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Stories of Newness: Healing and Reimagining with Alan

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*Alan had just finished rehearsing one of his choirs on a piece of music they were going to be presenting at an upcoming concert when he received the email: School was closing. They were projected to be out until April.

“We’ll do [the concert] when we come back,” he thought. Within a week, though, it became clear the situation was becoming more serious. The school district gave them a week to create online classes. None of the students wanted to do a virtual choir. Alan said the students could only hear themselves, and they had joined to sing with others, not by themselves, in addition to other issues. Other than one virtual choir for graduation, they had music history units and worked with Sight-Reading Factory. Alan  worked with a colleague on listening units, which included discussing personal preferences as well as analyzing music.

2020-21 was tough because Alan wasn’t sure if/when they would move to virtual instruction. The students wanted to sing, not do virtual choirs. He taught a piece the students sing every year and afterwards switched to solo music. 25% of students stayed virtual all year, with the other 75% coming to school in a variety of configurations depending on the COVID spread. There was no in-person concert in the fall, although they subscribed to StreamYard, and presented a live performance from their houses.

Alan’s philosophy was to find a “path of least resistance.” He focused on keeping it light and engaging while also being academic in nature. His district was active in providing materials they could use for online teaching, including a shared curriculum they could use. While many teachers were moved to support in-person elementary students, Alan wasn’t. At the end of Spring 2021, students sang in-person (with restrictions), and filmed a huge production that was shared with the community. It had a very positive response.

Alan was impressed with how resilient students were, especially since he knows students need community. Related, he’s been grateful for the focus on mental health. They’ve always talked about it at some level, but there has been a deeper dive. On the other hand, planning has been frustrating with so much uncertainty. Day-after-day, instruction has depended on public health. It often wasn’t improving. They were “on pause”: living but not really experiencing.

Alan was fortunate when COVID first hit– choir numbers stayed fairly stable. Even for this upcoming year, his retention numbers are strong. But the number of incoming 9th graders declined sharply. If numbers are low, fewer people attend concerts. If people don’t attend concerts or if there are no concerts, he has no budget. His administrators understand that he will need to build numbers again, but he only has a year to get his numbers back. Prior to COVID, he visited the middle schools and saw those students face-to-face. His students would sing with them, and 8th graders would visit his school. None of that can happen at the moment, although he’s hopeful that it will. He knows that districts often make decisions based on the community’s political leanings, and he suspects his district will try to stay open all year. He sees other challenges, though: he knows many students will need credit recovery, and their schedules might get filled with classes other than choir. He also wishes they had more counselors at his school. The highly-trained counselors do amazing work, but there simply aren’t enough of them to provide the academic and mental health support to large numbers of students.

As he looks forward, he recognizes he has control over his class environment. He prioritizes an open and welcoming space. This past year, he spoke to students about Asian-American violence. Alan is an Asican-American, and there were times he was worried about his safety. His Asian-American colleagues felt the same. He shared a real part of his humanity with students, and the conversation he had with them was very real.

Questions still remain about this upcoming year: What will public health be like? What type of questions will the choral profession be addressing? Alan hopes he is able to interact with other choral colleagues and ask hard questions that affect our discipline. There are things in his mind that need to be discussed. 

Either way, Alan said, he will continue to find a way to make things work.

*Name has been changed to respect the privacy and processing of the sharer.

Stories of Newness: Healing and Reimagining with Stephanie Gravelle

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This was such a fun conversation with me. Stephanie is a fantastic musician and passionate music educator. She’s also my sister-in-law, and I love learning from her. I wasn’t able to include everything from our conversation. Stephanie is an incredibly engaging and thoughtful programmer, and I highly recommend just reaching out to her and asking her what she has planned. It’s inspiring.

Stephanie Gravelle, Middle and High School Music Teacher at The International School of Beijing, was on break when her school moved to virtual instruction due to COVID-19. They first used an asynchronous model, which was helpful, especially as teachers navigated some unique obstacles (ex: In China, Google and all of its products are blocked). Also, many teachers and students had been vacationing and didn’t have laptops, instruments, or other materials. Stephanie did one (optional) virtual choir, but was on the fence about the value. It was good for the community– one person commented “it’s so good to hear kids singing again.” But students were living with an unknown number of people. Imagine, Stephanie said, being a 12-year-old and going through a voice change… of course you wouldn’t want to practice in your own house.

When they returned mid-September, many students were in-person, but many teachers weren’t back; in addition to visa issues, teachers were trying to navigate their return in a global pandemic. There were teacher assistants for teachers who were away. For students at home, it wasn’t choral singing. Eventually students who were virtual went to an online school, without a music option.

In January 2021, high school students worked on solo recording projects: chose a song, analyzed text, prepared music, while Stephanie gave periodic lessons to students. She kept middle school students engaged with vocal exercises, stretches, sight-reading, canons, etc. She sang with students, and had to trust they were participating. She made tracks for rehearsals. Students completed practice journals– even if they didn’t practice. She wanted them to think about the music. She offered a virtual choir, but many students opted out. In class, students participated in listening discussions. Students who never said a word in class had great discussions through chat. In-person, she hasn’t figured out a way to replicate that. Still, it was inspiring to see students fully engaged.

Parents weren’t allowed on campus, so the performing arts department held a festival in April and invited the whole PK-high school. For three days, every hour, there was a concert, drama performance, or other performance art event, including their choir concert. Elementary kids were able to watch high school students. It was great for the school community.

After the performing arts festival, Stephanie wasn’t sure students missed evening concerts. She reflected: Do we need after school concerts? Can these concerts interact with the community in a different way? During COVID, there were no concerts or rehearsals on weekends or late nights. She went home and spent more time with family. And that was nice. Is there a way to hold this up as standard, instead of normalizing late nights and long rehearsals? She thought about Brené Brown– “It shouldn’t be normal.” How can she, and how can our profession, pursue doing things during the day? And “How can we do things that give us more time for family, friends, or even ourselves?” 

This past year, she also did an audit on herself. She created a spreadsheet and listed the repertoire she gave students– everything they listened to and all the materials she used. The spreadsheet included time period, religious background, gender perspective, etc. She wanted to see what she used and then ask “do I want to change anything? If so, how?” She set up weekly themes where she highlighted different genres of music and a variety of performers. This work will continue as she asks “How am I amplifying various voices, and how can I diversify that amplification?” In addition to finding culture bearers of musics, she plans to teach these musics like they might be taught in their origin environment.  

Each international school has a different instructional set-up, but there are some shared silver linings. For example, students recorded their solos for a virtual solo and ensemble. Participation levels increased dramatically due to the online format. With so many things being held virtually, Stephanie was able to attend more professional development, such as a Village Harmony course and yes, she went to the national ACDA conference for the first time.

As far as the fall, repertoire is selected and goals are set. She knows things can change quickly, but it makes her feel better to be prepared. She also recognizes that students are navigating a lot– not just their own changes, but also the stresses that many of their parents have. Some students are struggling with how to have a discussion or work collaboratively. Technique is very important, but right now they need to come into a room that makes them feel happy, safe, and wanted. Her focus will be what it always is: find the heart of her singers and have their hearts connected. This has always been where they get the best sound, and it’s even more true now.

Stories of Newness: Healing and Reimagining with Remel Derrick

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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 rounds, did research activities, practiced and recorded fluency drills and scales. His students watched choir performances and shared their impressions. And, unfortunately, some students stopped participating. “That was the saddest part,” Remel said, “to see kids really strong in the classroom, but not so strong with remote learning.”

In Fall 2020, school started in-person with COVID risk mitigation strategies. They needed more space in the choir room, so they removed risers and shells. Seats were placed wall-to-wall, creating room for physical distance. The baby grand piano was replaced with a smaller, electronic keyboard that took up less room. They kept masks on and sanitized chairs. Students found the set-up jarring, but they followed COVID recommendations that would still allow them to learn and sing. In Spring, students were mostly back in the classroom. Periodically, students had to leave class, letting Remel know “I’m going to get my vaccine.” That was uplifting.

The 2020-21 school year came with challenges and joys outside of music-making. For Remel, he knew the students wanted to be doing more, but teachers could only facilitate events that were within boundaries of COVID regulations. It was frustrating for everyone– students and teachers alike. On the other hand, the community was incredible. “We are in this together” was stronger than Remel had ever experienced with his students. There was a tightening of an already close-knit group.

As they look to next year, some things from pre-COVID will return, such as risers, shells, and the Boston baby grand (after a good tuning). However, because of COVID-19, there are a few additions to Remel’s classes. For example, there will be a renewed commitment to music literacy. While they worked on music literacy pre-COVID, but Remel found ideas that he’ll take with him into Fall 2021.

There are added health concerns now, too. Masks will no longer be required. In addition, students (and teachers) will be managing post traumatic stress. Knowing this, Remel is planning to leave space for his students to share their experiences. “[It can be] hard to talk about it when you are in the middle,” but afterwards, students may want to share, and may need additional support. He and his colleague (Wendy Weeks) will create safe spaces for their students; much of this will happen through music. He is looking for texts addressing collective grief, singing, and community. Finding the right texts is always important, but especially so this next year. As Remel said of his teaching, “You’re going to learn a lot of things in choir, and some of them will be about music.”

Remel wears another hat: choral composer. He never really thought his music would be performed, but over the past year, his music has seen performances across the country. The changes necessitated by COVID-19 gave him the chance to meet singers and conductors who performed his music. It also gave him a lot more time for personal reflection. “I needed that creative outlet [composing] to deal with some of the fear that came as a result of what we were being confronted with.” Being home gave Remel a chance to write, think, reflect, and sometimes, simply be still. Stillness, he believes, is something that was forced on him by the pandemic. And it wasn’t such a bad thing.

As he looks toward the future, he’s evaluating how to share his music; he’s also becoming more comfortable with being labeled a composer, a word that took him a long time to use to describe himself. As he spoke about working through his own self-doubt, he reiterated that he will “always respond to people singing, purchasing, and recommending [his] music.” It was clear that people singing his music was a joyful and moving experience to him.

As far as his compositions, he’s focused on finding texts that are true to who he is as a composer. What was striking during our conversation was this moment… Remel explained that he lives in his world all the time; he’s constantly in it. He has not found a way to talk about that through music (or, he implied, he’s not sure if that even should be his focus). When it comes to addressing equity, he says “Let’s just do it… in our own spheres of influence.” As he thinks about his own composing, he keeps coming back to the question: “How can I present music that does not divide, but brings us together?”

On a personal note, Remel is one of the kindest, most genuine people I have met. We are fortunate to have him as a colleague. His music is thoughtful and intuitive (so make sure you check it out… here).

Silver Linings: Giving Grace, Growing Closer, and Building Trust

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By Hilary Morton

Everyone has had a hard year. I think choral directors might have had it a bit worse. We will be dealing with the fallout from this pandemic for the next few years at least, rebuilding our programs from the ground up. We haven’t been teaching “choir” as we have known it to be for our entire professional lives. We have made up our curriculum weekly to keep our students engaged, check on their emotional well-being and maybe learn musical skills along the way if we are lucky. For me personally, technology has never been my friend. I’ve learned more this year than any other year in my 18 years of teaching. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve had to teach myself some skills to share with my students, and I’ve celebrated each success along the way.

There are positives from this that I will incorporate into my teaching forever. I have given more grace than I ever thought possible. And because of this, I feel I have grown closer to many of my students. There is a different level of trust and respect that I hope to maintain. Without the stress of upcoming performances, there has been more time to check on their individual skill level, mental state, and their understanding of concepts. In a large group, students can hide. Every music director has lost members of their ensembles this year, but kids come to choir for different reasons. Some love to sing. Some are gifted at reading. Some love to be with their friends. Some love to be part of something bigger than themselves. Some were forced by parents.

We all know those students who barely produce sound, or badly need a confident singer behind them or beside them to get through. With students working individually, they are completely on their own. This is the opposite reason many students enroll in choir. It’s a very social place, and some students are uncomfortable singing alone. I have gradually made easy assignments where they sing by themselves. They turn in (well, let’s be honest, MOST turn in) weekly sight reading factory assignments. I can manipulate the criteria each week (change time signature, key signature, mode, etc.) but I always let them choose their level of difficulty. Each of our students is in a different place among their musical journey, so let’s accommodate for them and accept this fact. I give them full points for just turning in the assignment and starting on the correct first note. Accuracy is not important. I am astonished at what I heard. Once they jump over the hurdle of not being scared of the fact that their teacher is listening to them, this is a magnificent tool of gauging where your students are vocally, and musically. I can more quickly diagnose vocal faults, shifts, and how they are doing with their musical literacy. I will continue to use this weekly for the rest of my career. It makes it so much easier to quickly make decisions in a live rehearsal based on what you hear from them individually each week. Sadly, I never did this before. I wanted kids to not feel the pressure, and frankly, didn’t think I had the time. I think this is a valuable tool and I feel it has brought new confidence out in many of my singers.

I also think my professional ideals have shifted in this pandemic journey. What is most important? Teaching music or teaching children? I am currently thankful for every student who has stayed in choir and I will continue to focus on what’s important, like why I love music and why they love music. I don’t know if I will take choirs to competitions next year. Right now, that’s the least important aspect to this art. And maybe we will all re-evaluate what is most important to our programs. Right now, it’s the people who come into my room, or onto my laptop each day. I don’t know when we will sing the caliber of literature I’m accustomed to teaching, and right now, I just don’t care. It’s about so much more than that.

Hilary Morton is Director of Choirs at Shawnee Mission North High School in Overland Park, Kansas.

Online Fundraising: Why It’s Growing at a Rapid Pace

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This blog post was contributed by the staff at Edco, one of ACDA’s partners in online fundraising. In it they share information about their product.

Profile of a choir director:

This year I need to scrape together over $20,000 for travel expenses, new music, and uniforms/risers/music folders and I know about half of that is going to come from fundraising that I spearhead. I’m going to have to organize three or four fundraisers this year alone, just like I did last year and like I’m going to do next year. I just get so frustrated dealing with all the paperwork and keeping track of the money… and forget about trying to motivate my choir members to participate! It’s a huge challenge.

Well, I have to figure out how we’re going to raise all that money so… should we sell products? We did that last year, but that only reaches so far. I remember half my choir came to me saying that their out-of-town relatives wanted to help, but couldn’t buy the candy we were selling. Maybe we can host a restaurant night, but on top of everything else I have to do, I don’t have time to organize an event. I wish there was an easier way to fundraise.

Does this sound familiar? We surveyed the entire ACDA membership and learned a lot about choirs’ fundraising efforts and the above describes an average choir director’s experience. Seems overwhelming, right? Well, don’t worry. Edco can help you raise that $20,000.

Edco is an online fundraising platform designed for K12 education and engineered to address the most frustrating parts of fundraising. According to the survey, an overwhelming majority of choir directors are frustrated by dealing with paperwork/money and getting choir members to do their part. Edco addresses these issues by automatically keeping track of everything for you – funds raised, days left in the fundraiser, who donated, when, and which team member each donation was attributed to. We also provide tools (email templates, press release copy, etc.) and guides (Goal Setting: What You Need To Know, Maximize Your Earnings With Online Fundraising, and more) to jumpstart your fundraiser. And just imagine how relieved your choir members will be when they find out that they won’t be selling another product to their friends and family. Instead, all they need to do is spend a couple minutes creating an Edco account and uploading the names and emails of people who would be willing to donate directly to the choir. Fundraising online with Edco means you’re going to be spending less time organizing and running a fundraiser, and raise more money.

The continued use and growth of online fundraising is assured since people have discovered that it is less of a hassle than traditional fundraisers and yields better results. Our survey results indicate that about 20% of current non-users showed interest in online fundraising in the future. Projections show that usage of online fundraising will increase up to 46% – largely driven by the interest shown amongst non-users.

Choirs that don’t use Edco are leaving money on the table by not extending the reach of their campaign. You can set up your own Edco fundraiser in less than five minutes. Don’t be one of those choirs – use Edco.

3 Creative Ways to Motivate Your K-12 Choir

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Conducting a children’s choral group can be both energizing and exhausting at the same time. On one hand, your students LOVE to sing! On the other hand, it can be hard to get them to focus when it’s rehearsal time.

Leading a children’s choir successfully requires you to get creative in the way you keep your students motivated, so here are three tips and tools to get your group excited about music.

3 Ways to Motivate Your K-12 Choir

Add Creativity to Your Warm Ups

Don’t just stick to the old-fashioned scales and triads when warming up young voices. Turn that major scale into some phrases with words – don’t be afraid to get silly. Better still, encourage your students to create their own and share with the rest of the group.

A good book to find more inspiration is Vocalize! by choral director Andy Beck. A playful warm up will always set the tone for a productive rehearsal.

Get Students Moving

It goes without saying that children have short attention spans and easily get bored. But this isn’t math class – so get them moving! Have a break mid-rehearsal where you incorporate a simple theatre game or two. There are countless books that offer simple games that your singers will beg to do in future rehearsals!

These games are centered around valuable performance skills, such as listening, focus, and improvisation. One excellent resource that many students enjoy is 101 Improv Games for Children and Adults by Bob Bedore.

Take Advantage of Technology

It’s important that music instructors take advantage of the latest technologies to make learning more fun in rehearsals. Try an app such as Loopy to find new ways to spice up your usual repertoire.

Another excellent way to get your older students inspired is to watch a motivational TED talk together. Check out choral conductor Eric Whitacre’s TED talk on YouTube. His ideas are taking choral performances to the next level, especially with his virtual choirs!

Make good use of these resources with your group of young singers, and you’re bound to get them excited about coming to choir. Thinking outside the box will not only encourage their creativity, but it will also make your job much more rewarding.

Do you have any more ideas of ways to keep your choir students motivated? Let us know in the comments section below.

This article was contributed by Molly McLinden from TakeLessons, a platform for local and online singing lessons. Molly is a choir, opera, and classical singing teacher. She’s been an instructor since 2002 and thoroughly enjoys working with students of all ages and backgrounds. 

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