Interview

Inside the Choral Classroom–Advice for the First-Year Teacher

July 12, 2021 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The August issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “Inside the Choral Classroom: Advice for the First-Year Teacher.” You can read it in its entirety at acda.org/choraljournal. This is part 2 of a 3-part series and addresses the following questions:

Repertoire and Resources: Where can I find quality repertoire for the skill/size/balance of my choir? Where should I start when considering putting together a program?

Voice building: How do I build a strong choral sound in my choirs? What encouragement/advice/practical suggestions can I offer to students who might be struggling?

Organization/Recruitment: How do I stay organized when conducting multiple choirs? How do I maintain/recruit students to the choral program?

Silver Linings and COVID-19: What lessons have you learned from teaching during the pandemic? Is there anything you adapted that you will keep as we move forward? What advice would you give to a new choral teacher navigating social distancing and unfamiliar technology?

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ACDA members can log in with their username and password to view and download the newest edition. You can also read our electronic version. If you are not already a member of ACDA, join today to start receiving your monthly Choral Journal!

August Choral Journal Preview

July 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!
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Samuel Barber’s Interpretation of Choral Portamento as an Expressive Resource
by Desiree Balfour

Inside the Choral Classroom: Advice for the First-Year Teacher (Part 2)
by Amanda Bumgarner

A Perfectly Composed Libretto: A Textual Analysis of Eleanor Daley’s Requiem
by Andrew Robinette

On the Voice
Seven Essentials for Developing Voices in Choir: Part 2
by Francis Cathlina

Research Report
Trends in Young Male Puberty and the Changing Voice: New Dilemmas for Choir Directors
by Martin Ashley

Reviewing the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s Virtual Performance of Reena Esmail’s TaReKiTa: Setting the New Standard for Indian-inspired Choral Performance
by Geetha Somayajula

ChorTeach Reprint
Critical Thinking in Rehearsals
by Gregory LeFils Jr.

Anton Armstrong Conference Keynote Address
2021 Virtual National Conference Photo Recap

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.

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

An Interview with Bob Chilcott

December 14, 2020 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

The January issue of Choral Journal is online and features an interview article with Bob Chilcott and Tim Sharp. You can read it in its entirety online at acda.org/choraljournal. Following is a portion of the interview.

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As a composer, conductor, and singer, Bob Chilcott has enjoyed a lifelong association with choral music, first as a chorister and choral scholar in the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, and for twelve years as a member of the King’s Singers. He became a full-time composer in 1997 and has produced a large catalogue of music for all types of choirs, which is published by Oxford University Press.

His music has been widely recorded by leading British choirs and groups including The King’s Singers, King’s College, Cambridge, Wells Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, The Sixteen, Tenebrae, The BBC Singers, The Bach Choir, Commotio, and Ora. In 2016 he enjoyed a collaboration with the celebrated singer Katie Melua.

Sharp: What are your primary influences and inspirations for your choral compositions?

Chilcott: I have very broad musical tastes, and I think most of them are reflected in the music I write. As someone who has been a singer, I find the influence of music I have sung, particularly English Church Music, never goes away.

Jazz has also played a big part in my musical life. I love the voice. I love singers, predominantly singers of songs—Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Fritz Wunderlich, Joni Mitchell, Rosa Passos, Alison Kraus, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Randy Newman, and if you’re my age (or any age, for that matter!) The Beatles and early Elton John. I also love words. The power that songs and words have is their ability to conjure up whole worlds or stories, or glimpses of shared experiences, feelings, and senses in a brief moment of time. To try and distil these thoughts into a musical shape is something that really motivates my composing energy.

I am also by nature a melody writer. I like to shape phrases that I think people might enjoy singing. The connection a composer has with the singing voice is a very complex one, because singers are not only motivated by shapes that allow the voice and the breath to flow, but also by the visceral sound and meaning of words, and also the drama and the gesture of the piece that allows the singer the freedom to become the advocate of the song.

Sharp: How much time do you dedicate to composition? Tell us a little about “a day in the life of Bob Chilcott” and your way of working.

Chilcott: I have always been quite a disciplined composer. You have to be when you are working from home. I think it’s important to commit to deadlines and have a strong writing regime. The teapot, the telephone, and the television are never far away, and they all have to be resisted! I work office hours, normally between 9am and 6pm. An hour a day longer than Dolly Parton. I never work in the evenings or late at night.

View this full article (and more!) in the January 2020 issue of Choral Journal, available online at acda.org.

Choral Conversations: Interview with Roland Carter

June 29, 2020 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

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Choral Journal’s ongoing column called “Choral Conversations” features interviews with noted choral conductors and composers. An interview with Roland Carter is featured in the August 2020 issue.

You can read the interview in its entirety online at acda.org/publications/choral-journal. Click “Search Archives” and choose August 2020 from the dropdown menu.
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As a performer, do you have a tonal ideal for spirituals?

I’m sure there would be those who would disagree with me, but I tend to bring the same musicianship to the spiritual that I would bring to Brahms or Schubert. I look at the music of Harry T. Burleigh, Hall Johnson, Jester Hairston, William Dawson, and R. Nathanial Dett… those are the standouts for me. Each one approached the arrangement of spirituals in a very different way. Only one tried to capture, I think, the authentic way of performing, and that is Hall Johnson. He tried to capture what he heard growing up. But other than that, I don’t treat any arrangement of a spiritual as an attempt to recapture what the slaves sang. I just don’t think that is what I set out to do. My model has been basically what I learned as a musician or in conducting with any other music.

I don’t know if they still teach the heart pulse relationship for tempo in Renaissance Music or arsis and thesis, but I like that with the spiritual just because of the rhythmic basis of it. I think often we try to put too many beats in the measure, which interfere with the fl ow of the music. It’s the same with a Mozart Symphony. You wouldn’t beat every beat of an allegro. I think that works really well with spirituals. I don’t really have a tonal model. I’m a person of the moment. I don’t feel the need to do a piece the same way twice.

Read the rest of this interview in the August issue of Choral Journal.

Mouthing the Text: The Advantages and Disadvantages (Part 2)

May 18, 2020 by Amanda Bumgarner Leave a Comment

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The May 2020 issue of Choral Journal features an article titled “Mouthing the Text: The Advantages and Disadvantages” by Micah Bland. This is a fascinating interview, and you can read it in its entirety online at acda.org/choraljournal. Below is the first question of the interview.
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What are some of the advantages to mouthing the words?

Jeffery Ames: Memorization.

Hilary Apfelstadt: Perhaps if the group is uncertain in a homophonic texture, it could be helpful to mouth as a reminder.

Jerry Blackstone: Mouthing can improve vowel formation, and can facilitate conductor/ensemble connection, especially with younger singers. Mouthing is simply another tool for conductor/ensemble communication. Used too much, it loses its effectiveness.

Joey Martin: Mouthing can be a visual reminder of appropriate vowel shapes for developing ensembles. It can also be crucial for reinforcing memory of text (or lack there of…). I’ve found that the younger/older the membership of an ensemble, the more mouthing is needed to achieve ideal results.

Tram Sparks: One advantage of mouthing could be the perceived security and increase in empathic connection between conductor and ensemble. I say “perceived” since it is usually merely a perception on the part of the conductor, and not an expressive or musically effectual connection that actually elicits a corresponding sonic or emotional result. That said, very specific, limited, and intentional mouthing could help a conductor to feel a stronger rapport in a given moment of music making.

Carl St. Clair: Not quite sure that there are any. Having an orchestra or chorus watch your mouthing of words could detract from their focus on your body and hands, which are communicating the essence of the music in one’s heart. Mouthing certainly does nothing to add to the quality of the sound or musical output of an ensemble, choral or otherwise.

What are some of the disadvantages to mouthing the words?

Jeffery Ames: In my opinion, mouthing the words, without any apparent need, prohibits proper preparation for the cue. Oftentimes, I see my choral conducting students mouthing the words. When this happens, they cannot properly execute the shape of the vowel needed in the following word. Of course, the “prep” prepares the next beat by indicating inhalation, vowel shape, dynamic, and character. But one or more of these elements will be missed when mouthing the words, which occurs as a ‘real-time’ event.

Hilary Apfelstadt: The biggest is that the group does not watch the gesture but rather focuses on the conductor’s mouth. It becomes a crutch, I think.
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Read the rest of this article (and more!) in the May 2020 issue of Choral Journal, available online at acda.org.