This episode pulls wisdom from Betsy Cooke Weber, on building a culture of leadership, ownership and professionalism in our classrooms and ensembles. This loaded “how to” session comes from her appearance back in episode 45 with updated thoughts from my on how these ideas are working in my classroom.
“If I were to return to K-12, I would not touch the piano.” One of the most important things we do to teach students independence, resilience and leadership in a rehearsal is to CONVINCE them that they don’t need you in order to learn the music. This takes time, and commitment to a process, and a pedagogy that is committed to this ultimate outcome.
Another crucial component is the director’s intentional structuring of rehearsals in ways that kids have the time and the resources they need to become co-creators of the music with us. We will hear Betsy’s thoughts about this as well as my reflections about some of the practices I installed since I first had this conversation.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself with your related ideas and experiences on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com
www.sightreadingfactory.com is the best literacy tool on the market today. Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get 10% off memberships for you AND your students!
Be Sure to Find Choralosophy on TikTok!
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
Sign up for an annual membership and save over $50 by entering Choralosophy at checkout! Save 15% on monthly or annual subscriptions.
Go back to Betsy’s full episode and bio!
Enter Choralosophy at Checkout for a 5% discount when you shop for folders, robes and other gear for your choir program! www.mymusicfolders.com and www.mychoirrobes.com
Great deals, speedy shipping, and back to school sales at SheetMusicPlus!
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
I have published many peeks into my classroom before on the show. I have never shown you our opening class minutes before. This is where the real work happens. The “warm-up.” Or, as I would rather call it, “voice building time.”
In this episode, you will have a front row seat (video version recommended on YouTube and Clips on TikTok!) to the opening 10-12 minutes of our beginning Treble, Advanced Treble, Beginning Tenor-Bass and advanced SATB curricular choirs. This of course, is a snapshot of a day and should not represent an exact facsimile of our daily routine. Because, in fact, we don’t have a “daily” routine.
Instead, I will explain through demonstration and commentary the exercises we do, why we do them, and why I believe it’s important to use “warm up” time for a wide variety of things, and to mix it up from day to day. We use this time for voice building, literacy skills, music theory, relationship building and so much more. Our classes are tragically only 44 minutes long. So, the reality is we have to pick and choose the things they have a chance to try and experience.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself with your related ideas and experiences on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com
www.sightreadingfactory.com is the best literacy tool on the market today. Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get 10% off memberships for you AND your students!
Be Sure to Find Choralosophy on TikTok!
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
Sign up for an annual membership and save over $50 by entering Choralosophy at checkout! Save 15% on monthly or annual subscriptions.
Enter Choralosophy at Checkout for a 5% discount when you shop for folders, robes and other gear for your choir program! www.mymusicfolders.com and www.mychoirrobes.com
Great deals, speedy shipping, and back to school sales at SheetMusicPlus!
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
When I work with emerging composers trying to get noticed, I ask them “What are you trying to be noticed FOR?”- Libby Larsen. Could the social media environment incentivize non-musical answers to this question?
In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with the remarkable composer Libby Larsen about her journey into the world of music. We discuss the importance of viewing music education as a language-based approach, where understanding the “language” of music is just as critical as performance. Libby and I also explore the relationship between composition and performance, emphasizing the role of performers in bringing a composer’s work to life and the contemporary challenges that composers face in today’s music industry.
Our conversation extends to the impact of social media on artistic promotion and the pressure on composers to establish a personal brand based on identity categories at the expense of the focus on the music itself. Libby shares valuable insights from her own career, including her notable works for Oxford and some other publishers. We delve into the creation of meaningful art, the challenges of getting noticed in the industry, and the significance of staying true to one’s passion in the face of external pressures.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself with your related ideas and experiences on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com
www.sightreadingfactory.com is the best literacy tool on the market today. Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get 10% off memberships for you AND your students!
Be Sure to Find Choralosophy on TikTok!
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
Sign up for an annual membership and save over $50 by entering Choralosophy at checkout! Save 15% on monthly or annual subscriptions.
Libby Larsen, born December 24, 1950 in Wilmington, Delaware, is one of America’s most performed living composers.
Enter Choralosophy at Checkout for a 5% discount when you shop for folders, robes and other gear for your choir program! www.mymusicfolders.com and www.mychoirrobes.com
She has created a catalogue of over 500 works spanning virtually every genre from intimate vocal and chamber music to massive orchestral works and over 15 operas. Grammy award-winning and widely recorded, including over 50 CDs of her work, she is constantly sought after for commissions and premieres by major artists, ensembles, and orchestras around the world, and has established a permanent place for her works in the concert repertory.
Great deals, speedy shipping, and back to school sales at SheetMusicPlus!
As a vigorous, articulate advocate for the music and musicians of our time, in 1973 Larsen co-founded the Minnesota Composers Forum, now the American Composer’s Forum, which has become an invaluable aid for composers in a transitional time for American arts. A former holder of the Papamarkou Chair at John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress, Larsen has also held residencies with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Charlotte Symphony, and the Colorado Symphony.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
For those who sing Black Sacred music, “it is The Academy of the Black Church that taught us.”-Emorja Roberson. To see if you are a convincing performer of this art form, go to a Black Church and sing it. See how they receive you.
In this episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Emorja Roberson, the first African American DMA in Choral conducting from Notre Dame, choral conductor, and passionate gospel music researcher and teacher.
We dove into the rich cultural and spiritual significance of gospel music, exploring its evolution and global reach. Dr. Roberson emphasized the importance of understanding the cultural context when performing gospel music, while I raised questions about the line between appreciation and cultural appropriation.
We also touched on the impact of the George Floyd movement on various institutions, the role of Black composers, and the challenge of maintaining authenticity in diversifying music education. Dr. Roberson shared his unique approach to teaching through immersive experiences in Black churches, highlighting the communal and participatory elements that are often missed in academic settings. Our conversation also explored a possible tension between universities and Black churches in teaching gospel music, and the importance of experiencing the music within its cultural roots. Finally, we discussed practical advice on teaching gospel music to predominantly white choirs, emphasizing respect and immersion in the culture. It was a powerful and insightful conversation that I’m excited to share with you. Emorja also has picked up the torch Marques Garrett lit in year one of the show, and challenged me to go BACK to a predominantly Black church and keep learning!
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself with your related ideas and experiences on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com
www.sightreadingfactory.com is the best literacy tool on the market today. Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get 10% off memberships for you AND your students!
Be Sure to Find Choralosophy on TikTok!
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
Sign up for an annual membership and save over $50 by entering Choralosophy at checkout! Save 15% on monthly or annual subscriptions.
Emorja Roberson is the Assistant Professor of Music and African American Studies at Oxford College of Emory University.
He recently performed as the baritone soloist for Brahms’ Requiem at with the Notre Dame Children’s Choir where he also debuted his commissioned piece, “Joy, it’s on the Way,” under the direction of Mark Doerries. He has three published works, “Lord, I Am Grateful” with MorningStar Music Publishers, and two with GIA Music, “He’ll be With You” and “Seek Ye First,” which has been performed by the University of Arkansas Inspirational Chorale, Notre Dame Folk Choir, and South Bend Community Singers. He was selected as a 2023 Arts & Social Justice Fellow. This partnership between Emory Arts and the Ethics and the Arts program at Emory University of Ethics afforded the opportunity for Roberson to work with ASJ Fellow, Adán Bean, Spoken Word Poet, in the course, Black Church, Black Music at Oxford College. He recently served as the music director for the play, March on Washington, by Nikki Toombs, in partnership with the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. Roberson is a 2022 recipient of the Future of Music Faculty Fellowship with Cleveland Institute of Music which is a development initiative for Black and Latinx music professionals within academia.
Enter Choralosophy at Checkout for a 5% discount when you shop for folders, robes and other gear for your choir program! www.mymusicfolders.com and www.mychoirrobes.com
As a student of Mark Doerries and Stephen Lancaster, Roberson became the first African American to receive a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting (‘22) and a Master of Sacred Music in Vocal Performance (‘17) from the Sacred Music Department at the University of Notre Dame. His oratorio, BE-SPOKEN, highlights the experiences of the Black experience through jazz, hip-hop, and gospel. The 2022 debut cast consisted of Anthony Walker, King Chav, and Grammy-Award winner, Ledisi. He was awarded the 2021 Academic Freedom Award from the Department of Africana Studies and the 2022 Sr. Jean Lenz Award for his leadership that promotes a more diverse, inclusive campus community for all students. Roberson is also the founder of the talk show, Black@ND and the past director for the Voices of Faith Gospel Choir.
In 2019, he made his national debut on Season 9 of BET’s Sunday Best competition as a top 20 contestant and served as the choir director for Kathleen Battle’s The Underground Railroad: A Spiritual Journey tour with the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center at the University of Notre Dame.
Great deals, speedy shipping, and back to school sales at SheetMusicPlus!
As a doctoral student, Roberson hosted the University of Notre Dame’s first Black History Month concert, UNSUNG, which featured artists in jazz, classical, and gospel, which included Callie Day, Isaac Cates, J.J. Wright, and Aalex Mansour. In March 2020, “Seek Ye First” from The Evening Musicale (2019), was featured on Sirius XM 64 (Kirk Franklin’s Praise).
In 2016, he debuted his piece, “Let’s Just Praise the Lord,” with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra and was a featured soloist on Robert Kry’s, Paradiso: Transformation and Transfiguration and Mass for the Oppressed by Emerson Eads. He has premiered Evelyn Simpson Curenton’s “Sweet Lil Jesus” and was featured as the soloist for J.J. Wright’s O Emmanuel with the Notre Dame Children’s Choir. Under the direction of John Apeitos, Roberson was Duke Frederick in Roger Steptoe’s world-premiere opera of the Shakespeare play, As You Like It. As a master’s student in the Sacred Music Department at the University of Notre Dame, Roberson was a student of Dr. Stephen Lancaster and worked with world-renowned soprano, Deborah Voight, Carla Rae Cook, and J.J. Penna. Roberson recorded with Grammy Award Winner, Arturo Sandoval, for the Notre Dame Children’s Choir CD, Christmas at Notre Dame, as a soloist on “Frosty, the Snowman” with Matthew Kelly.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Roberson graduated from the University of North Florida with a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance, where he studied with Krzysztof Biernacki. He has held lead roles in Die Zauberflöte, The Consul, The Mikado and La Bohème with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and performed as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah.
He is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., a charter member of the New Rock Chapter of 100 Black Men of America, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and a charter member of Psi Beta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity.
