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International Activities

CJ Replay: Building a Foundation: Interviews with International Exchange Program Conducting Fellows

November 29, 2021 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The May 2021 issue of Choral Journal is online and is a focus on international activities. This issue features an article titled “Building a Foundation: Interviews with
International Exchange Program Conducting Fellows” by T. J. Harper with Jeffery Ames, Jihoon Park, Sara Durkin, Rodrigo Faguaga, Julie Yu, and Ken Wakia.
 You can read it in its entirety at acda.org/choraljournal. Following is a portion from the article.

_________________

What insights have you gained about your country of residence through the ACDA International Conductors Exchange Program?

Jihoon Park: Through my interactions with the American choral conductors, I recognized how valuable and powerful Korea’s music, history, and heritage is. I firmly believe that Korean culture has the ability to bring positivity and light to the world. It is a culture that has depth, and once tapped into, my heritage can provide a non-Korean a special kind of experience. Having cultural interactions between the United States and Korea, I am certain both nations can establish meaningful musical relations.

Jeffery Ames: The country of Korea dealt with several tense occupations (Japanese, Russian, American, and a civil war). The Korean culture knows what it means to experience the joy and pain of the human experience. This can be heard in its music. It’s passionate. It’s filled with emotion. It’s filled with ecstasy. In many ways, I see and hear a correlation between the folk music of Korea and the Negro spiritual. In the same manner of some purely American music, we know how to sing and play about joy and pain. American music is passionate and filled with emotion. It’s amazing to see the connectivity from one culture to others.

Julie Yu: I remember driving by one of the largest slums in Nairobi (the largest urban slum in Africa). My host explained that there are government projects in place to provide support for these people and get them out (some websites estimate the Kibera could have 500,000 to 1 million people living there). I asked why wouldn’t people leave there if they could. He said, they have a complete social structure inside this community. Some don’t want to leave. Many have been born there, raised children, and died there.

I had a major epiphany in that moment. My privilege makes me assume that they would want to leave and are suffering so much, and my god complex makes me immediately want to help and fix. That’s what has stuck with me coming back to the States. I want to make a difference in the world, but it is not my privilege or my wealth that will help me. It is instead understanding that no matter what the circumstances of a community, they will create a social structure to survive, and it is not my job to “fi x it” but to understand it, appreciate it, and learn from it. And through relationships we share musical and artistic experiences that go both ways.

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Read the full article in the May 2021 issue of Choral Journal at acda.org/choraljournal

Filed Under: Choral Journal Tagged With: ACDA Membership Benefits, ACDA Publications, Choral Journal, CJ Replay, icep, International Activities, International Initiatives

Stories of Newness: Healing and Reimagining with Stephanie Gravelle

July 14, 2021 by Shannon Marie Gravelle Leave a Comment

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.

Filed Under: Others Tagged With: choir, COVID-19, high school, International Activities, middle school

CJ Replay: International Conductors Exchange Program to Sweden

June 14, 2021 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The May issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “International Conductors Exchange Program to Sweden: Building Bridges Through Choral Conductors” by Jeremy D. Jones and Joshua Habermann. You can read it in its entirety at acda.org/choraljournal. Following is a portion from the introduction.

_______________________

Jeremy D. Jones

Following exchanges with Cuba in 2012 and China in 2014, ACDA partnered with Sweden in 2015 with fourteen conductors from each country participating. The exchange began with the visiting conductors from Sweden gathering for residencies in each of our ACDA Regions and attending the National Conference in Salt Lake City. Following the conference, I had the pleasure of creating a residency itinerary and hosting Jakob Patriksson at Miami University in Oxford, OH.

His time in the Central Region also included residencies with 2015 ICEP conducting fellows Amy Blosser at Bexley High School in Columbus, OH, and Dominick DiOrio at Indiana University, Bloomington. Jakob serves as organist and music director at Oscar Fredrik Church in Gothenburg and is also the founder and artistic director of the male choral ensemble, Ars Veritas, a chamber ensemble specializing in the performance of Gregorian chant.

Joshua Habermann

For me, ICEP was a chance to return to Sweden, where I had been an exchange student in 1985 between my junior and senior years of high school. Since spending that summer there, I had maintained an interest in Scandinavian languages and culture, and once I made the choice to pursue choral conducting, I was excited to put my Swedish to use and dig into the rich tradition of Nordic choral music.

The first step in the bilateral exchange was to host two Swedish conductors: Lars Fredén, music director at the Gustav Vasa Church in Stockholm, and Mats Bertilsson, who leads the music program at Olaus Petri Church in Örebro, a city of around 125,000 inhabitants located two hours west of Stockholm. Lars and Mats were among the group of fourteen conductors from Sweden who were hosted in each region.

Related Choral Journal Content
February 2016 – “Training Choral Conductors in the Choral Culture of Sweden: Interviews with Seven Prominent Swedish Conductors” by R. Paul Crabb

November 2016 – “Reflections from the 2015 ACDA International Conductors Exchange Program Körsamarbete med Sverige (Choral Connections with Sweden)” by Kimberly Dunn Adams

Filed Under: Choral Journal Tagged With: ACDA Membership Benefits, ACDA Publications, Choral Journal, conductor exchange, International Activities, International Initiatives

May Choral Journal Preview

April 5, 2021 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.
_______________________

FOCUS ARTICLES

Building a Foundation: Interviews with International Exchange Program Conducting Fellows
by T. J. Harper with Jeffery Ames, Jihoon Park, Sara Durkin, Rodrigo Faguaga, Julie Yu, and Ken Wakia

International Conductors Exchange Program to Sweden: Building Bridges through Choral Connections by Jeremy D. Jones and Joshua Habermann

Just One Trip: The Transforming Power of Cultural Exchange by Scott Glysson

ACDA Connecting with the World Webinar Series: A Living Online Resource by Tim Sharp

ACDA Costa Rica: Breaking Boundaries in Central America by David Ramírez and Josué Ramírez Palmer

Authenticity, Collaboration, Connection, and Growth: Exploring the ACDA International Activities Mentorship Program and the Power of YOU! by Emily Williams Burch with Ashley Conway and T. J. Harper

ARTICLES

Research Report
The Power of Incarcerated Voices to Transform Community: Research from a Women’s Prison Choir by Amanda Weber

Rehearsal Break
What’s in a Name? by Stuart Chapman Hill

2021 Summer Festival and Workshop Listings

Book Reviews

Filed Under: Choral Journal Tagged With: ACDA Membership Benefits, ACDA Publications, Choral Journal, Choral Journal Preview, International Activities, International Initiatives, Interview

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