metaphor in Choral Rehearsals by Brian Winnie

This article examines how a director’s use of imagery and metaphor in the choral rehearsal can cause confusion and produce unintended problems. Approaches for clearer phrasing are suggested.

From the Treble Choir to the Treble Choir to the Treble Choir! by Amanda Sprague Hanzlik

The author of this article shares her personal reflection of her musical journey from joining the middle school treble choir as a young seventh-grader to later directing a middle school treble honor choir.

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