Month: November 2023

November 23, 2023November 22, 2023

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ANDRÉ J. THOMAS is a Professor Emeritus of Music at Florida State University. He was visiting Professor of Choral Conducting at Yale University from 2020-2022. He also served as a faculty member at the University of Texas, Austin. He is presently an Associate Artist with the London Symphony Orchestra.

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Dr. Thomas received his degrees from Friends University (B.A.), Northwestern University (M. M.), and The University of Illinois (D.M.A). He is in demand as a choral adjudicator, clinician, and director of Honor/All-State Choirs throughout North America, Europe, Asia, New Zealand, Australia, and Africa. Dr. Thomas has conducted choirs at the state, division, and national conventions of the Music Educators National Conference (NAFME) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). His international conducting credits are extensive.

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He has led numerous prestigious orchestras and choirs around the world, including the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in England, the Berlin Radio Choir and the North German Radio Choir in Germany, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Bulgarian Radio Choir & Orchestra, the Seoul Metropolitan Chorus, Ansan City Choir, Jeju Provincial Seogwipo Chorale in South Korea, the Charlotte Symphony, China’s People’s Liberation Orchestra, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra.

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Thomas is a distinguished composer/arranger with Hinshaw Music Company, Mark Foster Music Company, Fitzsimons Music Company, Lawson Gould, Earthsongs, Choristers Guild, and Heritage Music Company.

Various musical organizations have recognized Thomas with the Living Legend Award, the Distinguished Service Award, the Robert Shaw Award, the NCCO (National Collegiate Choral Organization) Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Southern Region of ACDA Award of Excellence. In January 2019, he was inducted into the Florida Music Educator’s Hall of Fame, and in 2022 he was presented the Samuel Simons Sanford Medal, the most prestigious honor conferred by the Yale School of Music.

Episode 175: Gratitude Makes Us Better. Thanksgiving Episode

In a world characterized by constant social criticism and a perpetual desire for progress, the often-overlooked emotion of gratitude emerges as a powerful catalyst for personal and societal improvement.

While constructive criticism and a drive for change are essential elements in fostering growth, without a foundation of gratitude for what we DO have, individuals and societies may find themselves trapped in a cycle of discontent. I often see Gratitude conflated with “complacency” or resting on our laurels. I believe that this is a fundamental error in our perception of human nature. It misses the human need to reflect on past successes or W’s as the kids say, as motivation for future efforts of improvement.

This episode also features statements of Gratitude related to Choral Music collected in the Choralosophers FB page!

You can read and share the rest of this episode’s essay on Choralosophy.Substack.com !!

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November 15, 2023November 14, 2023

Be Sure to Find Choralosophy on TikTok!

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Discussion of “Critical Choral Theory.”

Episode 174: Adapting the Science of Reading To Music

In this episode, In this episode I will be referencing a few resources, provided in the Patreon Google Folder. The “Science of Reading” refers to a large body of interdisciplinary evidence. The past 40 years has yielded tremendous, interdisciplinary insights into the process of learning to read, gathered from developmental psychology, cognitive neuropsychology, developmental linguistics, and educational intervention research. In Music Education, we are behind this body of research as it relates to our discipline. In this short episode, I have taken on the task of adapting MY favorite Science of Reading take away for a music literacy context. “Scarborough’s Reading Rope.”

Consider this episode, the next installment in the “Choralosophy Literacy Suite.”

If the evidence is overwhelming and compelling, why are so many children failing to learn to read? Despite a preponderance of evidence about what constitutes good reading instruction…false theories persist
Laura Stewart

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Dr. Jeffrey Allen Murdock is internationally known as a conductor and clinician. He currently serves as Director of Choral Activities, Founding Director of the Arkansas Center for Black Music, and Associate Professor of Music at the University of Arkansas. He is the 2016 Connor Endowed Faculty Fellow in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Science, and 2019 Most Outstanding Faculty at the University of Arkansas. He is the 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year.

Dr. Murdock has conducted regional and state honor choirs, and headlined conferences in 26 states and 5 countries. With research interests inclusive of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in the Choral Classroom, Music in Urban Schools, and Social Justice in Music Education, he has presented at state, regional and national conferences of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the International Society for Music Education (ISME), and the American Choral Director’s Association, where he serves as president-elect of the Southwestern Division, past-president of Arkansas ACDA, and serves on the national diversity subcommittee. Choirs under Dr. Murdock’s direction have performed at the Arkansas All-State Conference and the Southwestern Division Conference of the American Choral Directors Association. In addition to being an accomplished conductor of western choral music, Dr. Murdock is also a skilled gospel musician and conductor. He has served on the conducting staff of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., has collaborated with numerous world-renown Gospel recording artists.

Dr. Murdock holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting, both from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Music Education from the University of Memphis.

November 8, 2023November 14, 2023

Episode 173: Culturally Relevant Excellence with Dr. Jeffrey Allen Murdock

This week I am excited to bring you a compelling discussion with the esteemed, and often outspoken Dr. Jeffrey Allen Murdock. In this episode we mainly center on three distinct, but not unrelated topics. First, Dr. Murdock shares his passion for Culturally Relevant pedagogy in the choral context as we discuss what it this concept requires, as well as it’s common misunderstandings. We also get to hear the case for the creation of the FIRST Graduate program in Black Sacred Music. Jeff makes the performance practice argument for this area of academic study that I found incredibly convincing. The University of Arkansas’ “Center For Black Music” is now a reality that is the first of its kind.

Beware of folks who claim to be experts in music education who have never taught in a K-12 classroom, or who have only done so for three days…..
Jeffrey Murdock

Finally, we discuss advice for Choir Directors when navigating the landscape of online “Music Educator Personae.” How do separate the pedagogue from the marketing? How do we know if the person we are hiring to present a session, can justify their claim of expertise? Jeff and Chris discuss this new phenomenon in our field over the last few years. Of course, I felt personally connected to this topic as a person who makes a living from choral pedagogy marketing!

Past Episode On “Defining Success” in Choral Music

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November 2, 2023November 2, 2023

Episode 172: Dispelling Myths About Middle School with Ian Henning and Jacob Garcia

Over the years, this Podcast has been a place for many types of conversations, on a variety of topics. But, one of the recurring passions of mine has been the reimagining of the way we teach literacy. Drawing upon the literature known as the “science of reading,” I started noticing that in music education, we have been woefully behind the times. In the Choralosophy Music Literacy Suite, I have collected several resources from the show’s catalogue to attempt to address this. Since, we started I have heard from hundreds of colleagues that are revolutionizing their classroom environments. They are using the piano less, or not at all. Spending less and less time after school making practice tracks, and putting more responsibility on their students.

While this is exciting, the “a cappella rehearsal” concept has not been without it’s detractors. Especially from teachers of younger students. “Sure, this may work with advanced kids, but not my 6th graders.” Or, “that sounds like something that would work great in a privileged suburban high school, but not at my school.” Or, simply, “my kids aren’t ready for this. Maybe I will try it when they are more advanced.” Ultimately, all of these impulses are off the mark. Music is a language, and language acquisition is easier the younger we are! We should be starting the process of audiation and literacy as SOON as possible. We don’t have time to wait.

For this episode, I spoke to TWO middle school choir teachers who have students in grade 6-8 who are having incredible growth and success in a short time encorporating “Choralosophy” Concepts like not playing notes for kids on the piano, and small group testing, and individual literacy assessments for accountability and individual feedback. Tune in as Ian and Jacob describe passionately the ways that they have taken the ideas they have heard here, and adapted them and made them their own. We also get to hear the ways these things have revolutionized their classroom culture and behavior.

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