Is it possible that we are all grasping at the wrong straws trying to reach program growth in an equitable way? Bruce Rockwell believes we need a transformative revolution in choral music. One where we turn our collective focus toward the Elementary School Choir.
Bruce is a high school choral educator who teaches in a district in which a very small percentage of elementary students are presented with a choral music experience. Across the country, we have a vast inequity in access to choral music making opportunities at the Elementary level. Not only disparities in access to high level choral experiences, but also access to basic, school choirs.
When we don’t have choral students, we don’t have choral parents. When we don’t have choral parents, we don’t have administrators that see it as important. This is the danger of not tending the roots. We have developed a top down perspective on what we are concerned with.
We are concerned with equity and issues of representation at the top. “Who makes all state choir?” “Who’s music is being programmed?” These are fine things to ask. But, this like noticing blemishes on a leaf and continuously pruning without bothering to check the tree under the earth.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
We also discuss the problem of our professional organizations being run by mostly Collegiate directors. These directors may be very supportive of elementary music, but may be separated from the consequences. You can have an inequitable system, and still have it look just fine at the top.
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
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!
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
Bruce Rockwell is the choir director at College Park High School in Pleasant Hill, California. He has taught choir, piano and guitar at College Park for 15 years, instrumental music at the San Francisco Waldorf schools, and theory and musicianship at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s pre-college division. Mr. Rockwell received is MM in Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and his BA in Music from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Tim’s article “How to Ruin an Alto” was published in 1982-83 in The Choral Journal and in MENC’s publication. It included some strong language like “there are no good reasons for allowing women to sing tenor.”
In this episode Timothy Mount, a Professor Emeritus at Stony Brook University, joins me to discuss his very strongly worded article from the early 1980’s and in what ways he still agrees and disagrees with himself forty years ago. We discuss the thorny issue of balancing the choir’s need for balance and timbre preferences against the vocal needs of the individual singer. One of the claims in Tim’s article was “forcing the female chest voice upwards is dangerous.” In the episode, we discuss this belief and whether or not it is out of date in 2024.
We also discuss the ways gendered language attached to voice parts, and the norms related to these terms has changed since the article was published. Recently, Tim tried to repost this article on the ACDA Facebook page in an attempt to try and discuss some of these changes of perspective, but it was taken down. I personally disagreed with a good number of things in Tim’s article, but I give him credit for being willing to discuss publicly how his views on a variety of these topics has changed over the course of his career. We can only move forward and grow when we can be intellectually flexible.
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
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!
Timothy Mount, pianist, singer, and choral conductor, is Professor Emeritus of conducting at Stony Brook University, one of the leading graduate music programs in the country. He conducted 9 commercial CD’s with professional choirs and orchestras in New York City and Moscow and 2 with the Stony Brook Camerata Singers. Tim has guest conducted many choirs and for over 10 years was conductor of the professional chorus and orchestra at the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival. In the Spring of 2023, he guest conducted the distinguished Crane Chorus at SUNY Potsdam.
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
He published 5 articles concerning choral music and a video, Refine Your Conducting Technique, available from Santa Barbara Music. His article, Preparing for the First Rehearsal appeared in The Choral Journal in the summer of 2023. He guest conducted the renowned Crane Chorus in the spring of 2023.
A bass-baritone, Tim sang with virtually every professional choir in New York City. He is the pianist for the Trillium Chamber Players.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
The Oakwood University Aeolians have a long standing and proud tradition. Over the last few years, they shot to international fame. Jeremy Jordan is tasked with keeping the flame alive.
Ever since Jason Ferdinand moved from Oakwood, the choir world started to wonder what was next for the Aeolians. After their 2019 National ACDA performance, they were thrust into the conversations about the “BEST” collegiate choirs in the world. I started to wonder who the next director would be and what kind of pressure might be attached.
Enter Jeremy Sovoy Jordan, an Oakwood Alumn, composer, conductor and mutli-faceted musician who knows, loves and appreciates the history and tradition of this renowned ensemble. In this conversation Jeremy and I discuss what it has been like to take over the group and his dreams for the future. We also discuss ideas about programming in terms of repertoire, as well as philosophies related to creating an ensemble cohesion and culture.
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
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!
Jeremy Sovoy Jordan – A native of Huntsville, AL, Jeremy Sovoy Jordan attended Oakwood University where he studied vocal performance and pedagogy and was a member of the Aeolians, under the direction of Jason Max Ferdinand. In 2017 along with his brother Justin, Jordan was inducted into the North Alabama Boys & Girls Club Hall of Fame. In 2013, he accepted the position of Director of Music and Choral Department at Miami Union Academy (MUA), teaching grades 6th-12th.
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
MUA is a historically black private academy that has been in existence since 1917. The high school choir enjoyed much success under the direction of Jordan, being participants in the 2018 Music for All National Choir Festival. They’ve also had the privilege of performing at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. Under his leadership, the MUA Choral Department initiated an annual social justice concert to raise awareness about the injustices our students see in their communities and the world at large. Jeremy also serves as Conductor and Composer-in-Redsidence for the New Canon Chamber Collective Orchestra whose goal and purpose are to promote new and existing compositions by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color(BIPOC) composers. Jordan is currently the Director of Choral Activities and conductor of the Aeolians of Oakwood University.
Find Justin on Social Media!
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
IG – oakwoodaeolians
FB – The Aeolians
TikTok – TheAeoliansofOU
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Odell’s presentation was discussed in a recent Choral Journal article, but not named. This is his side of the story. Find more blogs at Choralosophy.Substack.com
In April of 2023, I was fortunate to present “An Unconventional Approach to the Urban Chorus Classroom” at the NAfME Eastern Division Conference, which was held in Rochester, New York. The objective of my presentation is that participants will be able to recognize their own challenges in the urban choral setting and combat them by implementing unconventional or modified strategies to foster music literacy growth and success in their programs.
My presentation speaks on today’s myths and barriers in urban education related to literacy in music education. I wholeheartedly believe in the mantra that is presented on Choralosophy. Namely, that “literacy is equity.” I highlight issues new choral directors may experience starting in the urban chorus classroom. Notably, I offer suggestions and pedagogical tips to bring success to their programs. The goal is to highlight music literacy “as a whole” and encourage teachers to give all students access to music literacy instruction. The unconventional part of the presentation speaks about the various routes to engage students in the classical style of choral music if they are unfamiliar with it. It speaks on unconventionality as a jumpstart to the main goal, music literacy. In this manner, we begin to debunk myths and embrace diversity for all learners.
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!
While presenting on this topic, several questions were raised during my presentation, and I answered them as they came in instead of waiting until the end of my session. The main reason I decided to take questions throughout my presentation was due to the high level of engagement and passion from teachers from the start. Teachers were anxious and wanted an understanding of every step within the process in which I have successfully gotten students in the urban setting to learn and grow as musically literate musicians. I took questions as my objective for the presentation was being fulfilled through the participants’ inquisitiveness.
One particular educator raised several questions about my presentation. This person was concerned that my presentation was too focused on the reading of musical notation and believed teaching music literacy was a white-washed concept. I responded to each question asked, but I did pose a few questions for him. A few questions I asked him:
1. If you can read music, why wouldn’t you want your students to learn to read music?
2. If you were accepted into a music school, you were taught how to read music and navigate a score, so why shouldn’t we teach it?
3. Should we stop teaching minority students how to read in elementary school? Is literacy in the general education curriculum fine?
4. Do you feel the issue with getting all students to read music based on resources, or is it a teacher (pedagogy) problem?
5. Does the all-state audition rubric in your state only have sight reading as a criterion? How many points is it worth? I have never seen a state rubric anywhere that requires a perfect sight-reading score for students to earn a spot in the all-state choir. Please direct me to this rubric.
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 alluded to the idea that it is not equitable for minority learners not to learn how to read music. The clinician eventually ran out of questions and agreed to talk after my session. I connected with this person, and we agreed to disagree, and I was confident in a clear path to a resolution.
At any rate, I was alarmed to see the February 2024 issue of Choral Journal online, which featured an article titled “A Skills-First Approach to the All-State Choir Selection Process,” by Dr. Marshaun Hymon. (Who appeared on Choralosophy to discuss it in Episode 184.) The title grabbed my attention, so I began reading the article. After reading the first paragraph, I quickly identified the author before I jumped to conclusions. After discovering who the author was, I knew the article was about my presentation and my philosophy of music education.
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Notably, “A Skills-First Approach to the All-State Choir Selection Process” is a passable title with fair-to-middle supporting details. The article describes a skills-first approach to all-state choir selection as being broader than sight-reading only. In the author’s redefining attempt, he explicitly states what is already the standard, in which he brings up expressive singing, feeling the rhythm, internalizing the beat, and producing a quality tone. Are these the criteria on the rubric for all state auditions already? Have you ever seen an all-state rubric with sight reading as the only criterion? If this is the case, I agree with the author and everyone who has advocated for removing sight-reading. This makes the supporting points for removing sight-reading frivolous and futile. In addition, I have seen students make it into the all-state choir with less-than-perfect sight-reading scores, so this explains why the skills-first approach is already beyond just sight-reading. If a kid can flawlessly sight-read but bombs the solo audition piece, they will not make it into the all-state choir. Is sight-reading the only reason certain students are not making it into all-state choirs? People arguing for the removal of sight-reading are making a case that it’s a Eurocentric thing, and I want a better understanding as we should try to find a clear path to resolution. My biggest question would be, “Why do we bring up Eurocentrism when it comes to reading music only? Do we consider common core curriculum literacy Eurocentric? I’ll let you answer the question; however, we strongly encourage our children and students to read well. If they can’t read well, we see the reading coaches and reading interventionists pulling kids out of class to teach them how to read. As parents, we even read stories to them before bed, we may participate in summer reaching challenges at the library, and we reinforce reading after school by documenting reading logs, etc.
A popular rationalization brought up by some educators is the lack of resources and how students cannot learn and develop literacy skills. I repeat it often and remind everyone that it is a pedagogy issue, not a resource issue. I remember a former teacher in Illinois who talked about teaching students to read music from his hand as his five fingers represented the five lines, and spaces between the fingers represented the four spaces. I often heard this process quoted by a retired choral director in Norfolk, Virginia. In other words, resources were never a hindrance for these teachers, and they ensured their students learned how to read music. I did not share that to say it is an ideal way to teach but to share that where there is a will (good pedagogy, too), there is a way.
The last point I want to bring forth from the article is learning music before an audition. The author expresses that not all districts can hire vocal teachers or accompanists to help students learn the music before arriving for the all-state audition because of poor funding. The point made here was the most significant substandard point I read throughout the article. Teachers should help students learn the music before all-state; once students’ reading skills develop, they can teach themselves the music, and vocal tracks can be created by “someone” or a music program.
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The entire article is about Eurocentrism, poor funding, no resources, and sight-reading, but never mentions anything about quality teaching, professional development, or the need for competent teachers with solid choral/vocal pedagogy. Many teachers struggle to teach the skill, which is the bottom line. When we begin here, we will talk less about sight-reading and more about professional development for teachers who do not have the skills to chunk, scaffold, and create a space where critical thinkers consistently engage in higher-order thinking skills and are in the work zone of proximal development.
“What are music educators bickering about? What are we really saying? Don’t we all agree?” I will not dare attempt to be a spokesperson for all. Still, I am finding more and more that several music educators agree, and the various perspectives on music literacy have caused philosophical bickering. What does music literacy mean? Let us separate the compound word “Music Literacy” and define it. Oxford Dictionary defines music as “the art or science of combining vocal or instrumental sounds to produce beauty of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, expressive content, etc. “Literacy is the quality, condition, or state of being literate; the ability to read and write.” I separated “Music Literacy” as we have dichotomized the two and inadvertently created a national music teacher contest/poll. Interestingly, once we filter through all the perspectives, we quickly realize that we are all on the same page, which ultimately means we are all on the same team. Nobody said we should only read music, and nobody said we should only learn by rote. The issue is creating unspoken polls, and folks are subconsciously voting for one or the other. We must be mindful that both the aural and visual components of music education work concurrently. The common goal is to make the music-making experience a joy for our students and create lifelong patrons of the arts.
If you think Literacy is Equity, you can wear it!
My music career has been rewarding, and the most rewarding part has been seeing students grow as musicians, singers, and people. I find the most joy in seeing students mature over their time in my program. My passion has been urban education, primarily in settings with families with low socio-economic status. I have discovered that the most talented, resilient learners are in this setting. We must teach literacy to students in this setting. Nevertheless, as we all may agree to disagree, we all agree because learning music by rote and reading music go hand in hand. It is rote before the note, ear before the eye, and sound before the sound, so everyone should start without notation. The notation part starts after and sometimes in conjunction with the aural training. If you already focus more on the aural training, teaching them to read will not be a problem. The inverse cannot happen because students who do not have good aural skills cannot sight-read well. I would love to see more college professors speak up on this issue!
Queens is one of the most diverse places in the world. How can music serve as a “common language” for diverse students?
This week, I am joined by Shanan Estreicher, a middle and elementary music teacher in Queens, New York. Shanan is also a composer, and songwriter who has found a magic formula to reach the students of a Title 1 school with a constantly in flux student population. The formula includes general music, chorus, songwriting and more to bridge cultural, language and prior knowledge gaps.
In this discussion, Mr. Estreicher and I discuss the challenges as well as the life enriching benefits of teaching at-risk students, as well as the mindset he developed as he began his teaching career hoping for that “dream gig” and discovering that he had the power to build the dream in Queens. Many teachers “burn out” in Title 1 schools, but Shanan provides an inspiring story of how a teacher can make a difference in the lives of kids that desperately need a reason to come to school.
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
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!
Shanan Estreicher is a composer and songwriter living in New York City. He studied music at the Manhattan School of Music and Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College.
He has composed orchestral, choral, and chamber music, art songs, and music for theater, TV, and film. His compositions have been performed at Carnegie Hall, featured on NBC, Lifetime, and Fox, and can be heard on Composer Concordance Records (Naxos). As a songwriter, he released five albums as a solo artist and with the alt-country group The Brown Trousers. Shanan has collaborated extensively with Grammy Award-winning producer Brian Forbes and received grants from New Music USA and Queens Council on the Arts.
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
Recent premieres include “A Concordance of Leaves”, a new cantata for choir and baritone soloist with poetry by Philip Metres (Copper Canyon Publishing) by choral director James John, the Queens College Vocal Ensemble, and baritone soloist Andrew Wannigman, “I Laughed So Hard I Cried” by the Overlook Quartet, “All You Shining Stars” by the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra featuring multi-genre trumpeter Itamar Borochov, “Songs of Emily Dickinson” by Sarah Shafer (Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera) and the Chamber Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall, and various commissions for Composers Concordance and Access Contemporary Music.
As a founding board member of the Chamber Orchestra of New York, Shanan has helped lead the ensemble to international success and acclaim. He served as Co-Artistic Producer for the orchestra’s Naxos recordings of Respighi’s “The Birds”, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s “The Lark Ascending”, Respighi’s “Ancient Airs and Dances”, and Salvatore Di Vittorio’s Symphonies 3 and 4. Shanan has also designed and launched an educational outreach program called Maestro Juniors for the orchestra which brings live classical music performances to title-one schools in New York City.
One of Shanan’s greatest joys is sharing his passion for music with children. For over seventeen years he has taught music at a public school in Queens, NY. The documentary “Rise Up and Sing—The Movie” chronicles his work with the P.S./I.S. 127 Chorus. He is also the founder and director of the Queens County Choral Festival for elementary and middle school students.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Dr. Bridget Sweet is the first scholar to examine adolescent female voice change through systematic research protocols
This week, we fill in a major gap in programming on the Choralosophy podcast. This is the FIRST episode on the feed diving into research and teaching practice of the female changing voice in adolescence. There will be more to come! But, for this episode I am joined be one of our pre-eminent experts, Dr. Bridget Sweet. “The Larynx is not a vagina.” Bridget advocates that we spend more time teaching kids about the physiology. The kids may giggle when you show a picture of a larynx, but they will get over it.
In this episode we talk about the issues created by the gap in choral music education about this topic and related research, as well as strategies for teachers to address the changes in girls voices and to normalize the experience in the same way we should for boys. We also discuss the realities that teachers face that cause us to focus more on the voice changes of the boys. It gets more of our attention, so often, the girls needs go unaddressed. Part of this occurs with the overly common practice of voice part labels applied to girls at way too early an age. This episode is helpful, challenging and so important!
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
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!
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
Bridget Sweet is Associate Professor of Music Education at University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. After completing her Bachelors Degree in Music Education at Western Michigan University, Dr. Sweet enjoyed a successful tenure as a middle school choir teacher for nearly ten years. Her interests in adolescent music education intensified during her Masters and Doctoral programs in Music Education at Michigan State University, which contributed to her research focused on characteristics of effective and exemplary middle-level music teachers. Prior to her work at the University of Illinois, Dr. Sweet was Assistant Professor of Music Education at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA. At the University of Illinois, Dr. Sweet teaches secondary music education pedagogy, including choral methods and literature, graduate courses in music education, as well as a course focused on the development of healthy practices for all musicians. She is a Licensed Body Mapping Educator through the Association for Body Mapping Education.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Dr. Sweet continues to work extensively with adolescent singers as a teacher, clinician, and conductor; she has been invited to conduct middle and high school All-State Choirs and Honors Choirs in many states. Dr. Sweet wrote the books Growing Musicians: Teaching Music in Middle School and Beyond (2016, Oxford University Press) and Thinking Outside the Voice Box: Adolescent Voice Change in Music Education (2020, Oxford University Press). Dr. Sweet’s research interests include middle level choral music education, [assigned at birth] female and male adolescent voice change, musician health and wellness, intersections of LGBTQ+ topics and the music classroom, as well as intersections of motherhood and academia.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Her research has appeared in publications of Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Choral Journal, International Journal of Music Education: Research, Journal of Research in Music Education and Update: Applications of Research in Music Education. She has authored chapters within The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research in American Music Education (2014) and The Oxford Handbook of Care in Music Education. Dr. Sweet was initiated as a Friend of the Arts to the Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity (2021). She is a member of the Editorial Committee of the Bulletin of the Council of Research in Music Education, International Journal of Research in Choral Music, Journal of Research in Music Education, and Qualitative Research in Music Education.
Is “Tough Love” outdated? Or is it the tool of caring parents and educators?
Recently, a “Facebook post dialogue” of sorts went viral amongst music educators between Juilliard professor Geoffrey Keezer and James Falzone. Professor Keezer made a relatively short post related to the problems he is seeing in his teaching position related to reliability and accountability for students. It resonated with thousands of people as it got shared and discussed. But, it kind of had a “kids these days” feeling to it, so not everyone responded sympathetically. Enter, James Falzone. He crafted an essay in response encouraging a much more introspective approach to the very real issue that Professor Keezer was speaking to.
That’s where this episode comes in. I was clued in to this discourse when I saw it shared by this week’s guest, Dr. Jonathan Talberg. Jonathan has decades of experience teaching at the post-secondary level, so I asked him to join me to parse out some nuance in this discussion. We wrestle with questions about “tough love” and “holding students accountable.” How do these ideas mesh with this generation of students and their changing needs, values and sensibilities? And maybe most importantly, how do we navigate all of this while NOT lowering our academic standards?
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
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!
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
Recipient of the President’s Award from the California Music Educators Association honoring “extraordinary accomplishments in music education,” Dr. Jonathan Talberg serves as Director of Choral Activities at the Bob Cole Conservatory, where he is conductor of the international award-winning Bob Cole Conservatory Chamber Choir and the CSULB University Choir. Recent career highlights include leading the Chamber Choir to first place at the Austrian Spittal International Choir Festival and the “Choir of the World” competition in Wales. Additionally, he and the choir have performed with groups as diverse as the Kronos Quartet, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Pacific Symphony and the Rolling Stones.
A passionate advocate for choral music education, Dr. Talberg is regularly engaged to conduct honor choirs across the US, including numerous all-state choruses, and National Association for Music Education conference choirs. His choirs from Long Beach State have performed in venues throughout Europe and Asia, including the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Great Hall of the People in China.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
His professional experience includes appointments as Director of Music at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Bach Festival. He also served as Conducting Assistant to the Cincinnati Symphony and the Aspen Music Festival and as principal choral conductor at Arrowbear Music Camp in Southern California. A past-president of the California Choral Directors Association, he serves as an editor at Pavane Music Publishing, where a choral series dedicated to outstanding quality, collegiate-level music is published under his name. He taught high school choral music and drama for five years before moving into higher education.
Of the many hats he wears each day, the one he is most proud of is mentor to the next generation of choral musicians. Alumni of the Bob Cole Conservatory Choral Studies program are teaching at elementary, middle and high schools, churches, community colleges and four-year universities throughout the country. Scores of alumni are professional singers—in opera, musical theater, choirs, church music, jazz and pop.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Bob Cole Conservatory choral studies graduates are currently earning—or have finished—their doctorates at some of the finest institutions in the country, including the University of Michigan, the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, Indiana University, the University of Kentucky, the University of Iowa, the University of Houston, the University of Southern California and UCLA.
Dr. Talberg received his BM in Choral Conducting from Chapman University, where he received the Outstanding Alumnus in the Arts award in 2014. He earned his MM and DMA in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and completed a post-doctoral fellowship with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Pops, and the May Festival Chorus. His conducting teachers include Roger Wagner, William Hall, Earl Rivers, John Leman and Elmer Thomas.
Professor and researcher Martin Ashley from the UK is back to talk about more recent research related to the boys changing voice from both a biological and empirical view, as well as a qualitative experiential one. We discuss his latest compilation of crucial information, which he has made available for FREE. The eBook is called “Dead Composers and Living Boys.” It is a treasure trove of data, anecdote and advice for teachers of adolescent male singers.
“The word “boy” is more of a social term than a biological or medical one. It is not uncommon in choral work for the words “boy” and “treble” to be used interchangeably, but this is not helpful. A young male who sings a soprano or perhaps alto line could be either a child or an adolescent… Boys, it is often said, do not want to “sound like girls”, but until adolescence, boys’ and girls’ voices are physically the same. Any perceived differences in children’s voices will be learned cultural ones, not biological ones. Adolescence is when voices diverge and the male singing adventure really begins.” -an excerpt from Martin’s book.
In this episode, Martin and I discuss common misunderstandings and mythology around the boys changing voice, and some of the most vital pieces of information all teachers of adolescent boys need to know in order to address the biggest demographic access gap in choral music education. Boys aren’t singing.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
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!
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
Professor Martin Ashley PhD is editor-in-chief of ABCD Choral Singing Research, the peer-reviewed research journal of the Association of British Choral Directors, having retired from his position as Head of Research in the Faculty of Education at Edge Hill University in 2013. After working in sound recording for the BBC he trained as a middle school music teacher. He worked in a variety of school settings teaching both music and his other specialism of environmental science before moving into university work. Whilst at the University of the West of England in Bristol he designed and led a 3+1 route of degree + PGCE in primary education for teachers wishing to specialise in music and the performing arts. A post-doctoral fellowship awarded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council allowed him to develop a longstanding interest in the impact of boys’ understanding of voice on their musical learning.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Since writing the book How High Should Boys Sing? he has published widely on the topic of male singing during early adolescence, collaborating with the late Don Collins of the Cambiata Vocal Institute of America. He has subsequently worked in collaboration with a paediatric specialist and phoniatrician on the timing of puberty and voice change and remains as consultant editor for OUP’s Emerging Voices series of cambiata vocal arrangements. His most recent book was Singing in the Lower Secondary School in the OUP music education series.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Immediately prior to the Covid-19 pandemic he was working on the consequences of earlier voice change and boys’ musical maturity in mixed gender settings and had published work on historical trends in puberty, Tudor pitch and the sixteenth century mean voice.In response to the covid pandemic, he assembled a small team of virologists and public health professionals to produce a rapid response review for ABCD and is currently working on studies of boys choirs responding to the covid pandemic around the world, and a UK study of community choirs and shared rehearsal spaces.
In the digital realm where voices meet ideas, there’s a podcast that’s become a community hub for Choral Music: The Choralosophy Podcast started in February 2019. It was just a small gathering of a few hundred colleagues, sharing their love for choral music.
Then, the unexpected happened. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, episode 33 of the podcast seemed to strike a chord with thousands. Suddenly, it wasn’t just about music anymore – it sparked conversations among over 15,000 people and even caught the eye of the New York Times. That was the turning point. All the while, we have staid true to our mission of provided robust, well researched, and thoroughly presented professional development resources for FREE to educators on demand. Topics like Music Literacy, Vocal Pedagogy, Classroom Management and Grading procedures are regular features on the show.
What makes the Choralosophy Podcast special is its willingness to tackle the tough stuff. The guests and I dive into everything from music education to psychology, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and even broader topics like politics and education systems. As a result, the show has had its fair share of controversy. Generating buzz both positive and negative, but always having an impact on the conversation and expanding the Overton Window in Choral Music. Some think the show is “conservative,” some think it’s “too woke.” Some have called me the “Joe Rogan” of choir podcasts, or a “pusher of dangerous ideologies,” while still others thank me for speaking up for a lot of people who don’t feel safe to speak up themselves.
We’ve hosted some big names, sure, like Eric Whitacre, John Rutter, and Andre Thomas. But what really sets this podcast apart is its diverse range of voices. From educators to thought leaders in various fields, everyone brings something valuable to the table.
Now, five years later, the Choralosophy Podcast isn’t just a podcast – it’s a global community and multi-media platform. Thousands of listeners tune in regularly, not just for the professional resources, but for the conversations that challenge and inspire us all to learn and grow.
In a world where connection is more important than ever, the Choralosophy Podcast wants reminds us that our voices matter – and that together, we can create something truly beautiful. Tune in to this short episode as we look back, AND look forward to the next five years!
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
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!
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
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Activist, author Chloé Valdary is a diversity and anti-racism trainer with a refreshingly loving approach. This week, on Valentine’s Day, I am encouraging us to approach our ensembles, our classes, our colleagues and our neighbors with Agape.
In music education, we have a very popular, and important euphemism: “I want my students to see themselves in the music, or in the ensembles I have them watch” based on the finding people who look like them. And this representation does matter! But what I don’t hear enough is, “I want my students to learn to see themselves in everyone, and in ALL of the music we learn.” This introspective approach is echoed in Chloé’s fascinating brand of Anti-Racism.
“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”
James Baldwin
One of the core premises that Chloé likes to communicate is that if you can’t apply the principle James Baldwin describes here to YOURSELF, then it will not have any value in healing the rifts between us. If you see it only as a principle that applies to others, we will never enter important conversations as equals. She trains, teaches and advocates for a type of conversation about diversity in schools, groups and organizations that starts with introspection and search for our common humanity.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
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!
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
From Theory of Enchantment: One particular day, in a religious studies class, my professor, an agnostic, shows us a documentary called Jesus Camp. It follows a group of evangelical Christians at their summer camp for kids. The subjects are not portrayed in a positive light.
Suddenly, a student in our class starts to rail against the Christians in the movie, and I peg my agnostic professor as a person who won’t mind. How wrong I am. It becomes a shouting match between her and the student. My professor vigorously defends the Christians in the documentary, saying we all gravitate toward things that give us a feeling of meaning and significance, belonging, and community. Then she says,
She defies the agnostic box I placed her in. The frameworks that I am using to find meaning in the world are no longer sufficient. I am desperate for one that is. Slowly but surely, I realize I am outgrowing my religion.
I grew up in New Orleans with four sisters. We were an extremely atypical Christian family, and my parents deeply inculcated a strict religious philosophy. We didn’t observe Christian holidays, we observed Jewish holidays. Church was on Saturday instead of Sunday, and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were celebrated instead of Christmas and Easter.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
From my mother, a homemaker, I absorbed a deep inquisitiveness about human beings. From my dad, a banker, I gained a reverence for the numinous and the transcendent. But I also came out of childhood dogmatic in certain ways.
I went to a performing arts high school then to the University of New Orleans, where I became an activist.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Nicholas Weininger, software engineer and composer, joins me this week to discuss the power of the Hebrew language in choral settings. Both in terms of its sonority and aspects of diction, but also in the contributions many ancient Hebrew texts can make to our philosophical discourses to this day.
We discuss the difficulties finding choral music with rich Hebrew text, we also analyze a passage from Ecclesiastes that is the basis of a new Cantata that Nicholas composed after the pandemic. The discussion then moves to the coincidence of the new cantata’s birth into the world during a time of surging anti-Semitism and post pandemic searches for accountability and reflection. This was a very thought provoking discussion, and we hope you will join us!
Be sure to weigh in on the Choralosophers facebook page, on Substack or any posts related to this episode!
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
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!
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
Nicholas Weininger (b. 1978) is a composer, singer, software engineering manager, and leadership coach. Nick’s works have been performed by the International Orange Chorale of San Francisco, Sacred and Profane, Choral Chameleon, Empire City Men’s Chorus, Coro Mundi, West Genesee High School Chorale, and the Germantown Friends School Concert Choir, among others. In March 2023, the Empire City Men’s Chorus premiered Nick’s cantata Hakol Hevel (All is Mere Breath) for TTBB chorus, orchestra, and soloists; the album of the same name, from Navona Records, is available on all major streaming services. Nick’s works are published through Personage Press and ArrangeMe.
Nick has sung with the International Orange Chorale of San Francisco (IOCSF) since 2007. He began composing for IOCSF in 2011 and in 2015-2016 served as IOCSF’s inaugural Composer-in-Residence; the ensemble has performed eleven of his works in all and recorded four on the albums The Unknown Region and Hope in Times of Disquiet. Nick’s 2016 setting of “As kingfishers catch fire”, commissioned by IOCSF, was awarded second prize in the Ithaca College Choral Composition Competition and was a finalist for the 2020 American Prize. Nick’s singing experience also includes stints with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Festival Napa Valley Volti Chorale, and Coro Mundi.
In Nick’s non-musical life, he has spent most of his career managing teams of software engineers and mentoring software engineering leaders, notably at Google from 2005 to 2020. He received a PhD in pure mathematics from Rutgers University in 2005. Initially an autodidact composer, Nick took up private composition study with Joseph Stillwell in 2014 and now studies with Vince Peterson. Nick lives in San Francisco with his wife and son.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
This podcast has become the place to go for Music Literacy pedagogical training tools for teachers over the last five years. As a result, I have never received as much correspondence about content NOT created by me, than Dr. Marshaun Hymon’s February 2024 Choral Journal Article called “A Skills First Approach to the All-State Choir Selection Process.” Let’s just say, this piece has made a splash!
We center the conversation around the ideas presented in the article including whether or not learning to read music is analogous to having to learn to read and write “standard English” vs. African American vernacular, whether “music literacy” can be a useful term when NOT referencing the reading/writing of music, a dissection of how different states assess sight singing, and possible improvements to current systems of assessment. And, of course, we dissect the usefulness of the idea that “a primary focus on music reading does center whiteness.”
Be sure to weigh in on the Choralosophers facebook page, on Substack or any posts related to this episode!
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
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!
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
Dr. Marshaun R. Hymon is the Co-Founder & Managing Partner of True Change Alliance, LLC. He most recently finished a consulting contract with the Getty Museum & Trust where he develop equity-focused programming for their summer internship programs. Aside from various training commitments, he is now on contract with One Workplace supporting in developing organizational DEI strategy. Dr. Hymon is an Assistant Professor and he teaches college, career and employment readiness courses.
Dr. Chantae D. Pittman is the proud director of 3 choral ensembles at Campbell High School. She is in her 14th year of teaching and her 5th at CHS.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Dr. Pittman has been involved in various forms of Fine Arts since she was a small child. Growing up she participated in choirs, band, dance groups, as well as participating in the drama club. She was highly active in her high school Performing Arts program graduating from Lovejoy High School in 2006 with a Fine Arts Seal of Distinction.
She then went on to pursue her Bachelor’s degree at Tennessee State University where she graduated Cum Laude in 2010, and then her Master’s Degree in 2013 from VanderCook College of Music. Dr. Pittman most recently completed her Doctoral degree in Music Education from the University of Georgia on May 2021. GO DAWGS!!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Dr. Pittman continues to perform at the professional level through various solo efforts as well as with the Atlanta Women’s Chorus as well as the Atlanta Symphony Chorus where she has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
Are there core skills that MUST be acquired in order to teach music? Should there be? This week, I welcome Lynn Atkins to discuss the current challenges we face getting young teachers ready to teach music in an era when our current students and recent graduates had a pretty serious interruption in their education. In addition to this, we have debates raging about whether or not music degree recipients should even be required to be proficiently literate in notation. Throw in a rapidly increasing cost of tuition, AND a rapidly increasing pressure on collegiate faculties to recruit and retain tuition paying students, and we may have a boiling pot on our hands.
Tune in as Lynn shares his experience teaching at a college in California. We share thoughts about the need for different types of music ed training programs with different barriers to entry, the right of students to be taught be highly competent teachers, and the aspirational goals of an excellent teacher training program.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
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!
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
A passionate educator and musician, Lynn Gary Atkins, Jr. promotes honoring the world of his musicians in every choral rehearsal. From 2013-2019, he served as the Artistic Director of One Voice Chorus Richmond, who’s mission is to promote racial reconciliation in the City of Richmond through choral music. An 18 year veteran of teaching choir in schools in Virginia and New Jersey, Lynn is in his second year as Assistant Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities, and Voice Area Coordinator at California State University Dominguez Hills. He is also Director of Music Ministries at Faith United Methodist Church in Torrance, CA; and Artistic Director of LA Bronze Handbell Ensemble.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
We are doing something different and fun this week! Just me, and three young colleagues about half my age. Over the last few months, I have gotten several requests to do an episode dedicated to the issues and concerns faced by the next generation of educators. What better way to do that than host a panel?!
In this lively discussion with Amenah Ghani, Madelyn Merrell and Victoria Devine, we compare notes on life as a music major in the post-pandemic era and the late 1990’s when I was in undergrad. We also talk about ways young teachers should approach that first job search, and how our educational philosophies evolve over time from that first paper we write about it Junior year. Finally, the guests and I dig in to some keys to success and mindset for young educators.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
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
Madelyn Merrell is a singer, pianist, and educator that strives to make music learning responsive to students’ needs and interests. She received her Bachelor of Music Education degree in voice with honors from Jacobs School of Music, with minors in Conducting and General Music Education. She is presently pursuing a Master of Music Education Degree from Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.
Madelyn has performed with Indiana University’s Singing Hoosiers, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. Besides her classical training, she has experience with musical theatre, contemporary music, and jazz.
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!
She currently works in Chicago Public Schools at Westinghouse College Preparatory High School, where she serves as the choir and piano teacher, as well as the music director for musicals and sponsor of Glee Club and Piano Club. Outside of her this, Madelyn teaches private voice and piano lessons at Pilsen Music Studio. She is dedicated to sharing the joy of music with students of all ages and backgrounds! Her “Teachergram”: @MsMerrellMusic
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Amenah Ghani (she/her) is currently a sophomore general/choral Music Education major at the University of Delaware. From a young age, Amenah displayed an extraordinary affinity for music which was fostered through high level music making with the Princeton Girlchoir from ages 9-18 under the direction of Dr. Lynnel Joy Jenkins.
So far during her time at the University of Delaware, Amenah has been involved in community service organizations and her school of music student council. In addition, she serves as the treasurer of the UD ACDA chapter and the president of the UD NAfME chapter. Through the UD Community Music School, Amenah has taught early childhood music classes, ukulele, and middle school choir. Learning to embrace her solo voice, Amenah is involved with the UD Lyric Theatre and has the immense pleasure of studying voice under Dr. Noël Archambeault.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
She has a deep rooted passion for social justice and advocacy work. With patience and creativity, she hopes to instill not just technical expertise but also a deep appreciation for the language of music in her students.
Victoria Devine is in her second year of teaching at Manorhaven Elementary School in Port Washington, NY, as the General Music and Chorus Teacher. She also works as the music director for the Spring Musical at Valley Stream South High School. She received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Ithaca College, and will be starting her Masters in Music Education this summer.
This week, I welcome a colleague who shares my crusade of teaching teenagers to be the best they can be through choral music. Jimmy Robertson is a veteran teacher from Garland, TX. In this episode we discuss the ways in which being a teacher can, at times, drain us of our joy. We both love our jobs, but it takes intentionality, and sense of community to feel fulfilled in our careers.
Jimmy offers his insights on our tendency to “burn out” from overwork, unsupportive administrators, lack of connection with colleagues, our OWN need to prepare for the job, and possibly the greatest dragon of them all: the comparison game. “Do I measure up to other choir teachers?” Be sure listen, comment, and share your related experiences.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
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
Mr. Jimmy Lee Robertson III, aectionately known by his students as “Mr. Rob”, is one of five children and a native of Longview, TX. He is in his fourteenth year of teaching currently serving as Head Director of Choral Activities at Naaman Forest High School in Garland, TX. Robertson holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Stephen F. Austin State University, and a Master’s in Choral Conducting from Texas Tech University.
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!
His passion for choral music is infectious in that several of his former and current students are All-Region Members, Texas Music Scholars, State Solo and Ensemble Qualifiers, and/or Texas All-State Choir Members. Students under Robertson’s tutelage have gone on to pursue music education at some of the finest music institutions in the country. Robertson’s professional memberships include Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, TMEA, TCDA, ACDA, SWACDA, and the Texas Music Adjudicators Association .
When not in the choral classroom, Robertson is in great demand as a UIL Contest adjudicator, Festival Guest Conductor, All Region clinician, music education advocate, and soloist for weddings, church services, and (most recently) the Dallas Mavericks, performing the Star Spangled Banner there December of 2021. Robertson is excited for his upcoming Carnegie Hall debut conducting Faure’s Requiem in June of 2025. He looks forward to joining his passion with other like-minded musicians all throughout the world. This choral podcast is dedicated to music education, and choral teachers all over world.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
The quest for diversity in Western art music has led to the influx of ‘Westernized’ African music into the choral canon, albeit tagged as ‘world music’. This approach to the inclusion of diverse repertoire has led to the homogenization of indigenous African folk tunes by non-indigenous composers, thus creating Western-sounding African music.
In this episode, we cover more than just the “how to.” We discuss issues of diversity and access, and the possibility that many popular approaches to these ideals are counterproductive. We also discuss the peculiar and reductive ways that we in the Western World discuss diversity while using extremely reductive terms like broad skin color categories, and continents of origin etc. After all, if we use reductive terms like “African” music, we are missing out on most of the beautiful diversity that the vast continent of Africa has to offer.
Ebuka suggests a helpful, easy to remember framework he calls the “3 Re-s.” Resource-Research-Resolve. We discuss the mistakes many directors make along this continuum as it applies to the Music of Sub-Saharan African musical traditions as well as music of any culture that is not our own.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
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
Ebuka Ezeakacha, born on February 4, 1988, is a Nigerian-American Choral Conductor and Composer. As the fourth of five siblings and the youngest of four boys, he developed a passion for music early in life. Currently pursuing his doctoral studies in Choral Conducting at the University of Oklahoma, he combines his academic pursuits with his role as the Choir Director at the First Unitarian Church of Oklahoma City.
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!
Ebuka is a devoted advocate for accessible and inclusive programming of Indigenous African Choral Music, aiming to bridge cultural gaps and celebrate the rich musical heritage of the continent. Beyond his choral expertise, he applies his talents as a part-time audio/visual editor and producer, proficient in tools such as Adobe Audition, Adobe Premiere Pro, and FL Studio.
His educational journey includes a Bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts from Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria, a Master’s degree in Communication from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and a Master’s in Choral Conducting from the University of Oklahoma. In addition to his professional pursuits, Ebuka is a loving husband and father to an incredible boy, with the anticipation of welcoming a beautiful girl as the family expands. His commitment to music, cultural inclusivity, and family exemplifies a harmonious blend of professional and personal achievements.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Another year of Choralosophy has come to a close! In this episode I have collected short clips, commentary and show highlights from the top 10 episodes and milestones of the year!
The criteria is a a bit complex, because the longer the episode is out, the more total people will hear it. So, to make it fair to all episodes over the year, I have come up with a system.
I hope you will drop YOUR personal favorites in the comments! I would also love to hear what you want to hear about in 2024! You can also apply to appear on the show to discuss your passion points at Choralosophy.com
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
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
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!
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Over the last few weeks I have noticed a storm after the calm in choral music circles. We saw a boil over in Texas when a clinician withdrew from a conference based on a letter from two members that made her feel unwelcome, and a downstream fallout stemming from how the organization handled the issue. We saw a terribly offensive presentation given at a conference in New York that referred to some schools as “Hood” schools and the justified outrage at this affront. Not too long ago, there were arguments about cancelling Jingle Bells, and I am not even mentioning all of the controversies.
As many may know, the mission here at Choralosophy is to HAVE the conversation when others just want to lob social media bombs back and forth. In this episode I do a deep dive on some of the ideas at the root of these disagreements. I do this by telling a story of an online discussion I had about “Colonization and Classical Music.” Because here is the thing: Political footballs have been made of terms like “Critical Race Theory,” and “Intersectionality,” and “Decolonization.” Many, and I would say most, do not use these terms correctly whether they are “for” or “against” the ideas.
It kind of reminds me also of some conversations we had back in 2020 about an infamous essay on Choral Cancel Culture…
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
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
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!
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
This week, Dr. Anthony Trecek-King joins the Choralosophy conversation by joining me to discuss two related topics. The teaching of musical fundamentals in our classrooms AND how we can have better and more productive conversations about social justice and the inequities in our society.
We range from concrete, in class activities to try with a choir to develop the inner ear, all the way to the core tenets of Anthony’s “Face Your Neighbor” training related to facilitating IN CLASS social justice conversations. We even discuss the annual controversy surrounding “removing sight reading from honor choir and All State auditions. You don’t want to miss this!
“My approach to music education is toteach skills and not just songs. I believe that every singer should not only experience and perform music, but learn the skills to be an independent, thinking musician. My philosophy is to teach them to do more, so that I do less. With these exercises we are essentially training the singer’s brain to be sensitive to pitch—and the voice will follow the brain.”
Dr. Anthony Trecek-King
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
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
Dr. Anthony Trecek-King is a highly acclaimed choral conductor, scholar, pedagogue, and media personality with a career spanning over 20 years. He is an active guest conductor and serves as a Resident Conductor (chorus) with the Handel and Haydn Society. Recognized for his ability to create moving performances that exhibit a surprising range of dynamics and depth of expression, Dr. Trecek-King excels at cultivating vocal and instrumental musicians at all levels. Through his collaborative rehearsal style, he bridges the gap between high art and humanity, captivating audiences while maintaining exceptional sonic quality.
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!
Ensembles under his direction were integral to projects that have won a Pulitzer Prize (Madam White Snake, Zhou Long), received a Grammy (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Boston Modern Orchestra Project), and earned the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from Presidential Committee on the Arts (Boston Children’s Chorus). Dr. Trecek-King has worked with a variety of artists and ensembles including Leslie Odom Jr., Melinda Doolittle, the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, The Houston Chamber Choir, Seraphic Fire, Keith Lockhart, John Williams, Gil Rose, Simon Halsey, Yo Yo Ma, and Roomful of Teeth.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
He has led performances in world-renowned venues including Boston Symphony Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Carnegie Hall in New York City, Royal Albert Hall in London, and the Sydney Opera House. In addition to his conducting work, he is currently the host of the classical radio show “The Silent Canon” which airs on KNVO 90.7. He can also be seen on-air and online on the Emmy nominated WGBH television series Sing That Thing, and two TEDx Boston talks. He holds a B.M. in Cello Performance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, an M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from the Florida State University, and a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from the Boston University. He currently lives in the Boston area with his partner Melanie (of Thinking is Power) and their cat.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Over the last year, I have seen Dr. Thomas present twice on the importance of ensuring that the African American Spiritual is passed on to the next generations through our choral ensembles and music classrooms. In these presentations he also speaks eloquently about the challenges we face in doing so. We have parents, students and administrators worried about being accused of appropriation. We have directors worried about being criticized for inauthenticity, and governors pushing laws making it a minefield to teach the histories of race and racism in some states.
How do we see the challenges, and choose to move forward in the face of them? In this episode Dr. Thomas advocates for a performance practice, and linguistically informed approach to the spiritual. One in which, we the teachers, enter the classrooms armed to teach both the how and the why of the spiritual.
“I would never hurt someone’s self esteem with music, because music is my tool to reach them.”
André Thomas on students who may feel uncomfortable at first with this repertoire.
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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.
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!
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.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
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.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
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.
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!
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
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
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!
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
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.”
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
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
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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.
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
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.
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!
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
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.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
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
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
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!
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
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.
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
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.
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!
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
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.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
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.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
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.
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
Jacob Garcia is the choir director at Tennyson Middle School in Waco, Texas. He is in his 4th year of teaching and enjoys empowering his students to be independent and creative musicans. Jacob graduated with a Bachelor in Music Education from Stephen F. Austin State University and a Master in Choral Conducting from Texas Tech. While he enjoys teaching he also enjoyes learning mee ways to decolp hos craft and further his knowledge of music education.
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!
Ian Henning is the 6-12 Choir Teacher at Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette, Colorado. An Illinois native, Ian graduated from North Central College with a Bachelor of Arts in Voice Performance before moving to Colorado in the summer of 2020. Since then he has been teaching and performing throughout the state in a variety of roles, honing his craft as a musician and mentor. Ian is a dedicated learner who is always striving to improve in his personal and professional pursuits, and hopes one day to become a teacher capable of giving his students the music education they deserve. Ian is a member of the Colorado Chorale, the state’s premier volunteer community choir, and The Storytellers, an a cappella quartet delivering memorable and meaningful performances via musical storytelling in and around the Denver area.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
This week, I have the honor of crossing the pond virtually to discuss the profound yet often overlooked concept of “vocal musicianship.” Joining me is a distinguished guest, David Hill whose passion and advocacy for choral music spans from the professional to the amateur singer. David is the conductor of London’s renowned Bach Choir. We discuss a variety of advocacy topics including the importance of the amateur and youth choir maintaining a high level of quality, as well as disparities in payment faced by singers compared to their instrumental counterparts. For this topic we dissect the recent controversy of the near loss of the BBC Singers.
David also shares his thoughts about reaching out to new audiences and expanding our concept of what “choir building” means. In this episode, we unravel the layers of talent and dedication it takes to be a professional singer. We address the stereotypes and misconceptions that often surround vocal artists, shedding light on the immense skill, discipline, and artistry that define their craft. David’s wide range of choral experiences makes him an excellent guide on this important journey as we try to bring choral music into its next era.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
Renowned for his fine musicianship, David Hill is widely respected as both a choral and orchestral conductor. His talent has been recognised by his appointments as Musical Director of The Bach Choir, Music Director of Leeds Philharmonic Society, Associate Guest conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor of Yale Schola Cantorum, and International Chair in Choral Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music. He was Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers from September 2007 to September 2017 and is a former Music Director of Southern Sinfonia.
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!
Born in Carlisle and educated at Chetham’s School of Music, of which he is now a Governor, he was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists at the remarkably young age of 17. Having been Organ Scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge, David Hill returned to hold the post of Director of Music from 2004-2007. His other appointments have included Master of the Music at Winchester Cathedral, Master of the Music at Westminster Cathedral and Artistic Director of the Philharmonia Chorus. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Southampton for Services to Music, and in March 2018, he was honoured with the prestigious Royal College of Organists medal, in recognition of distinguished achievement in choral conducting and organ playing.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
David Hill has a broad-ranging discography covering repertoire from Thomas Tallis to a number of world premiere recordings. As well as achieving prestigious Grammy and Gramophone Awards, many of his discs have been recommended as Critic’s Choices, with his ongoing series of English choral music for Naxos, and discs for Hyperion with the Yale Schola Cantorum receiving particular acclaim.
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
Hill has appeared with the BBC Symphony and BBC Philharmonic orchestras, London Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, English Chamber Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Orchestra and Chorus of Welsh National Opera, the Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North, Ulster Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Réal Filharmonia de Galicia, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony, and Portland Baroque Orchestras as well as the Netherlands Radio Choir, the National Youth Choir of Australia, and RIAS Chamber Choir, Berlin.
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His commitment to new music has led to him premiering works from leading composers including Judith Bingham, Carl Rütti, Francis Pott, Bob Chilcott, Gabriel Jackson, James Macmillan, Philip Moore, Naji Hakim, Sir John Tavener, Philip Wilby and Jonathan Dove. Recent highlights include the world premiere of Gabriel Jackson’s The World Imagined with the Philharmonia at Three Choirs Festival.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
In January 2019 David Hill was awarded an MBE for services to music.
This week, I connect with yet another instrumental music educator! Don’t worry, I will be fine… It was a great pleasure to speak with Dr. Angela Ammerman about many music education topics including some “controversial truths” that I found on her Instagram account, “The Music Teachers Guide.” We discussed the idea that the best music teacher doesn’t necessarily need to be the best musician. Often times, we should be trying to facilitate our students’ skill surpassing our own. We also discussed the contradiction in arts education communities that on hand presents itself as liberal and supporting of freedom of expression, while on the other displaying a culture of conformity and intolerance toward diverse ideas and viewpoints. Angela shares her experience as tenure track professor who left Academia to be a “stay at home mom,” as well as a clinician, consultant and host of the #MusicEdLove Podcast. Tune in and as always, chime in with your thoughts on Facebook, Patreon or Substack.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
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!
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
Recognized by Fairfax County Public Schools as a Top Teacher in 2017 and the Virginia House of Delegates in 2016 for her dedication to instilling a life-long passion for music in all of her students, Angela Ammerman diligently works to now pass along these teaching and mentorship qualities to her own Music Education students. In 2016, Dr. Ammerman was named the Virginia Orchestra Director of the Year, a finalist for the Fairfax County Public Schools’ Teacher of the Year and Washington Post Teacher of the Year. Dr. Ammerman recently completed a chapter for the book: Rehearsing the Middle School Orchestra edited bySandy Goldieand is hard at work on a workbook for breaking language barriers in the music classroom.
Ammerman is a passionate and dedicated music education professor and music educator, and is published in the String Research Journal, the American String Teachers Journal and Teaching Music. Dr. Ammerman is in high demand as a guest conductor, speaker, and clinician for sessions and workshops at local, state, national, and international conferences and in-services. Currently living in Virginia with her husband and newborn son, Dr. Ammerman works at George Mason University where she supervises student teachers, teaches Lab Orchestra and Aural Skills. Ammerman is known for an emphasis on play-based learning, humor, a unique style, and for the creation of the first ever Future Music Educators Camp as well as her Music Education Podcast: #MusicEdLove.
Well, now I have! And so can you. In this conversation, I welcome Kelsey Burkett to discuss the magical, mystical world in which she teaches choir. I was floored to hear about the way her district structures their choral program! We also discuss personal identity, and our thoughts about the ways we can move our inclusion conversations in education forward to a place of greater empathy, understanding and progress. We also discussed the ways in which racial bias can manifest in school systems and much more. Kelsey is very open about her own “identity crisis” as a biracial woman and how that identity has evolved over time. I believe it is this very identity journey that equips Kelsey to approach this issue with compassion for others. Tune in for this conversation with a colleague I think we should all get to know.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
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!
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
I am excited to bring back the “Student Perspectives” category on the Podcast this week with the Glacier High School Concert Choir. Beth and I traveled from KC almost to literal Canada to Kalispell, MT to visit Nathan Connell and his Concert Choir for their Fall Retreat.
How can teachers make their space safe for singing? What do our groups mean to kids? Is it possible that we don’t always truly know the impact we have, and the impact our groups have on students? I believe that at times, kids will wait to be invited to say how they really feel. So, I invited them.
For close to 24 hours solid, I worked on group rehearsal techniques and literacy concepts, while Beth gave small group vocal instruction. We also spent time interpreting music, group building and of course, philosophizing about Choral Music. This small portion was recorded to give you a sense of the way young people can process these types of important questions. If you would like to have Choralosophy come to your classroom contact me via this form.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
Glacier High School Choirs in Kalispell, Montana, is made up of 5 curricular choirs and 2 extracurricular choirs, including 150 students in 9th-12th grades. Nathan Connell is in his 5th year of serving as the director at GHS. Nathan double majored in percussion performance and vocal education at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky. Nathan serves as the HS Repertoire and Resource chair for the NW ACDA region. He loves connecting kids with current composers and hosts an annual composer festival bringing Montana students together to work with composers like Jake Runestad, Ryan Main, Ethan Sperry, and more. As a percussionist, Nathan performs regularly in the Glacier Symphony percussion section, and has performed and taught with the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps from Denver, Colorado.
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!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
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
Often times, the most confident and assertive person you will ever meet is an 8 or 9 year old girl. Then, somewhere along the way society teaches her that “like a girl” is not a compliment. For a discussion about this in the world of composition, I am joined this week by prolific composer, publisher and performer Jocelyn Hagen. Our conversation centers around the concepts of feminism in choral music as well as in society at large. We spend a good amount of energy discussing the move from the second wave choral feminists who paved a lot ground for the women of today, as well as the need to build on what they achieved to move to an even better place. To move beyond equal access, and move toward authentic collaboration. We discussed “pretty privilege” as well as the ways women can reclaim the power of the “like a girl” expression.
“There was a period of about 15 years where no one was talking about it. Now we are just kind of done not talking about it.”
Jocelyn Hagen
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
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!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
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
Often times, the most confident and assertive person you will ever meet is an 8 or 9 year old girl. Then, somewhere along the way society teaches her that “like a girl” is not a compliment. For a discussion about this in the world of composition, I am joined this week by prolific composer, publisher and performer Jocelyn Hagen. Our conversation centers around the concepts of feminism in choral music as well as in society at large. We spend a good amount of energy discussing the move from the second wave choral feminists who paved a lot ground for the women of today, as well as the need to build on what they achieved to move to an even better place. To move beyond equal access, and move toward authentic collaboration. We discussed “pretty privilege” as well as the ways women can reclaim the power of the “like a girl” expression.
“There was a period of about 15 years where no one was talking about it. Now we are just kind of done not talking about it.”
Jocelyn Hagen
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
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!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
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
Easily the most frequent request I get from the audience is for more teaching examples, rehearsal videos, samples, demonstrations etc. I have decided to stop dragging my feet about this and start creating more of this type of content. Due to the type of media it requires, I will be posting most of this on TikTok and Instagram. But in this episode, I have gathered some audio from some recent rehearsals of Lee’s Summit High School’s “Sounds of Summit” that I think might be a good representation of the rehearsal procedures that I have advocated over the last few years. You will hear my high school chamber choir rehearsing David Childs’ “Where Your Barefoot Walks” as well as “My Spirit is Uncaged” by Paul Rardin. Enjoy, and let me know if you have questions or curiosities about the process! Special thanks to our Staff Accompanist RuthAnn Wagoner for being ready to rock on this tough music! Also, please pardon all of my under the breath noises into the mic that I am horrified that you will hear. 🙂
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
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!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
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
In this episode I draw on a few sources, including audience comments to present an advocacy conversation. To make the case for Choral Music classrooms, infrastructure support, and educational priorities. You will see or hear a video I made all the way back in 2012 in response to the popular TV show “Glee,” as well as a video I made in late summer 2020 arguing that my choral classroom was an essential service to my students. You also hear portions of a livestream I did recently in the Choralosophers FB page as well as some audience thoughts about the question, “What IS Choral Music?”
From “So, You’re a Choir Teacher?”
“I may teach the broadest curriculum of any academic subject in school. We study languages, diction, history, music theory, cultural interactions and on and on…You can get a PhD in Choral Music. You can’t get a PhD in football.”
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
We also spend a bit of time keeping you up to speed on excited things happening on Choralosophy! Tune in, and as always, let us know what you think!
The excerpted videos from the episode can be found below.
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!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
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
Stephen Cox has the honor of being the FIRST band director and educator to appear on the show! His perspective on music education brings some different insights to the big picture so to speak. This created a very productive conversation about the pros and cons of our traditional models of music delivery in schools.
From Stephen:
“There should never be a false dichotomy that pits Western European Classical music traditions and literature against literally every other form of music making.And yet, many organizations, schools, colleges, and musical institutions see other forms of music making as a threat while defending the “supremacy” of Western European Classical music.When jazz programs entered schools some people fought back arguing that it would ruin music education. The same with Mariachi programs, and now the same with popular music programs. When will we learn?”
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
In this episode we discuss the nuances of the large ensemble model common in the United States as the “default” for music education. Can it be simultaneously true that this model is crucial and valuable, but also we don’t give enough institutional space for other systems and curricula? We also discuss the problems with conflating “classical” and “western” with choirs, bands and orchestras. In other words, is it still true that a choir can only sing music from narrow genres? Of course not! Tune in to the end!
YouTube version
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!
Stephen T. Cox is the director of bands at the Advanced Learning Academy, Fox Tech, and Cast Tech Schools in San Antonio, TX as of fall 2022. For the previous decade he served as the director of bands at Eastland High School in Eastland, TX A graduate of Howard Payne University, Mr. Cox has been featured in the School Band and Orchestra Magazine’s 50 Directors who make a difference and is the winner of the 2022 Grammy Music Educator Award.
As a speaker he has given clinics on the topics of educational technology, community engagement, small school education and preparing students for majoring in music at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention, Texas Bandmasters Association Convention, the Technology Institute for Music Education, Minnesota Bandmasters Association, and the Midwest Clinic. In his time at Eastland, the high school band has been a consistent UIL sweepstakes band, advanced to state marching contest, won multiple State OPS concert band titles, and performed as a demo group for the Midwest clinic and Texas Bandmasters Association conventions.
Core to his teaching philosophy, Mr. Cox believes that fine arts programs should be integral to their communities, that students should have as much control as possible, and that our ultimate goal is to give students the skills they need to chart their own path in life. Mr. Cox is married to Stephanie Cox, visual art teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, TX. They have three amazing children, Aubree, Chuck, and Caesar as well as the worlds most stubborn dog, Nellie.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
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
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
This week, I am PUMPED to be joined by renowned Psychologist, researcher, author and host of the Psychology Podcast, Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman.
We in the Performing Arts education sphere are in a unique position to have an impact on the whole person in a way that is not accessible to our other teacher colleagues. We offer access to all or many of the “levels” found in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs ALL AT THE SAME TIME. We offer learning, but we also offer safety, love, and in those elusive moments, we offer transcendence. “Musical goosebump moments” occur when our singers feel more than just the music. They feel themselves, connected to each other, and connected to something bigger than the sum of the groups parts.
In this episode Dr. Kaufman shares his own personal choir class origin story in which his choir teacher was critical in changing his academic trajectory. We also discuss one of Scott’s areas of academic expertise: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and how many people misrepresent and misunderstand it.
“It’s time for a more dynamic conceptualization of potential that takes into account each person’s unique package of personal characteristics, dreams, passions, goals, and development. That emphasizes the journey, not the product. That shifts from a single judgement day of standardized and decontextualized testing to an extended period of deeply personal engagement, problem solving, exploration, and revision.”
Visual Version
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!
Scott Barry Kaufman is a cognitive scientist and humanistic psychologist exploring intelligence, creativity, and the depths of human potential. He is founder and director of the Center for Human Potential and founder of Self-Actualization Coaching. Dr. Kaufman is interested in using his research, podcast, teaching, and coaching to help all kinds of minds live a creative, fulfilling, and self-actualized life.Dr. Kaufman has has taught at Columbia University, Yale, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere.
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
Dr. Kaufman received a B.S. in psychology and human computer interaction from Carnegie Mellon, an M. Phil in experimental psychology from the University of Cambridge under a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, and a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Yale University. He received his coaching training from Positive Acorn. He is also an Honorary Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Wellbeing Science.His early educational experiences made him realize the deep reservoir of untapped potential of students, including bright and creative children who have been diagnosed with a learning disability.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
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
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
This week, I am PUMPED to be joined by renowned Psychologist, researcher, author and host of the Psychology Podcast, Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman.
We in the Performing Arts education sphere are in a unique position to have an impact on the whole person in a way that is not accessible to our other teacher colleagues. We offer access to all or many of the “levels” found in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs ALL AT THE SAME TIME. We offer learning, but we also offer safety, love, and in those elusive moments, we offer transcendence. “Musical goosebump moments” occur when our singers feel more than just the music. They feel themselves, connected to each other, and connected to something bigger than the sum of the groups parts.
In this episode Dr. Kaufman shares his own personal choir class origin story in which his choir teacher was critical in changing his academic trajectory. We also discuss one of Scott’s areas of academic expertise: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and how many people misrepresent and misunderstand it.
“It’s time for a more dynamic conceptualization of potential that takes into account each person’s unique package of personal characteristics, dreams, passions, goals, and development. That emphasizes the journey, not the product. That shifts from a single judgement day of standardized and decontextualized testing to an extended period of deeply personal engagement, problem solving, exploration, and revision.”
Visual Version
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!
Scott Barry Kaufman is a cognitive scientist and humanistic psychologist exploring intelligence, creativity, and the depths of human potential. He is founder and director of the Center for Human Potential and founder of Self-Actualization Coaching. Dr. Kaufman is interested in using his research, podcast, teaching, and coaching to help all kinds of minds live a creative, fulfilling, and self-actualized life.Dr. Kaufman has has taught at Columbia University, Yale, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere.
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
Dr. Kaufman received a B.S. in psychology and human computer interaction from Carnegie Mellon, an M. Phil in experimental psychology from the University of Cambridge under a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, and a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Yale University. He received his coaching training from Positive Acorn. He is also an Honorary Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Wellbeing Science.His early educational experiences made him realize the deep reservoir of untapped potential of students, including bright and creative children who have been diagnosed with a learning disability.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
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
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
This episode was a product of a submission on the main page here at Choralosophy.com. The prompt really grabbed me. Guest Joshua Mazur suggested that we need to have a grown up discussion about the way we in Music Education think about and use the word “talent.” I agree.
From Joshua:
“Our society approaches talent and ability in music in a completely unproductive way. I have seen people with very beautiful singing voices forced to sing in choirs despite the fact that they don’t want to, and people with more average singing voices discouraged from doing so despite their strong desire to sing.”
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
Most ordinary people think they’re unworthy of taking part in important music making (read: community and church choruses) because they don’t sound like the people they hear on their recordings. They don’t recognize the effect a musically literate choir of 30 people, despite the “average” nature of their voices, can have on their communities. We can take 12 people with voices no one would pay to hear as soloists and make them into a very good choir. This could be thought of as one of the great “magics” of ensemble music making. The whole CAN be greater than the sum of its parts. And even better, the individual parts can also be made greater in the process. It’s a win-win!
In this episode we discuss the false idea that musical ability is completely innate and fixed, how to combat this idea in our ensembles, as well as concepts from Daniel Coyle’s “The Talent Code,” which is a must read text for any teacher or coach.
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!
Joshua L. Mazur is a multi-disciplinary musician from Lakeland, Florida. An award winning singer, he has most recently undertaken the tenor roles of Don Jose in Carmen (Valdosta State University Guest Artist) and the eponymous Phantom of the Opera (Ocala Symphony Orchestra) and was seen previously in such baritone roles as Silvio in Pagliacci (Imperial Symphony Orchestra) and the title role of Gianni Schicchi (Florida Southern College Opera Theater).Mr. Mazur has served Abiding Savior Lutheran Church as Director of Music Ministry & Organist since 2017.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
In addition to his work in ministry, he is the Choirmaster of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Assistant Conductor to Maestro Matthew Wardell and the Ocala Symphony Orchestra, and Adjunct Professor of Studio Voice and Music Theory/Aural Skills at the College of Central Florida, Ocala.Joshua is a prolific composer and arranger, with a catalogue of over 350 works for various solo, ensemble, choral and orchestral ensembles. His works have been performed all over the world at national, and international choral festivals and in such places as Carnegie Hall and in services at the Vatican.
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
He has scored soundtrack music for the films “After Midnight” (2016) and “I Just Called To Say I Love You” (2018). Mr. Mazur holds a Bachelors degree in Voice Performance from Florida Southern College and a Masters degree in Voice Performance and Conducting from the University of Florida. He completed several semesters of doctoral work in Music Composition and received training in Theology through Concordia University CUEnet.
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
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Recently, David Simmons Wood made a splash by writing an article for Early Music America called “Toward a Rebirth of Renaissance Choral Repertoire.” In the article, David drew attention to what I see as a troubling gap in our collective repertoire and programming trends. Namely, the near disappearance of Polyphony from our performances, classrooms and in the textures of new music explored by living composers. Polyphonic writing provides so many building blocks for the theoretical mind of the musician, but also crucial steps in the development of young singers. So, what is driving this atrophy of access to a foundational piece of our art form? It is a complicated problem! So tune in as David and Chris discuss issues related to classroom challenges, the intimidating expert, the lack of exposure, and even the unintended casualty of our attempts to focus on diversifying repertoire and the push to include more living composers. We also go deep into SOLUTIONS. Ways to get started, resources and benefits of polyphony in school and community ensembles.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
David Simmons Wood (he/him) is the director of K-State’s Early Music Ensembles and is the founder and director of the annual K-State Recorder Workshop. David is also engaged as a faculty member in the Theory, History, and Composition Division.His performing career has included appearances with Dallas Bach Society, The Orchestra of New Spain (Dallas), The New York Baroque Dance Company, The New York State Baroque, Texas Choral Artists, and Fenix de los Ingenios, as well as performances at the Boston, Indianapolis, and Bloomington Early Music Festivals. He was also a founding member of Ishallyn, Ensemble for Early Celtic Music.He holds degrees from Kansas State University (B.M. Voice) and the University of North Texas (M.M. Choral Conducting and Voice), and he studied early music ensemble direction at the Historical Performance Institute at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.
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!
His primary emphases have been the sacred vocal music of the 12th to 18th centuries, liturgical reconstruction, and historical pronunciation.David serves as the Programs Director for the Early Music America, the North American service organization for early music and historical performance practice, where he oversees scholarshiips, grants, the annual Young Performers Festival & Emering Artists Showcase, a series of webinars and other video resources, and coordinates social media and email marketing activities.David has also be involved in church music leadership for more than two decades, holdinng the position of Minister of Music at Central Christian Church (DOC), Dallas, TX; and First United Church, Bloomington, IN.
He has also served on the board of the United Church of Christ Musicians Association.David worked in public radio at WFIU, Bloomington, IN. first as an Announcer/Producer (2005-2007), then as Music Director and Program Content Coordinator (2008-2014), and served on the board of the Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio.
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
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
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
I am excited to welcome Kenneth Bozeman to the podcast this week to blow your minds! Ken is a voice teacher, author and prominent lecturer presenting all over the world to help teachers of singing understand the importance of the marriage between voice science and the emotive capabilities of the human voice. I have frequently participated in conversations where these two ideas are erroneously set apart from each other. For example, “what’s more important? Vocal technique OR emotional expression or performance?” To me, this has always been a strange question. It is through our understanding of how the voice works, and our ability to pass that along to our students that allows them to have access to the full range of emotional tools that their voice has to offer. In this conversation, Professor Bozeman lays out many useful scientific concepts, exercises and techniques to help us marry the soul to the body so to speak.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
Kenneth Bozeman, author of Practical Vocal Acoustics and Kinesthetic Voice Pedagogy, served as Professor of Music at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin for 42 years. He was awarded the Van Lawrence Fellowship by the Voice Foundation in 1994 and is on the editorial boards of the NATS Journal of Singing and the Voice Foundation’s Journal of Voice. He was twice a master teacher for the NATS Intern Program and was inducted into the American Academy of Teachers of Singing in 2019. He was honored to be a keynote speaker for the British Voice Association (2021) and the International Congress of Voice Teachers (2022). His work explores the internal acoustic landscape all voices inhabit, describes the inherent relationships of its components, and seeks ways to motivate efficient singing while respecting both physiologic and acoustic realities as well as effective historic pedagogy. He continues to work by mentoring teachers and young professional singers in acoustic pedagogy and presenting lectures and demonstrations for university voice departments and professional voice organizations.
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
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
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Could it be that the new era of “the choral entrepreneur” is what we need to save Choral Music? After the pandemic, we have seen a resurgence of enthusiasm for Choral Music amongst the already initiated. But, program enrollments are down, concert attendance is down, positions have been cut, and conference attendance has not recovered. It could be that we have entered a new era. An era where a Choral resurgence will depend upon people like Ryan Main and shows like this one. Colleagues with the willingness to leave the safety of institutional employment behind and make the case in the community for the value of Choral music. In this episode, Chris and Ryan discuss the various ways in which “entrepreneurship” can manifest itself in Fine Arts spaces. We discuss lessons learned in creating both non-profit and for profit Choral Music centered ventures. It’s time to make the case that “Choral Entrepreneur” doesn’t have to be a dirty word.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
An award winning composer, his compositions are performed internationally and frequently featured at national and regional American Choral Directors Association Conferences, festivals, Carnegie Hall, and other events around the world.
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!
Ryan holds a Master of Music in Music Composition and a Master of Music in Music Education from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition from the University of Missouri – Kansas City’s Conservatory of Music and Dance.
Ryan is passionate about quality music education for all. He founded and serves as artistic and executive director of the Youth Chorus of Kansas City, a non-profit organization serving youth of all socio-economic and cultural backgrounds throughout the Kansas City metro area.
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
Ryan is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the Missouri Choral Directors Association, the National Association for Music Education and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. He currently serves on the National Association for Music Education’s Council on Music Composition.
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
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Composer Melissa Dunphy believes that artistic expression is inherently connected to the socio-political landscape of the world. Artists often create work that reflects their personal beliefs, experiences, and values. Even when an artist does not intend for their work to be explicitly political, it is influenced by the social and cultural contexts in which it is created.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
Art is a powerful medium that can evoke emotions, challenge norms, and inspire change. Artists have historically used their work to address pressing social issues and spark dialogue. Whether through visual arts, literature, music, or performance, artists can shed light on marginalized voices, challenge oppressive systems, or critique political ideologies. By engaging with these topics, artists inherently engage with politics.
In this conversation, I present some limitations to this axiom, revealing that I don’t necessarily agree that ALL art is unavoidably political, but that in general there is a lot of common ground on our positions on this topic. Where do YOU stand on the statement that “Everything we do as artists is inherently political?” Comment on the Choralosophers FB page or anywhere you see this post.
Raised in a Chinese-Australian family, Melissa Dunphy moved to the USA in 2003 and specializes in composing vocal, political, and theatrical music. She first came to national attention when her large-scale work the Gonzales Cantata was featured in The Wall Street Journal and on The Rachel Maddow Show. Dunphy is the recipient of an Opera America Discovery Grant for Alice Tierney, a new opera commission by Oberlin Conservatory. Recent commissions include works for the BBC Singers, VOCES8, and Cantus. Dunphy is also a Barrymore Award-nominated theater composer and Director of Music Composition for the O’Neill National Puppetry Conference. Dunphy has a Ph.D. in composition from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.M. from West Chester University and teaches at Rutgers University. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Matt; the Dunphys are co-hosts of the popular podcast The Boghouse about their adventures in Philadelphia colonial archaeology.
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!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Last week, instead of a typical adult getaway for our anniversary, Beth and I attended the National Conference of Braver Angels. From the Mission Statement:
Americans on opposite sides of the political spectrum don’t only disagree on issues — they increasingly dislike one another. This growing partisan animosity is the crisis of our time and threatens our nation. Braver Angels exists to address this challenge.
Braver Angels Mission
For many who have followed this show over the last 4 and a half years, you might notice that this mission is also the mission of the Choralosophy Podcast. I believe that we in Music Education suffer from this affliction as well as the broader society. In many ways, because of the politically homogenous nature of the Education and Performing Arts communities, we have it WORSE than society at large. We are badly in need of a dose of our own Civic Renewal. To this end, I am proud to say that the Choralosophy Podcast is now a part of the Braver Network of organizations and media outlets willing to stand up for the value of bringing everyone to the table to find common ground. As listeners, YOU can join for FREE as part the Choralosophy community.
I see a VERY obvious role for music ensembles to play in this project. The metaphors should be obvious. How many of our choirs, bands, and orchestras bring together people with a true diversity of world views? How intentional are we about creating an environment where ALL of our singers and players are able to bring their WHOLE selves to class or to rehearsal. Ensemble music is one of the biggest sources of opportunity for large numbers of people to gather IN PERSON to unite on a common project. This project of music requires that they set aside their political projects to focus on what they can accomplish TOGETHER.
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
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!
The Challenge We Face (From Braver Angels Website)
As we separate into groups that increasingly do not even know, or interact with, people of differing opinions, we lose trust in our institutions, eroding the ability to govern ourselves and lowering the caliber of citizenship. This growing trend coarsens public debate, produces policy gridlock, shrinks our capacity for goodwill, and harms our family and personal relationships. Effective self government depends precisely on what this type of polarization destroys. We believe the American Experiment can survive and thrive for every American who contributes to the effort. Where we go from here is up to us. This is the driving force that fuels our mission.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Last week, instead of a typical adult getaway for our anniversary, Beth and I attended the National Conference of Braver Angels. From the Mission Statement:
Americans on opposite sides of the political spectrum don’t only disagree on issues — they increasingly dislike one another. This growing partisan animosity is the crisis of our time and threatens our nation. Braver Angels exists to address this challenge.
Braver Angels Mission
For many who have followed this show over the last 4 and a half years, you might notice that this mission is also the mission of the Choralosophy Podcast. I believe that we in Music Education suffer from this affliction as well as the broader society. In many ways, because of the politically homogenous nature of the Education and Performing Arts communities, we have it WORSE than society at large. We are badly in need of a dose of our own Civic Renewal. To this end, I am proud to say that the Choralosophy Podcast is now a part of the Braver Network of organizations and media outlets willing to stand up for the value of bringing everyone to the table to find common ground. As listeners, YOU can join for FREE as part the Choralosophy community.
I see a VERY obvious role for music ensembles to play in this project. The metaphors should be obvious. How many of our choirs, bands, and orchestras bring together people with a true diversity of world views? How intentional are we about creating an environment where ALL of our singers and players are able to bring their WHOLE selves to class or to rehearsal. Ensemble music is one of the biggest sources of opportunity for large numbers of people to gather IN PERSON to unite on a common project. This project of music requires that they set aside their political projects to focus on what they can accomplish TOGETHER.
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The Challenge We Face (From Braver Angels Website)
As we separate into groups that increasingly do not even know, or interact with, people of differing opinions, we lose trust in our institutions, eroding the ability to govern ourselves and lowering the caliber of citizenship. This growing trend coarsens public debate, produces policy gridlock, shrinks our capacity for goodwill, and harms our family and personal relationships. Effective self government depends precisely on what this type of polarization destroys. We believe the American Experiment can survive and thrive for every American who contributes to the effort. Where we go from here is up to us. This is the driving force that fuels our mission.
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This week’s episode is a fast paced conversation between myself and members of the “Choralosophers” Facebook page. Choralosophers is one of the most drama free choir director’s groups on the internet, and the desire of the members there to have interesting, and thoughtful conversations about our profession and art form is refreshing and such a great way for me to connect with the Choralosophy audience. I fielded dozens of questions and comments, but the bulk of them were focused on teaching literacy, starting out the school year well, and whether or not some of the “teacher burnout” phenomenon is being MISDIAGNOSED and confused with a concept called “moral injury.” So, tune in and stick around as we chew on some really important topics. And, as always, we welcome YOUR comments and questions in the Choralosophers FB page.
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!
The term “moral injury” was first used to describe soldiers’ responses to their actions in war. It represents “perpetrating, failing to prevent, bearing witness to, or learning about acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.” Journalist Diane Silver describes it as “a deep soul wound that pierces a person’s identity, sense of morality, and relationship to society.”
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Most physicians enter medicine following a calling rather than a career path. They go into the field with a desire to help people. Many approach it with almost religious zeal, enduring lost sleep, lost years of young adulthood, huge opportunity costs, family strain, financial instability, disregard for personal health, and a multitude of other challenges. Each hurdle offers a lesson in endurance in the service of one’s goal which, starting in the third year of medical school, is sharply focused on ensuring the best care for one’s patients. Failing to consistently meet patients’ needs has a profound impact on physician wellbeing — this is the crux of consequent moral injury.
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In this week’s episode I welcome John Hughes to discuss the things we wish we had known when we were starting out as teachers and conductors. We discuss the cynicism that develops over the years in many of us, as well as the loss of “awe” when hearing choral music and how to get it back! In one part of the conversation we discuss the importance of separating achievement from self-worth as well as the problem with expecting ourselves and our singers to be perfect. We even get into the practical side, regarding rehearsal planning, and other self management strategies.
“I would offer my younger self—full of ambition, hungry for success and respect, and willing to work hard— these gentle words and encourage him to take a breath or two. The “no excuses” approach may be effective, but it may end up making you miserable inside.” From the Preface of “Letters to a Young Conductor” by John C. Hughes
One of the “elephants in the room” within education discussions related to merit, opportunity and access is the wide range and disparity of challenges that teachers face in creating quality programs within their schools. Mark Bailey believes that music, but most importantly the PEOPLE IN music, changes the lives of those around them. And crucially, that music has the ability to change the soul and trajectory of someone’s life. Sadly, in many places where “other problems” seem so much more pressing, music and other Fine Arts programs fall by the wayside. Leading to quality educators not wanting to teach in the schools that need them the most. Mark has been teaching in Title 1 Schools in the US for much of is fifteen year career and brings a comprehensive plan for success and encourages quality educators to test their mettle in these types of schools. We also discuss the role of music competition as both a motivator and a barrier toward equity in education. Tune in for this challenging, but ultimately optimistic conversation.
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Mr. Mark A. Bailey is proud to be the Director of Choirs at Palo Duro High School of Amarillo ISD in Amarillo, Texas and is a sought after clinician and published researcher. Mr. Bailey’s most recent scholarly work is published in TMEA’s 2018 edition of the Texas Music Educators Research Journal and focuses on poverty and music education. He has recently presented similar research at the annual ACDA International Symposium on Research in Choral Singing. His choirs have recorded and premiered original works for Carl Fischer Music. He is entering his 15th year as a professional music educator. Before coming to Palo Duro, Mr. Bailey was the Director of Choirs at Brazoswood High School. Prior to that, Mr. Bailey was Head of Fine Arts and Director of Choirs at The American School of Kuwait, and Director of Choirs at Atascocita Middle School, La Porte High School, and Houston Christian High School. Choir programs under Mr. Bailey’s direction receive consistent UIL Sweepstakes ratings and top festival honors.
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Mr. Bailey is a graduate of Baylor University (B.M.Ed.) and Texas Tech University (M.M.Ed.) and has studied educational research with Dr. Janice Killian and choral conducting with Dr. Anton Armstrong, Mr. Donald Neuen, Dr. Jeffery Ames, Dr. Donald Bailey, and Dr. Carolyn Cruse. Mr. Bailey has also performed under the direction of world-renowned conductors Paul Salamunovich, Eph Elly, Andre Thomas, and Anton Armstrong. Professional affiliations include Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA), Texas Choral Directors Association (TCDA), American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).
Mr. Bailey is an avid fan of Major League Baseball, and all books Sci-Fi and Mystery. Mr. Bailey’s wife, Hannah, is the Head Librarian at Caprock High School in Amarillo ISD. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have two young children, Henry and Charlotte. In his spare time, Mr. Bailey enjoys arranging and composing choral works, writing research in education, and playing his favorite game, American Mahjong.
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In May of 2023, American Choral Directors dedicated an issue of their “Choral Journal” to Gender Inequity in Choral Music. The Research Report in this issue was penned by Dr. Melissa Baughman from the University of Oklahoma. In the article, she summarizes the current state of research on the topic of Women in Conducting careers. We learned that most of the existing research in this area exists in the instrumental world as well as learning that the choral world has a concentration of Women in the middle and high school levels with major disparities at the collegiate level. In this episode, Melissa and I dissect the issues that come up in the research related to gender stereotypes, gender bias, as well as the “messy problem” of trying to make improvements of access as well as in our understanding of why the disparities exist in the first place. (Hint: it’s never just ONE thing.) Tune in for this nuanced conversation where we go “beyond the memes” and dig in to the heart of an important issue.
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Dr. Melissa Baughman is an Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education at the University of Oklahoma where she supervises student teachers and instructs undergraduate and graduate courses in choral methods, conducting, and vocal pedagogy. She is dedicated to promoting student wellness and leads a wellness initiative for the OU School of Music called Breathe OUt. She also serves as a co-facilitator for the Music Teacher Health and Wellness Area for Strategic Planning and Action for the Society of Music Teacher Education (SMTE). Prior to joining the faculty at OU, Dr. Baughman taught at Middle Tennessee State University, Central Methodist University (MO), and was the director of middle and high school vocal music in Montpelier, Ohio.
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As a researcher and advocate for wellness and equity in music, Melissa has presented at state, national, and international conferences sponsored by the International Society for Music Education (ISME), the European Association for Music in Schools (EAS), the National Association for Teachers of Singing (NATS), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the Society for Music Teacher Education (SMTE), the American Choral Director’s Association (ACDA), the Oklahoma Music Educator’s Association (OkMEA), and the Missouri Music Educator’s Association (MMEA). Her research has been published in the Journal of Music Teacher Education, International Journal of Music Education, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Journal of Singing, Choral Journal, and Missouri Journal of Research in Music Education. Her essay, “Nevertheless, She Sings: Empowering Women in Choral Music” is published in the book, Relevance in the Choral Art, edited by Tim Sharp.
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Praised as an “illustrious soprano,” Melissa’s performance highlights include singing the soprano solos for Schubert’s Mass No. 2 in G Major, Haydn’s Kleine Orgelmesse, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore. She is currently a guest artist with the American chamber choir, Vox Nova, who received The American Prize Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music–Community Ensemble Division in 2018. As a graduate student, she received first place in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and Missouri Music Teachers Association (MMTA) voice competitions and was named an Emerging Artist at MU. Dr. Baughman earned her PhD in music education with an emphasis on vocal pedagogy and choral conducting and a MM (voice performance) from the University of Missouri. She also earned a bachelor’s degree in music education (magna cum laude) and a master’s degree in education from Bowling Green State University.
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In this special Oxford Series episode, I catch Dr. Zanaida Robles for a conversation about her philosophy as a composer, as well as the way all of her musical and personal identities mingle to create a context for her music making. We discuss the compositional process, including the philosophy she holds related to the “end product” for singers. Namely, the importance of the singers exploring their own communities and connections WHILE also exploring the music. We also bounce ideas back and forth related to composers having to be careful about “over refining” a composition, as well as the music world’s attempt to balance goals of equity with the human need for each composer to be valued based on their OWN music and individual expression. You won’t want to miss this conversation!
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Dr. Zanaida Stewart Robles is an award-winning Black American female composer, vocalist, and teacher. She is a fierce advocate for diversity and inclusion in music education and performance. Authentic interpersonal connection and relationship-building are core principles of her teaching and performance methods. Born, raised, and educated in Southern California on the unceeded lands of the Gabrielino-Tongva people, she is in demand as a composer, vocalist, clinician and adjudicator for competitions, festivals, and conferences related to choral and solo vocal music.
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What does it mean to be an Omni-American? An Omni-Citizen, or an Omni-Musician? How can Jazz be taught as a metaphor for American culture and democracy? In what ways do our modern conversations about diversity and inclusion badly need to include some Albert Murray in the mix? Greg Thomas joins me this week to discuss this as well as the gaps in our understanding of Jazz as a musical tradition, as well as an intellectual salon of American philosophy and culture. We discuss Greg’s work with the Jazz Leadership Project and the utility of Jazz as a metaphor to help us understand conflict, productivity, racism, culture and so much more.
Albert Murray, an American writer and cultural critic, coined the term “Omni-American” to describe a distinctive American identity that encompasses and celebrates the diverse cultural influences that have shaped the United States. According to Murray, being an Omni-American means recognizing and embracing the intermingling of various ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds that have contributed to American society.
Murray argued that the United States is not a melting pot where different cultures blend into a homogeneous whole, but rather a rich tapestry of interconnected and overlapping traditions. He believed that the strength and vitality of American culture come from its ability to absorb and incorporate diverse cultural expressions, creating a dynamic and ever-evolving national identity.
Being an Omni-Musician would mean having a deep understanding and respect for the cultural contexts and historical roots of different musical styles. It would involve studying, collaborating, and learning from musicians representing diverse traditions and backgrounds. By doing so, an Omni-Musician would create a unique and dynamic musical voice that combines and synthesizes various influences.
Greg is CEO of the Jazz Leadership Project, a private company that uses jazz music as a model to enhance leadership success and team excellence. Along with his wife and partner Jewel, the Jazz Leadership Project works with notable firms such as JPMorgan Chase, Verizon, TD Bank, and Google. The leadership blog TuneIntoLeadership.com features their writings.
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Greg has been a professional journalist for over 25 years. As an educator, Greg recently taught a course, “Cultural Intelligence: Transcending Race, Embracing Cosmos,” and co-facilitated a six-month class in 2022, titled “Stepping Up: Wrestling with America’s Past, Reimagining Its Future, Healing Together.”
As a Co-Director of the Omni-American Future Project, Greg co-facilitated a two-day broadcast and awards ceremony, “Combating Racism and Antisemitism Together: Shaping an Omni-American Future” in October 2021, and the second annual event in November 2022, “Straight Ahead: An Omni-American Future, Fighting Bigotry Together.” In Sept. 2022, he co-led a one-day conference, “Resolving the Race-ism Dilemma.” He also serves on the advisory boards of The Consilience Project, and FAIR, the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism. (Omni-Americans by Albert Murray.)
tuneintoleadership.com
@gregthomas22
@Omni_American_
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Now that the pandemic is officially over, I thought it would be a good time to release this audio I captured back in April of 2021. About 30 of us brave Choralosophers gathered in Atlanta back when NO ONE was doing in person conventions to have a mini choral summit. One of those sessions was led by Emmy Burch and myself about the things that spark us to create, and the fears that hold us back from creating them. At the time this conversation occurred, we were all afraid of what was to come. I find this to be a fascinating time capsule to a time a little over two years ago, in which many of us had nothing else to do other than dream.
You will hear thoughts about the gaps we have between our abundance of choral instructors, and the much needed “choral entrepreneur,” that I think is so crucial to the future of our profession. We will also hear from session attendees about their ideas and fears. Tune in!
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This week, I FINALLY respond to the many requests I got to share my thoughts on the movie “Tár,” starring Cate Blanchett. So, consider this my review of the movie. I talk about the tension in the film between the stereotypes of the “conductor” as a male, power abusing, egomaniac alongside the movie’s portrayal of this character as a woman and as a Lesbian. In addition to an analysis of Marin Alsop’s take on the movie, I discuss the value of these types of inversions in social commentary as well as the interesting dynamic created by a highly competent musician and thinker interacting in the world as kind of a crappy human being. And yes, of course I also break down the “White, male, cis composers just aren’t my thing” scene as well. So tune in and let me know what you think as well!
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In this episode, we are honored to have Dr. Matt Zakreski, a clinical psychologist, joining us to discuss neurodiversity, autism, and gifted children in our classrooms. Dr. Zakreski brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our conversation, and we will be delving into various considerations for such kids in education, and in Fine Arts education in particular.
One of the topics we will be exploring is the importance of the arts in helping neurodivergent kids express themselves. As singers and educators, we know firsthand the transformative power of music, and Dr. Zakreski will be sharing his insights on how the arts can provide a safe and nurturing environment for neurodivergent kids to explore their creativity and connect with others.
So, whether you are a music educator, a parent of a neurodivergent child, or simply interested in learning more about the intersection of psychology and the arts, this episode is not to be missed. Let’s dive in!
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Matthew “Dr. Matt” Zakreski, PsyD is a high energy, creative clinical psychologist who utilizes an eclectic approach to meet the specific needs of his neurodivergent clients. He is proud to serve the Gifted community as a consultant, a professor, an author, and a researcher. He has spoken over 200 times all over the world about supporting neurodivergent kids. Dr. Zakreski is a member of Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG), the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), the New Jersey Association for Gifted Children (NJAGC), and Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education (PAGE). Dr. Zakreski graduated from Widener University’s Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology (IGCP) in 2016. He is the co-founder of The Neurodiversity Collective.
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In this unique episode of Choralosophy, we are taking it into the future that is now with a very special guest. It’s ChatGPT, a cutting-edge artificial intelligence language model that has been trained to understand and communicate with humans. ChatGPT is here to share its insights on topics relevant to choir directors, including innovative ways to use AI to automate music teacher tasks, as well as answer questions about music theory and educational philosophy.
As teachers and music directors, we are constantly looking for new ways to improve our teaching methods and streamline our workflows. With the advancements in artificial intelligence, we now have access to powerful tools that can help us achieve these goals. ChatGPT is at the forefront of this technology and is ready to share its knowledge and expertise with us.
Whether you are excited about new technology, or the type that is typically pretty skeptical, ChatGPT and programs like will be an unavoidable part of the information landscape. So tune in for this primer.
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Will Shakespeare’s Perfect Choir90’s Will Smith’s Perfect Choir
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In today’s episode, we have a special guest, Jennaya Robison, who is an accomplished conductor, vocalist, and music educator.
In this episode, we delve into the topic of vibrato in choral singing. Dr. Robison would like to advocate for a world where female voices in particular are freer to vibrate in choral singing. Jennaya recently presented with a panel at National ACDA on a session called “Let Vibrate!” in which she and her colleagues urged us to rethink our aesthetic preferences related to vibrato. I asked Jennaya to join me because, as always, I only MOSTLY agreed. 🙂
Throughout the discussion, we explore the technical aspects of choral singing and the role of vibrato in creating a particular sound. We also discuss the importance of individual voice training, the concept of blend and a clash between philosophies that either honor the aesthetics of the past, or discard them due to the injustices of the era.
This episode was recorded in person in our home studio, providing a more intimate and personal conversation about the nuances of choral music. Don’t miss Jennaya Robison on the Choralosophy podcast!
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Dr. Robison is one of the leading choral directors in North America, and is consistently in demand as a clinician both nationally and internationally. She has presented at ACDA and NATS conferences and is a national leader of choral artistry, pedagogy, and innovation. She has held previous positions at Luther College, the University of Arizona, and the University of New Mexico, and has an active performance career as a soprano soloist and chorister.
Dr. Robison is in demand as a conductor, clinician, and soprano throughout the United States. She has conducted orchestras at the University of Arizona, Luther College, and as well as community orchestras in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. As a public-school educator, she has taught in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
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As a soprano, she has sung as a soloist with the Grammy award-winning True Concord, Tucson Symphony, Arizona Opera, Scottsdale Arts Orchestra, Scottsdale Symphony, St. Andrews Bach Society, Phoenix Youth Symphony, Tucson Masterworks Chorale, Rochester Choral Arts, and Chamber Orchestra of Albuquerque.
Her primary area of research is in the field of vocal health within the choral ensemble. She has been an invited conductor and clinician at numerous festivals including All State Choirs in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota, Wisconsin Middle Level Honors Choirs, Texas Collegiate Women’s Honor Choir, Montreat Music Conference Festival Choir and various regional and state honor choirs in Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Arizona, Master of Music in conducting and voice from the University of New Mexico, and Bachelor of Arts in music from Luther College. She is the coordinator of Collegiate Repertoire and Standards and director of Student Activities for the North Central chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. Her choral series is published with Pavane Music.
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This week, I am excited to have Melanie Trecek-King as our guest. Melanie is a science educator who specializes in teaching science to non-science majors. In addition to her expertise in the field of science, Melanie is passionate about helping individuals improve their thought processes and metacognition. She is making major waves online with her highly recommended websites ThinkingIsPower.com and the Mental Immunity Project.
Today’s episode will explore the value of improving one’s own thought processes and metacognition. We will dive deep into the concepts of metacognition, critical thinking, and the power of self-reflection. Melanie will share her insights and experiences as an educator, and provide practical advice and strategies that can be applied to any discipline or profession.
Whether you’re a musician, teacher, student, or simply someone who wants to improve their cognitive abilities, this episode is for you. So, sit back, relax, and get ready to explore the fascinating world of metacognition with our guest, Melanie Trecek-King.
Melanie Trecek-King is the creator of Thinking Is Power, an online resource that provides critical thinking education to the general public. She is currently an Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College, where she teaches a general-education science course designed to equip students with empowering critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. An active speaker and consultant, Trecek-King loves to share her “teach skills, not facts” approach with other science educators, and help schools and organizations meet their goals through better thinking. Trecek-King is also the Education Director for the Mental Immunity Project and CIRCE (Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative), which aim to advance and apply the science of mental immunity to inoculate minds against misinformation.
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In this episode, I am thrilled to be joined by guest Jasmine Fripp, a music educator and advocate for cultural sensitivity and anti-racism in music education. Many of us FIRST met Jasmine when she posted a viral letter on Facebook.
We will be discussing the importance of cultural sensitivity within music education, and why it’s crucial for music educators to be aware of the diverse cultural backgrounds of their students AND their colleagues. Jasmine will be sharing her personal experiences and insights on the topic, and will be providing specific examples of how music educators can create a culturally responsive classroom environment.
As music educators, it’s important for us to recognize that music is not a one-size-fits-all experience. Every student brings their own unique cultural background to the classroom, and it’s our job as educators to create an environment that is inclusive and welcoming for all students. So sit back, relax, and join us for this insightful and thought-provoking conversation on “Choralosophy.”
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Jasmine Fripp is a Grammy-nominated music educator and the founder of The Passionate Black Educator, an educational platform that grew out of her passion for empowering educators and providing Black and Brown students with a quality holistic education through music. With seven years of teaching experience in public and charter schools, she has built award-winning choral programs and provided Black and Brown students with various opportunities to excel within and outside the world of music.
As The Passionate Black Educator, Jasmine encourages and empowers music educators of all cultural backgrounds to create student-centered classroom environments that promote anti-racism, culturally responsive pedagogy, and healing-centered teaching. Jasmine’s ability to fuse hip-hop, choral music, student-centered dialogue, and creative teaching strategies have led to her being heavily sought after as a clinician by universities, school districts, and professional organizations Worldwide. Jasmine holds a Bachelor of Music Education with a concentration in Choral Music from Winthrop University and is currently pursuing her master’s degree at Belmont University.
I was recently exploring the recent rise in the use of the word “trauma” to describe the events of our lives. From small inconveniences to major life events, it seems that we are quick to label them as traumatic experiences. However, is this overuse of the term causing us to overlook the true meaning of trauma and its impact on mental health?
In this podcast, we also delve into the concept of anti-fragility, introduced by Nassim Taleb in his book “Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder.” This concept suggests that instead of striving for resilience, we should aim for anti-fragility, where we can thrive and benefit from chaos and uncertainty. How can this concept be applied to education, and how can it help students become more resilient and prepared for the challenges of the future? To do this, I have clipped out a fascinating conversation I had years ago with Eric Barnum about this topic.
Join us as we discuss these thought-provoking topics, and their related performing arts off shoots like performance anxiety and the pursuit of best practices. Resources mentioned:
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This episode is a pastiche of sorts from several sources. We will start with the introduction from my “Togetherness Activism” live presentation from Colorado in January. In that segment I tell the story of what I have learned about discourse and discussion from starting a show in which I put forward opinions in public for the last four years. Some of those experiences have been gratifying, frustrating, fun and stressful. But in all situations, I have learned SO MUCH, and have actually changed my opinion about many things. One of the things I have learned is how oversimple our understanding of each other can be do to online interactions. During this presentation, I launched a survey to the audience there in person which helped us explore the ways in which we may be diverse BEYOND what is visible. Over the next few weeks, I plugged the survey in choir director groups and got a nice sample of responses. I will discuss those responses here as well. This is a fun and varied discussion that I hope stimulates more discussion!
The problem with “photographic diversity” is that I could give a survey to a group of people who appear to be diverse, but their answers could all be the same. If that’s the case, we lose the studied and time tested value of diversity. When it’s time to have a meeting of the minds, we can’t.
Chris Munce
In some ways, I am thinking of this episode as an important “Where We Are Now” discussion for the beginning of year 5 of Choralosophy Podcasts. So, tune in chew on some ideas!
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Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
In this episode, I have renowned composer and publisher Dan Forrest on the show to talk about the current state of the publishing industry. In addition to his own story about how he got involved in the publishing and composition world, as well as his thoughts about the history of music publishing, the changes due to recent technology and self publishing etc. We even get into our thoughts about ways the system can still be improved including ways to rethink the formula to ensure that composers are fairly compensated, as well as thoughts about whether or not copyright law also needs to change to keep up with the technology. Tune in for this important discussion!
Dan Forrest (b. 1978) has been described as having “an undoubted gift for writing beautiful music….that is truly magical” (NY Concert Review), with works hailed as “magnificent, very cleverly constructed sound sculpture” (Classical Voice), and “superb writing…full of spine-tingling moments” (Salt Lake Tribune). His music has sold millions of copies, has received numerous awards and distinctions, and has become well established in the repertoire of choirs around the world via festivals, recordings, radio/TV broadcasts, and premieres in prominent international venues.
Dan’s work ranges from small choral works to instrumental solo works, wind ensemble works, and extended multi-movement works for chorus and orchestra. His Requiem for the Living (2013) and Jubilate Deo (2016) have become standard choral/orchestral repertoire for ensembles around the world, and his more recent major works LUX: The Dawn From On High (2018) and the breath of life (2020) have also received critical acclaim.
Dan holds a doctorate in composition and a master’s degree in piano performance, and served for several years as a professor and department head (music theory and composition) in higher education. He currently serves as Editor at Beckenhorst Press, Chair of the American Choral Director’s Association Composition Initiatives Committee, and Artist-In-Residence at Mitchell Road Presbyterian Church (Greenville, SC). Details about Dan and his work can be found at www.danforrest.com.
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
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Did you know that boys have fallen behind girls in almost every measurable academic category? Boys are 3-6 times more likely to have an ADHD diagnosis, 3-5 times more likely to be expelled, 2-3 times more likely to die from suicide, and are reporting higher levels of loneliness on average. There are a lot of reasons to be concerned. This episode is for everyone. A relevant discussion for all educators as well as parents, and just people interested in how masculinity and our perceptions of it shape our world. The obvious elephant in the room here is also that there is a small, but vocal school of thought that the category of boy, girl, woman or man, due to their elements that are socially constructed, leading some to not see this issue as critical or existential.
Correction: I referenced “Isaac Reeves” as an author, this should have been Richard Reeves. His book “Of Boys and Men” is highly recommended.
As choir directors, we famously struggle to get boys to keep singing, or even to start singing. Dr. Brendan Kwiatkowski, a researcher specializing in adolescent boys’ relationship to their emotions joins me this week to discuss his findings and the broader science about a crucial educational issue. age 13-15 was the most difficult for boys in feeling “pressured” to appear masculine. Do you see any parallels to WHEN we typically lose the most boys in choir? I do…
I don’t find the term “Toxic Masculinity” helpful because it doesn’t it isn’t nuanced enough to actually describe the issue. I prefer the term “Restricted Masculinity” because the toxic behaviors often come from a a disconnection from our emotions.
Brendan successfully defended his Ph.D. in Education at the University of Edinburgh at the end of 2022. His research spans multiple disciplines (psychology, sociology, and education) and investigated Canadian teenage boys’ emotions, masculinities, and schooling experiences.
He is a mixed-methods researcher and believes very strongly in positive-focused and person-centred research that humanizes and empowers participants, as well as gives “voice” to their lived experiences. He is focused on making academic knowledge accessible for all and on conducting research that is transformative and practically useful for helping people in the real-world.
Before his Ph.D. Brendan was a secondary school teacher near Vancouver, BC for 5 years where he taught psychology, history, biology, and social justice. He received his MA in 2016 in Special Education where he created and co-led a yearlong social-emotional intervention for boys with behavioural needs. He loves teaching and has taught Gender and Education courses at the university level.
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Brendan loves nature, breathwork, cold plunges, quality conversations, and music. He is also a husband and is a father to his three young children
The beautiful challenge is that in vocal music ensemble instruction, every instrument is unique. So unique in fact that an instruction that helps one student sound better can make another sound worse. In the instrumental classroom there are MANY technical instructions that can be delivered in a way that applies to EVERY trombone or every drum in the room. They may even be the same manufacturer! We don’t realistically have time in a choral rehearsal to give customized vocal instruction like a voice teacher can in a one on one setting. In this live presentation, turned podcast, Beth and I discuss and provide suggestions for balancing the need for a solid foundation in vocal pedagogy presented by choral directors to their students with the reality that their isn’t enough time in choir rehearsal to give fully individualized instruction. How can we focus on the universal aspects of singing, and speak in the most efficient and clear ways about the voice?
As always, when you see the LIVE logo, video is recommended. Patreon members are able to access all of my live presentation slides and resources.
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Last week, I attended the first national gathering of the American Choral Directors since 2019. I had some incredible experiences, saw incredible choirs, heard wonderful and challenging thoughts presented in PD sessions. In this episode, I will recap my highlights, as well as presenting the highlights of some conference attendees that I interviewed during my takeover of the KI Concerts booth. And of course, as you would expect on the Choralosophy Podcast, I will philosophize a bit about the ideas that heard as well as the MANY conversations that I heard from “people on the street” during the convention. I asked them questions about their convention highlights as well as going back into their rehearsals inspired during a time when “burnout” is high.
You will also hear me reflect on the roll this show serves in the landscape of choral thought development and practices based on these conversations in person with listeners. It was a fantastic convention, and I am excited to share thoughts with you from many colleagues that you won’t hear anywhere else. Special thanks to Connor Doran, Maria Ellis, Johnny Edwards, Raymund Ocampo, Chris Brush, Alan Denney and Jeff Moshur for being brave and sitting down in the hot seat!
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
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From the very beginning of our species, musical communication has been a key component of prosocial, cooperative behaviors, acting as a counterweight to the other, newly evolved human communication system—language. It is about why music continues to be an essential part of human cognitive well-being in the twenty-first century.
In this episode, I am excited to once again, go OUTSIDE of the music education sphere to seek some important and relevant expertise. I invited neuroscientist Dr. Alan Harvey on to give a different perspective on how music and language interact with human evolution. He is well known for a wonderful TED Talk on music and the brain, well as for writing a fascinating book on the evolution of music in the species. (Linked below.) I was fascinated listening to Dr. Harvey lay out the reasons humans may have developed music as a necessary evolutionary adaptation, from a common precursor of our spoken language as well as a way to stimulate the production of oxytocin and much more. “We needed another communication system whose primary role was to bring us together in groups. To drive altruism, cooperation, social interaction, and cooperation. That is why music and dance evolved in parallel with spoken language.”
Born in London, UK. BA and MA from the University of Cambridge, PhD in visual neurophysiology from the Australian National University, Canberra. After time in the USA and at Flinders University in Adelaide, Alan Harvey came to UWA in 1984. He was promoted to Professor in 2001 and in 2016 became an Emeritus Professor. He was for a number of years a member of the WA Reproductive Technology Council, a Board member of the Neurological Council of WA, and a Board Member of the Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science. He was Chair of the Perron Scientific Advisory Committee. He has also been a Board Member of the The University Club of Western Australia, and the Perth Symphonic Chorus.
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Research interests
Continued studies on the use of gene therapy, transplantation and other bioengineering technologies in CNS repair, with increasing focus on spinal cord. Harvey has ongoing collaborations with Dr Stuart Hodgetts, Dr Jenny Rodger, Dr Dave Nisbett, Dr Vince Wallace, and Dr A Akari.
Publication by Oxford University Press in 2017 of his book: “Music, Evolution and the Harmony of Souls”, combines Harvey’s neuroscience and music interests. Increasingly working with colleagues on neuroscience/music related topics.
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This presentation is the second part, or “why” sequel to Episode 135. In that episode, I lay out processes and procedures to build independent literacy skills in a beginning choir. In this presentation, I expanded into the moral and scientific case for centering literacy in our curricula, as well as support for my contention that there are neurologically correct and incorrect ways to teach the reading of ANY language.
Music is a language, just like any other in a really important sense. “Music reading is a complex process involving at least two distinct skills: the reading skill and the mechanical skill (Wolf 1976). From a cognitive perspective, music reading requires several simultaneous processes including coding of visual information, motor responses and visual-motor integration.” -Gudmunsdottir, 2010
Fluent Music Literacy is VERY rare in education in the Western World. I believe this has two main causes. Many vocal and general music teachers don’t believe that it is a crucial part of the curriculum. Many who DO see it as crucial are not empowered with the best possible systems, processes and skills. Video Recommended! The slides are available on Patreon.
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
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
This week, welcome BACK to the show Dr. Marques Garrett, who last appeared in episode 17, “Beyond Elijah Rock,” where many of us were introduced to the concept of “non-idiomatic” music of Black composers. In this episode, part of the “Oxford Series,” Marques returns to celebrate his latest contribution to the growing canon of music by Black composers from around the world. Just last week, Oxford Press published his Anthology, “The Oxford Book of Choral Music by Black Composers.” Tune in to hear us pick up where that conversation left off by discussing the importance of a term like “non-idiomatic” in teaching people that Black musicians cannot be accurate boxed in to genres like spirituals, jazz and gospel.
In addition to discussing the genesis of this project and its contents, we also have a candid conversation LIVE in my home studio about the state of progress in incorporating music of non-white composers into the expanded canon, the danger of possible overcorrection that comes from our continued struggle with terminology that conflates concepts of race with culture, language and nationality, and the growing and profound legacy in choral music of HBCU alumni and much more. Don’t miss it. Video recommended!
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A Virginia native, Marques L. A. Garrett is an Assistant Professor of Music in Choral Activities at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Glenn Korff School of Music. His responsibilities include conducting the auditioned Chamber Singers and non-auditioned University Chorale (soprano-alto) as well as teaching graduate choral literature. Before earning his PhD in Music Education (Choral Conducting) at Florida State University, he was the Director of Choral Activities at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, he holds an MM from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a BA from Hampton University.
An active conductor, Dr. Garrett is the artistic director of the Omaha Symphonic Chorus and founding conductor of the Nebraska Festival Singers. He serves as a guest conductor or clinician with school, church, community, and festival/honor choirs throughout the country. In addition to his conducting classes at UNL, he leads conducting workshops at other universities and conferences. His formal conducting studies were with Dr. André J. Thomas, Dr. Carole J. Ott, Dr. Carl G. Harris, Jr., and Mr. Royzell Dillard.
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!
A versatile voice that performs both as a baritone and countertenor, Dr. Garrett has sung with several community, church, and university groups as both a chorister and soloist. He was the baritone soloist for the Germantown Concert Chorus’s performance of Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis. His premiere as a countertenor in Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo served as the work’s European premiere in Limerick, Ireland. Additionally, he performed the role of Lil Lud in Bernstein’s White House Cantata with the Tallahassee Community Chorus. Currently, he sings with First-Plymouth Congregational Church, Festival Singers of Florida, and the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers.
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Dr. Garrett is an avid composer of choral and solo-vocal music whose compositions have been performed to acclaim by high school all-state, collegiate, and professional choirs including Seraphic Fire and the Oakwood University Aeolians. His music is available through more than ten publishers. He has been commissioned by organizations such as Harvard University and Westminster Choir College. Among his latest commissions is his largest work to date, Dreamland: Tulsa 1921. This collaborative work with librettist Sandra Seaton for tenor-bass chorus, soloists, and chamber orchestra was commissioned by the Turtle Creek Chorale to tell the story of the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
As a researcher, his most advantageous topic is the non-idiomatic choral music of Black composers. His lectures at state and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association and at other local and national venues afford him the opportunity to showcase this underrepresented area of music. He serves as co-editor of the “Out from the Shadows” Series with Gentry Publications.
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
Dr. Garrett holds membership in the American Choral Directors Association; American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers; National Association of Negro Musicians; National Collegiate Choral Organization; and Pi Kappa Lambda. For more information, visit http://www.mlagmusic.com.
Last week I had the incredible honor to headline at CMEA in Colorado Springs. I was able to introduce the A Cappella rehearsal (no piano played while singing, and without hearing the piece first.) This is the first part of my concept that I proposed for my rejected National ACDA session. So I did it here, and want to share it with you all! I had a blast giving this presentation and met an audience brimming with questions. You will see the beginning of the 9th grade year to the end, and then a fast forward to the first day of school in an advanced choir. I will take you through the concepts, the step by step process and what to watch for when implementing this type of literacy system. I hope you find it helpful, or at least thought provoking. As always, you may need to tweak these ideas to make them work for you! Don’t forget to head over to Choralosophers FB page to discuss!
The FIRST OF TWO parts! YouTube version highly recommended!
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YouTube Recommended!
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
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!
When you perform, it’s your job to go out there and save a life.
Deke Sharon
This week, I welcome the “Father of Contemporary A Cappella,” Deke Sharon onto the show. We discuss the origins of the modern “A Cappella” genre as well as the “family tree” of other types of A Cappella vocal music genres and their crucial connections with each other. We also get to hear the story of how the actors in Pitch Perfect learned to sing from scratch in a month! We covered the importance of commercial viability in our art forms as well as the incredible power of group music making to heal political divides, and encourage cooperation. Deke is a compelling story teller, so I KNOW you will want to listen to the end!
Born and still living in San Francisco, California, Deke Sharon has been performing professionally since the age of 8. As a child he toured North America and shared the stage performing in operas with the likes of Pavarotti. Heralded as “The Father of Contemporary A Cappella” this performer, arranger, music producer, author, producer and coach is credited by many as being responsible for the current sound of modern a cappella. While at college, he pioneered the dense vocal-instrumental sound that we today take for granted as the sound of contemporary a cappella.
Deke founded the Contemporary A Cappella Society while in college, and is responsible for creating many seminal a cappella programs, including the CARAs (Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards), the ICCAs (International Championship of College A Cappella), the BOCAs (Best of College A Cappella Compilations), the first contemporary a cappella conference (the A Cappella Summit), the Contemporary A Cappella League, several professional ensembles including DCappella, as well as the educational residential program Camp A Cappella. He’s a frequent emcee at events, and gives corporate speeches on business lessons from vocal harmony to companies like Google and Facebook.
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!
As the founder, director and arranger for the House Jacks for almost 25 years, the original “Rock Band Without Instruments,” Deke shared the stage around the world with countless music legends, including Ray Charles, James Brown, Crosby Stills and Nash, Run DMC, The Temptations, LL Cool J and the Four Tops, and even a performance of the “Monday Night Football Theme” with Hank Williams Jr. in 2011. He is also the vocal orchestrator for and a producer of the Broadway’s first a cappella musical: In Transit (2016), as well as the opening number of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Unmasked (2019).
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
Deke has produced dozens of award winning a cappella albums (including Straight No Chaser, Committed, Nota, Street Corner Symphony and the Tufts Beelzebubs), created a cappella groups for Disneyland and Disneyworld, and frequently tours the world teaching a variety of topics to students and professional singers. His voice can be heard in commercials and video games, including “Just Dance Kids 2.” He is one of only 20 honorary members of the Barbershop Harmony Society since 1938, as well as an honorary member of BYU Vocal Point, and has received CASA’s lifetime achievement award in 2016 and the PT Barnum Award for Excellence from Tufts University in 2017.
Deke has also helped popularize a cappella in the mainstream. He vocally produced five seasons of The Sing Off for NBC in the US as well as international versions in the Netherlands, South Africa and China, and served as music director for Disney+ Best in Snow. He was arranger, on-site music director and vocal producer for all three of Universal’s hit films in the Pitch Perfect franchise. He was featured on camera in Lifetime Television’s Pitch Slapped, coaching the group Stay Tuned and on BBC1’s Pitch Battle as music director and guest judge. 2022 saw him working on two television shows: “Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin” (Peacock) and “Best in Snow” (Disney+).
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
“Whoever is doing the talking is doing the learning.”
Jen York-Barr
In this special car thoughts I will not only DESCRIBE how I use sectionals in rehearsal, I will show you! (Video recommended) I am a big believer in student ownership, and there are few better ways to accomplish this than building a culture of student led sectional work at all levels of choir. EVEN young singers can learn to work independently! Join me as a drive while describing the progression from a beginner’s first introduction to sectionals all the way to the point where they don’t need me anymore.
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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!
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
Is student teaching a “class?” or a “job?” Does this practice need a revamp in the face of the current teacher shortage? In this episode, I invited Tina Beveridge on to hash out a disagreement. A few months ago, I created a TikTok expressing my opinion that student teachers don’t “deserve” a paycheck. Mostly based on the idea that student teaching is a class, and a crucial final course in the training of teachers. Turning it into a job could potentially create a perverse incentive structure for entering the profession. Dr. Beveridge disagrees and responded with this blog by saying, “First, the internship is not a “class.” Yes, it’s credits they have to register and pay for, and in that respect it’s a “class” but it’s not a class in the respect that we expect them to go in knowing nothing. In fact, we expect them to go in and actually be able to do the full job.”
In keeping with the spirit and ethos of this show, I invited Tina on to discuss because a conversation is MUCH more productive than social media posts. The resulting conversation is proof of that. When the episode is done, please weigh in your thoughts in the comments!
Dr. Beveridge is an Assistant Professor of Music Education at George Mason University. Before entering higher education, Dr. Beveridge spent 17 years teaching music in K-12 public schools and community colleges, and her research on policy, equity and access in music education has been published in Update: Applications of Research in Music Education as well as Arts Education Policy Review.
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
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!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Resources Cited in the Episode
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Michigan Future Teacher Fund —you will also see they have proposed legislation to pay mentor teachers (through block grants to districts) to host student teachers, and that there are requirements for how interns can use the money (1 semester tuition at a state university in Michigan is about $7000, the stipend can be up to $9600).
The Elpus and Abril 2019 study —this is free to view for anyone who is a NAfME member (you have to log in to NAfME and then click on the link, the full article should pop up. The statistic I referenced (African American students being less likely to enroll in music as achievement goes up) is “Predictive Margins of Race” just above the discussion section.
Dr. Beveridge wants to issue a correction: In Virginia, student teachers need 300 TOTAL hours. 150 need to be independent teaching.
Is it possible that the over-politicization of classroom education could be contributing in some way to the epidemic of mental health problems amongst teens and young adults? Clinical Psychologist, and child of Egyptian immigrants, Christine Sefein thinks we should not ignore this possibility. The modern vogue for activism that kids are learning focuses on the “systemic,” and actually valorizes victimhood. We are framing things for them within a problematic oppressor vs. oppressed framework. To a young person, when confronted with ideas that present a “really big, really bad” world, these problems can seem so big that they are powerless to confront them. This perpetual victim/hero complex could be leading to nihilism and hopelessness in a generation of students. Christine and I share a candid conversation about the basic principals of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that are being ignored or even contradicted in education. We discuss building gratitude cultures, the value of anxiety, and understanding the importance of “exposure therapy” when facing even the horror of performance anxiety!
Christine Sefein, LMFT(Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist), specialises in grief and trauma work and has held positions such as Clinical Director of OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center and Clinical Supervisor of the Interpersonal Violence programs at California Lutheran University. She has worked most extensively with grieving adults and children in a variety of communities and settings including dual-diagnoses residential facilities, intensive outpatient treatment, homeless shelters and in private practice. Christine was a full time Teaching Faculty in the Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology program at Antioch University Los Angeles until 2021. She currently works as a diversity training consultant, public speaker, parental rights advocate in K-12 education.
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!
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
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
2022 was an exciting year on this show! The first solid year of weekly episodes, a wide range of topics. (Only ONE Covid episode, thank God.) We saw lots of growth in the audience, exciting LIVE recordings, and so much more. In this episode, I have curated some of my favorite moments from YOUR 10 favorite episodes:
Each episode is linked below so that you can find each in their fullness.
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
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!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
In part two of my conversation with ACDA Executive Director Robyn Hilger, we pick up right where we left off last week in Episode 130. I begin by asking Robyn about the ACDA national conventions session line up. We discuss what is there, and what is missing. We move from there into a deep discussion of ACDA’s Diversity Initiatives and how we would measure success or progress. At what point does the intersectionality of our diverse membership simply become “unique individuals” with unique wants and needs? How does a large membership organization respond to this challenge? For example, a recent region conference had all male conductors on the slate. What no one knows is whether or not we had a diverse pool to choose from. This matters because you have to understand the problems in order to solve them.
We discuss this, and the idea that I call “Trickle Down Social Justice.” Are we focused on composers on the program or who conducts at conventions? Or are we focused on the lack of equity in music training of fourth graders? Could this be bias toward what is visible?
There have been times in our history where the opinion of the Executive has really set the trajectory. My job as the executive is to activate the membership. ACDA is not Robyn Hilger. That would be a mistake.
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Robyn Hilger is beginning her second year as executive director of the American Choral Directors Association. A native Oklahoman, Hilger is a classically trained clarinetist. She graduated with high honors in 1999 from Oklahoma City University with a bachelor’s degree in instrumental music education. She earned her master’s degree in school administration from the University of Central Oklahoma and is currently pursuing her doctorate of education in administration and leadership at Southern Nazarene University. She is a National Board-Certified Teacher in early adolescence/young adult music with specialization in band.
The overarching theme of her work is meeting the identified needs of historically marginalized and under-resourced communities. Robyn began her career as the band and strings teacher at Belle Isle Enterprise Middle School, in Oklahoma’s largest urban school district, where she created the fine arts department. In 2006, she was recognized as Oklahoma’s State Teacher of the Year and she served as Oklahoma’s Ambassador of Teaching, traveling more than 20,000 miles delivering some 200 workshops and speeches focused on teaching, advocacy, and education policy.
In 2007, she joined the staff of the Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools as the chief programs officer. In 2013, she supported the launch of El Sistema Oklahoma as a volunteer. In 2014, she was asked to join the organization as the executive director. El Sistema Oklahoma facilitates the development of empowered youth who use music to make strong positive change in their lives, their communities, and the world. El Sistema Oklahoma operates every day after-school and is completely free for participating families.
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
In 2017, she was named New Fundraiser of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Oklahoma City Chapter. Robyn also serves on the advisory board for the Oklahoma Youth Orchestras and is a board member for Oklahoma Youth Sing! (formerly known as the Norman Children’s Chorus).
Robyn is a connector of people, organizations, and opportunities. She lives in Oklahoma City with her husband Stephen and their three cats.
To get in touch with Robyn, you can add her on Facebook (@robynhilger or @robynhilgeracda) or email her at executivedirector@acda.org.
The American Choral Directors Association is the largest organization of choral musicians in the world. ACDA sets the tone and direction of choral music in the US and has a major impact on the global choral music community as well. The newly appointed Executive Director of the organization, Robyn Hilger seeks to usher in a new era for the organization, hopefully leading to a bright future for Choral Music. It is my belief that the needs of the community of choral musicians have changed since ACDA’s founding. I also believe that ACDA has a bully pulpit in communicating about and advocating for the direction of the profession. This makes their decisions intimately woven into the lives and livelihoods of their members. In this episode AND the next one, you will hear me discuss the past present and future of choral music in America and how ACDA will help to shape it. I drove all the way from KC to OKC to record in person, which I think was very helpful.
In the first part of this two part interview, we discuss the “purpose” or “reason for being of ACDA,” how changes are made, how conventions are planned, and the importance of member engagement and feedback and much more.
Robyn Hilger is beginning her second year as executive director of the American Choral Directors Association. A native Oklahoman, Hilger is a classically trained clarinetist. She graduated with high honors in 1999 from Oklahoma City University with a bachelor’s degree in instrumental music education. She earned her master’s degree in school administration from the University of Central Oklahoma and is currently pursuing her doctorate of education in administration and leadership at Southern Nazarene University. She is a National Board-Certified Teacher in early adolescence/young adult music with specialization in band.
The overarching theme of her work is meeting the identified needs of historically marginalized and under-resourced communities. Robyn began her career as the band and strings teacher at Belle Isle Enterprise Middle School, in Oklahoma’s largest urban school district, where she created the fine arts department. In 2006, she was recognized as Oklahoma’s State Teacher of the Year and she served as Oklahoma’s Ambassador of Teaching, traveling more than 20,000 miles delivering some 200 workshops and speeches focused on teaching, advocacy, and education policy.
In 2007, she joined the staff of the Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools as the chief programs officer. In 2013, she supported the launch of El Sistema Oklahoma as a volunteer. In 2014, she was asked to join the organization as the executive director. El Sistema Oklahoma facilitates the development of empowered youth who use music to make strong positive change in their lives, their communities, and the world. El Sistema Oklahoma operates every day after-school and is completely free for participating families.
In 2017, she was named New Fundraiser of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Oklahoma City Chapter. Robyn also serves on the advisory board for the Oklahoma Youth Orchestras and is a board member for Oklahoma Youth Sing! (formerly known as the Norman Children’s Chorus).
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
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Robyn is a connector of people, organizations, and opportunities. She lives in Oklahoma City with her husband Stephen and their three cats.
To get in touch with Robyn, you can add her on Facebook (@robynhilger or @robynhilgeracda) or email her at executivedirector@acda.org.
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
There is an often felt, but rarely quantified sense within ensemble music experiences that something truly MAGICAL is happening that changes us profoundly. However, recent scientific discoveries (link to sources below) are adding a more concrete validity to that which experienced musicians already intuitively know. Studies that reveal the physiological and psychological processes of cooperative effort, especially musical collaboration. The implications of these ideas are beginning to shape our very definition of “ensemble,” while providing new understandings of the benefits of group musical expression on the individual. Dr. Gary Seighman joins me to make some truly crucial observations about our art form and the human instrument.
“Presently, topics pertaining to musical perception and creativity are highly popular in neuroscience research. A major development in the field was the proposing of a human mirror neuron system. After the discovery in rhesus monkeys of “mirror neurons” that fire during both action and observation of motor behavior, scientists detected a similar working system in the fronto-parietal region of humans.” -From Gary’s related Choral Journal Article
Gary Seighman is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX where he oversees a comprehensive choral program and teaches courses in conducting and music education. Under his direction, Trinity’s choral ensembles have garnered regional and national accolades with invited performances at conferences including TMEA, the College Music Society, the National Collegiate Choral Organization, frequent international touring, and most recently, 3rd place for the 2022 The American Prize Competition as the smallest university in the country among the finalists. Recent professional engagements include Nashville, New York City, Taipei, Vienna, London, and Dublin. Dr. Seighman holds degrees from Westminster Choir College, the University of Oklahoma, and the University of Maryland. His wife, Dr. Jennifer Seighman, is also a choral conductor and they have 2 children, Justin and Gabrielle.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
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
One of the oddest things about Vocal Music Education as a profession, is how little we are required to learn in our schooling about the voice. Vocal Pedagogy courses are often the purview of voice performance majors, which is very odd considering how many more students will be impacted with vocal instruction by a person with a Music Ed degree. It is also odd considering that in many schools, vocal instruction is a key component of our course descriptions. Despite this seemingly obvious academic connection, a startlingly low number of music educators have taken any Vocal Ped, very little Voice Science is presented at conventions, and myths and misinformation litter the landscape of discussions and instruction about how the voice works. Dr. Sharon Hansen joins me to discuss this issue candidly, as well as a recounting of her battle getting ACDA to include the “On the Voice” column in the Choral Journal. You will be amazed to hear some of the reasons she was given for NOT including Vocal information in a Choral journal. An important episode that no one should miss.
Dr. Sharon A. Hansen is Professor and Director of Choral Studies, Emerita, at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee. Widely known as a conductor and master teacher throughout the United States and in Europe, Hansen has conducted the Romanian National Radio Choir (Bucharest), the Gächinger Kantorei and Bach Collegium-Stuttgart (Germany), the Stockholm (Sweden) Conservatory Chamber Choir, the Moldavian and Oltenian Philharmonic Choirs (Iasì and Craiova, Romania), and the University of Regensburg (Germany) Symphony Orchestra. Ensembles under Hansen’s direction have appeared at state, regional, and national ACDA and NAfME Conferences, and she has served as guest conductor and clinician with all-state, all-regional, and select honor choirs in more than forty states.
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Hansen is the Founder and Music Director Emerita of the Milwaukee Choral Artists, a professional women’s vocal ensemble that left a legacy of some fifty commissioned, premiered, and published new works for treble voices. Hansen authored Helmuth Rilling: Conductor – Teacher, the definitive book on renowned conductor Helmuth Rilling, when she spent sixteen months in Germany singing with Rilling and the Gächinger Chorale. As contributing author for the 2009 book Wisdom, Wit, and Will: Women Choral Conductors on their Art, Hansen’s detailed chapter on the status of collegiate women choral conductors, “Women, Conductors, and the Tenure Process: What’s Up in the Academy?”, was the first such in-depth examination since 1988. She served as a member of the Editorial Board of the American Choral Directors’ Association’s Choral Journal from 1993–2018, where she was Founder and Editor Emerita of the Choral Journal article series “On the Voice,” which she curated for eighteen years. Because of her long-time passion for voice and choral music, she examined the history of voice education in the choral classroom in ACDA’s first 50 years, which is Monograph #18 in ACDA’s monograph series.
Hansen received the Wisconsin Choral Directors Association’s Morris D. Hayes Award, the Milwaukee Civic Music Association’s Excellence in Choral Music Award, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s highest meritorious honors for outstanding contributions to the choral art. Prior to her twenty years in Wisconsin, Hansen was Professor of Choral Music at the University of Northern Iowa, and a vocal music teacher in the public schools near Omaha, Nebraska. Now calling Arizona her home, she recently served as lead writer on the Hal Leonard–McGraw-Hill choral textbook series Voices in Concert, and as full-time Interim Director of Music and Arts at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale. Presently, she serves on the Board of Directors for the Arizona Chapter of the American Choral Directors’ Association, and is the Chorus Conductor for the Arizona Musicfest Symphony Orchestra.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
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
The Music Department is an alternate universe where pupils are often unrecognizable from who they are outside of it. The shy become confident. The agitated become calm. The lonely become included. The quiet become heard. And the lost become found. Music reveals the real child.
Vaughan Fleischfresser
You probably recognize this colleague just by looking at him due to his MASSIVE quantity of viral music education memes. I kept seeing them in my feed on a daily basis and have shared many myself. What I found intriguing was the talent he seems to have in the ability to distill ideas and present them in away that is both thorough AND concise. Ideas that the world NEEDS to hear about music education and its importance. In this episode, we learn about Vaughan, his professional life as an educator in the UK and Australia, and his approach to music education advocacy. You will NOT want to miss this conversation that is sure to have you excited about the future of music ed.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
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
Originally from Australia and now residing in Scotland, Vaughan has a broad range of teaching experience, ranging from Primary through to University level, Instrumental through to Community Music, and everywhere in between. Vaughan studied both Music and Education at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane (Australia), where he studied under Dr Ralph Hultgren. This was then followed by a Master of Music Education, majoring in Instrumental and Vocal Education, at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago (USA), where he studied under Dr Charles Menghini and Dr Robert Sinclair. He has worked extensively throughout Australia, Scotland, and North America, in positions such as Teacher of Music, Director of Bands, and Teaching Fellow of Music Education. Vaughan currently teaches music at the Edinburgh Academy in Scotland, having most recently been the Teaching Fellow of Music Education and the University of Edinburgh. In addition to this, he is the Conductor of the Peebles Concert Band and works extensively with Community Music groups throughout Scotland. Away from the classroom and podium, Vaughan is in demand as a clinician, adjudicator, composer, and educational speaker, having spoken at conferences in Scotland, England, South Africa, and Canada.
Humans aren’t capable of completely original ideas. Everything is borrowed.
This week, meet international star composer, Christopher Tin. In the choral world, we met Christopher with his blockbuster Baba Yetu, and has not slowed down since. He recently completed a project with Voces8 called “Lost Birds,” and has exciting projects coming up. In this conversation, we discuss the process of creating music for video games, versus concert performance, as well as our ideas of “cultural identity” and the way we blend cultures when music travels around the globe and through time. Christopher has a very cohesive way of describing this and how it formed his own “musical culture.” Tune in and expand your vocabulary!
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Christopher Tin is a two-time Grammy-winning composer of concert and media music. Time Magazine calls his music ‘rousing’ and ‘anthemic’, while The Guardian calls it ‘joyful’ and ‘an intelligent meeting of melody and theme’. His music has been performed and premiered in many of the world’s most prestigious venues: Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Hollywood Bowl, the United Nations, and Carnegie Hall, where he had an entire concert devoted to his music. He has also been performed by ensembles diverse as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Metropole Orkest, and US Air Force Band.
His song “Baba Yetu”, originally written for the video game Civilization IV, is a modern choral standard, and the first piece of music written for a video game ever to win a Grammy Award. His debut album, the multi-lingual song cycle Calling All Dawns, won him a second Grammy in 2011 for Best Classical Crossover Album, and his follow-up release The Drop That Contained the Sea debuted at #1 on Billboard’s classical charts, and premiered to a sold-out audience at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium. His third album To Shiver the Sky also debuted at #1, and was funded by a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign that raised $221,415, smashing all previous classical music crowdfunding records. His fourth album, The Lost Birds, is a collaboration with acclaimed British vocal ensemble VOCES8, and will be released September 2022 on Decca Classics.
Tin is signed to an exclusive record deal with Universal under their legendary Decca label, published by Concord and Boosey & Hawkes, and is a Yamaha artist. He works out of his own custom-built studio in Santa Monica, CA.
Our jobs as music educators, sadly, MUST include the ability to persuasively and passionately make the case in our communities that group singing opportunities are crucial. That includes keeping choirs in our churches and in our schools and community organizations. It includes having conversations with local leaders, fundraising and more. But, what makes or breaks those conversations is OUR ability to make that case air tight. Tom Metzger joins me to brainstorm and think through what happens in society when we have LESS people singing, and how we can explain it to people in more effective ways. Tom draws on his perspective as a computer scientist and choral singing enthusiast who works with choral organizations behind the scenes with the “business” side of choir. Tune in for this conversation, and TOOL UP for the Advocacy fight, because it never ends.
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
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
So, what happens when you post a video on the internet from inside your classroom and it goes viral with millions and millions of views?! It’s up to you! This happened Myles Finn and he decided to use his powers for good, creating a TikTok account with approaching SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND followers that shows life inside a high school choir room as well as a treasure trove of great instructional ideas for those of us in the profession. But, perhaps the most valuable thing is the fact that thousands of people outside of our choir bubble are being exposed to our world. This is “advocacy” in the 21st Century in its purest form. Tune in as Myles and I talk about his instructional philosophy, his warm ups, teacher burnout, and how the internet fame has changed the dynamics in his classroom.
Myles is in his fifth year as choral director at Indianola High School, in Indianola, Iowa. He is the director of The Indianola Singers, The Apollo Chorus, and Cantare. He also co-directs Indianola’s Varsity Show Choir, Side One and directs the JV Show Choir, Flip Side. He and his wife are the directors of musicals at Indianola High School.
He is most known for his TikTok videos going Viral at the start of the 2022 school year. Amassing over 120 Million views in total, his videos have seemed to spark a love for choral music, musical theatre, and goofy choir teachers.
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
Myles received his Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University, and his Bachelor’s from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. He directly relates his success within his classroom with his work at Michigan State, his work with Dr. Lee Nelson at Wartburg College, and his passionate high school choir director, Duane Philgreen.
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
Myles is a loving father and husband. He and his wife, choreographer and school counselor Haley (Rudd) Finn live in Indianola and they are proud parents to a beautiful son, Rory Lee Allen Finn. They also have three fur children, Nala, Watson, and Arlo. Follow Arlo on Instagram @arlo_seamus.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
So, what happens when you post a video on the internet from inside your classroom and it goes viral with millions and millions of views?! It’s up to you! This happened Myles Finn and he decided to use his powers for good, creating a TikTok account with approaching SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND followers that shows life inside a high school choir room as well as a treasure trove of great instructional ideas for those of us in the profession. But, perhaps the most valuable thing is the fact that thousands of people outside of our choir bubble are being exposed to our world. This is “advocacy” in the 21st Century in its purest form. Tune in as Myles and I talk about his instructional philosophy, his warm ups, teacher burnout, and how the internet fame has changed the dynamics in his classroom.
Myles is in his fifth year as choral director at Indianola High School, in Indianola, Iowa. He is the director of The Indianola Singers, The Apollo Chorus, and Cantare. He also co-directs Indianola’s Varsity Show Choir, Side One and directs the JV Show Choir, Flip Side. He and his wife are the directors of musicals at Indianola High School.
He is most known for his TikTok videos going Viral at the start of the 2022 school year. Amassing over 120 Million views in total, his videos have seemed to spark a love for choral music, musical theatre, and goofy choir teachers.
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
Myles received his Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University, and his Bachelor’s from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. He directly relates his success within his classroom with his work at Michigan State, his work with Dr. Lee Nelson at Wartburg College, and his passionate high school choir director, Duane Philgreen.
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
Myles is a loving father and husband. He and his wife, choreographer and school counselor Haley (Rudd) Finn live in Indianola and they are proud parents to a beautiful son, Rory Lee Allen Finn. They also have three fur children, Nala, Watson, and Arlo. Follow Arlo on Instagram @arlo_seamus.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Obvious: All humans need to feel connected and have a sense of belonging. Less obvious: Teacher’s have less power to actually achieve this with all students than we think. We can WELCOME all students. But belonging has to be mutual and organic.
Hot take: not ALL students need this from their school or ALL of their teachers. It is our teacher ego that tells us that they do.
Episode 123
MANY kids do need this. But not all. Some have this need met at home, or at church or on a club sports team or community theater or music group. Sounds like the ideal system to me. We all need similar things, but the way we meet these needs must remain flexible and free.
The one thing ALL students need when they come to school is to learn the content to proficiency, or to their potential etc.
I think of “belonging at school,” or in my class as a buffet item. It is all you can eat and available to ALL. But if you want only a small portion, or none (in my case, if you ONLY want the music) then I respect that.
Edit/addendum: belonging cannot occur unidirectionally. It must be reciprocal. And in case anyone is picturing those cheap nasty buffets with no customer service, think instead of the bougie kind where the waiters are always walking around with sampler trays encouraging you to try things. This is no Pizza Street. This is Fogo de Chao. Also, I love my students, even the ones that take a small plate. I just offer more tomorrow.
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Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
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
On this episode you will get to listen in to a portion of an episode I recently recorded for the Contraband Wagon. Contraband is a podcast that hosts exclusively conversations about race and racism. Will Fullwood, the host of the show invited me on to share some the experiences that I have had in conversations with colleagues who may be “missing the point” when they try to connect certain types of music and certain musical practices to a skin color, or the social construct that is “race.” One of those topics of course, is music literacy. Is “centering literacy” akin to “centering whiteness? or “white supremacy.” I say no, but Will and I discuss what those terms mean. We also explore the examples of Opera and its history of exclusion and racism, while ALSO remembering that it is not a “white” art form. Will’s own background as a classical and jazz musician who ALSO spends hours a week discussing race and racism make this an interesting and insightful conversation.
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I try to give people grace in this space because so many people are new to it.
“Contraband”
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This episode is a special first on the show. I have never gone ON LOCATION to meet an entire ensemble for a conversation before, and let me tell you… it was worth the gear haul to Lawrence, KS! GRAMMY Award winning ensemble, Chanticleer was at the Lied Center of Kansas for a performance and Master Class at KU, and was able to squeeze in some time for YOU the Choralosophy Audience. The twelve men of Chanticleer and I had a fast paced round table discussion about what it’s like to be at the Choral music mountaintop in the ensemble, about the vocal gymnastics of counter tenors, the unique space that the group occupies somewhere between “choir” and “chamber ensemble” as well as their thoughts about what it takes to create truly MAGICAL performances and moments in music making.
The GRAMMY® Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer has been hailed as “the world’s reigning male chorus” by The New Yorker, and is known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for its wide-ranging repertoire and dazzling virtuosity. Founded in San Francisco in 1978 by singer and musicologist Louis Botto, Chanticleer quickly took its place as one of the most prolific recording and touring ensembles in the world, selling over one million recordings and performing thousands of live concerts to audiences around the world.
YouTube Version
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Chanticleer’s repertoire is rooted in the renaissance, and has continued to expand to include a wide range of classical, gospel, jazz, popular music, and a deep commitment to the commissioning of new compositions and arrangements. The ensemble has committed much of its vast recording catalogue to these commissions, garnering GRAMMY® Awards for its recording of Sir John Tavener’s “Lamentations & Praises”, and the ambitious collection of commissioned works entitled “Colors of Love”. Chanticleer is the recipient of the Dale Warland/Chorus America Commissioning Award and the ASCAP/Chorus AmericaAward for Adventurous Programming, and its Music Director Emeritus Joseph H. Jennings received the Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award for his contribution to the African-American choral tradition during his tenure with Chanticleer.
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
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Named for the “clear-singing” rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chanticleer continues to maintain ambitious programming in its hometown of San Francisco, including a large education and outreach program that recently reached over 8,000 people, and an annual concert series that includes its legendary holiday tradition “A Chanticleer Christmas”.
In this episode, filmed in front of a “live studio audience” in the form of my students, I have the opportunity to sit down with one of our generations finest compositional voices, Jake Runestad. With the help of my students, we have a spirited conversation about the value and genesis of creativity, the special nature of the human voice as an instrument, the central importance of text in choral music as well as Jake’s advice for the next generations of composers and performers. The kids even through some surprise questions in there! I have enjoyed getting to know Jake over the last few years, and I know you will be just as impressed with the PERSON behind the music as I am.
Jake Runestad is an award-winning and frequently-performed composer of “highly imaginative” (Baltimore Sun) and “stirring and uplifting” (Miami Herald) musical works. He has received commissions and performances from leading ensembles and organizations such as Washington National Opera, VOCES8, the Swedish Radio Symphony, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Seraphic Fire, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philippine Madrigal Singers, and more. “The Hope of Loving,” the first album of Jake’s music, recorded by Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare, received a 2020 GRAMMY® award nomination, and Jake’s ground-breaking choral symphony “Earth Symphony” garnered a 2022 EMMY® award nomination. Jake’s visceral music and charismatic personality have fostered a busy schedule of commissions, residencies, workshops, and speaking engagements, enabling him to be one of the youngest full-time composers in the world. Considered “one of the best of the younger American composers” (Chicago Tribune), Jake Runestad holds a Master’s degree in composition from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts, in addition to formative mentoring from acclaimed composer Libby Larsen. A native of Rockford, IL, Mr. Runestad is currently based in Minneapolis, MN. Find out more at: JakeRunestad.com
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
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Visit stageright.com for top of the line, affordable staging options like risers, acoustical shells and more!
In this episode I sit down with THE Middle School choir guru, Dale Duncan to talk about sweet spot for success in Middle School vocal music. Middle School Singers are often overlooked and underestimated. What they need is an educator that believes in them, and provides high quality instruction in a school that supports them. We talk about the balance between high expectations, trust building, pitch matching in puberty, motivation of middle schoolers, connection and belonging and how they all serve each other. Dale also shares a bit about what it is like to be retired, his favorite things about teaching Middle School as well as talks through some of its greatest challenges. We ranged a bit into other areas too like pre and post pandemic choral music, and education and some of the changes we have seen, as well as why years 20-30 can be the “prime years” for teachers.
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
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
I have taught middle school students for well over 20 years. I currently teach over 340 un-auditioned choral students. I have up to 84 students in one class by myself. I could never have managed that as a young teacher, but along the way, I have learned several tips and tricks to help me successfully manage this age group of students in a positive learning environment.
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I started my career in North Carolina where I taught for 5 years. In the beginning, I struggled enormously with classroom management. My middle school students totally “ran over me”. I was unstructured, inconsistent and ineffective. I was discouraged and felt like a total failure. I felt alone. I thought often about quitting teaching and doing something else. I was armed with a masters degree and absolutely no idea how to teach this age group.
I am not a quitter, so I kept going. I observed other teachers, and slowly began to figure a couple of things out that helped me hang in there.
I continued my career in New Jersey for the next 6 years. It was there that I saw an amazingly gifted choral educator who had created the most magnificent middle school choral program I had ever seen. She graciously allowed me to observe her teaching a few times, and that was when things began to click for me. I began to realize how to relate to and successfully teach this age group. That is when my programs began to grow exponentially.
On this episode Dr. Chantae Pittman joins me in the ongoing conversation surrounding the philosophy of choral music education. Why are we there? What is our function? Just how critical is it that students who complete a term or more in vocal music in school are able to reach some level of music reading proficiency. Dr. Pittman outlines her daily routine in the classroom and describes how literacy fits in for her in the classroom. I have a wonderful opportunity here to bounce my ideas off of an accomplished colleague. Tune in and hear how Chantae’s band background informs her current vocal education background, and more. This episode was fun for me because I learn a lot from speaking with colleagues each week. Tune in and share that benefit!
Dr. Chantae D. Pittman is the Director of Choral Activities at Campbell High School in Smyrna, GA in the Cobb County School District, and adjunct professor at Georgia College and State University. Dr. Pittman is passionate about all forms of music. She is a proud graduate of Tennessee State University having received her Bachelor of Science in Music Education in 2010. She has since earned a Master’s Degree in Music Education at VanderCook College University (Chicago, IL, 2013). In May 2021 Dr. Pittman graduated from The University of Georgia where she completed her Doctorate in Education with an emphasis in Choral Music Education. During her 13-year career in choral music education she has taught students from elementary through high school.
Due to that experience, and her demonstrated commitment to excellence in performance, she is highly respected as a choral clinician, music education consultant, instructor, grant writer, and adjudicator. She is very active as a soprano soloist and choral musician as a member of the Grammy award winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus since 2011, and the Atlanta Women’s Chorus since 2020. Having performed with orchestras, choirs, and small vocal ensembles throughout her career as a musician, Dr. Pittman proudly continues to learn, grow, and develop as a musician and pedagogue. She is a proud and active member of the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), National Educators Association (NEA), Georgia Association of Educators (GAE), Sigma Alpha Iota, Professional Music Fraternity, Inc., and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
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In this episode I have a chat with GRAMMY nominated conductor and composer, Benedict Sheehan of the St. Tikhon Monastery Choir. This passionate conversation begins with Benedict’s advocacy for people, like himself, who stutter. As you will hear, it is important that we remember that EVERYONE has something to say. We need only listen. We then discuss the ways the GRAMMY nominations changed his routine, his love of the Orthodox Church music tradition and how it has shaped his sound aesthetic. Finally, we approach the concept of the “composer’s voice,” and the importance of a frame of reference from which to approach the music. Tune in to hear these items and more discussed on the Choralosophy Oxford series!
Two-time GRAMMY® nominee and American Prize-winner Benedict Sheehan has been called “a choral conductor and composer to watch in the 21st century” (ConcertoNet) and “a remarkable musician” (Choral Journal). He is Artistic Director and Founder of the Saint Tikhon Choir and Artefact Ensemble, and Director of Music at St. Tikhon’s Monastery and Seminary in Pennsylvania. His works are published by Oxford University Press and others, and his award-winning choral recordings and performances have received widespread critical acclaim.
Described as “an up-and-coming conductor” (The Oregonian), “a rising star in the choral world” (Catholic Sentinel), and as having “set the bar for Orthodox liturgical music in the English-speaking world” (Orthodox Arts Journal), composer and conductor Benedict Sheehan is Director of Music at St. Tikhon’s Seminary and Monastery in Pennsylvania, Artistic Director of professional vocal ensemble The Saint Tikhon Choir, and CEO and co-founder of the Artefact Institute, a collective of “culture creators.” Working closely with his wife Talia Maria Sheehan, a professional vocalist and visionary music educator, the Sheehans have become two of the most sought-after clinicians in Orthodox sacred music in America. Benedict has appeared frequently as a guest conductor with the professional vocal ensemble Cappella Romana, where his performances of Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil had one reviewer so “emotionally overwhelmed” that she was “attempting to hold back tears” (Oregon ArtsWatch). In 2018 he was instrumental in producing the monumental world premiere of Alexander Kastalsky’s Requiem for Fallen Brothers (1917) at the Washington National Cathedral. The project culminated in a 2020 Naxos recording on which Sheehan served as a Chorus Master and an Executive Producer. Benedict is in high demand as a composer. His works have been performed by the Grammy-nominated Skylark Vocal Ensemble, the Grammy-nominated PaTRAM Institute Singers, Cappella Romana, the William Jewell Choral Scholars, Te Deum, the Pacific Youth Choir, and many others. His new work Gabriel’s Message was recorded and released in 2020 by John Rutter, Bob Chilcott, and The Oxford Choir. Skylark’s recent recording Once Upon A Time (2020) features a “story score” by Benedict which has been called “evocative” (Gramophone), “quite extraordinary” (Limelight), “brilliant” (MetroWest Daily News), and “otherworldly” (Boston Musical Intelligencer). His music is published by Oxford University Press, Artefact Publications, Musica Russica, MusicSpoke, and St. Tikhon’s Monastery Press. Benedict lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and seven daughters.
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Is creating a welcoming, inclusive, fun, engaging and safe learning environment enough to be an excellent choir teacher? I say no. Is choir an activity or an academic course of study? You can get a PhD in it. It is an academic subject. In this episode, I “dialogue” with many of you who joined a fantastic collegial discussion about the soul and the future of our profession.
In a school setting, I actually think it is immoral to deprive students of a rich music literacy (reading) education, taught to proficiency.
Chris Munce
Me, “We need to teach literacy and vocal pedagogy as our core academic content. When kids feel confident in their abilities in these areas, they are more likely to enjoy choir long term and stick around. They are also more likely to feel like they belong because they know they can contribute.”
Straw man #1: “We need to obsess about sight reading, train little unfeeling machines who can read anything and have flawless techniques and sing like robots. It also does not matter if kids feel happy or like they belong in the class. If they aren’t good enough, we can just kick them out.” Y’all…Rigor and accessibility are NOT opposite sides of a coin.
Straw Man #2: “Those aren’t the only things that matter.” I didn’t say they were.
Straw Man #3: “But modern music notation is not used in all cultures, so by centering it in your curriculum, you are sending the signal that those cultures are inferior.” Well, you would have to be in my classroom to know that. And you aren’t. It is possible to make literacy a focal point, and have students still understand that it is one tool of many that are used to learn music.
And I haven’t even started talking about the neurological benefits yet… that’s where we get into moral imperative territory. In a school setting I think it’s actually immoral to deprive kids of this. I know…strong words…
It’s like youth sports. We could acknowledge that winning is more fun than losing. So it is important to teach kids to play the sport well so that they win more than they lose. It can be simultaneously true, that it’s not “all about winning“. There are other lessons to be learned by playing on a team. However, as the coach it would be ridiculous for me to say that the core part of my job is not teaching the fundamental skills of the game to beginning players. they learn the lessons of teamwork, and community etc. through learning the game, not separately.
Ep 116
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A Cappella guru Rob Dietz joins me this week to tell his story of passion for the “Pop A Cappella” genre of ensemble vocal music. Rob is well known in this sub-genre of choral music for his work on “The Sing Off” and collaborations with groups as wide ranging as Pentatonix, to Flo Rida and Incubus. In this conversation, we explore the common threads of “A Cappella” and “Traditional” choral ensembles as well as what makes the small pop vocal groups special to Rob and the genre’s growing number of practitioners. We also discuss how choral directors, like me and many others who are NOT well versed in this style can effectively begin to expose our students to this outlet. Tune in and stay at least for the beatboxing demo! 😉
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Rob Dietz is a multiple CARA winning singer and vocal percussionist who has been arranging, composing, teaching, and performing contemporary a cappella music for over twenty years. Based in Los Angeles, Rob is best known for his work as an arranger and group coach for NBC’s The Sing-Off. Through his work on the show, Rob has had the pleasure of collaborating with some of the top talent in the vocal music world, including Pentatonix, Peter Hollens, The Filharmonic, Voiceplay, and many more. He has been a contributing arranger for performances by world renowned artists including Smokey Robinson, Flo Rida, Sara Bareilles, Incubus, and Pat Benatar. His arrangements have been featured on several TV shows, including America’s Got Talent (NBC), To All The Boys: P.S I Still Love You (Netflix), and Pitch Slapped (Lifetime).
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!
A native of Ithaca, NY, Rob got his start singing in high school as a member of the a cappella quintet, Ascending Height, with whom he wrote and produced the first ever album of all original music at the high school level. He graduated from Ithaca College in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in music and an outside field in business. While at Ithaca, Rob had the honor of directing the all male-identified group, Ithacappella, with whom he twice advanced to the finals of the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. He was also a member of both the Ithaca College Chorus and the Ithaca College Choir -the college’s select, touring vocal ensemble.
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As a performer, Rob is an award-winning vocal percussionist, and his distinctive sound has been featured on several TV shows, including FOX’s Glee and The Late Late Show with James Corden. Rob was the founding vocal percussionist for both The Funx and Level, groups that gave him the opportunity to work with legendary performers including Jay Leno and Demi Lovato.
Rob has a deep passion for a cappella education, and is a founding co-director (along with Ben Bram and Avi Kaplan) of A Cappella Academy. In addition to his work with Academy, Rob is also the director of Legacy: an auditioned, community youth a cappella group based in Los Angeles. Since the group’s inception, Legacy has performed twice at Carnegie Hall, and has won the Los Angeles A Cappella Festival’s Scholastic Competition, the Southwest semifinal round of the Varsity Vocals A Cappella Open, and the Finals of the International Championship of High School A Cappella at Lincoln Center. Rob is a sought after presenter and clinician who has led vocal music workshops at events such as the National A Cappella Convention and the ACDA National convention. He is the author of “A Cappella 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Contemporary A Cappella Singing” available from Hal Leonard.
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Alongside his work in contemporary a cappella music, Rob is also an avid choral composer, with work published by Alfred Music Publishing and GIA Publications. In 2021 his piece “The Gift” received a jury commendation as part of the King’s Singers New Music Prize competition. His pieces continue to be performed by choirs from all over the world.
In this episode, I reflect on the psychology of gratitude, and on the importance of helping our students develop a healthy relationship with their own mistakes, and even flaws and weaknesses. Not because we don’t care about high achieving ensembles, but precisely for this reason.
One of the most challenging aspects of being a teacher of singing is dealing with the male changing voice. Not only are we undereducated on the physiology of the issue, we are often inconsiderate of the psychology as well. In this conversation, I have called in a true expert to help us parse this out. Professor Martin Ashley is the editor-in-chief of the research journal of the Association of British Choral Directors, and has done EXTENSIVE peer reviewed work on not only the male changing voice during puberty and at all stages, but also the issue of the struggle to keep boys singing. Join us as we discuss an overview of the body and mind of the adolescent male singer, the issues that face choir directors in teaching during the change and much more.
Martin Ashley is currently editor-in-chief of the research journal of the Association of British Choral Directors, having retired as Head of Education Research at Edge Hill University in 2013. Trained as a middle school music teacher, he worked in a variety of school settings before moving to the University of the West of England, gaining a post-doctoral fellowship for musical learning and boys’ understanding of voice. An AHRC funded collaboration with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and University of York resulted in significant outputs on “cambiata” and the adolescent male voice. He has published widely on singing during early adolescence, working with a paediatric specialist on the timing of puberty and voice change. He has published work on historical trends in puberty, Tudor pitch and the sixteenth century mean voice. His most recently published book was Singing in the Lower Secondary School for OUP and his forthcoming book is Dead Composers and Living Boys. In response to the covid pandemic, he assembled a small team of virologists and public health professionals to produce a rapid response review for ABCD and a smartphone app to monitor risk mitigation in choral singing, for which he received the Sir Charles Grove prize for outstanding contribution to the musical life of the country.
Anxiety from within is normal. The belief that students can’t overcome the anxiety can often come from the teacher’s approach. It is critically important to normalize “singing without fear.”
In this car thoughts conversation, we reflect on starting the first “normal” school year in three years. This is a significant opportunity to return normalcy to our students of all levels. I also offer ideas for teachers to consider when thinking about the first days of school, as well ways to structure the first rehearsal’s priorities. How do we set up the expectations that lead to a successful school year?
Also included are ideas about back to school retreats, the CDC’s relaxation of Covid caution recommendations, and the importance of “normal.”
In music Education, we frequently lament cultural attitudes about music not being a “real class.” If we present courses without rigor, academic standards or measurable achievements, we are walking right into that criticism. However, our jobs depend on enrollment numbers, and we feel pressure to give A’s. But, there is where we run into tension. If we make the grading more rigorous, many teachers fear, then kids will quit. In my experience, this is the opposite of what happens, provided that every student regardless of “talent” can see a realistic path toward getting an A. That does NOT mean they will all make the choice to rise to that occasion, however. You know what they say about leading horses to water… Join me as I outline my philosophy on program, culture and belonging building through increased standards and rigor. We have confused “rigor” with “talent” and “accessibility.”
Tune in for a presentation either audio or video complete with rubrics, grading practices, writing curriculum, grading on growth, setting individual goals for students and much more. For the FULL presentation, slides and ad free video, visit the Patreon.
*Racism* is the social construction that necessitates our continued & (mostly) blind belief in & upholding of “race” ideology & its correlated languages/practices. We just continue to fool ourselves into thinking that “race” is *just* “skin color,” phenotype, DNA, or culture.
Dr. Sheena Mason
With the rise of anti-racist discourse and initiatives, many people are unintentionally promoting racist ideas and missing opportunities to identify and celebrate functional diversity, or diversity of thought over perceived diversity based largely on phenotype and social constructions. Dr. Sheena Mason earned her PhD from Howard University. She is now at SUNY Oneonta in Oneonta, NY, as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in African American literature. Dr. Mason has been thinking about and working on ways to discuss race and racism in a way that she believes can move us in the right direction as a human race. Sheena and I discuss the ways these ideas could be the next evolution of race deconstruction in education and in culture. We also discuss how this can be accomplished WITHOUT ignoring the injustice that has flown from the belief in race.
The core tenets of the Theory of Racelessness are as follows:
Race does not exist in nature.
Race does not exist as a social construction.
Everyone is raceless.
Racism includes the belief in race as biological or a construction and the practice of racialization.
Racism is not everywhere and is not the cause for every perceived “racial” disparity or negative interaction.
Racism can be overcome.
Episode 113
While not rooted in biology or science, she explains how the concept of race continues to be naturalized and viewed as something “of nature.” The camouflaging of racism as race remains, in large part, why many people and institutions have failed to partially, entirely, or meaningfully address racism even when actively participating in anti-racist efforts. Once liberated from race(ism), you will feel lighter, uplifted, seen, and valued.
Signs that Some Race Activism May be Misguided (If the shoe fits)
Does it insist that racial categories are real, useful, or impossible to rid ourselves of? (Making it seem as if the way a person looks is the most important part of their contribution.)
Does it seem to shy away from the celebration of progress?
Does it treat the world as if it is a fixed pie through the use of reductionist racial category quotas? (Black, White, Brown, Indigenous) or even worse, a racial binary? (white, non-white.)
Does it confuse or conflate real phenomena such as culture, class, ethnicity, and ancestry with the fiction of race? (Like co-equal humans, or as “avatars” for a racialized group?)
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Theory of Racelessness™ educates organizations & institutions on how racism masquerades as race in society.
Dr. Sheena Mason earned her Ph.D. in English literature “with distinction” in May 2021 from Howard University. She joined the faculty at SUNY Oneonta in Oneonta, NY, in August 2021, as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in African American literature. She has taught at the College of William and Mary, California Lutheran University, and Howard University. Her book titled Theory of Racelessness: A Case for Philosophies of Antirace(ism) is scheduled to be released by Palgrave Macmillan on September 23, 2022. Additionally, she co-authored “Harlem Renaissance: An Interpretation of Racialized Art and Ethics,” a chapter of the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Ethics and Art examining what, if anything, is the proper role of race in the aesthetic productions of or about members of racialized populations.
Dr. Mason works actively to improve and free our language and, therefore, our thoughts. In “No Malcolm X in My History Text” (2018), she examines the iterations of the folklore figure Staggerlee, the figure’s relation to the public sphere, and racism. Ultimately, she concludes that Staggerlee persists in the American imagination and is a simultaneously and paradoxically subversive and stereotypical figure, highlighting the pervasiveness of racism and society’s response to racism. In her scholarship, Dr. Mason consistently and unwaveringly works to promote anti-racism through her publications and teaching.
“Who am I being that my children’s eyes are not shining?”
Benjamin Zander
This week I had the honor and privilege visiting with ACDA members in Alabama at their state Conference. We must turn the mirror on ourselves to ensure that we are WORTHY to stand in front of our students. After all, we have some level of control over whether or not we are a part of their school. They have almost none. So I say, it’s on ME to make sure that their experience in my class is enriching, engaging and life affirming. In this discussion, we will discuss the importance of the teacher’s “mind, body and spirit” health. We also discuss the concepts of Anti-Fragility, and Cognitive Distortions that lead to unhappiness and professional ineffectiveness, as well as the wisdom of “The First Days of School” by Harry Wong. This is a jam packed hour full of challenges and ideas for you to consider before you begin your school year. The slides for this presentation are available on Patreon.
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True diversity is the varied life experiences and cultural upbringings that lead us to our widely disparate moral “palettes.” As we gather together in classrooms, ensembles, businesses and organizations we talk a good diversity game. But rarely do we attempt to measure these things in our diversity matrix. This episode is a “Choralosophy Book Club” discussion about a book that gives us the tools to do just that.
Reena Esmail
Reena Esmail returns to the show to discuss the book “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion” by Psychologist Jonathan Haidt. If you are interested in how YOUR mind brings you to your decisions about right and wrong, about good and evil and much more, then this book and this conversation is for you. Western philosophy has emphasized reason and logic over emotions for thousands of years. This tendency still prevails, but a growing body of research proves that emotions should no longer be regarded as secondary to logic.
Moral judgments arise from our intuitions because humans are fundamentally intuitive, not rational. In addition, the reasoning that follows our intuitions does not work like a judge, guiding us to sober moral wisdom. It works more like a lawyer, justifying our moral judgments to others and ourselves, supporting our reputation and our self-interest.
If you want to persuade others, appeal to their sentiments.
If you want to win a moral argument, never say “you’re wrong.” You can never win someone over to your principles through purely rational arguments. Instead, if you want to persuade the other person, first of all smile and be a good listener. THIS is being an effective ensemble member, teacher and EVEN the path forward for more effective political activism. But it only works if you are genuinely able to hold the possibility that it could have been YOU that was wrong all along. Or, that there was never a “right” answer to be found anyway.
Indian-American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music, and brings communities together through the creation of equitable musical spaces.
Esmail is the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s 2020-2023 Swan Family Artist in Residence, and Seattle Symphony’s 2020-21 Composer-in-Residence. Previously, she was named a 2019 United States Artist Fellow in Music, and the 2019 Grand Prize Winner of the S & R Foundation’s Washington Award. Esmail was also a 2017-18 Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow. She was the 2012 Walter Hinrichsen Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (and subsequent publication of a work by C.F. Peters)
Esmail holds degrees in composition from The Juilliard School (BM’05) and the Yale School of Music (MM’11, MMA’14, DMA’18). Her primary teachers have included Susan Botti, Aaron Jay Kernis, Christopher Theofanidis and Martin Bresnick, Christopher Rouse and Samuel Adler. She received a Fulbright-Nehru grant to study Hindustani music in India. Her Hindustani music teachers include Srimati Lakshmi Shankar and Gaurav Mazundar, and she currently studies and collaborates with Saili Oak. Her doctoral thesis, entitled Finding Common Ground: Uniting Practices in Hindustani and Western Art Musicians explores the methods and challenges of the collaborative process between Hindustani musicians and Western composers.
Classrooms have become ground zero for the problem of political polarization. What is being taught, who is teaching it, how it’s being taught, how it is funded, etc. Are we teaching Critical Race Theory, or are we not? Should we be? If the Roe v. Wade case comes up, what is the teacher’s posture? These and many questions have become a toxic political football. The problem of this polarization impacts the classroom in a unique way largely because many people on all sides of political conversations do not want their children caught in the middle. As a result, I believe that teachers are morally bound to model curiosity, radical inclusivity of viewpoints, as well as the respect that most easily comes from “trying on each other’s shoes.”
Sadly though, our politicians, teachers unions and professional organizations don’t model this. We are swimming in almost an entirely politically homogeneous pool within the education profession. The problem is that our students AREN’T. It’s time for us to share the pool. I am joined in this talk by author and journalist, and recent TED Talker Mónica Guzmán to discuss why most of our assumptions about the beliefs of others are probably wrong.
We are so divided, we are blinded. Opening our eyes means being less certain, more courageous, and a LOT more curious about the views we don’t want to see.
A “laboratory for friction” is a term Mónica uses to describe the ideal classroom in which the educator has made the radically inclusive decision to intentionally create a space in which students are able to learn from each other through open dialogue and the safety to be the only dissenting voice.
Mónica Guzmán, author of “I Never Thought of It That Way,” is a bridge builder, journalist, and entrepreneur who lives for great conversations sparked by curious questions. She’s director of digital and storytelling at Braver Angels, the nation’s largest cross-partisan grassroots organization working to depolarize America; host of live interview series at Crosscut; and cofounder of the award-winning Seattle newsletter The Evergrey. She was a 2019 fellow at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, where she studied social and political division, and a 2016 fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, where she researched how journalists can rethink their roles to better meet the needs of a participatory public. She was named one of the 50 most influential women in Seattle, served twice as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes, and plays a barbarian named Shadrack in her besties’ Dungeons & Dragons campaign. A Mexican immigrant, Latina, and dual US/Mexico citizen, she lives in Seattle with her husband and two kids and is the proud liberal daughter of conservative parents.
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Do you think of yourself as a “choir leading business person?” I am going to guess that most of you don’t, and I’m going to suggest that maybe you should. There are aspects of leading any type of choral program that require business acumen in order to excel. This makes many of us bristle as artists because we love to stay wrapped up in the emotional and in the art. But the reality is that we often have to call upon skills that our training programs didn’t prepare us with. They didn’t teach us tax law, or marketing or accounting, but we have to develop these skills or our programs fall apart. So I had a conversation with Alex Gartner about that very thing. Tune in as we discuss the business of doing choir.
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Alex Gartner serves as the Artistic & Executive Director of the Pensacola Children’s Chorus in Pensacola, FL. Under his leadership, the organization has grown to impact nearly 25,000 individuals throughout Northwest Florida, including over 5,000 youth, through innovative programs, performances, and organizational practices. He also serves the American Choral Directors Association as the Children’s and Youth R&R Coordinator for the Southern Region, is an all-state coordinator for the Florida Music Education Association, and previously served on the national arts education council with Americans for the Arts. An active clinician, guest conductor, and composer, his arrangements are available through many reputable publishers. Check out his latest work on social media or at www.AlexGartner.com.
Is it possible that we are all grasping at the wrong straws trying to reach program growth in an equitable way? Bruce Rockwell believes we need a transformative revolution in choral music. One where we turn our collective focus toward the Elementary School Choir. Bruce is a high school choral educator who teaches in a…
Tim’s article “How to Ruin an Alto” was published in 1982-83 in The Choral Journal and in MENC’s publication. It included some strong language like “there are no good reasons for allowing women to sing tenor.” In this episode Timothy Mount, a Professor Emeritus at Stony Brook University, joins me to discuss his very strongly…
The Oakwood University Aeolians have a long standing and proud tradition. Over the last few years, they shot to international fame. Jeremy Jordan is tasked with keeping the flame alive. Ever since Jason Ferdinand moved from Oakwood, the choir world started to wonder what was next for the Aeolians. After their 2019 National ACDA performance,…
Sadly, many of us in education have lived at the epicenter of the Covid Wars. Possibly the biggest political football during the pandemic has been what to do with the kids, and what to do with schools. For those of us in choral music, we lived at that intersection along with a hysteria created at first by our very own professional organizations. This contributed to a perfect storm of lost positions, cut programs, recruiting problems and a laundry list of misplaced apprehensions about singing. Facts that I am still not sure we have all come to terms with. Of course, it is important to remember that in this cross fire were students and community members displaced from life affirming and often life saving educational and humanizing opportunities. While it is always reasonable to weigh new risks against old norms, it is not reasonable to present our preferred policies as if they have no downsides worthy of heavy consideration. In this episode I speak with Pediatrician, and Covid Policy Advocate Dr. Nikki Johnson about the “Harm Reduction” approach to Covid Policy, the political blinders we all wore or still wear, and many errors in reasoning to which this contributed. One of the big errors singers have made is the role masks play in our safety.
We also discuss the difference between a high quality signers mask designed to STAY ON while you sing… (Like the new Resonance 95 from MyMusicFolders.com Don’t forget to use your promo code!) and just wearing any old mask for any amount of time, flopping your jaw around willy nilly. Finally, we do a bit of prognosticating about ways to process in a more healthy way in the next wave.
A rational approach to Covid policy for our schools and institutions is forward looking, measured and responsive to the most recent information and community health outcomes.
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Odell’s presentation was discussed in a recent Choral Journal article, but not named. This is his side of the story. Find more blogs at Choralosophy.Substack.com By Odell Zeigler March 23rd, 2024 In April of 2023, I was fortunate to present “An Unconventional Approach to the Urban Chorus Classroom” at the NAfME Eastern Division Conference, which…
Queens is one of the most diverse places in the world. How can music serve as a “common language” for diverse students? This week, I am joined by Shanan Estreicher, a middle and elementary music teacher in Queens, New York. Shanan is also a composer, and songwriter who has found a magic formula to reach…
Dr. Bridget Sweet is the first scholar to examine adolescent female voice change through systematic research protocols This week, we fill in a major gap in programming on the Choralosophy podcast. This is the FIRST episode on the feed diving into research and teaching practice of the female changing voice in adolescence. There will be…
Straight out of the archives! Most of my live presentations are reserved for Patreon Subscribers, but I felt so strongly about the ideas in this presentation, I decided to air it out for everybody. It is my belief that when we talk about building choral programs, or any program for that matter, we do WAY too much playing from behind and not enough building for the long haul. Are the numbers too low? Then surely we have to recruit! Well, we do, but if we are focused every year, every day on RETENTION, then we are saving for a rainy day. We become squirrels storing the nuts.
So, what are the The Missing Elements?
Your overall curriculum
Concert season goals
Team building ethos
Gradual, competent, comfort zone expansion
Now, you’re ready for choosing the right rep… but that’s it’s own podcast
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Well, it is if you are thinking that there is a quick and easy pill to swallow in order to get to that next level in your career. You know, the one where you simply, issue wisdom, wave your arms, say inspirational things, and the choir just SINGS! In reality, we all dream of this, but getting there isn’t easy. That’s why I can’t pull the trigger on selling the “Choralosophy Method” even though many have asked for it. I just don’t know if that would be ethical. Because fundamentally, we master our craft one tiny victory and defeat at a time. I truly believe that finding your groove in the classroom has more to do with the work you do on you than the method that you choose. It is the refinement and reinvention of our philosophies and practices that can make each year better than the one before.
In this episode, I will attempt to distill down what could be called the “Choralosophy Method” if I were to choose to sell it…and then let you listen for free. All of the episodes mentioned are linked below.
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Like many topics in education, we have strains of the same philosophical divides in music education as we do in other areas of education. This week, my guest Dr. Anika Prather is the perfect person to address and offer a bridge to one of those divides. She has a background in both Music Education as well as Theater and Literature. In this episode we discuss educational philosophy related to the “Western Canon” in both literature and in music. Trying to make sense of the various approaches that range from “Classical Education” to the “Decolonize the Classroom” movement. The discussion centers around the idea that both extremes when taken as wholly sufficient philosophies miss some very important aspects of history. Maybe a hybrid approach is needed.
“If we are properly decolonizing education, it should change HOW we teach, not WHAT we teach.”
Dr. Anika Prather
No teacher can teach ALL of the repertoire from all of the cultures, and we shouldn’t lose sleep over it. What matters is that we instill curiosity in our students to go out beyond our classrooms and seek more.
Episode 104
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Dr. Anika T. Prather earned her B.A. from Howard University in elementary education. She also has earned several graduate degrees in education from New York University and Howard University. She has a Masters in liberal arts from St. John’s College (Annapolis) and a PhD in English, Theatre and Literacy Education from the University of Maryland (College Park). Her research focus is on building literacy with African American students through engagement in the books of the Canon and self-published her book Living in the Constellation of the Canon: The Lived Experiences of African American Students Reading Great Books Literature recently. She has served as a teacher, supervisor for student teachers, director of education and Head of School. Currently she teaches in the Classics department at Howard University and is the founder of The Living Water School, located in Southern Maryland. The Living Water School is a unique Christian school for independent learners, based on the educational philosophies of Classical Education and the Sudbury Model. She is married to Damon M. Prather an engineer and has an MBA (Wisconsin-Madison). He also serves as the financial manager of the school. She and her husband Damon, have three young children, and they reside in the DC metropolitan area.
Anika is also a performing artist and incorporates, music, drama and storytelling into most of her presentations. She has produced and written the songs for her 2 jazz albums and her music can be heard at https://soundcloud.com/anika_tene .
In the next edition of the Oxford Series, I am excited to bring you a new voice in their catalog, Brittney E. Boykin. I had an open and refreshing conversation with her about her journey through the choral world as a conductor, teacher and then composer. Navigating life in the choral world as a Black Woman, cultural sharing vs. appropriation, the sea-change that was 2020, work-life balance and more. “When I think of diversity within the classical music world, there is diversity within sound, within ensembles, within colors.” – BE Boykin
B.E. (Brittney Elizabeth) Boykin is a native of Alexandria, Virginia and comes from a musical family. At the age of 7, she began piano lessons and continued her studies through high school under the tutelage of Mrs. Alma Sanford. Mrs. Sanford guided her through various competitions, such as the NAACP’s ACT-SO competition where she garnered 1st place for 3 consecutive years in the local competition, as well as being awarded The Washington Post “Music and Dance Award” in the spring of 2007.”
Boykin then pursued her classical piano studies at Spelman College under the leadership of Dr. Rachel Chung. After graduating Spelman College in 2011 with a B.A. in Music, Boykin continued her studies at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey. During her time at Westminster, she was awarded the R and R Young Composition Prize just a few months shy of graduating with her M.M. in Sacred Music with a concentration in choral studies in May, 2013.
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Boykin’s choral piece, “We Sing as One,” was commissioned to celebrate Spelman College’s 133rd Anniversary of its founding at the 2014 Founders Day Convocation. She has also been featured as the conductor/composer-in-residence for the 2017 Harry T. Burleigh Commemorative Spiritual Festival at Tennessee State University. Boykin has been commissioned and collaborated with several organizations, including a number of ACDA divisions, the Minnesota Opera and the Kennedy Center. She obtained her PhD from Georgia State University with an emphasis in Music Education and is currently an Assistant Professor of Music at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
“Being able to teach well is treated as a side quest in the Higher Ed world.” an Anonymous conversation with a PhD Music Education Professor. NEW: Find more blogs at Choralosophy.Substack.com CHRIS MUNCE MAR 9, 2024 The post above generated a fantastic conversation on Facebook in the “Choralosophers” group. One that included many criticisms and…
Is “Tough Love” outdated? Or is it the tool of caring parents and educators? Recently, a “Facebook post dialogue” of sorts went viral amongst music educators between Juilliard professor Geoffrey Keezer and James Falzone. Professor Keezer made a relatively short post related to the problems he is seeing in his teaching position related to reliability…
Professor and researcher Martin Ashley from the UK is back to talk about more recent research related to the boys changing voice from both a biological and empirical view, as well as a qualitative experiential one. We discuss his latest compilation of crucial information, which he has made available for FREE. The eBook is called…
A hybrid episode! We run the risk of oversimplifying educational concepts, packaging them in seminars and professional development sessions for sale, and actually HARMING students. Or at least not helping them. Educational theories often carry precious little evidence, but we as educators frequently feel ill equipped to question them. Often times these oversimplifications are simply Utopian visions of education. One of the buzzwords that gets this treatment in my view is “Belonging.” I have been reading a book called “Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity” by Cobb and Krownapple. In that journey, as well as in my conversations on the show, in real life, and online it has become clear to me that there are many questions still to be ASKED about this topic before we can even begin to have enough hubris to think we can answer it.
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In the digital realm where voices meet ideas, there’s a podcast that’s become a community hub for Choral Music: The Choralosophy Podcast started in February 2019. It was just a small gathering of a few hundred colleagues, sharing their love for choral music. Then, the unexpected happened. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, episode 33 of…
Activist, author Chloé Valdary is a diversity and anti-racism trainer with a refreshingly loving approach. This week, on Valentine’s Day, I am encouraging us to approach our ensembles, our classes, our colleagues and our neighbors with Agape. In music education, we have a very popular, and important euphemism: “I want my students to see themselves…
Nicholas Weininger, software engineer and composer, joins me this week to discuss the power of the Hebrew language in choral settings. Both in terms of its sonority and aspects of diction, but also in the contributions many ancient Hebrew texts can make to our philosophical discourses to this day. We discuss the difficulties finding choral…
Dr. Seth Pendergast of Colorado State University joins me to dig through the critical aspects of recruiting and retention. As we are (hopefully) coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, my sense is that many K-12 choral music educators are looking to grow or rebuild their choral programs. The pandemic often limited singing and many choral music educators may have lost students over the past two years as they were limited in their vocal activities. We now enter a time where we have the opportunity to rethink our programs and their priorities. This also means that we have a high stakes need to get it RIGHT. The reasons that students engage in school music programs, or don’t is very complicated and nuanced. It’s more than having a donut party, and letting them sing their favorite music. We also need to explore and be creative with what music programs can look like in different TYPES of school environments. What does one research based approach say about this topic?
Seth Pendergast is an Assistant Professor of Music Education at Colorado State University where he teaches courses in vocal music education, creativity and technology, graduate music education courses, and choral ensembles. He studies motivation and participation in the music classroom and his most recent scholarship includes publications in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, Choral Journal, and Update: Applications of Research in Music Education. In addition to his work as a teacher/scholar, Seth is an active clinician, conductor, and adjudicator. He completed his Ph.D. in Music Education at the University of Utah in 2018.
“The person doing the thinking is the person doing the learning.”
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This podcast has become the place to go for Music Literacy pedagogical training tools for teachers over the last five years. As a result, I have never received as much correspondence about content NOT created by me, than Dr. Marshaun Hymon’s February 2024 Choral Journal Article called “A Skills First Approach to the All-State Choir…
Are there core skills that MUST be acquired in order to teach music? Should there be? This week, I welcome Lynn Atkins to discuss the current challenges we face getting young teachers ready to teach music in an era when our current students and recent graduates had a pretty serious interruption in their education. In…
We are doing something different and fun this week! Just me, and three young colleagues about half my age. Over the last few months, I have gotten several requests to do an episode dedicated to the issues and concerns faced by the next generation of educators. What better way to do that than host a…
This episode is a milestone. The 100th full length episode of the podcast. Since my wife Beth was the FIRST guest on the show, I thought it would be good to go full circle, and bring her on again!
Being a music teacher is an important job. It is, or should be about SO MUCH more than the “collection and curation of musicians who are already good.” But how often is that our quickest route to career success? In this episode Beth and I take the gloves off and dive into the topic of the ways in which choir directors of all levels, with all of the best intentions, can often say or do things that either do not help singers become better, or even make the singer worse. “Raise the soft palette” when the problem is actually tongue tension. “Blend! when the result is actually just removing resonance so you can no longer hear the problem. “Open your mouth to the size of the 3 Oreos” when every mouth is a different size, and much more.
We also go a bit hard on the problems with ranking, or rating competitions for beginning singers. The systems, often governed by the same organization that governs basketball games in many places, can actually disincentivize quality feedback for singers.
Episode 100
The Unique Nature of Singing by Beth Munce
While many of my singing and teaching of singing philosophies and approaches have shifted or changed…some I would completely redo differently if I had the chance…one that hasn’t (and this is a hill that I will die on) is that there is a place in music for EVERYONE.
Sorry Trevor
The unique nature of singing is that 1) we all have a different instrument: everyone’s lung capacity, torso length, pharyngeal shape, tongue size, etc…are all different!! So there is not a one size fits all approach to singing. It is different for everyone. And everyone learns differently! Add that into the mix. Plus every person has to learn how to coordinate their muscles, where to feel resonance, how to learn to resonate effectively and efficiently, and how to adjust this approach when their bodies and hormones are changing. It’s a lot! Plus, 2) unlike starting piano or band where the first time you pick up an instrument is with your teacher (where they can tell you “put this hand here, this finger here…”) in choir, EVERY kid has prior experience in singing/phonation whether that be with the radio, with mom, in another choir, etc…some of these habits are good, some detrimental (don’t get me started on some of the bad singing examples on the radio!). The point being, you are having to redirect those already insulated neural pathways. Retrain those muscles. And this takes time and concerted effort. Some kids give up and don’t want to put forth the effort. I tell my students that learning to sing is like you are renovating a home as opposed to building one from scratch. And some houses need more work than others!
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Some of my proudest moments in teaching have been the kid whose mom thought he was “tone deaf” and he ended up being able to perform a solo successfully and make concert choir to be with his buddies…the girl who was the only one of her peers who auditioned for an honor choir her sophomore year and didn’t make it, who went on to make All-State choir her senior year…the boy who was so awkward and shy and could barely make a peep who went on to get a full ride scholarship in vocal performance and has had an active adult performance career. Those stories of hard work and perseverance are my favorite. The kid that didn’t think they could or was the underdog who worked their butt off and ended up excelling!!
Dig into the mind of Gabriel Jackson, one of my FAVORITE composers. His ability to mix the modern with the ancient really makes my “Spidey Sense” tingle! We discuss his music, and journey to composition, as well his feelings about Orchestral musicians seeming to live in a different strata from us lowly Choral musicians. Spoiler alert, we are both annoyed by this…We also touch on what the pandemic was like for him as composer, and the age old themes in music and poetry that retain their resonance today, and possibly in a new way.
You can’t write really difficult music and then complain that nobody performs it.
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Gabriel Jackson-Photo credit: Reinis Hofmanis
Episode 99: Gabriel Jackson
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We have to think about group identity and immutable characteristics, and how they shape our experience as humans in the world. We can’t ignore those things. But they are not the only things. We need to have a conversation about what we LEAD with in these conversations. Do we lead with the things we can’t choose about ourselves, or do lead with our common humanity. To me, it’s a question of seeing the human across from in our classrooms, our teacher’s lounges, or even on social media as complex and deeper than their appearance. My recent ChoralNet blog goes addresses this as well.
It is not enough to attack injustice. We have to cultivate justice. This STARTS with patience, humility and grace.
On the Choralosophy Podcast I have spent a good deal of time and energy discussing the topic of “identity” in the arts, through a special category called “Choral Music: A Human Art Form” and how differing philosophies impact how the topic is discussed. In my view, there are major problems in the world stemming from philosophical illiteracy. Namely, what seems to be a lack of awareness that there are different ways to discuss societal problems, and how to move competently between them. As leaders of diverse groups, I see this is a non-optional skill for choral directors. We need to recognize that the centering of one’s immutable characteristics as the primary feature of one’s identity, is but one of many philosophies of finding or describing the “self.” Some find identity most strongly with their culture, nationality, religion, profession, school of thought, or even with the rejection of group identity itself. And that’s ok.
I did a live episode recently on Teacher Burnout, and another one in December about teacher burnout leading up the Holiday Break, but STUDENT burn out is a thing too. Call it senioritis, or apathy, or “checked out.” Regardless of what you name it, it must be fought intentionally through the culture built in the rehearsal space from day one. So, in the death match between Senioritis and that LAST concert…
Who will win? It is not a lost cause. So, I went for a walk and recorded some thoughts about this phenomenon and how it has changed a bit due to the pandemic and collective trauma of the last two years. One thing that hasn’t changed is that there is no “cure” for end of the year apathy, but the effects can be mitigated by student buy in, leadership and empowerment. Are they pushing to the finish WITH you? Or are they being pushed BY you? The latter will lead to burn out for students and teachers alike.
This episode was recorded while I was walking outside on Spring Break. Please pardon the roosters and trucks. ACDA webinar I mentioned in the episode is linked below.
Senioritis vs. The Last Concert
http://www.ryanmain.com is a great source of Sheetmusic on demand. Enter Choralosophy at checkout for 10% off!
Emily Williams Burch is back. What makes us tick? Can we be collegial without knowing each other? What was it like for me to traipse around uninvited at Southern Region ACDA? Why do in person conventions matter so much? These and many more questions answered!
A candid and jam-packed conversation between podcast hosts Chris Munce of The Choralosophy Podcast and Emmy Burch of Music (ed) Matters. We both love to chat, especially with each other, so in this conversation we cover everything from using enneagrams to understand motivation and impact our students, getting adventurous and attending other regional conferences, and all that comes with being “better conversation activists.” This one was super fun to record – hope you enjoy! Start the conversation here and finish it on Music Ed Matters!
Emily Williams Burch
As promised, here’s the link to the awesome summer camp Chris and Emmy will be at together this summer. Grab a singer and come hang! https://kantoreikc.com/educational-outreach/.
It’s easy to support the podcast world and join the community over at Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters. In addition to bonus video and episode content, members get monthly meet-ups, monthly bonus episodes, special pre-release book content and more! Chris Munce has a dynamite Patreon page as well (and super cool swag), check him out at Patreon.com/Choralosopy.
Dr. Braeden Ayres is a teacher, conductor and composer with a passion point related to concepts of masculinity in choral music. What stereotypes are we stuck too, what challenges to we face when discussing it, and what are the best ways to engage young adolescent boys in our school choral programs? We discussed some of the findings from his dissertation research on this topic as well as brainstorming ways to recruit and retain boys, without pandering to pre-conceived ideas of masculinity. Join us for this important discussion, and add your own thoughts on the Choralosophers Facebook page.
Dr. Braeden Ayres (“Bray-den Airz”) is a composer, conductor, and music educator who believes that music and singing are for all people. Dr. Ayres currently teaches music at Black Hawk College in Moline, Illinois, and is the choir director at First Christian Church in Macomb, Illinois. As an artist, teacher, and conductor, his mission is to empower people, explore the human experience, and celebrate the human voice as a tool for self-expression. As a composer, his works vary widely in style, with pieces written especially for changing voices, high school choirs, and collegiate, community, and professional ensembles. Dr. Ayres frequently writes original texts for his work as well.
Dr. Ayres’s music has been performed at national and state-level ACDA honor choirs, all-states, and at local choir concerts across the United States. His music is published with MusicSpoke, Carl Fischer, Hal Leonard Music, and Augsburg Fortress. In 2021, he was named the winner of the “Emily Crocker Emerging Composer Competition,” sponsored by the Texas Choral Director’s Association and Hal Leonard Music. Dr. Ayres holds a Ph.D. in Choral Music Education from Florida State University, where his doctoral dissertation studied the history and repertoire of choral compositions for changing male voices. Dr. Ayres also holds a Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Northern Colorado and a Bachelor’s in Music Education from Baylor University.
http://www.ryanmain.com is a great source of Sheetmusic on demand. Enter Choralosophy at checkout for 10% off!
Before completing his doctorate, Dr. Ayres served on the vocal faculty at Discovery Canyon Campus in Colorado Springs, Colorado, teaching 6-12 grade students with a team of exceptional educators. In his time at DCC, the campus’s choral program tripled to over 500 students; over 100 singers were accepted into various Middle School All-State, High School All-State, and ACDA National Honor Choirs; and the Performing Arts Department was a finalist for the “Thomas S. Crawford Team of the Year Award.” Dr. Ayres also served as the Assistant Artistic Director of “Out Loud: The Colorado Springs Men’s Chorus” and was an inaugural board member of the Colorado Middle School All-State Choir. Dr. Ayres is proud to bring his passion for education into his work as a composer and choral clinician.
Teachers, this is the episode you want to send to your admin! “Hi, Dr. Principal. I listened do an expert on a podcast that says our new district educational model is not backed by evidence.” I’m sure they will be very excited…
Kristina Mitchell
Dr. Kristina Mitchell is an education researcher who specializes in instructional methodology. She also enjoys challenging the assumptions that many educators and school districts make when it comes to instructional scripture like “Learning Objectives,” and “Learning Styles.” (Both are steeped in mythology!) We get into the weeds of why providing robust evidence for these “Edu-Fads” is nearly impossible. Then we branch into the more general evidence problem in certain types of science, including masking science related to Covid. Somehow we end up on Critical Race Theory…
Kristina Mitchell is an Instructor of Political Science at Texas Tech University. She received her B.A. from the University of North Texas (2006), her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Dallas (2010; 2012). Her research interests include gender and diversity, pedagogical technique, best practices in higher education, and issues in international relations. Her research has appeared in the Journal of World Trade, PS: Political Science & Politics, and the Journal of Political Science Education. She teaches undergraduate courses in research methods, game theory, public policy, international relations, and international political economy.
An episode inspired by the Oxford Handbook of Vocal Studies by Dr. Alisha Jones called “Singing High: Black Countertenors and Gendered Sound in Gospel Performance.” The article dropped into my email box and I immediately thought, THIS is a podcast. I was so right. Patrick’s story is not only fascinating, but his experience is emblematic of the intersectional concept. Namely, that Patrick’s race AND sexuality impact the way audiences receive him. The perceptions constantly swaying between “singing high like a woman” to presenting as the “Good Baptist Man.” You also appreciate the in depth discussion of the history of music in the Black Church in America. Join me for this enlightening conversation as Patrick shares his story, and reflects on the article.
The fact of the matter is that you are already gonna present something—even if it is in the classical audience—you are already gonna present something to them that might be foreign to them already. You don’t wanna turn them off at the very beginning.
Patrick Dailey has been described as possessing “a powerful and elegant countertenor voice” (Los Angeles Daily News) and a “VOCAL STANDOUT” (Boston Classical Review). His artistry was identified early through the national NAACP ACT-SO Competition (2005 and 2006), the NFAA ARTS, and Grady-Rayam Prize In Sacred Music of the Negro Spiritual Scholarship Foundation. Dailey made his professional operatic debut with Opera Saratoga as the first countertenor member of the company’s Young Artist program and was the first countertenor invited to Opera New Jersey’s Victoria J. Mastrobuono Emerging Artist program. Operatic repertoire includes Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, and Belize in Eötvös’ Angels in America. He performs regularly with Harlem Opera Theater, ALIAS Chamber Ensemble, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared with the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra (NC), Soulful Symphony, Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. On January 19, 2009, Mr. Dailey sang a featured duet with Aretha Franklin as the finale for the annual Let Freedom Ring Celebration at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Additionally, he has been a featured artist with Cook, Dixon, and Young (formally Three Mo’ Tenors) since 2012.
Mr. Dailey his west coast operatic debut as Satirino in Cavalli’s La Calisto with Pacific Opera Project of Los Angeles in 2014. The following year, he debuted with Opera Memphis in their historic first production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and won first place in Opera Ebony’s 1st Benjamin Matthews Vocal Competition. Later that year, Mr. Dailey performed the opening invocation for the 2015 Trumpet Awards in Atlanta, GA, the invitation of Trumpet Foundation founder/CEO and Civil Right legend, Xernona Clayton.
YouTube version
In the summers of 2015 and 2016, Mr. Dailey was a young artist with the American Bach Soloists. Soon after he sang the world premiere Frederick Douglas: The Making of an American Prophet composed by Grammy Award winning country songwriter Marcus Hummon and debuted with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Moody. Additionally in 2016, Mr. Dailey made international debuts in the UK and Brazilian premieres of Hasse’s Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra with the Woodhouse Opera Festival and Il Festival de Ópera Barroca de Belo Horizonte and he made his Subculture NYC debut at the invitation of Tony Award winning composer Jason Robert Brown as a part of Brown’s broadway cabaret residency. In the spring of 2017, he debuted with Opera Louisiane as Telemaco in Michael Borowitz’s world premiere jazz-gospel orchestration of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and debuted with the Grand Rapids Symphony singing Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms under the baton of Michael Christie. Soon after, Mr. Dailey returned to the U.K. that fall for the international premiere of Soosan Lolavar’s I.D. Please in the Tete a Tete New Opera Festival in London. In the fall of 2018, he sang the role of Mini-B/Boris the Boar in the world premiere of Dan Visconti and Cerise Jacobs’s Permadeath: A Video Game Opera with White Snakes Projects in Boston, MA to great acclaim. Mr. Dailey became the first countertenor to appear with Shreveport Opera singing Kyle in Robert Paterson’s Three Way: Masquerade in 2019. The remainder of his 2018/2019 season included debuts and appearances with the Austin Baroque Orchestra the IRIS Orchestra of Memphis, TN, Music By Women Festival, and Boston Early Music Festival. Since then, Mr. Dailey made debuts with the Chicago Philharmonic and Missouri Symphony, was a featured soloist at the 2020 ACDA Southern Regional Conference, and debuted at the historic Ryman Auditorium.
Mr. Dailey is featured in Fatherhood, a documentary directed by award winning London based director, Ben Gregor, which premiered on FUSE TV in 2019. He is also a featured on recording projects such as the debut album of acclaimed duo and super producers Louis York (Chuck Harmony and Claude Kelly), American Griots (2019), Adrian Dunn’s Redemption Live in Chicago (2020), and the self-titled release from The Aeolians of Oakwood University under the direction of Dr. Jason Max Ferdinand (2020).
Growing in his reputation as a scholar, Mr. Dailey was invited to the Center for Black Music Research’s inaugural Black Vocality Symposium in 2013 giving a performative presentation entitled “The Anatomy of the Black Voice: Peculiarities, Challenges, and Regional Differences”. Since that time, he been Artist-in-Residence, masterclass clinician, and guest lecturer at Southern University, Prairie View A&M University, the University of Arkansas, and Vanderbilt University among others. Mr. Dailey was lead soloist and vocal music curator of the official MLK50 Commemoration at the National Civil Rights Museum in 2018 in Memphis, TN. In the fall of 2019, he presented at the inaugural Harry T. Burleigh Week organized by the Burleigh Legacy Alliance of Burleigh’s hometown of Erie, PA and regularly presents lectures and programs in conjunction with the organization. In June 2020, Mr. Dailey curated and presented a virtual clinic and webinar entitled “A Stirring in My Soul: The Negro Spiritual and Social Justice Movements” presented by the National Museum of African American Music.
Mr. Dailey is a 2012 graduate of Morgan State University and received his master of music from Boston University. He currently serves on the voice faculty of Tennessee State University where he established the Big Blue Opera Initiatives (BBOI) and the annual Harry T. Burleigh Spiritual Festival. Additionally, he is the founding artistic director of the W. Crimm Singers (aka Wakanda Chorale), professional ensemble in residence of BBOI, and is a co-founding member of historically informed progressive, crossover ensemble, Early Music City.
Mr. Dailey serves on the boards of ALIAS Chamber Ensemble, the International Florence Price Festival, Nashville Rep, and the Artistic Planning Committee of the Nashville Symphony. He also serves as community project curator with Intersection Contemporary Music Ensemble and arts and creative arts coordinator of the NAACP-Nashville Branch. A passionate advocate for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, he is a consultant on HBCU initiatives with Opera America, Early Music America, and New Music USA and is an artist ambassador of the Music Inclusion Coalition. He is on the faculty of the Narnia Festival of Narni, Italy leading a program on African American Concert and Sacred Music, and is the program director of the Nashville Opera- Big Blue HBCU Fellowship, an HBCU initiative of the the company in partnership with TSU. Most recently, Dailey was named to the 2020 class of the Nashville Black 40 Under 40 and he was recognized for Outstanding Service from the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts of Washington, DC. Additionally, he is a 2020 recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Tennessee Arts Commission.
Mr. Dailey holds membership in the National Association of Negro Musicians, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, inc
The Third Anniversary Episode of the Choralosophy Podcast!
The serendipity of having this episode ready to publish this week, on the third anniversary of the show is incredible. After all, three years ago I was motivated to launch this show because I saw a need stemming from how divided we were becoming as a nation. In the music world, we are more polarized than many due to political alignments and loyalties.
Micah Hendler is the director of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, whose mission is the bringing together of Palestinian and Jewish children together to make music and make connections. He is also a member of the music team at Braver Angels, which is a non-partisan organization that creates events and content designed to bring Republicans and Democrats together. His entire musical identity has been built around the idea that music CAN bring people together that often think they will never reconcile.
Micah Hendler
Micah Hendler (Forbes 30 Under 30 for Music) is a musical changemaker working to harness the power in each of our voices to make a difference.
Micah is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, an Israeli-Palestinian music and dialogue project featured for its innovative musicianship and integrity of purpose and process from the Late Show with Stephen Colbert to the New York Times. Through the co-creation of music and the sharing of stories, the chorus empowers young singers from East and West Jerusalem to speak and sing their truths as they become leaders in their communities and inspire singers and listeners around the world to join them in their work for peace, justice, inclusion, and equality.
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Micah is a Founding Partner of Raise Your Voice Labs, a creative culture transformation company that helps organizations, companies, and communities realign and reengage around a shared vision and build cultures of resilience, adaptability, inclusive leadership, and supportive accountability. In the Lab, any team can unleash their creative and collaborative abilities, as they work together to reimagine what is possible and create a stunningly honest and inspiring video that can serve as a musical north star in their pursuit of that future.
Micah has founded, directed, sung with, or played with dozens of musical ensembles of varying global styles, including the Yale Whiffenpoofs. He has studied Community Singing and CircleSinging with GRAMMY-winning composers Ysaye Barnwell and Roger Treece, and uses these two methodologies and others to open up the concept of what a chorus can do and who should be in it.
Micah has also been involved in dialogue work for more than 15 years and has written and presented in many local and global forums about his work with the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, including sharing the keynote presentation of the East-West Philosophers’ Conference with leading Palestinian intellectual and peacemaker Dr. Sari Nusseibeh, as they explored together how sound can be used as a tool to create shared spaces in Jerusalem.
Micah writes for Forbes.com on music, society, and social change in a global context and serves in volunteer leadership capacities in both the Justice Choir and Braver Angels grassroots movements. He currently lives in Washington, DC.
LIVE conventions are back! I am so excited, because this online thing does not do it for me. So, I was itching to talk to people! So, I traveled with a portable kit to get the opinions and stories of people at the the convention. It was great to talk to college professors, band directors, and choir directors on the convention floor!
Special thanks to all of the guests! Kurtis Heinrich, Kimbery Guilford, Caleb Zustiak, Ian Colemen, Christopher Boemler, Skip Vandelicht, David Schatz, Tom Higgins and Jane Hicklin.
You need to create music that reflects you. Start with who you are. I tend to tell students not to filter out aspects of their lives from their music. If you start with who you are, then you are the only one who can come up with the best solutions.
Trevor Weston
Trevor Weston
Trevor Weston is a singer, organist, composer and professor of composition and African American Music History at Drew University. We discussed how music, culture and society intersect, as well as the importance of making distinctions between race and culture in the context of music. Often times, our musical experiences, our backgrounds, and our education creates our culture. We share more of that that we realize with more people than we realize. One of Trevor’s learned life lessons involves recognizing the power music has to connect to our common humanity and experiences. Don’t miss this insightful and uplifting episode.
Trevor Weston’s music has been called a “gently syncopated marriage of intellect and feeling.” (Detroit Free Press) Weston’s honors include the George Ladd Prix de Paris from the University of California, Berkeley, the Arts and Letters Award in Music and a Goddard Lieberson Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and residencies from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the MacDowell Colony and a residency with Castle of our Skins at the Longy School of Music. Weston co-authored with Olly Wilson, chapter 5 in the Cambridge Companion to Duke Ellington, “Duke Ellington as a Cultural Icon” published by Cambridge University Press. Weston’s work, Juba for Strings won the Sonori/New Orleans Chamber Orchestra Composition Competition. Trevor Weston won the first Emerging Black Composers Project sponsored by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the San Francisco Symphony.
YouTube version
A list of ensembles performing Trevor Weston’s compositions include Roomful of Teeth, The Boston Children’s Chorus, St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue Choir, The Starling Chamber Orchestra, Mallarme Chamber Players, The Providence Singers, Chicago Sinfonietta, Seraphic Fire, The Tufts Chamber Chorus, Ensemble Pi, The Amernet String Quartet, The UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus, The Washington Chorus, Trilogy: An Opera Company, and The Manhattan Choral Ensemble. In addition to his creative work, Weston completed the re-orchestration of Florence Price’s Piano Concerto for the Center for Black Music Research in 2010.
Teaching students to be literate requires teachers who are trained for it.
The episode you have been asking for for over a year is finally here! It is jam packed full of ideas and solutions. The music literacy guru herself, Carol Krueger and I discuss the crisis facing music education that few are talking about. We have a serious scaffolding problem regarding literacy in music education. Carol calls it a “spiral” of concepts that are not being layered on for students consistently. Students are arriving to study music at the collegiate level in startling numbers deficient in rudiments, like pitch matching, pitch memory, keeping a steady beat, a developed sense of audiation, or ability to write down what they hear. Carol even makes me improvise on solfege!
“Many of our students are arriving in college, illiterate in music. They may have sung a ton of songs, but they can’t hear a sound and tell you what they heard, because we didn’t label it for them.”
Carol Krueger
Episode 90
How do we solve this problem? There is not a quick fix. We must start students at the beginning of their music education, scaffolding sounds and LABELS for the sounds from the elementary level. There are many barriers making this difficult for us. But it is so critical. Neurologically, music literacy is the SAME as linguistic literacy, and developing advancing skills in all types of literacy carry lasting benefits that all of our students deserve.
Carol Krueger
Dr. Krueger formerly served as the Director of Choral Activities at Valdosta State University, Emporia State University, and Florida Southern. She also served as the Associate Director of Choral Activities at the University of South Carolina and the University of Montevallo. A native of Wisconsin, Krueger received her bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and both an M.M. and D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from the University of Miami.
YouTube Channel
An active clinician, adjudicator and guest conductor, Krueger has most recently conducted festivals and honor choirs at the collegiate, high school and middle school levels in Maryland, Arkansas, South Dakota, North Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin, Kansas, New York, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Washington, Georgia, South Carolina, North Dakota, Indiana [2021] and Kentucky [2021]. In addition, Dr. Krueger served as the guest conductor of the North-North Central ACDA Middle School Treble Choir (Milwaukee, 2020) of Vivaldi’s Gloria in Carnegie Hall (2010), the Adult Chancel Choir and Chamber Singers at Montreat Presbyterian Association of Musicians Conference (2010), and multiple performances of Epcot’s Candlelight Processional and Massed Choir Program (2005).
Krueger has presented interest sessions at the American Choral Directors National Convention in New York, the OAKE (Kodaly) National Convention in Charlotte, the ACDA Southern Division Conventions in Mobile, Nashville and Louisville, the Southern Division MENC Convention in Charleston, the North Central Division ACDA in Madison, the Eastern Division ACDA in Providence, the Eastern Division NAfME in Hartford, as well as interest sessions or workshops in twenty-eight states (Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and West Virginia), Australia and England. Krueger is also widely recognized for her work with music literacy. Oxford University Press publishes her book, Progressive Sight Singing.
For this Oxford Press conversation, I was able to speak to composer Alan Bullard about his life, career and approach to choral music. We talked about what it was like to study with Herbert Howells, the need for music for flexible voicings, the contrasting economy of sheet music sales in the US and UK, as well as his approach to “compositional imposter syndrome.” I especially enjoyed his advice to younger composers. It’s ok to promote yourselves! It’s not bragging! It’s how the business works. So, sit back, relax and get to know Alan Bullard.
Alan Bullard
Episode 89
Alan Bullard was born in 1947, grew up in London, and studied with Herbert Howells and Antony Hopkins at the Royal College of Music, and with Arnold Whittall at Nottingham University.He has been writing music all his life, and frequently undertakes commissions for choral societies, church choirs, orchestral societies and many other ensembles. His choral music, both sacred and secular, has been performed in a wide range of venues in the UK, the USA, and elsewhere.
Many of his choral works are published by Oxford University Press, and he is the editor of, and contributor to, The Oxford Book of Flexible Anthems, The Oxford Book of Flexible Carols, the Oxford Book of Easy Flexible Anthems, and the Oxford Book of Flexible Choral Songs. His works are recorded on CD by such ensembles as Selwyn College Choir, Kings College Choir, The Sixteen, and are regularly broadcast in the UK and the US.As well as music for a wide range of ensembles and soloists, he has also written much educational music, including the Joining the Dots sight-reading series, the Scale Explorer series (both ABRSM) and, jointly with his wife Janet, the Pianoworks series (OUP).He holds an ARCM from the Royal College of Music, a BMus from London University, an MA from Nottingham University and a DU (Honorary Doctorate) from Essex University, and he lives in East Anglia.
When discussing how music and education intersects with race, gender and culture, I find that we are often pretty quick to apply reductionist labels to the idea or concept. For example, phrases I have come across too often include “That’s a boy’s song,” or “Choral Music is an inherently white art form,” or “sight reading is a European value in Music Education.”
If we label these things based on their past origins, are we sending unintentional signals to students about who is welcome NOW?
Now, it’s possible I spend too much time reading through comment threads in Facebook groups, but it raises the issue of the unintended consequences for students and educators when they see or hear such blatant essentialism, though often well intended. In the latest addition to my Choral Music: A Human Art Form thread, Theron Jenkins and I discuss this issue in hopes of bringing some alternative discourses to light for the purpose of making choral music more accessible and inviting to people from every background. After all, Choral Music does not inherently have a race, nor is group singing European. Music is INHERENTLY human. From all to all.
Literacy has value that transcends culture, and does not replace culture
Removing standards for honor choirs doesn’t help students
A well rounded music education can’t achieve all things for all people. Teachers must pick and choose with finite resources.
Teacher morale has reached a crisis point. If you’ve ever felt the crisis or seen the crisis, this episode is for you. In this Livestream episode I got input from some of my Patreon supporters, as well as people listening on Facebook which was fun, and kept the conversation spinning to topics of teacher pay, our attitudes toward our job, the role of having a “good boss” who treats the teacher as the expert and many other “usual suspects” that lead to burnout. In addition, I suggested that we look at two causes that almost no one mentions: Anxiety Contagion and Moral Injury.
Special thanks to Nathan Connell, Jeff Wall, John Sargent and Christopher Boemler for chiming in their ideas via Patreon.
John Rutter, JD Frizell, Odell Ziegler, a Newsweek writer and an Epidemiologist walk into a bar…
What do all of these people have in common? They, along with several others, have made the Choralosophy TOP 10 of 2021. The episodes and post that created the most buzz this year are listed, linked and reviewed below!
John Rutter, on the Oxford Series, comfortably nailed down the top episode of the year. Shared hundreds of times as thousands tuned in to the choral legend’s wise words and delightful optimism and wisdom.
The rest of the episodes are listed in no particular order, partly because it was difficult to distinguish them, other than the seemed to drum up more interest than a typical episode. One of the many things I love about the Choralosophy audience, is that the diversity of topics on the list doesn’t surprise me at all. Podcast listeners tend to be voracious consumers of thought provoking and wide ranging conversations.
Top 10 2021 in Review!
Top 10 episodes covered music literacy, the educational/choral community’s bungled response to Covid, crafting a conductor’s credo, political polarization, authentic communication in performance, and the nation’s racial divide.
Click the image below to find the episode!
Other highlights from 2021 included the show cracking half a MILLION downloads and streams as well as inching into the top 1.5% of all global podcasts. Thanks for listening, and keep the conversation going!
John Rutter, JD Frizell, Odell Ziegler, a Newsweek writer and an Epidemiologist walk into a bar…
What do all of these people have in common? They, along with several others, have made the Choralosophy TOP 10 of 2021. The episodes and post that created the most buzz this year are listed, linked and reviewed below!
John Rutter, on the Oxford Series, comfortably nailed down the top episode of the year. Shared hundreds of times as thousands tuned in to the choral legend’s wise words and delightful optimism and wisdom.
The rest of the episodes are listed in no particular order, partly because it was difficult to distinguish them, other than the seemed to drum up more interest than a typical episode. One of the many things I love about the Choralosophy audience, is that the diversity of topics on the list doesn’t surprise me at all. Podcast listeners tend to be voracious consumers of thought provoking and wide ranging conversations.
Top 10 2021 in Review!
Top 10 episodes covered music literacy, the educational/choral community’s bungled response to Covid, crafting a conductor’s credo, political polarization, authentic communication in performance, and the nation’s racial divide.
Click the image below to find the episode!
Other highlights from 2021 included the show cracking half a MILLION downloads and streams as well as inching into the top 1.5% of all global podcasts. Thanks for listening, and keep the conversation going!
Audiences NEED us this Holiday season. Our singers need to perform. Children need to see smiles. We inject so much joy into the world when we perform. In this short episode I discuss a few topics briefly that I felt the need to get off my chest. Including the critical nature of performance, of choral music as an art form, as well as the value of seeing faces. We have had good reason over the last couple of years to rationalize these things down the scale of importance, but it’s time to reevaluate that.
Car Thoughts!
I also talk about my thoughts related to teacher burnout that are a bit outside of the mainstream discourse. “Moral Injury” is a relatively new term that I believe applies to many teachers over the last year. Tune in to join the conversation.
Perform! And be proud of it!Visit my BRAND new Amazon Influencer Page. More lists and ideas coming soon!Source: CIDRAP
By the way, I am back at it with a full concert season, and it feels great! I’m even giving performances with mostly unmasked choirs! I am excited about this, and am looking forward to the connections we will make as a result.
Introducing the Resonance 95!
Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get your discount every time you purchase!
The Resonance-95 mask is made of three layers, and includes a middle layer of non-woven polypropylene filtration fabric through out the mask. The Resonance-95 mask filters aerosols down to 0.2 microns with a 98-99% efficiency, and meets or exceeds the new ASTM F3502-21 standards for Barrier Face Coverings. It also meets the Respirator N95 Precertification Tests for NIOSH which we will continue to pursue as we have to submit samples from several production lots before final certification is assigned. We have had this mask tested at Nelson Labs in Utah and provide the test results in these images.
In addition to filtration efficiency, mask “fit” is very important for protection. Our mask holds snugly to the face, extends under the chin, and seals completely across the cheeks and nose with a bead of silicone beneath the extended malleable wire. This helps with fogging glasses, but also “proves” the seal helps contain exhaled aerosol particles (which carry viral particles if the person is infected or asymptomatically carrying the disease). The Resonance-95 mask is hand-washable and hang-to-dry.
One of the most COMMON questions to pop up, almost weekly, on choir director Facebook groups is “what do I do to help these (usually boys, not always) match pitch?!” It is usually a panic induced, “I’ve tried everything” kind of post. This short episode brings in the expert, Donald Brinegar, choral director, professor and author of the book “Pitch Perfect: a Theory and Practice of Choral Intonation. There is a lot of mythology surrounding this topic, so take 20 minutes and demystify! Tune in for an explanation of Rainbow Ears, Frozen Vocal Folds and audiation with their “young child” voice, and more.
I believe one of the biggest goals is getting the students interested in singing choral music before we start trying to operate out of formality. How do we get students interested in something they are not familiar with?
Recently, I came across a shining light of logic, compassion and advocacy in the form of a ChoralNet article by Odell Zeigler IV. The article was shared far and wide, and it became clear to me right away that these ideas needed to be amplified on the show. I encourage you to read his short article, linked above, and THEN listen to this episode. I believe that this topic is critically important right now as we continue to grapple with what it really means to move the music education world in a more equitable direction. Are we focused on processes and root causes leading to improved outcomes later? Or are we focused on outcomes now while glossing over the processes? I appreciated Odell’s take as I read with excitement because he brings process solutions to the table, which is what we desperately need. Do you have students that aren’t comfortable using solfege, or singing with certain vowel formants? Don’t give up on them, or worse fall into the trap of “this isn’t for them!” They deserve a rich education, and all of its inherent challenges and opportunities for growth.
Episode 86Tune in!
He has since dedicated his life to inspiring the next generation of young music educators. As a music teacher himself, he understands the impact his words and actions have on a new class of great musicians and hopes to pass along his empathetic approach to education.
Odell wouldn’t be here if he didn’t live and breathe music, but his true passion lies in building leaders for tomorrow. From every live performance to his work in the classroom, Odell works to move others forward so they can one day do the same.
Next stop, Oxford University and St. Edmund Hall. Betsy and I are joined by composer, conductor, teacher James Whitbourn. Or as he describes himself, a musician. We discussed the Oxford system of colleges and the wide range of choral opportunities it provides. I was fascinated by this because I had never taken the time to wrap my head around the fact that “choral music at Oxford” does not mean one monolithic thing. The diversity of approaches, philosophies and reasons for being for choral groups at Oxford is remarkable, providing students of many interest and skill levels an opportunity to make singing a part of their student experience. In addition to being a composer well known to American choral audiences for the GRAMMY nominated Williamson Voices recording of his Annelies, as well as many other fine works, James is the director of choirs at one of those myriad Oxford choral programs. Join us as we dig into his world and discuss their model for auditions, his philosophy on what it means to be a well rounded musician, the value of the “live and unplugged” choral art form and more!
James Whitbourn is an internationally-renowned composer recognised by The Observer as “a truly original communicator in modern British choral music”. A graduate of Magdalen College, University of Oxford, his career in music began in the BBC, for whom he has worked as composer, conductor, producer and presenter. His compositional output is admired for its direct connection with performers and audiences worldwide and for its ability to “expand the experience of classical music beyond the edges of the traditional map of classical styles” (Tom Manoff, NPR).
His largest composition is the concert-length choral work Annelies, the first major choral setting of The Diary of Anne Frank. Other notable works include Luminosity, written for Westminster Choir College and the Archedream dance ensemble, the Son of God Mass for saxophone, choir and organ and The Seven Heavens for choir and orchestra – a portrayal of the life of C. S. Lewis in the imagery of the medieval planets. His varied output includes several works written with and for his friend the late Robert Tear and works commissioned for the enthronement of the Bishop of Salisbury, an Easter Day Festival at King’s College Cambridge and the 1400th anniversary of Rochester Cathedral. He has also collaborated with former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, Michael Symmons Roberts and Desmond Tutu.
YouTube!
His choral works have been performed in many prestigious venues, and have been presented on acclaimed recordings, including six complete discs of his choral music. Of the latest of these – Annelies (Naxos) – Gramophone writes “the greatest accomplishment here is that James Whitbourn has written some music of great beauty”, Choir and Organ adding, “Whitbourn’s devastatingly beautiful and restrained treatment of the subject matter makes it all the more poignant”. His first Naxos Disc Luminosity reached No. 3 on Classical Billboard and of the “stunning music” heard on Living Voices, Choral Journal promised that listeners “will be transformed by the sheer beauty of the sonic experience”.
The greater part of his compositional output is in vocal and choral music, but his range of style incorporates the lush symphonic scoring heard in his early BBC landmark series Son of God (whose seminal themes form his best-known work, Son of God Mass, for choir, saxophone and organ) and the inventive orchestral textures of Annelies. His orchestral commissions include the award-winning work Pika, based on the bombing of Hiroshima, one of three large-scale compositions for symphony orchestra written with the poet Michael Symmons Roberts and performed by the BBC Philharmonic, who have also recorded many of his television scores.
Annelies, a concert-length work for soprano soloist, choir and ensemble, exists in two scorings, the larger of which – for symphony orchestra – was premiered by Leonard Slatkin at London’s Cadogan Hall in 2005. The work went on to receive its US premiere in 2007 and was premiered in a new chamber version by violinist Daniel Hope and American soprano Arianna Zukerman at The Hague, Netherlands, on Anne Frank’s 80th birthday in 2009. Its libretto is drawn from the Diary of Anne Frank, crafted into a new translation by Melanie Challenger.
His choral works have been performed on every inhabited continent of the world, especially in North America and mainland Europe. He enjoys a close relationship with Westminster Choir College, Princeton, who have performed several concerts of his music and where he has served as Composer-in-residence. He also has a special relationship with the Choir of King’s College Cambridge with whom he has worked for more than twenty years and for whom he composed the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis collegium regale premiered in Easter Day 2005.
Whitbourn has been commissioned to compose the music to mark several national and international events, including the BBC’s title music for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and music for the national commemoration of 9/11 at Westminster Abbey – subsequently performed in New York on the first anniversary of the attacks. He also composed music for the BBC Events’ coverage of the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day,
Many of his choral works have been recorded by the Choir of Clare College Cambridge with saxophonist John Harle and tenor Robert Tear under Timothy Brown (Et Cetera KTC 1248), Commotio, with violist Levine Andrade and tenor Christopher Gillett conducted by Matthew Berry (Naxos 8.572103) and the Westminster Williamson Voices conducted by James Jordan (Naxos 8.572737, Naxos 8.573070, Naxos 8.573715), with saxophonist Jeremy Powell, organists Ken Coan and Daryl Robinson, soprano Arianna Zukerman and The Lincoln Trio. The Williamson Voices’ Naxos recording of Annelies under James Jordan was nominated for a GRAMMY award under the Best Choral Performance category in 2014.
He is popular on both sides of the Atlantic as choral advisor and also enjoys a profile as a conductor and producer, with four GRAMMY nominations to his name among many other international awards and nominations. He is a regular participant in choral preparation workshops and has worked with students at Princeton University, Rider University, Oxford University, Cambridge University and other educational and choral establishments. As well conducting the BBC Philharmonic, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and other leading orchestras, he directs the London-based vocal ensemble The Choir, whose acclaimed DVD recording of John Tavener’s choral music received a Gramophone nomination.
James Whitbourn is Senior Research Fellow at St. Stephen’s House, Oxford, a member of the Faculty of Music in the University of Oxford and Director of Music at St Edmund Hall, Oxford.
The Second Installment Betsy Cook Weber’s Sabbatical Series!
In this stop, Betsy visits Stockholm, Sweden to see Gary Graden and the St. Jacobs Kammerkör. Betsy, Gary and I discuss how an American born director ended up learning from Eric Ericsson and never leaving. We also dive into the philosophies, practices and approaches that lead to such a virtuosic sound from this top flight Swedish choir. I was inspired by Gary’s passion for his job, which in his words is to provide his singers a high quality musical experience “interacting with great art.” In Betsy’s words, Gary is “in it to win it, but winning isn’t a trophy.” You won’t want to miss this conversation, or the concert clips!
was born in the USA and studied at Clark University, the Hartt School of Music, the Aspen Summer Music Festival, and with Eric Ericson at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. Gary Graden is a former member and tenor soloist with the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, as well as the vocal ensemble Lamentabile Consort.
Gary Graden is presently Director of Music in the Stockholm Cathedral (Storkyrkan) and S:t Jacob´s church. He has also been on the faculty of Stockholm´s Musikgymnasium where founded and conducted the Stockholm Musikgymnasium´s Chamber Choir. With this choir and the S:t Jacobs Chamber Choir he has won grand prizes and first prizes in several of Europe´s most prestigious competitions, including the European Grand Prize.
He has also participated in a wide array of national and international festivals including the Tolosa Festival in Spain, the IFCM World Symposia in Minneapolis and Kyoto, Sagra Musicale Umbra in Italy, Debrecen Festival in Hungary, Koorbiennale in Holland, the ACDA National Convention in USA, and is currently artistic director of the international choral festival La Fabbrica del Canto in Legnano.
Graden has commissioned and premiered more than 90 works by such composers as Sven-David Sandström, Anders Hillborg, Nana Forte, Thomas Jennefelt, Steve Dobrogosz, Bo Hansson, Agneta Sköld, Gabriel Jackson, Anders Paulsson, Javier Busto, Vytautas Miškinis, Urmas Sisask, Georg Riedel, Carl Unander-Scharin, Stephen Leek, Damijan Močnik, Corrado Margutti, Giovanni Bonato, and Michael Waldenby.
He has conducted several orchestras including the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra. the Stockholm Royal Opera Orchestra, Stockholm Rebaroque, the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Philidor, France, and Camerata Strumentale Città di Prato as well as Orchestra da Camera Perugia in Italy. Above and beyond his specialization in the performance of contemporary music, he has performed such larger works as Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in c-minor, Bach’s passions and Mass in b-minor, as well as the Requiems of Brahms, Duruflé, Fauré and Michael Haydn.
The First Installment of the a new series following Betsy Cook Weber on her Sabbatical
I am honored to present to you a new series of podcasts and videos with Dr. Betsy Cook Weber. Dr. Weber is on Sabbatical this semester, and she reached out to me to partner in documenting her travels across Europe. Her mission? To discover the “secret sauce” of many European scholastic and professional choral organizations. In the first installment Betsy and I speak with Rupert Gough of London’s Royal Holloway School. We cover the philosophy and practice that governs this fantastic choir from rehearsal and audition procedures to the challenge of getting British choirs to emote . Tune in for a fresh perspective and some beautiful sounds from their rehearsals.
Rupert Goughhas been Director of Choral Music and College Organist at Royal Holloway, University of London since 2005. He is also Organist and Director of Music at London’s oldest surviving church, Great Saint Bartholomew, which maintains a professional choir. He previously spent 11 years as Assistant Organist at Wells Cathedral where he worked closely with the choir both as accompanist and choir trainer. During this time he featured on 19 recordings as either organist or conductor, including six discs for Hyperion Records.
His overall discography of nearly 50 commercial recordings encompasses work as a choir director, organist and harpsichordist, and includes the organ and choral works of Sir Percy Buck (Priory), the instrumental and choral works of Carson Cooman (Naxos and Albany), the complete works for violin and organ of Josef Rheinberger and choral works of Rihards Dubra, Vytautas Miškinis and Bo Hansson (Hyperion).
Born in 1971, Rupert was a chorister at the Chapels Royal, St. James’s Palace, and won a scholarship to the Purcell School. He received (with distinction) a Masters degree in English Church Music from the University of East Anglia whilst Organ Scholar at Norwich Cathedral. In 2001 he won Third Prize at the St. Alban’s International Organ Competition. He is particularly renowned for his work in combination with violin as a member of the Gough Duo. The Duo’s many American tours have taken them all over the USA from Florida to Alaska. Recently they performed to audiences of 1,800 in Moscow and 1,200 in Hong Kong.
As a conductor he has worked with a variety of professional choirs and orchestras including the Britten Sinfonia, the London Mozart Players, the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and Florilegium. He has also been fortunate to work with many distinguished soloists including Julian Lloyd Webber, Antony Rolfe Johnson, Felicity Lott, Susan Bullock, Emma Kirkby, James Bowman and Wayne Marshall. This summer he will be working alongside the King’s Singers in their first UK Summer School.
Dr. Betsy Cook Weber is a Madison Endowed Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Houston Moores School of Music. She teaches a full load of coursework, oversees the large and varied choral area at the Moores School, and is also highly active internationally as a conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and lecturer.
One of the raging debates today in education centers around the ways in which we can expand access to fruits of high quality education to more students. And that is a wonderful debate to have, and an important one. However, a troubling strain of that song is the tendency to take the easy path toward equality: Attempts to include by EXCLUDING things. Headlines abound about school districts removing or lowering testing standards, or gifted programs citing the lack of equitable outcomes. In the music world, we talk of eliminating blind auditions or auditions all together. There are TONS of fair criticisms of standardized tests, or audition and screening practices for example, but those are problems that could be addressed to simply make a better, fairer, but still rigorous test. Where is that conversation? What if our focus was “how do I raise more people to the bar?” rather than implying without actually saying “we need to lower the bar or remove it?”
I say this is “taking the easy way out” because it absolves the institutions, and even worse, the politicians that oversee the budgets, of doing the HARD work of finding and solving the true barriers of access allowing more students to benefit from these programs. Cancelling the program is simply easier, leading to an appearance of equality, and makes no one actually better off.
Angel Eduardo
“We need to devise and develop other paths to prosperity, more robust social safety nets, and better education systems. We need to talk about solutions that will truly uplift those being harmed by our meritocratic obsession. But calling merit racist is not the way to do it. Meritocracy is a kind of tyranny, but merit still matters.”
Angel Eduardo
In this episode, my guest, Angel Eduardo takes the argument a step further and says the easy way out also erases the talents and merits of students of color. Giving voice to the often unexpressed concern of how young people might interpret hearing the implication that “the standards might be too high for you. So we are lowering them.” What types of long term impact may that have on the psyche?
One of the foundational principles of this show is that we, as humans AND as colleagues don’t have to agree about everything. In fact I will take it a step further: we NEED disagreement and dialogue in order to learn and grow. This episode is based on that principle. I recently came across Kirsten Oberoi during a Facebook disagreement and thought it would make a great podcast conversation. The disagreement centered around our philosophies related to choir auditions and what it means for a program to be “people centered.”
There is room in the choral community for all kinds of philosophies.
Kirsten made a splash recently with her new podcast Choral Connectivity and her blog called “No Auditions Ever!” She is making a valuable contribution to the conversation, but I only agreed with about 82.7% of it, so I thought we could chat to hash out some of the disagreements and also find where our common ground lies.
Kirsten Oberoi is the Founding Artistic Director of the South Shore Children’s Chorus based out of Quincy, MA – her hometown. Kirsten taught public school for several years – high school in California for two years and middle school in Massachusetts for 5 years. She is now full-time in the non-profit music world at SSCC, as well as the General Manager for the Greater Boston Choral Consortium. Kirsten strongly believes in the mission of people-first music making, and shares this philosophy on her podcast Choral Connectivity.
At some point, we have to come back to choir, (or quit) and the Covid risk will not be zero. So, it is now unavoidable that we will have to become comfortable engaging with humans in close proximity because they NEED us. Choir is essential. Nicola Dedmon recently wrote a great article in the ACDA Western Division’s Tactus magazine over the summer that I recently found, and found very moving. So, here she is to tell her Covid story as well as discuss with me the choir world’s Covid Conversation.
How can we come back from the polarization, the finger pointing, and the political myopia and become leaders of diverse groups again?
One side thinks the other is pro-death and the other thinks the opposing side are authoritarian hypochondriacs trying to take over the world.
Nicola Dedmon
Nicola Dedmon
Episode 80
Nicola’s Tactus Article
Professor Nicola Bertoni Dedmon is currently on faculty at Fullerton College as a Choral/Vocal Professor, where she coordinates the Choral Area and conducts the Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, in addition to teaching private voice. She currently serves on the board of ACDA Western Division as an R&R Coordinator. Professor Dedmon is a graduate of James Madison University (BM) and Westminster Choir College (MM).
Brought to you by members of my Patreon, who have collaborated with me to create this episode. This is the first time I have done a MULTI topic show. I think you will enjoy it!
How are you navigating the return to “normal” activities?
Do you get flack for not following the zeitgeist in a very liberal profession like choral music? (Spoiler alert: yes! A lot, but only from people who don’t listen to the show.)
If someone gave you a lot of money, would you quit your school and turn your pro choir full-time?
During the years of building your program to be musically literate, how did you keep students motivated to work on sight-reading?
How do you teach rhythm, particularly syncopated rhythms?
Do you have any suggestions for recruiting male voices, specifically high school age, to the choir program? How do we change the attitude that singing is for girls or that it’s “not manly?”
In this episode, I read some recent reviews from the Apple Podcasts App, as well as some questions that came in through the website. Then, I have clipped out a portion of episode one of Reconstructing the Dialogue. A new podcast on which I am but one voice of many. Journalist Mónica Guzman, Professor Erec Smith and author and frequent Newsweek columnist Angel Eduardo and I offer our thoughts on ways to mend the broken race discourse. I won’t other you often with this show, but I wanted to let you know I was doing it! I hope you will subscribe!
We can expect “Excellence” and be inclusive of all ability levels at the same time!
That’s it. That’s the Blog.
Car Thoughts on the topic
Just kidding. There’s more.
On the Choralosophy Podcast over the last several years, I have presented my thoughts on choral music curriculum in several episodes. From grading policies, to literacy instruction, as well a the philosophy of grading on growth rather than arbitrary standards based grading. I believe that a school choir program can be BOTH incredibly rigorous and open to beginners at the same time. A high school choir CAN achieve college level or beyond literacy skills, a professional rehearsal atmosphere that is fun and engaging, all while remaining productive and continuously striving for excellence. One can accept that “perfection” in all human endeavors does not exist, without abandoning the constant march towards it. Below is an example from the beginning of last school year, where our prior literacy, independence and rigor saved our school year due to the challenges presented by masks, social distancing, and reduced rehearsal time. (Scroll to the bottom for episodes on my literacy method.)
An example of an “advanced” rehearsal in my program. Demonstrating the power of high levels of literacy training prior to 11th-12th grade.
What is Excellence? Who gets to define it?
I do. For my classroom. You do for yours. It’s pretty simple really. The line in the sand that I draw is that everyone has to have some definition of this word, or people will not take the choir seriously. It does not matter if excellence is centered around concepts of intonation, rhythmic precision, resonance and expressive line like mine is, or centered around facial expression, choreography, story telling like a great show choir. The priorities can be completely different and they could both be excellent. Maybe your definition of excellence is centered around the way humans FEEL in your rehearsals. Centered around an informal rubric of community, acceptance and love. That’s ok too. You are an excellent choir when you achieve your choir’s goals. This doesn’t have to be an argument. The tent of choral music is large enough for an infinite number of “Excellence models” but you must choose a definition and strive for it relentlessly.
Grading on Growth
This concept is important in my program because it demonstrates the possible duality between “rigor” and “inclusivity.” I believe that rigorous curricula can be inclusive of all levels of learner if we grade on growth. Put simply, “I don’t care where you start. You can get better, and that’s how you will earn an A.” We have a difficult balance to maintain in school music. We must be a “real class” in the eyes of the community and administration while also accepting students into our programs with WIDELY ranging levels of prior knowledge and skill. I outline my attempt at this balance in the two episodes below.
Episodes 18, 52 and 69 will get you started on a new literacy journey! For episode 69 I highly recommend the video version so you can watch the individual sight singing assessments happen!
Example of work with Sight Reading Factory with 10th grade students. We call this our “intermediate” level class.
Panel discussion featuring three insightful Professors
In this week’s special panel conversation, I am finally responding to what has been a frequent listener suggestion for a podcast topic. A “no BS” discussion on the Choral Grad School decision that weighs so heavily on many of us, sometimes more than once in our careers. So, I invited a group of experts on the topic. Each with experience working with graduate programs as both a student, and as a professor. Doctors André Thomas, Jennaya Robison and Giselle Wyers each gave graciously of their time to this important discussion.
“Why graduate school?”
“Is it right for me?”
“Is it worth the money”
“What do I look for in a grad school, and what will they be looking for in me?”
“What kind of musical chops do I need to have?”
We don’t always give enough credit to people who teach for 30 years in Middle School. So, is there a way to prop those people up where they are, rather than entice them into leaving their job to go get another degree? Listen to the end to hear Dr. Thomas’s thoughts on this. Dr. Wyers and Dr. Robison also give insightful pieces of advice about balancing motherhood and graduate school.
This special episode is something a bit different, in that it is a recap of a shared experience. All the way back on Episode 17, Marques Garrett challenged me to intentionally find an opportunity to be an “only” in the room. I had reflected in that conversation that, as a white guy, I don’t think I’ve ever been the “only one” in a room. “I don’t know what that feels like.” Marques suggested that he thought that might be good for me to experience. I agreed. Then Covid happened and the “live on air” challenge had to be tabled for a bit.
Enter my friend Maria Ellis to the rescue. (Find Maria’s past episode 29 pt. 2) I had seen Maria’s great videos about her church, and thought that as a musician, there was no better way to experience a cultural growth moment than in Maria’s music rich church in St. Louis. So, we set it up! Off to St. Louis I went, and wow did I have a great time. I learned so much! While I can’t know everything there is to know about Maria’s cultural experience in one day, I now have a frame of reference. I real life, shared experience that can put future interactions in a perspective that I did not have before.
J.D. Frizzell is a standout educator and clinician. In this episode, we discuss Dr. Frizzell’s successful approach to getting his singers to come out of their shells! We all want our ensembles to sing with passion, honesty, and expression, but how do we achieve this in an objective, measurable way? While group discussions of poetic meaning can be helpful, they will not create the kind of transformative performance that will change lives. We must dive deeper into ways we can empower our singers with the skills and preparation to approach the literature without fear—fear of tessitura, vocal faults, note and rhythm accuracy, and more. This will be a helpful, practical discussion in which we identify and rectify common issues that prevent emotional singing.
J.D. Frizzell is the Director of Fine Arts and Director of Vocal Music at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis, TN. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Choral Conducting from The University of Kentucky. Dr. Frizzell earned the double Master’s in Music Theory/Composition and Conducting from The University of Southern Mississippi, where he also earned the bachelor’s degree in Music History and Literature.Dr. Frizzell, winner of the 2007 Intégrales Composition Contest, writes music for choir, orchestra, symphonic band, voice, handbells, chamber ensembles, and solo instruments. With music published by many major publishing houses, he has had best sellers throughout the world. Frizzell was chosen by the board of the Tennessee Music Educators Association as the 2011 Outstanding Young Music Educator. Additionally, he was awarded the Dr. Clair E. Cox Award for Teaching Excellence.As the Director of Fine Arts at Briarcrest, Dr. Frizzell leads a faculty of twelve full time faculty-artists and is responsible for coordinating curriculum, instruction, and budgets for all of the fine arts programs (K2-12th grade). He also serves as an advocate and school liaison for all of the visual art, instrumental music, vocal music, dance, theatre, and technical production programs. As the Director of Vocal Music, he teaches the Concert Choir, Advanced Women’s Choir, and OneVoice. Additionally, Dr. Frizzell works with the middle and elementary school choirs when needed.
A leader in the contemporary a cappella movement, he is the co-founder and President of The A Cappella Education Association, a nonprofit dedicated to helping groups around the world. He also serves on the board of the nonprofit June Vocal Music, which is dedicated to the creation of new professional a cappella groups and development of opportunities for diverse and otherwise underrepresented student populations. His high school a cappella group, OneVoice, is a SONY Recording Artist. They were the winners of the Macy’s A Cappella Challenge judged by Pentatonix, contestants on America’s Got Talent, performers at The Emmys, and collaborators with The Swingles. Dr. Frizzell co-authored the books “A Cappella Warm Ups for Pop and Jazz Choirs” and Teaching Music Through Performance in Contemporary A Cappella.Dr. Frizzell is active as a presenter, adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor. As an active member of TNMEA, NATS, ACDA, and WTVMEA, he has served in multiple volunteer capacities, including two-time Chairperson of All-West Honor Choir Auditions and Performances and Choral Festival.
He has served as the Southern Division ACDA R & S Chair for Men’s Choirs. The board of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation named him one of “Memphis’ Finest” for his philanthropic efforts. He lives in Memphis, TN with his wife, Emily, son, Henry, and dogs, Sally and Ari.For commission, conducting, workshop, or other booking information, please visit http://www.jdfrizzell.com.Dr. JD Frizzell is the Director of Fine Arts and Director of Vocal Music at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis, TN, where he is responsible for coordinating all Fine Arts programs (K2-12th grade). As the Director of Vocal Music, he teaches the Concert Choir, Advanced Women’s Choir, Mens Choir, and internationally-acclaimed a cappella group OneVoice. His ensembles have performed at regional, national, and international conventions. Winner of the Integrales Composition Contest, Dr. Frizzell has had many best-selling compositions and arrangements. He also co-authored “A Cappella Warm Ups” with Deke Sharon. Dr. Frizzell is the President of the A Cappella Education Association and the founder of the National A Cappella Convention.
The next installment of the Oxford Series is THE John Rutter. We have all grown up knowing the name and legacy that John represents. In this conversation, my goal was to give you a peak behind the curtain revealing the human side of the legend. We discussed the value of choral music to the world, his growth and maturation as a composer, and what keeps his fire lit after all these years. John Rutter could stop composing today and his legacy would be established. What keeps him going? Tune in and find out! A bonus later in the episode is a man after my heart where John brings up the toxic nature of online discourse, and role choral music can play in healing.
John Rutter studied music at Clare College, Cambridge and first came to notice as a composer and arranger of Christmas carols and other choral pieces during those early years; today his compositions, including such concert-length works as Requiem, Magnificat, Mass of the Children, The Gift of Life, and Visions are performed around the world.
John edits the Oxford Choral Classics series, and, with Sir David Willcocks, co-edited four volumes of Carols for Choirs. In 1983 he formed his own choir The Cambridge Singers, with whom he has made numerous recordings on the Collegium Records label, and he appears regularly in several countries as a guest conductor and choral ambassador.
John holds a Lambeth Doctorate in Music, and was awarded a CBE for services to music in 2007.
CDC published epidemiologist returns to the show to discuss the science of schools in the shifting sands of Delta.
Since appearing on the show in November on Episode 49, Dr. Høeg has been very busy both researching and making public commentary about the issues surrounding Covid, kids and schools. Since her first Choralosophy appearance, she was a senior author on a study about in school transmission published by the CDC and subsequently referenced in their “Back to School Guidelines.” In addition, she has written articles in the Atlantic and the New York Times among others.
Dr. Tracy Høeg
In this episode, the Dr. and I discuss the data on Delta variant and it’s effect on kids, whether or not masking in schools is as obvious as we present it here in the US, and how other countries are approaching it, her advice on putting singing safety in a broader context beyond the “Aerosol Study” we all know and love. Dr. Høeg has been very generous with her time in the tradition of the other Covid Conversations on this show wandering beyond even the data to the philosophy that governs the “harm reduction” philosophy. You don’t want to miss this one.
Episode 75 Part 2
Data Representations Discussed in Episode.
* To calculate Infection Fatality rate, divide deaths by total infections.
CDC published epidemiologist returns to the show to discuss the science of schools in the shifting sands of Delta.
Since appearing on the show in November on Episode 49, Dr. Høeg has been very busy both researching and making public commentary about the issues surrounding Covid, kids and schools. Since her first Choralosophy appearance, she was a senior author on a study about in school transmission published by the CDC and subsequently referenced in their “Back to School Guidelines.” In addition, she has written articles in the Atlantic and the New York Times among others.
In this episode, the Dr. and I discuss the data on Delta variant and it’s effect on kids, whether or not masking in schools is as obvious as we present it here in the US, and how other countries are approaching it, her advice on putting singing safety in a broader context beyond the “Aerosol Study” we all know and love. Dr. Høeg has been very generous with her time in the tradition of the other Covid Conversations on this show wandering beyond even the data to the philosophy that governs the “harm reduction” philosophy. You don’t want to miss this one.
Episode 75 Part 1
Data Representations Discussed in Episode.
* To calculate Infection Fatality rate, divide deaths by total infections.
A Back to School Special From Choralosophy Podcast
Iowa ACDA SRF Presentation
Listen in, or watch on YouTube for the complete presentation focusing on the practices, philosophies and RESULTS made possible by Sight Reading Factory. I discuss the “first day of school” reading activity, the way I rip off the bandaid by removing all keyboard assistance for note reading, signs for how your students are ready to move on to something harder, as well as the importance of establishing good vocal habits on day one to make literacy acquisition easier. In addition, the audience provides lots of great questions, leading to other great discussion topics. Enjoy!
Summer 2021 Presentations on Recruiting are linked below. To listen to the audio of this presentation, you can join the Choralosophy Patreon for 3$ a month
A Back to School Special from the Choralosophy Podcast
This time, we have William Bennett of Cane Bay High School in the hot seat to reflect on Carol Dweck’s “Mindset” research and practice as well as its implication in the choral rehearsal setting. Warning: sportsball metaphors are used gratuitously. In this short discussion, we will impart on you several activities, descriptions and philosophies to help you incorporate this important psychological insight into your teaching.
William J. Bennett is the Director of Choirs at Cane Bay High School and the Director of Music at Summerville Presbyterian Church. He was selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2015 GRAMMY Music Educator Award, and was the 2009-2010 Cane Bay High School Teacher of the Year. He has led clinics on leadership in a music classroom, choral techniques, and sight singing, and has served as a choral clinician for multiple middle and high school clinics. He served as the SC ACDA President (2017 – 2019) and served on the South Carolina Department of Education’s Visual and Performing Arts Standards Revision Committee revising the SC High School Choral Music Curriculum Guide. Previous appointments include: Conductor of the University Chorus and Adjunct Professor of Music at the College of Charleston; Assistant Conductor of the Taylor Festival Choir; and Associate Director of Choirs at Wando High School. Choirs under his direction have performed featured concerts at the ACDA Southern Division Conference, SC ACDA and SCMEA Conferences, the Piccolo Spoleto Festival and at the Washington National Cathedral.He holds a Masters Degree in Music: Choral and Orchestral Conducting from Louisiana State University and a BA in Music: Vocal Performance from the College of Charleston
A Back to School Special from Choralosophy Podcast
Zachary Singer
Zach Singer weighed in on the main page of Choralosophy.com with an idea to share with us. He calls it being a “cultural custodian.” As we get back to being busy, I thought you might enjoy a few bite sized episodes with some practical, usable ideas. Tune in to hear Zach’s thoughts about bridging cultural divides in the classroom in order to find a shared classroom culture through music.
Expertise Cannot Be Earned as a student. We must test our academic ideas in the real world.
I recently had a lot of time to think and reflect while driving home from the convention circuit, so I went LIVE in the Choralsophers FB group to discuss some reactions to audience feedback from the Success Rubrics episode. One of the ideas that drew the most attention, is that the primacy of the “degree” as a success marker may not be the best way for us to structure our professional spaces and organizations. So, with comments coming in to the chat while driving, (do not try this at home, I am a trained professional) I reflected further on this issue. As always, let’s keep the conversation going!
One of the hot items of choral discussion recently has been “Choral Elitism.” I have done episodes on the show about it, Chris Maunu has written some great blogs, and countless comments in Facebook groups deriding it as a problem. This post is intended to approach the topic from a different angle. I think one of the most dysfunctional aspects of Choral Culture is HOW we decide who the “stars” are in our profession. Who gets asked to present, who gets asked to direct the honor choir, and recently, who can muster large movements of the culture via social media buzz. Having a hierarchy in this way is normal and natural, but the rubric with which we choose our “cool kids club” matters. So let’s play a little game and see if we can’t reimagine the rubric.
Consistent excellence in the final musical product. An important caveat here is that we CANNOT reserve ourselves to basing this on the concert. To understand who is doing GREAT work in this area, we need “before and after” recordings or eye witness. This matters because we don’t all have the same singers, feeders, admins etc. So, to me success in “musical excellence” should be available to elementary to professional choirs. Show me how far your singers can come under your leadership!
Consistent management of choral programs that flourish. Do people want to sing for this person consistently and over years? To me, this says volumes about what is going on in that rehearsal space. I know something’s being done masterfully.
Does the director have a track record of better and better music making? The beauty of this one is that it requires a synthesis of #1 and 2. You can’t make steady improvement in the music unless you have a steady stream of excited and eager singers coming into the program.
Is the director an innovator in one or more areas of their teaching practice? Are they dreaming up, implementing and perfecting NEW ways to deliver the choral art form and all of its nuts and bolts to new generations of singers?
Is the director contributing to the body of scholarship? This could take the form of research within academia, the creation of definitive recordings, or even by curating new discussions on various aspects of scholarship for conventions etc.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
For the Midsummer installment of the show, I am encouraging you to take a professional development break from your summer fun, not to “do work,” but to begin thinking ahead. To start hoping, dreaming, and scheming for your BEST academic year yet. In fact, I believe that in order to be a a”professional educator,” the summer must include this type of reflection AND planning. I know we’re off the clock, but if your goal is to be the absolute best for your students and singers, this time spent is crucial. Trust me, I am all for unplugging and unwinding, in fact, I am doing that right now as I type this drinking coffee in a cabin in the Black Hills.
In this post, I have curated several discussions from the last 2 and half years, and almost 110 Choralosophy Podcast episodes that I think can contribute to every choral director’s professional development and improvement for next year. The foundation of what we do every day rests upon our mastery of the fundamentals, and our ability to convey these concepts to our students. Please browse the library below, and enjoy your summer!
Summer PD Library!
Understanding the Science
An important part of what we do IS science. Don Brinegar and I had an eye opening discussion about how tuning systems work, and how to teach this concept to our choirs in a way that improves their ear, AND their understanding of how tuning systems vary around the world. Amanda Quist joined me for another tangential, and mind blowing conversation about teaching concepts of resonance.
Another really important conversation regarding the science of our job is the vocal ped conversation. Choir directors are often thought to have an insufficient education in this area, often times leading to some assumptions and oversimplifications being taught to students in a choral setting. For this conversation, I will point you toward a session delivered at the Choralosophy Convention in Atlanta back in April. This session by Beth Munce, my FAVORITE voice teacher specializing in introducing adolescent voices to classical technique, was revolutionary for those in attendance, and we had a lot of great conversations about “Things Choir Teachers Shouldn’t Say” about the voice. The full session can be accessed on the Choralosophy Patreon feed for subscribers only. (normal episodes are always free.)
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
In Episode 44, Dr. Andrew Crane and Dr. Jami Rhodes joined me for another voice science and pedagogy conversation that is a MUST listen for any director wanting to avoid the pitfall of teaching a diverse group of voice types and body shapes etc by using “one size fits all bandaids.”
Most recently, I did a short “Car Thoughts” video with some easy to try tips related to achieving resonance from young singers WITHOUT asking them to “sing louder.”
Students at any place along the learning curve CAN be taught to read music, and can be taught to do it WITHOUT notes being played simultaneously. This begins of course, with rote training. They must have an aural picture in their mind for pitch relationships, and they must have at least a beginning level of confidence making noises. This can be developed AND connected to literacy concepts on the first day of school. From there, it’s just about consistency, and holding students accountable with logical, growth oriented grading systems. ALL students can learn to be literate.
See Below for a list of Literacy and grading episodes. The podcast players below will contain all of the audio for free!
You can listen from the widgets below which will take you to Apple or Castbox to finish listening, or you can find the show on Google Play, Spotify, Youtube or Stitcher!
Over the past year, I began to notice a breath of fresh air in the online choral discourse in the form of Reginal Wright. Like many of you, I have used Facebook to network with other choral directors that I don’t know in real life. This has benefits for me as a Podcast host, but can be a challenge on a personal level. Reginal, however, stood out to me because of his frequent posts inviting polite disagreement and creating a platform for multiple views to be expressed and treated with respect. So, I had to speak with a kindred spirit. In the course of this conversation, he and I talk about our approach to political discussions within professional spaces, in our classrooms, as well as the need to put our differences as choral directors aside in order to support each other, advocate for each other and build each other up.
Reginal Wright was born in Henderson, Texas. His life as a musician began in his middle school band as a trombonist. As a 20 year educator, Reginal has earned many awards including Outstanding Teacher, Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, and a nomination for the UIL Sponsor Excellence Award. Reginal also earned the 2018 Educator of the Year Award for the Mansfield School District.Reginal has performed music in Vienna and Salzburg, Austria as well as Munich, Germany and throughout the United States. As a conductor, he is a sought after clinician in both Gospel and Classical genres. He has enjoyed the opportunity to conduct Honor Choirs for many school districts throughout the United States.
He also serves as a clinician in many Texas All State Choir camps and All State Choirs.Reginal is also an aspiring composer, writing music that caters to school and church choirs.Reginal received both his Bachelor and Masters of Music Education Degrees from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. He is currently the head choral director at Mansfield High School. His choirs are consistent sweepstakes winners in both concert and sight reading contests.
Choirs under his direction also earn “Outstanding in Class” awards at National Music Festivals. In 2012 the Mansfield High School A Cappella Women’s choir was honored as SWACDA honor choir. In 2018 the Mansfield Varsity Men’s Choir performed at the prestigious Texas Music Educators Association Convention in San Antonio. He is a member of Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Music Adjudicators Association, Texas Choral Directors Association, American Choral Directors Association and served as Vocal Chair for TMEA Region 5 from 2014-2017. Reginal resides in Arlington with his wife Renetta, son Gabrien, daughter Reece and Yorkie Cooper
Executive producer and host of the television program African Ascent, W.E.B Du Bois fellow at Harvard, Professor of Philosophy at Berklee College of Music, Author
“I try to argue that they can become better musicians if they become philosophically trained. They will become sensitive to aesthetics in their lives, to the role that art plays in their lives.”
Dr. Teodros Kiros
I feel like I caught lighting in a bottle with this episode. We are all incredibly fortunate to have the chance to absorb wisdom from Professor Teodros Kiros. Dr. Kiros and I discuss the many connections between philosophical training and musical training. I was spellbound many times throughout this conversation hearing about how inseparable music and philosophy SHOULD be. We discuss the common humanity that is unearthed through the sharing of musical and philosophical ideas throughout history, the most scholarly unpacking of cultural appropriation I have yet encountered, as well as Coltrane’s “Love Supreme” and why, with in that one piece of music, we can find a unifying theme for our life and for our music. Don’t miss it.
Teodros Kiros is considered a leading authority on moral philosophy and a leading voice in African philosophy. He has been a W. E. B. Du Bois Fellow at Harvard University for the past 20 years and has been nominated three times for Berklee’s Distinguished Faculty Award. Kiros is the producer and host of the internationally acclaimed television program African Ascent, which continually gives visibility to Berklee faculty and includes interviews with President Roger H. Brown and Provost Larry Simpson. He is also an essayist for leading websites and has published hundreds of articles in refereed journals and online. He’s also a columnist for leading newspapers.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Career Highlights· Philosopher and novelist· Has had short stories and an excerpt from his forthcoming novel, Cambridge Days, featured on Bridgeportword.com·
Author and/or editor of 17 books including Towards the Construction of Political Action; Moral Philosophy and Development; Self-Construction and the Formation of Human Values: Truth, Language and Desire; Explorations in African Political Thought; Multiculturalism; Zara Yacob: Rationality of the Human Heart; Philosophical Essays; Ethiopian Discourse; Hirut and Hailu and Other Short Stories; and Cambridge Days; and the forthcoming Self-Definition: A Philosophical Inquiry from the Global South and Global North· W. E. B. Du Bois Fellow at Harvard University·
Executive producer and host of the television program African Ascent· Professor of Africana Philosophy at Harvard UniversityAwards· Winner of the 1999 Michael Harrington Book Award—Author for Self-Construction and the Formation of Human Values: Truth, Language, and DesireEducation
Singers often have the mentality that if they go to the audition and don’t get the gig, they have failed. Choral directors often feel that if someone doesn’t hire them for the tenure track, or the honor choir gig, then they have sufficiently been told “no.” “I guess this isn’t for me after all.” The happy reality, is that this is a mindset you can chose, or reject. Being an entrepreneur simply means rejecting the “Who’s going to let me?” posture, and adopting the “Who’s going to stop me?” mindset. I sit down with Brian Witkowski of the Lucrative Artist, to discuss this anti-entrepreneur bias inside of Classical music, and how to break out of it. Giving yourself permission and tools to earn from the value you create for others.
I’ve had a love for singing throughout my childhood, and my passion expanded to the stage when I performed my first ever role of Winthrop Paroo in The Music Man. I was fortunate to have a father who always said I could literally do anything I want in life and find success. So I majored in music and pursued a career in singing with experiences spanning the globe in many genres including opera, musical theatre, sacred music and art song. My aspiration to teach led me to earning my Doctor of Musical Arts degree.
Throughout my journey, I’ve faced many recurring physical and mental challenges ranging from having tension down to my toes to limiting beliefs up in my head. Many of those limiting beliefs were about what constitutes a successful “career” in singing and the supposedly “right” way to do it. However, I’ve discovered that for every unavailable or out of reach opportunity, there remains an infinite amount of new opportunities just waiting to be created!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Anyone can be the creator or catalyst for a wealth of possibilities, even you! I created The Lucrative Artist to help artists and artistically-minded individuals have a safe outlet to realize what they most want out of life and position themselves to develop their own new professional opportunities carrying out or supporting their deepest artistic desires. I love helping people overcome limited beliefs, realize their truest niches and acquire the additional vital entrepreneurial skills and knowledge they need to succeed. I truly want everyone to become empowered to have the successful careers and lives they truly desire and deserve!
Find the TOP of the line Resonance Singers mask as well as all of your choir folders, choir supplies as well as choir robes at MyChoirRobes.com. Use Choralosophy at checkout to get a 5% coupon every time you shop!
And other silly traps we fall in to due to the nature of our job and its subsequent ego pitfalls. Tune in for this short reflection on the overbearing conductor stereotype. I think it’s possible that we don’t appreciate what constantly having our job evaluated in front of people does to our Psyche…
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Find the TOP of the line Resonance Singers mask as well as all of your choir folders, choir supplies as well as choir robes at MyChoirRobes.com. Use Choralosophy at checkout to get a 5% coupon every time you shop!
Episode 71
Shop for the wonderful choral works of Ryan Main at http://www.ryanmain.com! Each purchase will receive a 10% discount when you enter choralosophy at checkout. Plus you will OWN the pdf, and make as many copies as you want!
Cecilia McDowall has long been one of my favorite Choral composers. If I were to boil down my reasons for this it would come to her masterful ability to transport both audience and performer through space and time with her writing. In this conversation, I was able to understand a bit more about how her approach and it all became more clear. She immerses herself in a story with each work. Be a fly on the wall as we discuss her writing process, her thoughts on balancing composition, teaching and motherhood throughout her life, interactions between composer and conductor, as well as an exploration of the vulnerability one must face to sing and to compose.
More About Cecilia McDowall
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Born in London, 1951, Cecilia McDowall has won many awards, been short-listed eight times for the British Composer Awards and in 2014 won the Choral category of the British Composer Awards for her haunting work, Night Flight, which celebrates the pioneering flight of the American aviatrix, Harriet Quimby, across the English Channel. McDowall’s distinctive style speaks directly to listeners, instrumentalists and singers alike. Her most characteristic works fuse fluent melodic lines with occasional dissonant harmonies and rhythmic exuberance. Her music has been commissioned and performed by leading choirs, including the BBC Singers, The Sixteen, Oxford and Cambridge choirs, Kansas City Chorale, ensembles, and at festivals worldwide.
The best sight singing tool on the market. A must have for any band/choir or orchestra teacher and their students. In class and at home tools to build their literacy at their own pace. Enter “choralosophy” at checkout to get 10% off every time you renew at http://www.sightreadingfactory.com
Recent commissions include When time is broke (Three Shakespeare Songs) for the BBC Singers and Adoro te devote for Westminster Cathedral Choir, London. Three Latin Motets were recorded by the renowned American choir, Phoenix Chorale, conductor, Charles Bruffy; this Chandos recording, Spotless Rose, won a Grammy award and was nominated for Best Classical Album. The National Children’s Choir of Great Britain commissioned a work focusing on ‘children in conflict’, called Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo. This cantata is based on the real-life escape of Nujeen Mustafa (who is wheelchair-bound) and her sister from war-torn Aleppo; it tells of their harrowing journey across 3,500 miles, through seven countries, eventually arriving in Germany with relief and great gratitude.
Episode 71 on YouTube!
In May, 2019, Wimbledon Choral Society and the Philharmonia Orchestra premiered McDowall’s large-scale choral work, the Da Vinci Requiem, to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death. The work received its first performance on 7 May in the Royal Festival Hall, London. McDowall’s works are regularly broadcast on BBC Radio and readily available on CD.
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In 2013 Cecilia McDowall received an Honorary Doctorate from Portsmouth University and in 2017 McDowall was selected for an Honorary Fellow award by the Royal School of Church Music. In 2019 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from West London University. In 2021 the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, will release a CD of her choral music on the Hyperion label. In 2020 McDowall was presented with the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for ‘outstanding music collection’ for a ‘consistently excellent body of work’. This was a ‘Gift’ from The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Composers’ Academy).Advertisements
Cecilia McDowall has long been one of my favorite Choral composers. If I were to boil down my reasons for this it would come to her masterful ability to transport both audience and performer through space and time with her writing. In this conversation, I was able to understand a bit more about how her approach and it all became more clear. She immerses herself in a story with each work. Be a fly on the wall as we discuss her writing process, her thoughts on balancing composition, teaching and motherhood throughout her life, interactions between composer and conductor, as well as an exploration of the vulnerability one must face to sing and to compose.
More About Cecilia McDowall
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Born in London, 1951, Cecilia McDowall has won many awards, been short-listed eight times for the British Composer Awards and in 2014 won the Choral category of the British Composer Awards for her haunting work, Night Flight, which celebrates the pioneering flight of the American aviatrix, Harriet Quimby, across the English Channel. McDowall’s distinctive style speaks directly to listeners, instrumentalists and singers alike. Her most characteristic works fuse fluent melodic lines with occasional dissonant harmonies and rhythmic exuberance. Her music has been commissioned and performed by leading choirs, including the BBC Singers, The Sixteen, Oxford and Cambridge choirs, Kansas City Chorale, ensembles, and at festivals worldwide.
Recent commissions include When time is broke (Three Shakespeare Songs) for the BBC Singers and Adoro te devote for Westminster Cathedral Choir, London. Three Latin Motets were recorded by the renowned American choir, Phoenix Chorale, conductor, Charles Bruffy; this Chandos recording, Spotless Rose, won a Grammy award and was nominated for Best Classical Album. The National Children’s Choir of Great Britain commissioned a work focusing on ‘children in conflict’, called Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo. This cantata is based on the real-life escape of Nujeen Mustafa (who is wheelchair-bound) and her sister from war-torn Aleppo; it tells of their harrowing journey across 3,500 miles, through seven countries, eventually arriving in Germany with relief and great gratitude.
Episode 71 on YouTube!
In May, 2019, Wimbledon Choral Society and the Philharmonia Orchestra premiered McDowall’s large-scale choral work, the Da Vinci Requiem, to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death. The work received its first performance on 7 May in the Royal Festival Hall, London. McDowall’s works are regularly broadcast on BBC Radio and readily available on CD.
In 2013 Cecilia McDowall received an Honorary Doctorate from Portsmouth University and in 2017 McDowall was selected for an Honorary Fellow award by the Royal School of Church Music. In 2019 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from West London University. In 2021 the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, will release a CD of her choral music on the Hyperion label. In 2020 McDowall was presented with the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for ‘outstanding music collection’ for a ‘consistently excellent body of work’. This was a ‘Gift’ from The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Composers’ Academy).
In this episode, Dr. Ryan Board of Pepperdine University and I discuss the role we see for Choral Music education in filling the void of psychological and emotional development of young people and adults. The epidemic of the loss of resiliency in young people is well documented. Dr. Board walks us through the work of Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck by finding parallels between his prescriptions for building a healthy mind, and what we ALREADY provide in a high quality choral environment. You will not want to miss this conversation designed to center you with a renewed sense of purpose as we move the profession forward.
“Spiritually evolved people, by virtue of their discipline, mastery and love, are people of extraordinary competence, and in their competence they are called on to serve the world, and in their love they answer the call. They are inevitably, therefore, people of great power, although the world may generally behold them as quite ordinary people, since more often than not they will exercise their power in quiet or even hidden ways. Nonetheless, exercise power they do, and in this exercise they suffer greatly…”
M. Scott Peck
Dr. Ryan Board
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!
Episode 70
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Ryan Board, Director of Choral Activities at Pepperdine University, continues to garner international attention as a conductor, choral artist, teacher, and clinician. In his role as Director of Choral Activities at Pepperdine, Dr. Board directs the Pepperdine Concert Choir and the Pepperdine Chamber Choir and teaches courses in Conducting, Music History, and Music Education. His research interests focus on rhetoric and affections in the sacred vocal music of the Baroque Era.
Dr. Board maintains an active schedule as a professional singer and conductor. For five years he has directed the renowned KC Collegium Vocale and was previously the director of Armonia Early Music Ensemble. He is currently principle conductor for the Prague Choral Festival in association with Prague Proms, and he has recently collaborated with or prepared choirs for Anton Armstrong, Simon Carrington, Joseph Flummerfelt, Andrew Megill, Andre Thomas, The Royal Concert Philharmonic Orchestra, the Daedalus String Quartet, The Kansas City Friends of Chamber Music, Charles Bruffy and the Kansas City Chorale, Jo Jennings, The Jewell Early Music Festival, and The Kansas City Baroque Consortium. He is also an avid conductor of choral-orchestral literature and has conducted works ranging from J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion to Arnold Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw.
Want your singers to make less mistakes while sight reading?
In this episode I outline some approaches, philosophies and even a rubric. But first, one obvious tip, and one counterintuitive one:
Obvious: SRF assignments, quizzes and most importantly daily class work, and test EACH kid individually at the level appropriate for their current aptitude.
Not obvious: don’t reduce grade for mistakes, or count off “points” for mistakes. Instead, make the rubric about independence and problem solving. Let them fix their mistakes. After all, isn’t that how we use literacy in rehearsal?
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!
Might seem less “rigorous,” but this model has helped reduce test taking and sight reading anxiety for us big time, and his lead to MORE accurate, fluent music reading.
When we evaluate literacy progress, often times we do this be thinking of sight singing as a game of guitar hero. This does not translate to real world music making. In this episode I offer a different approach complete with two student demonstrations!
The Rubric is very basic-
2- Student is able to sing the entire exercise correctly and independently with no teacher help or instruction
1-Student is able to sing the entire exercise correctly and independently, but needs teacher help or instruction
0-Student is not able to sing all or part of the exercise correctly and independently
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I say it’s steering them. And I think that’s bad news. I believe that Social Media has a tremendous upside and potential for good. But only if it is reflective of the common humanity that we experience when we are in person. My concern is that this has been reversed. That, as we begin to return to in person activities, we will have centered our social media conversations as the “Conversation of Record” in our professional space. For healthy balance to be restored, we will need to get to work to reverse this.
See below a recent post on the Choralosophers FB Page.
Colleagues- we can’t let Facebook steer the ship in our profession. The errors of cognitive processing below are so much easier to avoid in person and/or if you know how to look for them. I’m working on a non-music specific Choralosophy Podcast blog and episode complete with expert guest Dr. Erec Smith on the subsequent changes to our communication habits (which spill into our classrooms as well as broader life…) This post is intended to provide some choir specific context.
Just a few of many Human Psychological processes that social media apps actively manipulate:
1. Availability heuristic- if you see the bad thing constantly on your phone, the brain places it in a category that is the same as “existential danger etc.” The thing may be very real and very bad, but it isn’t as prevalent as the phone makes it seem.
2. Anchoring bias- the first context you see something in, or the first fact you see is disproportionately hard to shake when new info arrives. (This is exploited when you rely on a small group of sources for info)
3. Audience effect- every interaction is perverted by an audience. Because the conversations are not between two people. They are between two people with an audience watching. Which means both participants in the conversation feel a very strong pull to perform. It becomes disproportionately important to us to appear to be a good member of our team. And often, the easiest way to do that is to be seen attacking the “other team.”Social media could be a powerful tool for good, and in many ways it is. But, the bad will outweigh the good if the next generation of kids is not taught how to spot and avoid these traps.
For the first time on Choralosophy, I have written a blog to accompany the podcast episode! This post is not specific to music or musicians. But, as with many topics, we are all trying to navigate a rapidly changing social landscape. I think, write and speak quite a bit about how the quality of conversation has been negatively effected by the influence of social media. In the Podcast, I ask Dr. Erec Smith of York College for his expert perspective on some of my observations. Namely, that many “fights” I observe, or that people attempt to pick with me, seem to follow some recurring rhetorical patterns that may be exacerbated by social media, and its manipulation of some of our mental bad habits.
Just a few of many Human Psychological processes that social media apps actively manipulate:
1. Availability heuristic- if you see the bad thing constantly on your phone, the brain places it in a category that is the same as “existential danger etc.” The thing may be very real and very bad, but it isn’t as prevalent as the phone makes it seem. This is where stepping back to look at data is very important. The 10,000 foot view.
2. Anchoring bias- the first context you see something in, or the first fact you see is disproportionately hard to shake when new info arrives. (This is exploited when you rely on a small group of sources for info)
3. Audience effect- every interaction is perverted by an audience. Because the conversations are not between two people. They are between two people with an audience watching. Which means both participants in the conversation feel a very strong pull to perform. It becomes disproportionately important to us to appear to be a good member of our team. And often, the easiest way to do that is to be seen attacking the “other team.”
4. The paradox of morality:-Those who are sincerely want to do the right thing may lie to cover their moral lapses (thus, less moral)-Those who care less about appearing moral may be more honest about their moral failings (thus, more moral) https://journals.sagepub.com/…/10.1177/1088868318811759
Now just my guess: I think most people don’t want to imagine themselves as “susceptible” to such petty manipulation. This is a problem for those “other” people…
Something in the Ether
Probably the most interesting thing about hosting a podcast that “leans in” to sensitive conversations is the type of feedback I get. One “genre” of message I receive quite frequently is listeners, friends and colleagues who PRIVATELY express some type of gratitude or admiration for how I handle arguments online. (I know that sounds like a flex, but it is important for the story.) Namely, that I don’t get rattled, and I don’t get sucked in to the name calling, anger, and accusations. This will also be accompanied by an expression of fear about the common Zeitgeist of how conversations online tend of devolve into suspicion and accusation very quickly. I also hear fear to express one’s true opinions, for fear of losing status in their professional community or friend group.
“What if I don’t get accepted to a post grad program because I am perceived as having the wrong opinions?” “It’s just easier to keep my mouth shut.” etc. I also have found it fascinating that this type of concern and fear has come to me from people with a wide diversity of backgrounds. Conversely, almost every single criticism I get is posted publicly rather than via private attempt to communicate.
Below, I will lay out some of the common rhetorical devices I have seen frequently in the many online conversations I have participated in. Keep in mind, when analyzing something “rhetorically,” we try and focus on the WAY things are being said, and less about the opinions or positions themselves. The sad thing is that this toxic trend is occurring in conversations that are substantially very important. It is for this reason that I feel that we MUST get better at having the conversation.
First, let’s establish what HEALTHY and PRODUCTIVE conversations look like. I believe they must all contain the following:
Mutual respect.
An attempt at equal footing for all participants
A desire to learn from everyone involved, based on the principal that EVERYONE knows something you don’t.
Willingness from ALL participants to engage in some type of Cognitive Restructuring. Or, simply put, “intellectual flexibility and humility.” This is the willingness to be wrong.
When these things are not present, it opens the door for a toxic discussion.
As the Overton Window for what types views can be productively discussed online continues to narrow, I have outlined some common problems that contribute to negative outcomes in contentious comment threads. An extremely common example of this is the following reductionist statement template:
“I am fine with disagreement when it comes to (fill in the blank super benign thing like pizza toppings), but I will not honor the opinion of someone who advocates for (fill in the blank with some extreme, often violent or explicitly discriminatory position that almost no one holds.)”
This is a common rhetorical device that seeks to draw a simple binary over a complex conversation. This way, the person can avoid contending with the THOUSANDS of points of reasonable disagreement between pizza toppings and violence. This narrows the Overton Window by attaching magnetic poles to the extremes of an argument. “You’re either with us or against us.” When you think about it for more than a few seconds, it becomes baffling that a person would frame disagreement in that way. What a charmed life one must have led, to have NO disagreements with anyone other than paint colors or pizza toppings. The most important thing here is learning to recognize this rhetorical device, to avoid getting sucked in by it.
This meme is a popular way to communicate this fallacy. The problem with this statement is that it only works if everyone in the conversation uses the same definitions for all of those words. In the Socratic method, we start be agreeing on definitions FIRST.
In reality, any complex issue has thousands of variables that could be discussed or explored when a group of people is having a discussion. By framing disagreement in this way, we lose the opportunity to explore the variables. What I am seeing, is that many people seem to THINK they are presenting their own thoughts, but in reality are simply filling in pre-made conversation templates like the ones above.
The Anatomy of an Explosive Comment Thread
It is my belief that there are some folks out there that WANT threads to blow up. Some who actually set out to paint people into a corner, so that an argument is inevitable. You know a thread is going to blow up, and that it’s time to get out of dodge when you see the following sequence. It’s like clockwork, I’ve seen it happen 1000 times at this point. This will usually mean that someone who considers themselves to be an activist on whatever topic is being discussed has arrived on the scene. It is often very important for that person to be seen as a white knight or savior. I will call this person “The Hero.” In addition, there are usually a flock of people reading the thread and liking the activist’s/hero’s posts so that they can signal their support, but they rarely contribute to the conversation. This is what I will call the “audience.” This dynamic creates the performative nature of many conversations online.
Step 1. The Hero ENTERS the conversation telling others what they MUST do. This will usually be established in one of the first, if not THE first volley of the conversation. It will be a statement from authority in which a claim of what the result of this conversation will be from the outset.
Step 2. The Hero jump’s right in to mind reading and the assigning of motives. They will start to translate what people are actually saying (explicitly) into what they “are really saying” despite any protests, as well as what you “are really hoping to achieve.” The picture will not be flattering. (Meanwhile, the audience will be liking and loving the Hero’s attempts to paint their interlocutor as the bad guy. In doing so, they are also using the social media algorithms to draw more sympathetic audience members to the thread. Thus, creating the impression that they are in the majority.)
Step 3. Next, the Hero will “Catastrophize” and claim that the results of this conversation (even if it is in a private FB page) could have real and tragic consequences in the real world and provide no evidence for it. (this is usually the justification for step 4. (I have tried turning the conversation at this point to the evidence for the catastrophe that could stem from our continued disagreement on the given topic. I do not recommend this. It won’t go well.)
Step 4. Outline the rules for the conversation early on, including who is allowed to speak and who is not, and most importantly make it clear how unwelcome it would be if the “wrong people” give their opinions. (Sometimes this happens as part of Step 1, but some tend to drag this out a bit and let some people give their opinions before telling them their opinion is not welcome.) This is a part of a ritual almost, during which “teams” become clearly established. You either cheer on all of these rules, or you are on the opposing team.
Step 5. Accusations of bigotry or worse to anyone who bristles at the above steps. This is often accompanied by throwing around the word “tone-policing” or “fragility” when one person expresses discomfort with being called a bigot etc. See below for more thoughts on tone-policing.
Tone-Policing
This is a term used often in activist discourses. It is often used in online arguments when one person does not like being told that they are being “mean or rude” by their interlocutor. In other words, there is usually a claim that saying another person is mean or rude is, in itself, mean or rude.
This seems incongruous with the recent rise in “consent culture” which I see as a good thing. Loosely defined, consent culture is the long overdue idea that I should be sensitive to your personal and physical boundaries. If I have crossed one, I am honor bound to step back. The current trend, at least in these types of arguments, is a move AWAY from consent culture. A person’s boundaries don’t disappear when they log on to the internet. This should concern all of us.
The term “tone-policing,” as I see it, is incongruous with consent culture. In other words, you and no one else, should have the moral authority to draw the boundaries that you are comfortable with online. If you establish them in a conversation, they should be respected. It’s that simple.
But, in order for consent culture to extend to certain online spaces, this concept MUST be reciprocal. “I find your accusations and rhetoric insulting, please stop” should never be met with “you don’t get to decide how I talk to you, stop tone policing me!
We would never accept this with in person conversation, because it is slimy and cowardly. Finding out you have hurt someone, stepping back and apologizing takes strength. If all participants in a conversation, regardless of age, race, gender expression, nationality, religion or any other identity category cannot accept this as a bare minimum for productive conversation to occur, then we are lost. So, my boundary, or line in the sand, is just that. I will talk to you about ANYTHING. As long as I feel like we are starting the conversation as equals. Some will say that this is impossible. “All conversations have power imbalances.” I disagree, but if that is your position, can’t we at least TRY?
Basically, what I am describing is bullying. In online spaces, we should encourage each other to be sensitive to boundaries of treatment the way we instinctually would in real life. (because this is real life.)
I am very unlikely to to give much credence to a person who is critical of the music education practices of colleagues, if they have nothing better to point to. Criticizing is easy. Building something better is hard. Show me your program and how your ideas have shown results, then I am more likely to listen. I appreciate what Vince is doing here. His criticism is that the Conservatory is not diverse enough. Ok, I hear you. What do you plan to do about it? Tune in to hear Vince’s idea for a NEW model.
Picking right up from where we left off in part one, Vince and I get our hands dirty discussing what we see as one of many important “paths forward” in improving the way music education, and CONSERVATORY education in particular is delivered in terms of philosophy, entry barriers, technology and everything in between. Don’t miss it.
Vince Peterson is a respected choral conductor, composer/arranger, and teacher of music in the United States. His 20-year hybrid career spans the worlds of choral music, theater, sacred music, and music education. He has, however, established himself most prominently in the world of choral music, notably having founded the “shape-shifting” vocal ensemble Choral Chameleon in 2008. Under his leadership, Choral Chameleon has premiered more than 150 works since its nascence and has won critical acclaim in The New York Times, Time Out New York, The New York Concert Review, I Care If You Listen, The Examiner, and other publications. In 2015, the ensemble was awarded the prestigious ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming. In 2017, the group was named the first vocal ensemble artist-in-residence at NYC’s undisputed new music hub, National Sawdust.
Download the FREE software trial at http://www.vocevista.com/choralosophy and try it for 30 days! When you LOVE it, enter choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
In 2003, Peterson earned the BM in Composition from San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of celebrated vocal music composer Conrad Susa. He has also studied composition with David Conte, Elinor Armer, and Philip Lasser. In 2007, he earned a Double MM in Composition and Choral Conducting from Mannes College of Music where he studied under pioneer conductor Mark Shapiro as well as the composer David Loeb. Upon receipt of his Master’s Degree, he was also awarded the singular Music Teacher’s League Award for 2007. As a prolific arranger, Peterson has received seven commissions to date from the multi-Grammy® Award-winning ensemble Chanticleer, whose YouTube videos of his work have garnered over half a million views. Several of his choral arrangements and original compositions have become staples for choirs across the United States. Distinguished performance venues include Chicago Symphony Hall, San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, Bartok National Concert Hall in Budapest, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Carnegie Hall, among others.
A recognized thought-leader in the music world, The New York Times called Peterson “authoritative beyond his… years,”and The Brooklyn Eagle praised his work as “a stunning symphony of the spiritual and secular,” while hailing him as a solo performer “with depth and vigor” who “provided a universal context which resonated with his audience.”
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!
In 2018, Vince Peterson was awarded the Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal by Chorus America, a lifetime distinction he shares with only sixteen of the most influential choral musicians in the United States. In addition to his work with Choral Chameleon, Peterson is overjoyed to serve as Artistic Director of Empire City Men’s Chorus, which he has recently ushered through its 25th Anniversary Season.
Find the TOP of the line Resonance Singers mask as well as all of your choir folders, choir supplies as well as choir robes at MyChoirRobes.com. Use Choralosophy at checkout to get a 5% coupon every time you shop!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
One of my biggest pet peeves in Music Education reform conversations is what I see as an outsized focus on discussion of what is wrong with Music Ed when compared to the amount of time spent suggesting solutions. Contrary to popular belief, criticism by itself doesn’t solve problems. Criticism is easy. Building something better is hard.
We must take the next step. Vince Peterson is taking steps. Often, the most important step is the one we take is an internal one. In this episode we learn how to create our own “Musician’s Credo.” An exercise developed by Vince for his students, that I found to be profound and beyond that of a “philosophy of education.” So, in many ways, as Vince is asking me the questions in his worksheet, I am being psychoanalyzed on my own show! You will hear me engage in this work in real time. I highly recommend listening to Part 1 of this talk, downloading the PDF below, and doing this assignment for yourself.
Then, be sure to tune in to Part 2 next week, as Vince discusses his brainstorm that is “Greenhouse Music” and why he thinks some of the problems with music education, and educator training need real solutions by rethinking the model, the access and the outcomes.
Episode 67 Part 1
Vince Peterson is a respected choral conductor, composer/arranger, and teacher of music in the United States. His 20-year hybrid career spans the worlds of choral music, theater, sacred music, and music education. He has, however, established himself most prominently in the world of choral music, notably having founded the “shape-shifting” vocal ensemble Choral Chameleon in 2008. Under his leadership, Choral Chameleon has premiered more than 150 works since its nascence and has won critical acclaim in The New York Times, Time Out New York, The New York Concert Review, I Care If You Listen, The Examiner, and other publications. In 2015, the ensemble was awarded the prestigious ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming. In 2017, the group was named the first vocal ensemble artist-in-residence at NYC’s undisputed new music hub, National Sawdust.
In 2003, Peterson earned the BM in Composition from San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of celebrated vocal music composer Conrad Susa. He has also studied composition with David Conte, Elinor Armer, and Philip Lasser. In 2007, he earned a Double MM in Composition and Choral Conducting from Mannes College of Music where he studied under pioneer conductor Mark Shapiro as well as the composer David Loeb. Upon receipt of his Master’s Degree, he was also awarded the singular Music Teacher’s League Award for 2007. As a prolific arranger, Peterson has received seven commissions to date from the multi-Grammy® Award-winning ensemble Chanticleer, whose YouTube videos of his work have garnered over half a million views. Several of his choral arrangements and original compositions have become staples for choirs across the United States. Distinguished performance venues include Chicago Symphony Hall, San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, Bartok National Concert Hall in Budapest, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Carnegie Hall, among others.
A recognized thought-leader in the music world, The New York Times called Peterson “authoritative beyond his… years,”and The Brooklyn Eagle praised his work as “a stunning symphony of the spiritual and secular,” while hailing him as a solo performer “with depth and vigor” who “provided a universal context which resonated with his audience.”
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!
In 2018, Vince Peterson was awarded the Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal by Chorus America, a lifetime distinction he shares with only sixteen of the most influential choral musicians in the United States. In addition to his work with Choral Chameleon, Peterson is overjoyed to serve as Artistic Director of Empire City Men’s Chorus, which he has recently ushered through its 25th Anniversary Season.
I had the joy and privilege of chatting with Oxford Choral Composer, Sarah Quartel. We centered our conversation around the ideas of collaborative music making, and choral music specifically, and their ability to build community, increase well being, flourishing and growth. We ranged also to “how the sausage is made” in the Choral Publishing industry, the reality of online school for kids and more. Also, be sure to stick around and find out if I was able to convince Sarah to join a choir again soon. 🙂
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!
Canadian composer and educator Sarah Quartel is known for her fresh and exciting approach to choral music. Deeply inspired by the life-changing relationships that can occur while making choral music, Sarah writes in a way that connects singer to singer, ensemble to conductor, and performer to audience. Her works are performed by choirs across the world, and she has been commissioned by groups including the American Choral Directors Association, the National Children’s Chorus of the United States of America, and New Dublin Voices. Since 2018 she has been exclusively published by Oxford University Press, and she continues to work as a clinician and conductor at music education and choral events at home and abroad.
One of the most common questions I get from choir teachers is “How do I get my kids to sing louder?! I beg and I plead, but they just don’t make any noise.”
The first mistake you made was the begging and pleading. The second mistake was asking for louder. If kids aren’t singing with enough decibels for your liking, they don’t know how. Trust me. If they did, you will be spending most of your time getting them to shut up and sing softer! Once kids figure this out, they LOVE to hear their own resonance. Tune in for some ideas on my preferred approach.
Once you establish these expectations, the next step is accountability. This is where your grading system is HUGE. Once they know how to sing this way, continuing to do so becomes part of their grade. See more about this system here:
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!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
10th Graders Applying Concepts of Resonance during Sight Reading AND rehearsal
For an example of masked and distanced rehearsal with advanced kids who are well versed in these ideas.
Shared goals are more important than any other factors when building community. Not shared cultures, shared backgrounds, or shared talents. We just need to want the same things. Choirs are typically natural breeding grounds of this type of shared interest. In this episode I compare notes with writer, podcaster and Tango instructor Dr. Iona Italia on the the ways we build community in our artistic spaces. She brings her experience living all over the world and participating in many cultures and the common threads in all of those efforts, while I just continue to notice more and more parallels to what we do in group singing. There is a little bit of something for everyone here, including my first E for explicit rating. Something about Iona just makes you want to take off the filter. Tune in and prepare to be fascinated by one of my most interesting guests!
Episode 65
Highlights include:
In both group singing and in tango, the music looses some of its value when we are apart.
The importance of accountability to each other
Thoughts about how music and dance can cause a beautiful melding of cultures when we allow it.
The intimacy of the connections formed. Dance and choir romances! Why is sexual connection so common in choir and tango?
An entire bonus episode about an hour in on our political philosophies related to discourse.
Half Scottish, half Indian by origin, I lived in the UK, Germany and the US before settling in Argentina, where I have been working as a freelance writer and translator since 2006. I speak three foreign languages—Spanish, German and French—with fluency and confidence.
I have translated texts ranging from literature, through business and technical material, to websites and advertising.
With a PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University, I have taught English at universities in both Europe (including Germany) and the US and have extensive experience in academic writing and editing. I’m the author of the book Anxious Employment, a history of early journalism, published by Routledge UP. I’ve published essays and articles on journalism and was joint editor of an essay collection on early periodicals (with Prof Robert Clark).
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!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
In this episode, I “Zoomed” in to the choral classroom of Steve Hickman at Highland High School in Gilbert, AZ. I had the privilege of speaking with Steve and his students in the Advanced Vocal Ensemble about a variety of things related to “making choir happen” over the last year during a pandemic, as well as what it meant to these kids, in their OWN words, to be able to make music together. You will also hear open and honest, unfiltered teens talking about what being in a close knit choir family means to them. I continue to find it interesting hearing about choir from the singer/student perspective. It’s why we do this after all. So, tune in and be a fly on the wall, and as always, let me know what you think!
Episode 64
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!
From Steve Hickman about Highland High School Choral Music: Highland High School is a public high school in Gilbert, Az with a little over 3,000 students. Our choir program includes 200 students, with five choirs and two teachers, one of which also teaches half her day at our feeder junior high. The choirs include two entry level ensembles separated into treble and bass, an advanced women’s ensemble, an auditioned large mixed ensemble (“Concert Choir”), and a small mixed auditioned group (Advanced Vocal) that studies chamber/vocal jazz music (though due to the peculiarities of this year we only did jazz last quarter). Our first quarter was online, second fully in person, and we are currently in a hybrid model (half the alphabet on alternating days).
Steve Hickman is currently in his 14th year teaching choral music in the Gilbert District. A native of Arizona, Mr. Hickman grew up in Gilbert and is an alumnus of Highland High School. Mr. Hickman was also the director of choirs at Highland Junior High for nine years and opened Gilbert’s newest High School, Campo Verde, in 2009. He holds an undergraduate degree in Music Education from Northern Arizona University and is currently pursuing a graduate degree from Arizona State University. Choirs under his direction have performed at numerous regional, state, and national competitions/festivals, and consistently earn superior ratings.
Mr. Hickman sings professionally in the Phoenix area, including four seasons with the Grammy award-winning Phoenix Chorale, Arizona’s only professional choral ensemble, and has served as tenor soloist at Victory Lutheran Church in Mesa for the past five years. He has held state office and leadership positions with the American Choral Director’s Association (AzACDA) and Arizona Choral Educators (ACE) organizations and is currently the Vice President for Jazz and Show Choirs for ACE. Mr. Hickman is active as a choral clinician/adjudicator around Arizona.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
In this episode, I “Zoomed” in to the choral classroom of Steve Hickman at Highland High School in Gilbert, AZ. I had the privilege of speaking with Steve and his students in the Advanced Vocal Ensemble about a variety of things related to “making choir happen” over the last year during a pandemic, as well as what it meant to these kids, in their OWN words, to be able to make music together. You will also hear open and honest, unfiltered teens talking about what being in a close knit choir family means to them. I continue to find it interesting hearing about choir from the singer/student perspective. It’s why we do this after all. So, tune in and be a fly on the wall, and as always, let me know what you think!
Episode 64
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!
From Steve Hickman about Highland High School Choral Music: Highland High School is a public high school in Gilbert, Az with a little over 3,000 students. Our choir program includes 200 students, with five choirs and two teachers, one of which also teaches half her day at our feeder junior high. The choirs include two entry level ensembles separated into treble and bass, an advanced women’s ensemble, an auditioned large mixed ensemble (“Concert Choir”), and a small mixed auditioned group (Advanced Vocal) that studies chamber/vocal jazz music (though due to the peculiarities of this year we only did jazz last quarter). Our first quarter was online, second fully in person, and we are currently in a hybrid model (half the alphabet on alternating days).
Steve Hickman is currently in his 14th year teaching choral music in the Gilbert District. A native of Arizona, Mr. Hickman grew up in Gilbert and is an alumnus of Highland High School. Mr. Hickman was also the director of choirs at Highland Junior High for nine years and opened Gilbert’s newest High School, Campo Verde, in 2009. He holds an undergraduate degree in Music Education from Northern Arizona University and is currently pursuing a graduate degree from Arizona State University. Choirs under his direction have performed at numerous regional, state, and national competitions/festivals, and consistently earn superior ratings.
Mr. Hickman sings professionally in the Phoenix area, including four seasons with the Grammy award-winning Phoenix Chorale, Arizona’s only professional choral ensemble, and has served as tenor soloist at Victory Lutheran Church in Mesa for the past five years. He has held state office and leadership positions with the American Choral Director’s Association (AzACDA) and Arizona Choral Educators (ACE) organizations and is currently the Vice President for Jazz and Show Choirs for ACE. Mr. Hickman is active as a choral clinician/adjudicator around Arizona.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
This episode is an UNLOCKED Patreon only episode that I released in October at the Choralosophy Podcast private feed. I am releasing it here now in an effort to encourage some deep thinking about the Choral Profession and our recent flourish of colleague cancellation. This particular episode looks back at the essay written by composer Daniel Elder as an attempt to protest his treatment by Choral Zeitgest.
In this line by line analysis of his essay I discuss the concepts outlined therein of “Critical Theory,” color blind auditions, and whether or not we have abandoned a “golden age” of diversity for something worse. Or, are we truly and equally marching forward? Tune in to this analysis and let me know what you think.
Inspired by a conversation thread with @rasmansa and @ETVPod trying to drill down on a definition of "woke-ness" I think there are some issues at play here that both woke and anti-woke miss.
I prefer to find non-pejorative definitions of terms. A good faith attempt:
An installment of the Oxford Series on the Choralosophy Podcast
In choral music, in a different way than in other types of music making, WE ARE the instrument. This creates a unique vulnerability within choral music. If my saxophone is flat, I can fix the ligature, and EXTERNALIZE the problem. With singers, we must still fix technical things, but we can’t escape INTERNALIZING the problem. In a profound way, the same reason many are attracted to singing, is the reason many are also afraid of it. There is power in conquering that fear.
In this open conversation, renowned composer, arranger and long time King’s Singer Bob Chilcott and I discuss performance anxiety, the unique properties of choral music, his transitions between performer and conductor, and much more. This conversation is a must listen!
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 12 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 most often performed pieces include Can you hear me?, A Little Jazz Mass, Requiem, and the St John Passion.
Bob has conducted choirs in more than 30 countries worldwide and has worked with many thousands of amateur singers across the UK in a continuing series of Singing Days. For seven years he was conductor of the Chorus of The Royal College of Music in London and since 2002 he has been Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Singers. In 2017 Bob was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by The Royal School of Church Music and in 2019 takes up the role of Principal Conductor Birmingham University Singers.
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!
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 on the album In Winter. In 2017 two new discs were released by Commotio and Choralis – All Good Things on Naxos, and In Winter’s Arms on Signum, his first recording collaboration with an American choir. Newer recording projects are with the BBC Singers, Houston Chamber Choir, and Wroclaw Philharmonic Choir.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Many people use the term “elitist” to describe aspects of choral music.
The problem, as I see it is that this term means different things to different people. So in this short verbal essay, I reflect on the need to be specific when we criticize. I also discuss some places that I see Elitism in choral music. From the teacher training programs to the trenches of the profession, as well as in conversations on what it means to be a “great” choir. Should we avoid language that seeks to elevate some choral ensembles as “great” and risk creating an elitist culture? Or, is such a hierarchy a necessary outgrowth of working toward performance art related goals? *audio on this episode is not normal. I am traveling!
A Car-less episode of Car Thoughts!
Some possible areas that draw this type of critique:
The concept of “what it means to be a good choir.”
How much focus gets placed on musical elements being “perfect.”
How does Academia contribute to elitism in the training of teachers?
Are there aspects of teaching “in the trenches” that are hard to see until you’re there?
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!
Tune in via podcast platforms or on YouTube for the first volley of the conversation. Then feel free to add your thoughts in the Choralosophers facebook group or in the response form on the main page of choralosophy.com
A modified Car Thoughts Episode
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Featuring Laura Ritter and her Walters State Chamber Choir
In this episode, I feature Laura Ritter and her Walters State Chamber Choir. I asked students to reflect on why they NEED choir, what it has meant to them to return to singing in our current troubled time, what has created a sense of safety and belonging for them in choir. In the first two years of the show, I have mostly focused on the perspectives of directors. So, I have decided to add another category to the show! STUDENT PERSPECTIVES. After all, it is the experiences for our singers that we are trying to create. They are why we engage in professional development like Podcasts anyway!
Episode 62
“I felt helpless, and I felt sad. That’s when I realized there was a class called choir. I felt myself as family, and was welcomed there.“
Jomarie Duites
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!
Laura Ritter and Walters State
Video Version coming soon!
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Part of the Oxford Series on the Choralosophy Podcast
Join us in this thought provoking and jovial conversation in which Will and I discuss a comparison of the US and UK music education paradigms, his approach to the creative process, and the possible pitfalls of training “sight reading machines.” While this can result in singers with world class ability, it can also result in performances that, at times can lack humanity. We also discuss the influences on his music made by his eclectic listening tastes growing up. How do we stay connected to the humanity in the music making?
English composer Will Todd is well known for his beautiful and exciting music. His work encompasses choral works large and small, opera, musical theatre and orchestral pieces, as well as jazz compositions and chamber works.
His anthem, The Call of Wisdom, was performed at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations with a TV audience of 45 million people. His breakthrough work, Mass in Blue (originally titled Jazz Mass), has been performed hundreds of times all over the world. His arrangement of Amazing Grace was performed at President Obama’s Inauguration Day prayer service in 2013 and as part of the BBC’s Nelson Mandela Thanksgiving Service.
He has collaborated with award winning choirs The Sixteen and Tenebrae, as well as with the Welsh National Opera, Opera North, Opera Holland Park, BBC Singers, BBC Concert Orchestra, The Halle Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, The Bach Choir, St Martin’s Voices.
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!
His discography includes best selling choral discs Lux Et Veritas and The Call of Wisdom, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Mass in Blue, Ode to a Nightingale, Passion Music and Jazz Missa Brevis all on the Signum Classic label. His clarinet concerto recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra and Emma Johnson was released in 2016His music is regularly broadcast on Classic FM, as well as on BBC Radio 3.
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Will Todd’s music is valued for its melodic intensity and harmonic skill, often incorporating jazz colours, and his choral music is much in demand from amateur as well as professional performers.
Recent commissions include an oratorio for The Bach Choir written with former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen and operas for Welsh National Opera and Opera North.
Isaac Cates is an enigma wrapped in a riddle. A classically trained pianist, who is also a gospel music specialist, but also a singer-song writer… Oh! and also a choir clinician. Turns out he is also a fantastic podcast guest! Join Isaac and I in studio for this multifaceted conversation. We discussed Isaac’s approach to forging new paths with his group Isaac Cates and Ordained, his feeling of “never quite fitting in” to a musical category, our thoughts on current trends in music education and much more.
Isaac Cates began singing and playing the piano at age four and started composing as a teenager. While a student at the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri-Kansas City, he arranged spirituals, composed original chorales and set sacred text. Currently, Cates is in demand as a choral clinician and music educator throughout the United States and Europe. In addition to his leadership at music seminars, he is also a prolific producer, Music educator and recording artist. Isaac is a gifted pianist and vocal arranger, sought after for his vocal coaching expertise. He has a unique ability to blend genres, utilizing different musical techniques such as bel canto style with speech level singing. His original composition, “Strong Tower”, is sung and translated in over 17 different countries languages. Firmly rooted in both gospel and classical training, Isaac combines soulful harmonies, polyphonic rhythms and dazzling piano accompaniments to create his trademark sound.
In 2004 Isaac collaborated with a colleague to form Ordained, a small musical ensemble of skilled vocalists. Together, Isaac Cates & Ordained have appeared in concerts and been featured alongside some of the worlds greatest artists; From gospel artists Bebe and Marvin Winans to country sensations Trace Adkins and Lyle Lovett. Ordained has toured all over the united states and Switzerland. Made up of soloists, worship leaders, music educators and instrumentalists, Ordained is praised for their dynamic sound. Ordained released their first album in 2006 entitled “Take My Life”, a Christmas EP, “Carol Of The Bells” and numerous singles. Ordained’s music videos of “Hold On” and “Carol Of The Bells” have over 1 million views on social media. Ordained is preparing to release a new recording at the end of the Year.
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!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
This special episode comes at Podcasting from a bit of a different angle. Enjoy a spot as a fly on the wall while two couples, both comprised of two choral musicians, sit down to discuss the benefits and possible pitfalls of being married to someone who shares your professional sphere. My wife Beth and I welcomed Dr. Jennaya Robison, from the Conservatory at UMKC and Dr. Brett Robison of Viterbo University to join us in our living room for a candid and open sharing of experiences being “Married to the Choir.”
We covered how choral music brought both couples together, how competitiveness can create a challenge in the relationship, how it’s important for us to remember our role as supporter and fan for each other while also wanting honest professional feedback, and much more. We are still all trying to walk this tight rope, but I believe you will find the conversation interesting and engaging.
Episode 59
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From myself, along with Robin and Jon at MyMusicFolders
Colorado STATE Testing: We were given the opportunity in early July to send prototypes to Colorado State aerosol lab for testing, and those results were published, along with several others, as part of their interactive mask effectiveness charts, and people continue to reference those results. Again, those published results contained tests on our PROTOTYPE Mask. When we realized that their published comparison charts declared that “ALL Singers’ masks” performed badly, we entered in to several conversations with Dr. John Volckens and more often his assistant, who actually conducted the tests, Dr. Christian L’Orange. We made changes or improvements in the RESONANCE Mask fabric choices and construction as a direct result of those tests.
We continued to improve our mask by adding the sewn-in polypropylene filter layer beginning with October production. Unfortunately, the prototype Resonance test results were permanently published in their charts and embedded in the Music & Performing Arts video broadcasts. Dr. L’Orange has assured us that when they update their Colorado State Lab website, they will include the more recent test results of our actual production Resonance masks, but since their website update has been delayed several times (they are busy working on air exchange measurements for classrooms now) they offered to take down the specific results for our prototype mask for now.
Me in the original prototype
They agreed that leaving those results up were causing mis-information to continue to be distributed. Filtration is important, but equally important is how the Mask FITs: Simply stated, the Colorado State aerosol labs’ test is for filtration only. There are 2 masks that specifically “look great” in their tests, that do not function nearly as safely as one might assume, as the fit of the mask is loose & in-secure on the face as well as made of a difficult to breathe through neoprene material (TMF Vocal Performance mask) , or in one instance (The NOTEable Mask), instructs the wearer to be certain to leave “2 fingers’ width open at the bottom of the chin”. The NOTEable mask is constructed of such tightly woven material that to actually breathe through the fabric is very challenging, thus the need to allow air passage up from the bottom.
There are some important factors one needs to consider when choosing a mask for SINGING that differ from considerations for a daily use mask. The mask must fit closely to the face, without moving/slipping/dislodging from the face when engaging the face and mouth in complete width of movement necessary for a healthy singers’ vocal production. The mask must provide “breathability” – early on, the recommendations were to find “tightly woven cotton” and very tightly woven or extruded fibers (such as neoprene) in fact do prevent aerosol transmission, but can be extremely difficult to breathe in, especially when singing. We now know that several layers of more breathable fabrics can provide very good or better protection without impeding breathing.
The mask should be able to accommodate “double-masking” either by adding further filters or by being able to fit securely over a second mask in order to protect against the newer more transmissible Covid virus variations. Even though we added the silver-infused polypropylene filter layer sandwiched between the cover fabric and the lining, we continued to offer the additional disposable filters as an option, and always include 3 in every mask package. Those additional filters are a 3 layer non-woven melt blown polypropylene that we have 3rd party tested each production. Those filters have come back consistently at over 95% filtration efficiency. (Note the Colorado State Lab tests only the mask, not the optional disposable filter.) Using our 3-layer resonance mask with the additional filter should give even higher filtration protection.
Performers using various singers masks seem to prefer either ours or the Broadway Relief mask. Between these 2 masks, the RESONANCE Mask is better fitted – no gaping at the edges of the cheeks, fits snugly beneath the chin, and the silicone lining under the wide cheek-nose-cheek moldable wire really secures the Resonance mask to the face. The main complaints about the Broadway mask that I hear is that their nose wire is very stiff and difficult to adjust, and that the BR mask cannot be wet-laundered, only sprayed with disinfectant for sanitization.
I attach the most recent results from Colorado State regarding the RESONANCE Singers mask. Jon has created an overlay with these results within the graph Colorado State provides on their current website. The RESONANCE Mask results are the dashed lines (these are 3 separate test – results) and you can observe that our mask is more protective than the Broadway mask (even without our extra filter) at the lower levels of aerosol transmissions.
Lastly, our Resonance singers’ mask is used by the Colorado State University choirs, after consultation with the testing lab. We know this because their choral director, Dr. Gregory Gentry, spoke with us more than once throughout their Singers Mask selection process, although his University has advised against him actually “endorsing” us – I think they – Colorado officials – are worried about liability. Second attachment is the current certification at 97% avg. efficiency filtration of the disposable bio-filters that we provide for use with the masks.
With Dr. Jerry Blackstone, Matthew Workman and Brian Gaukel
Have you heard about this yet?! What an exciting project this is. My three guests for this episode have teamed up to create a monumental expression of what choral singing means to us here in the United States. “CHORAL SINGING IN AMERICA: NURTURING THE AMERICAN SOUL.”
So Jerry, Matt, Brian and I hooked up to discuss the behind the scenes scoop on how how this project came together and where it’s headed. You will definitely want to hear this story and continue to follow it closely over the next year. I believe the end result will be something we can all be proud of.
This documentary series gives voice to choral singing in America, the roots from which it grew, and what so many have felt for generations: in times of division and challenge, joy and sadness, heartache and ecstasy, life is better when we sing and even better when we sing together.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Reena Esmail is currently the composer in residence for the LA Master Chorale and the composer of TaReKiTa published by Oxford University Press. Reena works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music, to bring communities together through the creation of equitable musical spaces and holds degrees from Juilliard and Yale. In this engaging discussion, I had the opportunity not only to help you get to know Reena, but also to get her perspective on many critical issues facing the classical music community. We discussed:
The beauty of working with organizations that truly value relationships
Reena’s criteria for accepting commissions
Indians/South Asians representation in Western classical music
The distinction between the organizational level conversations about representation and the interpersonal
Working with both Western and Indian classical music styles
How it’s exhausting when there’s always a qualifier in front of your name
And much more! This was a VERY fun conversation! So be sure to tune in!
Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music, to bring communities together through the creation of equitable musical spaces. Esmail holds degrees from The Juilliard School and the Yale School of Music. A resident of Los Angeles, Esmail is the 20-23 Swan Family Artist in Residence with Los Angeles Master Chorale, and the 20-21 Composer in Residence with Seattle Symphony. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Board of New Music USA, and Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Shastra, a non-profit organization that promotes cross-cultural music connecting musical traditions of India and the West.
And don’t forget, the show is now on PATREON! Subscribe and receive Patron only content for as little as 3 bucks a month!
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The hot topic this week has been choir snobbery online in regards to pop music, or commercial music. I think this is an important topic, but as always, I have my own little angle that might be different than most. It could be that telling people what they must support can be just as elitist as not supporting things. I will call it “Preference Policing.” So, where is the line?
Can we express our likes and dislikes just like other consumers of music?
Or do we, as music educators need to vocally “cheerlead” all music?
Is the tendency for vocalists to nitpick the techniques or “validity” of pop singers a sign of our corruptly elitist view of singing?
Maybe. But it could also be that we’re just jealous…
I saw a few posts from colleagues recently that seemed to lament our inability to have good discussions among people who disagree online. The first problem: we aren’t actually having discussions anymore…
The best conversations I’ve ever had with colleagues have been in the bar at conventions. Or on my show!
Car Thoughts: Feb 5
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The lead sound engineer for Hallmark Corporation walks us through the basics of how to create a respectable digital representation of your ensemble.
A nuts and bolts episode covering everything you need to know before you get started!
Many of us will exist at different places on the learning curve on this topic, but Josh is a true expert and leader in this field, so tune and you may learn something new!
Episode 56
Josh Williams
USB Mics vs. XLR pros and cons (what to look for when shopping.)
Editing softwares like Garage Band vs fancier ones (Is it worth upgrading if you don’t know what you’re doing?)
Features of the basic softwares. Dos and Don’ts
Placement of mics in the space relative to you ensemble
Choosing a space to record
mp3 vs. WAV (why does it matter? pros and cons)
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Just a random rant in my car. As performance opportunities dwindled over the last year, we have been quick to rationalize this as a good thing. Maybe because we needed to in order to cope with the loss? Either way, maybe it’s not that simple. Maybe the performances are critical.
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In this conversation, Soprano Deborah Stephens and I engage in an open and raw conversation about many aspects of identity and how it effects our concepts of self as well as how this effects our view of the music world. We hit the hot button topics of our own identities and how we see ourselves, tokenism, stereotypes in musical tastes, blind auditions, appropriation, “who is this music for?” and much more. You won’t want to miss a minute of this one!
Episode 55
Deborah Stephens
Deborah Stephens graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Georgia in December 2019 with a Bachelors of Music in Voice Performance. She is currently in a Master of Music in Early Music, Oratorio, & Chamber Ensemble at Yale University. In September 2017, Deborah founded and began to direct VERITAS Vocal Ensemble, a small group of 10 UGA students passionate about choral singing. VERITAS has performed on the UGA Student Spotlight Concert, many faculty and student recitals, and hosted a joint-ensemble benefit concert to support music education. Deborah currently enjoys speaking engagements at universities and on music podcasts, has been featured by Early Music America, and performs with professional choral ensembles such as Kinnara, Coro Vocati, and the Lake Junaluska Singers, and is a sought after freelance soloist.
Your TeacherGram can’t be your main focus. Make sure your kids remain at the center of everything you’re doing.
Katherine Rosenfeld
Katherine Rosenfeld
We are now in a time in which the line between our day to lives and our social media lives are becoming ever harder to keep separate. Almost like a living business card, we are curating public personas that for some people are the closest they will come to knowing the “real” person. As teachers, we are citizens of the world and are not immune to this rapidly changing landscape. The pandemic has only increased the amount of time we spend on social media. Katherine Rosenfeld has been winning this game as far as I can tell. She has managed to create a truly positive, professional and FUN web persona. As a new teacher, she is seeking ways to stay connected with her students whether in or out of the classroom.
Katherine Rosenfeld graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2019 with a degree in choral music education. Her time at NAU was marked by leadership roles including serving as the President for both the NAU chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and the Shrine of the Ages Choir. After finishing her student teaching in December of 2019, Katherine accepted a position teaching 7th and 8th grade choir at Arizona School for the Arts, a charter performing arts school in downtown Phoenix, where she currently teaches. Since the majority of Katherine’s teaching career has been online thus far, she seeks creative and innovative ways to connect with her students including her presence on social media. In addition to teaching, Katherine sings in church choirs and professional ensembles in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Sedona and runs a private voice studio.
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I was recently introduced to the Enneagram, so I cannot claim any expertise on it, so I called in a knowledgable friend! I invited Kailin Kane to come explain the Enneagram in a way that can enhance the context for those that know about it already, or as an introduction to noobs like me. As a music educator, she also has some really interesting ideas for using Enneagram as lens through which a director could view our students, singers or players. If we have groups of any size in front of us, it is safe to say that we have each of the nine distinct points of view operating within our rehearsal. Understanding these human truths can help us create an environment of empathy and compassion in our rehearsal spaces.
Episode 53
Kailin Kane has taught oboe and faculty development courses at the U.S. Army and U.S. Naval Schools of Music as well as coaches student chamber groups. She enlisted in the Army in 2007 and has served with the U.S. Army Ground Forces Band, U.S. Army Europe Band & Chorus, and the 323d Army Band “Fort Sam’s Own,” and has been a guest musician with U.S. Military Academy Band. A native of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, she earned her Bachelor’s of Music in Oboe Performance from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. She is currently seeking certification and training to teach the Enneagram.
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Discuss (let kids chime in as much as possible) the examples of simple musical instruments. Why does a piano sound like a piano, or guitar like a guitar etc. (I recommend having your computer ready with some simple instrument sounds mp3s that can be imported and shone in Voce Vista.)
How is the human voice different? It’s way more complicated than a piano. Why? The human voice is complicated because the air speed, vocal fold proximation, and almost infinite number of shapes created by the resonating cavity allows for infinite numbers of sounds and timbres. Show this video https://youtu.be/au92XTLm_SU You could also ask kids to make goofy noises into the meet one at a time to prove the point.
Define pitch vs. noise (Show live examples in Voce Vista)
Discuss spoken language. “Why can we understand each other? Our brains are able to detect the subtle changes of overtones that occur when a person is moving their mouth. Show in Voce Vista, and be sure to point out that we speak in pitch. Without pitch our brain would not be able to detect the overtone patterns.
Then move into singing sounds. Demonstrate some clearly sung, resonant examples of the 5 major vowels live into Voce Vista. Point out the singers formant up around 3500 hz, and point out the shifting overtone pattern as your mouth changed shape. Optional video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N5q85G3ydk
This is a good chance to explain the importance of blend in a choir.
Next, I “imitated” young singers in a loving way… “The breathy kid,” “Kid who’s too cool to open his mouth” and any other funny ones you come up with. Recorded these live in Voce Vista and showed the kids some of the lack in overtone clarity that happens with those types of singing errors in technique. Always good to put good examples up for comparison. A nice review of concepts here: https://youtu.be/PKengo7y28U
On the last day I gave the kids 3-4 minutes to record and send their own sound sample for analysis. I imported and shared them all and let the kids see the “pictures of their sound” which they got a kick out of. It also gave us a chance to address the issue of “I don’t like the sound of my voice. I sound weird on recordings.” Well, yes Sally, that’s because you hear your own voice before the RESONANCE is complete. Ties things together nicely.
visit vocevista.com/choralosophy to download the software for a free 30 day trial. If you chose to purchase it, you will get 10% off when you enter Choralosophy checkout!
Tune As I Reflect On The Year, and Look Forward to 2021!
2020 is coming to a close (thank God) and I wanted to thank the readers and listeners here on ChoralNet, the Podcast channels, YouTube, or wherever you engage with Choralosophy content! This year has been year of growth for the show, and it wouldn’t have been possible without all of you!
A huge portion of that growth in 2020 were centered around two themes that got a lot of attention on the show for obvious reasons. Covid, and Social Justice related issues.
When the May webinar came out, I jumped into the fray be creating the Covid Conversations Series in which I interviewed some of the top infectious disease experts in the world in order to cut through a bit of the hype around the topic and offer a different way of looking at the issue than many had been exposed to. This project drew a lot of both positive and negative attention to the show, but it definitely drew in listeners! Ultimately, that’s why I did it. Covid affected our professions this year in a rather unique way, so I felt that a full exploration of the topic beyond “how do aerosols behave when we sing?” was warranted. As 2020 rolled on, it turns out that assumption was correct as hundreds of choirs around the world have returned to singing with risk mitigation strategies in place.
The Year 2020 in Review
Back in February, prior to the tragic killing of George Floyd, I had decided to do a mini-series on topics surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion called “Choral Music: A HUMAN Art Form.” The episodes did well in terms of audience response and downloads prior to the pandemic. But, when the summer hit thousands more came back to download many of the episodes housed there. This was an interesting development as the discourse on social media heated up, and often times turned contentious, the conversations on this series took a different approach. Real people, just talking. In a way a Facebook discussion group cannot offer.
With both of these topics, it is likely more episodes will be added in 2021. Though, wouldn’t it be great if the world healed in a way that I didn’t feel the NEED to do more? Oh well, I guess we can dream. In the mean time, keep tuning in, and keep being part of the conversation.
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Don’t bring work home with you. Grading practices and making literacy the core of the curriculum can lead to better choirs, less stress for the teacher and more time in class for a rich and in depth learning experience.
This episode takes on a unique format, in that it was birthed from listener response from a past episode on teaching literacy, and grading practices. John Sargent had been sending me some questions mostly centered around Episode 18: Ripping Off the Bandaid. I was finding answering the questions via text was too tricky, so I asked John to come on with me and flip roles and just grill me on how all of the ideas I talk about in the show play out in the real world. As we prepared to record, Nathan Connell jumped on over on Patreon with a bunch more questions.
So, tune in for a real nuts and bolts discussion about how a strategic curricular approach to literacy, vocal technique, and grading practices can make your job more fun, more fulfilling, less stressful and WAY less consuming of your free time.
Tune in below!
Episode 52John Sargent
Mr. Sargent is Choral Music Director at Newbury Park High School, where he conducts the Concert Choir, Women’s Ensemble, Chamber Singers, Men’s Chorus, and Advanced Women’s Ensemble. John graduated from California State University, Northridge with a Bachelor of Music Degree in voice and music education There, he sang in major opera productions, and studied under the tutelage of John Alexander. At Littlerock High School in the Antelope Valley, he initiated a choral program from the ground up with an enrollment of over 120 singers in three choirs, and from 2000-2003, he served as Assistant Conductor of the Antelope Valley Master Chorale at Antelope Valley College. John earned his Master of Music degree in choral conducting at California State University, Los Angeles, where he studied with Dr. William Belan and Donald Brinegar. Also known affectionately as “Sarge,” this is his 18th year teaching at Newbury Park High School.
Below are video examples of many of the ideas discussed in the episode
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I am really struggling with teaching online. I know many of you are too. Since, I pick up a vibe that this is a touchy subject to discuss, I have no choice but to discuss it. Such is the lot of the podcaster, I suppose. I hope this helps somebody.
Choir Director Probs
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When you do music from a culture that is not your own, it is like you are holding someone else’s dreams and past in your hands.
Janet Galván
In this touching and vulnerable conversation, Dr. Galván and I discuss the very important issue of programming and preparing to perform music from an ever growing number of traditions and cultures. This can be an overwhelming topic to approach in many ways. Partly due to the sheer number of styles and performance practices that exist. None of us can master them all, and that’s ok! Downstream from this problem is whether or not we give ourselves and our colleagues grace when they make mistakes. Do we shame the conductor who presents an inauthentic performance or do offer help and resources?
This episode is structured as a help and a resource. Dr. Galván has done a tremendous amount of work in the trenches on this topic in her storied career. That experience has left her with some very solid practices and procedures for each of us to use when we approach a new style of music to introduce to our ensembles.
Episode 51: Dr. Janet Galván
Episode 51: Janet Galván
Dr. Janet Galván, Director of Choral Activities at Ithaca College, was recognized by her New York colleagues for her contribution to choral music when she received the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) New York Outstanding Choral Director Award. Dr. Galván was awarded the Ithaca College Faculty Excellence Award for teaching, scholarship, and service in 2018. Galván was presented the 3rd Distinguished Alumni Award in Music Education and Choral Music from the University of North Carolina in 2016.
Sought after as a guest conductor of choral and orchestral ensembles, she has conducted professional and university orchestras including Virtuosi Pragenses, the Madrid Chamber Orchestra, and the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra in choral/orchestral performances. She has conducted national, divisional, and state choruses throughout the United States for ACDA, the National Association for Music Educators (NAfME),and the Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE. She has conducted choruses and orchestras in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Washington’s Constitution Hall, Minneapolis’ Symphony Hall, Pittsburgh’s Heinz Hall, and Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center. She has conducted her own choral ensembles in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, and Avery Fisher Hall as well as in concert halls in Ireland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Canada, and Spain. Galván was the sixth national honor choir conductor for ACDA, and was the conductor of the North American Children’s Choir which performed annually in Carnegie Hall. She was also a guest conductor for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Galván has been a guest conductor and clinician in the United Kingdom, Ireland, throughout Europe, Canada and in Brazil as well as at national music conferences and the World Symposium on Choral Music. She was on the faculty for the Carnegie Hall Choral Institute, the Transient Glory Symposium and the Oberlin Conducting Institute.
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I am pleased to introduce you to the next EXPOSED composer from Graphite Publishing, David von Kampen. I am doing a piece of David’s this winter with my students, and was inspired to pass along how great it is! So, why not resurrect this segment on the show. Enjoy!
David von Kampen
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“To stimulate thinking you must ask questions. The instant you give YOUR philosophy, the thinking stops. What you want is for them to think for themselves.”
Dr. Eph Ehly
It’s difficult to describe the impact that Eph Ehly has had on the choral profession. In fact, it may be impossible to quantify. He has cultivated the passion to teach and conduct in multiple generations of young teachers. He has impacted thousands upon thousands of singers in honor choirs, and in his own choirs. Perhaps I can only illustrate this with an anecdote. He was my teachers in the late 1990s, but also inspired my mother to become choir director while directing the South Dakota All-State choir in the 1970s. He is truly an intergenerational choral legend. Meanwhile, in Idaho, he came to work with my wife’s collegiate ensemble where he inspired Beth to come to Kansas City for her Masters. Where she and I then met! So, when I say I owe this man a lot, I mean a lot.
In this episode, Dr. Ehly and I discuss the changes he has seen in the choral profession over the decades as well as what has stayed the same. We discuss his philosophy of education, and where he sees music fitting into that philosophy. We also discuss the concept of teachers being models of curiosity rather than the source of answers.
Episode 50: Dr. Eph EhlyDr. Eph Ehly
Named “one of the most sought-after choral conductors/clinicians” by The American Choral Directors Journal, Eph Ehly is renowned as a conductor, author, and lecturer. Ehly has appeared in 48 states, as well as Canada, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, and several countries throughout Europe, and presented on more than 100 college and university campuses. DCINY’s Maestro Jonathan Griffith—the recent winner of the 2014 American Prize in Conducting—comments: “Dr. Eph Ehly has been a major influence in my life, not only musically but also personally. Much of who I am today as a conductor goes back to the early days of my doctoral studies at the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and specifically with my daily contact with Dr. Ehly. It is a sincere privilege to honor this wonderful and giving musician and human being.”
After 27 years of service – and conducting over 80 All-State Choirs, and over 600 festival ensembles – Dr. Ehly retired from the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri-Kansas City. He also served an Interim Professorship at the University of Oklahoma in 2006-07. More than 90 Doctorate and 100 Masters Degree students have graduated under his supervision. He imparts a lifetime of wisdom and expertise in his popular memoir, “Hogey’s Journey,” published by Heritage Press, and Hal Leonard Publishing Company released a series of video master classes which feature Dr. Ehly’s philosophies in conducting and rehearsal techniques. He has received numerous important teaching awards and fellowships.
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Is school really driving community spread? Or is school safer than the general community?
Dr. Høeg joins me to discuss a topic that is directly pertinent to many of my listeners as colleagues and friends who are concerned or at least interested in understanding how Covid is affecting school from a science and data perspective. We take a depoliticized, hype-free deep dive into what has been going on in the data surrounding Covid in schools during the last few months. Should schools be open? Should they stay closed? What are the risks to students and teachers in terms of data? What are other countries doing about schools? What are the risks of NOT opening schools? Has the politicization of this issue caused us to miss an important middle ground?
Dr Tracy Høeg is a Physician Scientist (MD, PhD) Danish-American double citizen based in Northern California, specializing in Sports and Spine Medicine and with a PhD in Epidemiology. In private practice at Northern California Orthopedic Associates. She is also an Associate Researcher at UC Davis and a journalist at UltraRunning Magazine. Mother to four, long-distance runner, lover of mountains, music, photography and anything that makes her kids happy.
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A choral musician with a “marathon mindset” would never listen to a choir and think, “well, we’re done. We’ve done all we can do.” The same is true of our lives as teachers/conductors.
Episode 48
Welcome Dr. Emily Williams Burch BACK to the show, but this time IN my home studio. A personal and vulnerable conversation in which Emmy and I discuss the ways in which the process of learning for our students AND for ourselves as teachers/musicians must be viewed as a marathon and not a sprint. You will not want to miss this candid conversation that we hope you will find not only helpful in the classroom for your students, but also for you and your growth as a professional.
Tune in as we discuss negative ways choral directors compare ourselves to each other, the need to appreciate our growth through reflection on where we started, being honest with ourselves about our goals and much more! (Apologies for some technical issues with this episode. It was my first attempt with some new gear. Podcasting is also a marathon!)
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As many listeners know, quality conversation is my passion. Building our resistance to vitriol and judgment in online conversation is a huge part of that. Angel Eduardo is a writer that I came across on Twitter when his article “Three Tips for Having Difficult Conversations” came across my feed. I instantly knew I had found a kindred spirit. So, if the election has you stressed, followed by the prospect of an increase in family time at Thanksgiving in which you will surely be dragged into a tough chat, then this episode is for you! Perhaps more importantly, this episode is for EVERYONE of any political background or profession that wants to put anger and judgement in conversation behind them.
His photographs have been published in The Olivetree Review and exhibited at various shows in Northern New Jersey, most notably Jersey City’s Casa Colombo as part of the Eye Write photography exhibit, and at the Oakeside Bloomfield Cultural Center as part of an event called The Photographic Code. Angel has also provided cover art for books, including Personal Effects: Essays on Memoir, Teaching and Culture in the Work of Louise DeSalvofor Fordham University Press, which makes use of his photograph entitled “Early Bird.”
Angel has been writing, performing, and recording music since the age of 15, and has gigged at numerous venues in the tri-state area and beyond. His former band, Blue Food, released a full-length album and, through fan votes, beat out dozens of other groups for the chance to join the lineup of 2014’s Mantrabash outdoor festival in Ferguson, North Carolina.
An autodidact with a passion for presentation and big ideas, Angel has been intimately involved in every creative facet of his projects, from songwriting, producing, mixing and mastering, to designing and overseeing the creation of album artwork, concert posters, and merchandise. His tireless work ethic and boundless devotion to the act of creation has him dipping into multiple mediums, experimenting with myriad crafts, and endlessly searching for the biggest, best, and most exciting ideas.
As we march through what has been the most challenging semester possibly to EVER face the field of education, we find ourselves twisting our minds in pretzels to discover what works and what doesn’t work on the fly. Every day is an experiment whether you are in person with masks, hybrid or all online, you are having to treat each day as if you are a first year teacher. We cannot predict outcomes because we have never done this. We have to innovate every day. Dr. Kyle Nielsen of Southern Virginia University has been putting together a highly innovative programme for his students this year that changes fluidly all of the time. In this conversation, Dr. Nielsen and I talk through the ideas and the processes that he bas been experimenting with.
Episode 47
Dr. Kyle Nielsen is the Director of Choral Studies at Southern Virginia University, where he was voted Professor of the Semester in Spring 2019 by the students and faculty. He conducts the Chamber Singers and Men’s Chorus, teaches Conducting, Choral Literature, and Applied Voice, oversees the Vocal Music Internship and Music Education programs. Previous to Southern Virginia, Nielsen completed the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. While at Frost, he led the university men’s chorus Maelstrom, taught in the Experiential Music Curriculum, directed marketing and recording services for the Choral Studies area, and was the assistant conductor for the internationally-acclaimed Frost Chorale.
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An active clinician and researcher, recent conference presentations have included the Western Division and National Conference of the American Choral Directors Association in addition to a recent webinar with Chorus America. An excerpt of his dissertation research was recently published as a Case Study in the Eastman Case Studies series, titled “Kinnara Ensemble, A Project-Based Ensemble.” Upcoming engagements include the Utah State Large Choir Festival coupled with various high school clinics throughout the mountain west.Nielsen also collaborates with some of the country’s leading professional vocal ensembles.
Recent positions include conducting fellow with Grammy-nominated Seraphic Fire in addition to Artistic Administrator for the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, where he coordinated all artistic contracting and operations. Additional appearances as a professional ensemble singer include the Piedmont Singers (Virginia), Schola Cantorum at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (Virginia), Brevitas (Utah), and Musica Judaica (Florida).In addition to the University of Miami, Nielsen holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and Theatre from Southern Virginia University and the Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting as well as Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from East Carolina University.
Reflections on posting opinions on the internet, as well as thoughts about “cancel culture” in choral music.
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When we see and hear the Aeolians perform we impressed by the technical precision. We are in awe of the dynamic range, the tone, the diction and the phrasing. But we are INSPIRED by the emotional buy-in and engagement from the singers in the ensemble. This culture doesn’t happen naturally in choral ensembles. It is taught. It is a an art in and of itself to convince singers to pour their whole selves into each piece of music.
Episode 46
In Dr. Ferdinand’s second appearance on the show (Episode 11) we discuss the philosophy behind his “Teaching With Heart” book that seeks to inject tools into the conductor’s arsenal to address the most important issues of our world. In doing so we do a deep dive into the rehearsal techniques that foster connection to each other through the making of choral music.
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Dr. Weber, in my mind, is one of the legends of the choral profession due to the contribution of her body of work over many years and at all levels of teaching. I find the combination of her high level of music making, along with her experience in classrooms with young kids and everything in between to be a fascinating model to which we can all aspire. I can’t think of a better person to guide us through our thinking about concepts related to ownership and professionalism within our ensembles.
Is it possible for us as conductors to “let go” of some of the control? What would that look like? Could our choirs actually improve by us getting out of the way? How would our egos handle that…? In this refreshing episode Dr. Weber and I tackle these and many more questions. Be sure to tune in!
Dr. Betsy Cook Weber is a Madison Endowed Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Houston Moores School of Music. She teaches a full load of coursework, oversees the large and varied choral area at the Moores School, and is also highly active internationally as a conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and lecturer.
The University of Houston Moores School Concert Chorale, which she directs, has established a reputation as one of the world’s finest collegiate choirs and has been a featured choir at multiple state (2002, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2017) and national conventions (ACDA 2007, 2017, NCCO 2017). Internationally, Chorale has received acclaim at six prestigious competitions, winning or placing in every category in which they were entered. These include the Eisteddfod in Wales, Florilége Vocal in Tours, France, International Chamber Choir Competition in Marktoberdorf, Germany, the Grand Prix of Nations in Magdeburg, Germany, the Bela Bartok International Choral Competition in Hungary, and the European Grand Prix in Arezzo, Italy. Judges’ comments include “de luxe singing, eliciting admiration and gratitude,” “wonderfully elegant and humorous,” “sophisticated choir — expertly prepared and with a finely-tuned corporate ear.” In 2015, Musica mundi, in its ranking of the top 1000 choirs in the world, placed UH Concert Chorale #1 in its age category and #3 among all choirs worldwide.
In addition to her work at the University of Houston, Dr. Weber serves as director of the Houston Symphony Chorus. Under Weber’s leadership, the Houston Symphony Chorus has performed over 200 concerts consisting of repertoire as varied as Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem and Video Games Live. She is privileged to collaborate with some of the world’s best conductors, including Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Jane Glover, Christoph Eschenbach, and Nicholas McKegan. She has led the HSC and HS Chamber Singers on two European tours to the Czech Republic in 2017 and in Poland and Germany in 2019, including a performance at the world-renowned Bachfest in Leipzig.
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In the coming year, in addition to her return to work once again with the Arkansas All-State, Dr. Weber looks forward to engagements in California, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, and Germany.
Dr. Weber frequently prepares singers for early music orchestras Ars Lyrica and Mercury Houston and is also routinely called upon to prepare choruses for touring shows, includingJosh Groban, Andreas Bocelli, NBC’s Clash of the Choirs, Telemundo’s Latin Grammy’s, Star Wars in Concert, and the Eagles.
In the summer of 2013, Weber became the 13th person and 1st woman to receive the Texas Choral Director Association’s coveted Texas Choirmaster Award.
She holds degrees from the University of North Texas, Westminster Choir College (Princeton, NJ), and the University of Houston.
How can we set up our music courses to truly meet students where they are and encourage students that singing is skill to be built, and not a talent one “has” or “doesn’t have?” Can we create a curriculum and grading structure that does not reward and punish students for their exposure to music, or lack of it, BEFORE they signed up for our classes? We can if we grade on growth.
“NOT teaching literacy every day to every student is elitist.”
Chris Munce
Choir Director Probs
In this short episode I will present some ideas and processes that have been very successful for me and my students, and how those processes have changed through trial and error. At one time, I held the belief that students should be held to a standard to be “reached.” Now, the academic goal for each student is to leave the class a better singer and musician than when they came in. Achievement is simply a byproduct.
Our Instructions for weekly SRF assignments.
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At the end of the year the students should be better singers. Not better CHORAL singers. Better SINGERS.
Dr. Jami Rhodes
This special episode is a tag team. Dr. Andrew Crane of Brigham Young University and Dr. Jami Rhodes of East Carolina University join me to discuss some common myths, misconceptions and vocal pedagogy practices that many of us undertake in a choral rehearsal that cause us more work in the long run. Need to fix the intonation? Have you fixed the technique first? Or are you talking to the singers about their “ears.” Trying to achieve blend? Maybe a unified technical approach to healthy vocal production can do all of the heavy lifting for us. This episode had SO MANY good one liners and quotes, that I had trouble choosing them for the promo materials. Don’t miss this one.
Episode 44
This conversation is not only informative, but practical and flat out fun! Tune in and bring your note pad! You will want to try a lot of these ideas in your rehearsal tomorrow!
Andrew Crane was named Associate Professor of Choral Conducting and conductor of the Brigham Young University Singers in 2015. Previous to this appointment, he served for four years as Director of Choral Activities at East Carolina University, and six years in the same position at California State University, San Bernardino. He is also the former choral director at Provo High School.
Choirs under his direction have appeared by invitation at multiple conferences of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO). Recent such performances include the 2017 NCCO biennial conference in Baton Rouge, and the 2019 ACDA national conference in Kansas City.
On the international stage, in 2015 Dr. Crane led the East Carolina University Chamber Singers to a first place finish in the 13th Maribor (Slovenia) International Choral Competition Gallus, the only American choir to win in the history of the contest. He has also appeared as a guest conductor and lecturer at the Conservatory of Italian Switzerland, the Military University of Culture and Arts in Vietnam, the Choral Musicians Association of Hunan Province (China), and the Indonesian Institute of the Arts.
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Jami Rhodes, mezzo-soprano, appears regularly in recital, opera, and concert works throughout the United States. Dr. Rhodes is currently Associate Professor of Voice at East Carolina University where she teaches applied voice, serves as coordinator of vocal pedagogy, and conducts ECU’s treble ensemble, the ECU Concert Choir. She holds the Doctor of Musical Arts in vocal performance and pedagogy from Louisiana State University, a Master of Music in vocal performance from the University of South Carolina, and a Bachelor of Music in music education from East Carolina University. Dr. Rhodes is the 2018 ECU recipient of the NC Board of Governors award for Excellence in Teaching.
Recent and upcoming appearances include Anita in Bernstein’s West Side Story and mezzo-soprano soloist in Corigliano’s Fern Hill, Handel’s Messiah, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Mozart’s Requiem, Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody, Saint-Saens’ Christmas Oratorio, Rachmaninoff’s All Night Vigil, Durufle’s Requiem, Forrest’s Jubilate Deo, Arnessen’s Tuvayhun, Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Mahler’s, Symphony No. 3, and Dvorak’s Stabat Mater. She can be heard as the Baroness von Krakenfeldt on the Ohio Light Opera’s recording of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Grand Duke released by Albany Records in 2003. Her recording of Dinos Constantinides’ Marche de Galvez with the Louisiana Sinfonietta and Schola Cantorum was released by Centaur Records in February of 2008.
At this point you have probably heard of Chor Amor. If you haven’t then get out from under that rock, and listen! 😉
They, under Troy Robertson’s leadership, have hosted brainstorming sessions, virtual choir performances, and teaching resource content on choramor.com and so much more. The value of a centralized location and effort of professionals collaborating to rise to a challenge like our current one cannot be over stated. In this conversation, Dr. Robertson and I discuss the story BEHIND Chor Amor and the thinking that led to this idea becoming so valuable to many in our profession.
Creativity: We are singers, conductors, and teachers. We first gathered to create. The singing we do gives us the opportunity to be creative, but it does far more than that. It leads to new resources that serve as an example of what we can accomplish together: scores, guide tracks, video, and audio.
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Learning: The thrust of our efforts is in developing and showcasing techniques, speed, and opportunities we can carry forward into whatever comes next, whether face-to-face, at distance, or some hybrid of the two. We believe these opportunities will prove to be exponential in number and variety as individuals come together to brainstorm and solve problems.
Service: We use our social media and professional service channels to invite all to take part. Our members join in Zoom meetings and webinars, and some choose to sing with us. We invite them to mix and master their own choirs into a digital musicking experience that will include thousands from across the nation and around the world. The challenges of the moment are evolving, but they have exposed inequity in our ability to serve using digital solutions. We will explore and develop the means to serve singers, students, and parishioners without access to high quality hardware, software, and internet service.
Dr. Troy Robertson is the Director of Choirs at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX. Before coming to Tarleton Dr. Robertson taught at Ithaca College and served for several years as choral director at East Gaston High School in Mount Holly, NC. He is a composer whose works are published with Hinshaw Music, Santa Barbara Music Press, Colla Voce, and Music Spoke. Dr. Robertson holds degrees from Florida State University (Ph.D.), the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (M.M.), and Furman University (B.M.Ed.). He is a lifetime member of ACDA and an active member of NCCO, TMEA, and TCDA.
This Choralosophy Podcast special has been recut and reimagined by Michael himself to include the most salient portions of our free wheeling conversation on many choral topics including the role of the conductor, the reimagining of the performing arts during our hiatus, and the secrets of the Anuna brand of small ensemble singing, and much more! Interspersed throughout with stunning video and music performed by Anuna and curated by Michael for this special. A truly unique presentation that will leave you inspired, informed and excited about the future of our art form.
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In this short episode, I welcomed Lori Sonnenberg, speech pathologist and singing voice specialist, BACK on the Choralosophy Podcast to help us with a pressing issue. The school year is starting again, and many of us are know using our voices again in new and unique ways. Namely, teaching or singing in a mask, or online, or BOTH. This will present unique vocal health challenges for singers and teachers. We hope this little tutorial will serve as a useful resource for you as the wear and tear increases on your instrument.
LORI L. SONNENBERG is a Speech-Language Pathologist and Voice Specialist. In her clinical work, she combines her passion for treating injured voices with her extensive background as a singer and voice teacher. She has achieved remarkable results in working with her own students and patients as well as in assisting some of the country’s most respected voice teachers and clinicians. This blend of talents and skills makes Ms. Sonnenberg a formidable asset to the clinical and singing voice worlds.
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A Choralosophy First attempt at a front porch conversation. I invited members of my recently graduated choral program to talk about what life has been life in lockdown.
Featuring Eghosa Ogbevoen, Avery Beavers and Zaria Jackson.
This episode is an experiment for sure! I began to feel like much of our conversation had been a little too teacher focused on the show. A bit too “informational” and not enough “relational.” So, I became very interested in hearing from some of my students to hear what it was like from the perspective of some graduating seniors who watched their Senior year of high school evaporate in front of them. What was that like for them? What was the emotional roller coaster, and how has it affected their mindset for the future?
Episode 41
We discussed their feelings about losing choir of course, but we also discussed other realities of life for the class of 2020. Isolation, the forcing of all conversation into an online forum, the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement and ensuing protests, and much more.
Apologies for the audio quality. We recorded outdoors for safety, and much of it turned out ok, unless my AC unit was on.
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When Science gets thrust to the center of our artistic world, how do we react, how do we gather info, and how do we decide?
An enlightening conversation about our singing with Covid situation with Nick Sienkiewicz. Nick is a young colleague preparing to earn his Masters in Choral Conducting at IU Bloomington. But before that, Nick earned a degree in Bioechemistry. I was very impressed with Nick’s ability to explain the scientific process, as well as some of the pitfalls that those of us who are not trained in science can step into when we aren’t careful. On this show, a major undertaking has occurred and collected under the Covid Conversations page on this site to collect extremely relevant expert opinion on a broad range of virus related topics to help us ask the full range of relevant scientific questions beyond the important aerosol questions. This is unfathomably important as schools and communities begin to open. I think you will enjoy Nick’s perspective and tips for navigating this complicated web.
Nicholas Sienkiewicz is a conductor and scientist currently based in Bloomington, Indiana. Nick obtained his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, and Bachelor of Musical Arts from Western Michigan University. During his time at WMU, he served as Music Director for the Unitarian Universalist Community Church, Choir Director for the Kalamazoo Children’s Chorus, and the Executive Director of Open House Theatre Company. On the scientific side, Nick worked as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant and Supplemental Instructor for the Chemistry Department at WMU. Nick also served as a Research Assistant in the Teske Laboratory and a Protein/Vaccinology Intern for Zoetis Inc. Nick is pursuing his Master of Music in Choral Conducting at Indiana University Bloomington.
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How can we streamline the rehearsal process to make the most of student contact time?
If you are like me, you have seen a TON of ideas for online activities to keep our choirs engaged. And that’s wonderful! We need as many tools in our belt as we can get. However, what about the times when we may encounter a “hybrid model,” where contact time to sing together in person is allowed, but drastically limited? How then, do we prioritize our time?
Sadly, I cannot offer this short episode as “tried and true tips” for obvious reasons. It is very likely that this will be the situation for myself and many others soon. So instead, I will be hopefully offering some helpful ideas that I THINK will work nicely all things considered. We will focus on some time saving strategies that can maximize our precious minutes with the students.
If it can go online, get it online (music theory, individual sight reading, listening activities and analysis, maybe even some rehearsal elements)
Sight reading instruction is more important now than ever. It will speed up your rehearsals.
Adjustments of repertoire to fit the time demands. What priorities rise to the top?
Hybrid performance ideas?
Below you can find links to the other Choralosophy Resources mentioned in this episodes designed to SPEED UP your rehearsals and empower singers.
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Eric Whitacre may be the father of the virtual choir. But could he have ever envisioned what it would become?
In this episode, I have the honor of speaking with the FATHER of the virtual choir. Eric Whitacre. We discuss the origins of his virtual choir “franchise” and his thoughts on watching that concept evolve during the pandemic. I really appreciated his openness in discussing his “behind the memes” persona, as well as the philosophy behind the virtual choir and its community based ecosystem.
“I am ACHING to make music again. I never realized it was my oxygen. Lot’s of people feel this way. When we come out of this, we will enter a golden era of singing. People will cherish and make time for it like we’ve never seen before.”
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Our online choral conversations are frequently centered, especially recently, around culture. How do we negotiate a diverse society within our classrooms and the online conversations that result?
Dr. Graham invited me on his YouTube channel to discuss topics that fall under this broad umbrella like cancel culture, race, discourse and why so many of these topics are difficult to discuss. I was honored to participate it Dr. Graham’s series on his show on “The Culture Wars.”
Teaser: in this conversation I refer to Robin DiAngelo as Beverly D’Angelo… TWICE. Cancel me now…so embarrassed.
Dr. Rod Graham- Old Dominion UniversityBonus Episode!
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Introducing an AMAZING product from MyMusicFolders.com! The resonance singer’s mask shown in this short demo is an excellent option for risk reduction in Covid-era singing. Ultimately, for choirs who choose to sing using tools like this, you will need a mask that is conducive to comfortable breathing and articulating. This is the mask for you!
Remember: you MUST use the mask in conjunction with local health guidelines and other risk mitigators like hygiene, ventilation and distancing.
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In this episode, I continue my deep dive into attempting to understand how the pandemic may effect our world generally, but specifically the world of music and the performing arts. However, it should be obvious that parallels to our everyday lives are interwoven into this information. In this conversation, Dr, Manian and I focus primarily on the mode of transmission for this virus. Toward the end we spend quite a bit of energy discussing the much disputed concept of “droplet” spread and “aerosol” spread, as well as the benefits of mask wearing in as many situations as possible.
Farrin A. Manian, MD, MPH, FACP, FSHEA, FIDSA, received his Masters of Science in Public Health-Epidemiology and MD (cum laude) degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha National Honors Society. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical School in Nashville. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America and Infectious Diseases Society of America.
Dr. Manian has authored or coauthored more than 90 scientific articles and book chapters. He is the author of the book, Mosby’s Curbside Clinician: Infectious Diseases and was the first editor of APIC handbook of Infection Control. He is a member of the editorial board of the American Journal of Infection Control. His publications have appeared in peer-reviewed scientific journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology and the AmericanJournal of Infection Control. He has been voted as one of America’s “Top Doctors” in Infectious Diseases.
His hobbies include photography and collecting antique medical books and paraphernalia. He created the website http://www.doctorsbestshots.com donating his photographs in return for a donation to the Care for AIDS Patients fund designed to defray the cost of care of indigent patients with HIV infection.
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National Chair of the American Choral Directors Association’s Diversity Initiatives Committee
This episode flipped the normal script a little bit, where I got to be on the hot seat! I was honored to be invited to be the guest on “And the Beat Goes On” presented by Arreon Harley-Emerson of the Choir School of Delaware. We agreed to co-present this conversation largely centered around diversity and inclusion. This is been a frequent topic on the Choralosophy Podcast, but this time we focused on ideas about how to broaden the conversation to include people who might not currently be engage in this important work.
Are we willing to consider that some of the rhetorical techniques employed by many in equity circles might be a barrier to some people that don’t speak the lingo?
Episode 37
Music Educator. Choral Conductor. Nonprofit Executive.
A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Arreon A. Harley-Emerson was appointed Director Music and Operations of the Choir School of Delaware in June, 2013. In this position, he is responsible for the musical components of the renowned Choir School program as well as the day-to-day operations of the organization.
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Mr. Harley-Emerson began singing with Doreen Falby and the Peabody Conservatory Children’s Chorus at the age of seven. Later, he went on to sing with the Columbia Pro Cantare, under the directorship of Mrs. Frances Dawson. Harley-Emerson began building his technique through private voice and piano lessons in Mrs. Dawson’s studio in Columbia, Maryland. He would later return to the Peabody Children’s Chorus during his college years, serving diligently as a conducting intern for three years. Mr. Harley-Emerson has had the opportunity to sing with the Columbia Festival Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, and the Baltimore
Opera Company. Mr. Harley-Emerson graduated with honors from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, with bachelor’s degrees in Music Theory & Composition and Vocal Performance (opera). There he studied piano with Dr. Lisa Weiss, voice with Mrs. Betty Ridgeway, and conducting with Dr. Elisa Koehler. He received master’s of music degrees in Choral Conducting and Vocal Performance from the University of Delaware School of Music, studying Choral Conducting with pedagogue Dr. Paul Head and Voice with Dr. Noel Archambeault. Mr. Harley-Emerson has had the opportunity to conduct in venues such as St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, The Kimmel Center for the Arts in Philadelphia, and the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore. Mr. Harley-Emerson also contributed a chapter to The Oxford Handbook for Choral Pedagogy entitled “The Gang Mentality of Choirs: How Choirs Have the Capacity to Change Lives.” He also has a TEDx Talk that bears the same title.
Committed to the principles of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), Mr. Harley-Emerson has established a thriving consultancy to assist arts and culture nonprofit organizations in remaining relevant in the 21st century. His work includes longitudinal studies, strategic planning, Board Excellence training, resource and asset development, and board diversification. Mr. Harley-Emerson currently serves as the National Chair of the American Choral Directors Association’s Diversity Initiatives Committee. An active member of the Wilmington, Delaware community, Mr. Harley-Emerson is on the Delaware Arts Alliance’s Board of Directors, where he serves as President of the Board and chairs the Advancement Committee which is tasked with fundraising, membership development, and DEIB.
In addition to conducting and performing classical and operatic works, Mr. Harley-Emerson is an avid lover of musical theater. When not performing, you can find him indulging in his true passion…potatoes! He has never met a potato that he did not eat!
In this episode, I bring you a substantially in depth conversation with another expert physician who specializes in infectious disease and is on the front lines of treating COVID-19 patients.
Humans have a strong bias towards pessimism and the disregarding of any good news. As a result, we tend to trust bad news without question, and demand proof for good news. We apply this imbalanced approach to evidence to our peril. We should be making an effort to understand as broad of a picture as we possibly can. The goal of this episode is NOT to view the situation through rose colored glasses. In fact, you will hear explanations of the scary side of this virus here. However, we will be weighing these things against the positive developments that have occurred leading to an overall drop in the risk to our society as doctors have continued to learn and discover new and better ways to care for COVID patients.
Episode 36. Dr. David McKinsey
My concern during the entire month of May and June in choir world has been our hyper focus on one set of questions related to this pandemic. We have asked important questions about how choirs might contribute to the spread of this virus due to increased expulsion, or “super-spreading” of aerosols and droplets that may be produced when singing. This is an IMPORTANT question, but it is not the only question that we should be focused on as we consider a safe return to ensemble singing. Some critical questions that I think we are missing:
1. What do we know now that we didn’t know a month ago about viral transmission and risks to people exposed? (now that data has been collected over many months, and therapeutics have been developed and improved, the risk picture looks much less severe than it did in early March.)
2. What do we know that we didn’t a month ago about therapeutics? (discussed in episode.)
3. What do you know about the metrics being used in your area by public health officials to determine ending or changing certain gathering restrictions? (Discussed in episode.)
I addressed some of these questions in Episode 33 with Dr. Adalja from Johns Hopkins. (I address the danger of hyper-focusing in general here.) In this conversation, we were all fortunate that Dr. McKinsey was able to give us a substantial chunk of time to devote to a broader conversation related to understanding our predicament in a deeper way.
Dr. David McKinsey is a physician with Metro Infectious Disease Consultants-Kansas City. He serves as Regional Medical Director for his group. In addition he is hospital epidemiologist at Research Medical Center, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Kansas, and Infectious Diseases consultant at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. He received his medical degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and completed an Internal Medicine residency at the University of Iowa and then an Infectious Disease fellowship at the University of Tennessee-Memphis. He is board certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases. He has served on the boards of several organizations regionally and nationally, has been actively engaged in medical research throughout his career, and has published many manuscripts and book chapters.
Just in case anyone still doubts the docs that have been on this show re the regionality of risk:
“I hesitate to make any broad statements about whether it is or is not quote ‘safe’ for kids to come back to school. When you talk about children going back to school and their safety, it really depends on the level of viral activity and the particular area that you’re talking about. What happens all too often — understandably, but sometimes misleadingly — is that we talk about the country as a whole in a unidimensional away.” Dr. Anthony Fauci
Also, some have seen the article from the British Columbia CDC posted earlier related to “no evidence of airborne spread.” Sadly, I didn’t see this until after I had done the interview with Dr. McKinsey. So I emailed him, and he confirmed that within the physicians circles, this seems well accepted. All of the latest data suggests that it is droplet transmission, not aerosol/airborne. ”Bottom line is that since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, droplet transmission has been postulated as the main means of spread and now the data are confirming this. Airborne spread would have been very bad news.” I followed up and asked if that means masked singing would be a significant increase in safety (a different angle than what we were told in webinar on May 5.) He said, “That’s exactly right. Droplets containing virus are trapped by the face mask, protecting the wearer. (And others if they wear one it’s a two way street.) In theory, with an airborne pathogen, a mask would not filter the virus (unless it was a N-95 mask) but that is not of practical importance with SARS CoV-2”
Lastly, I am really embarrassed by the sound quality of this episode. For that, I am sorry.
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Some critical misunderstandings in pandemic world: (As a lay person I had to work pretty hard to wrap my head around this. I am sure some lay people already get this, but many don’t)
Conflating, unintentionally, getting infected or exposed to SARS-Cov-2 (a virus) with being diagnosed with COVID-19 (a disease) One does not always lead to another. (CDC best estimate shows 35% infected will show no symptoms)
Conflating, unintentionally, the Case Fatality Rate or CFR with the Infection Fatality Rate or IFR.
Not understanding that the number you see on the news and on data tracking websites is real time info that is not at all informative or helpful. Starts as a crude number and gets refined with vetting. Many areas have seen this crude number look like 4-7% or 4-7 out of 100 are dying.
Understanding the two vetted numbers:
CFR is the higher number based on the number of people who pass away, divided by the number of people who are sick enough to seek treatment and then get diagnosed with COVID-19. That number is easier to nail down early in a pandemic when testing is not widespread for obvious reasons. The only ones factored in are the ones actively engaged with the health care system. (Though time from onset to death causes fluctuation in the rate due to the lagging indicator and differs from the reported numbers because not all reported cases are ever confirmed.)
Current overall CFR best estimate: .4% or 4 in 1000 (see number broken down by age below in attached image.)
The health care system uses this number to help plan for the allocation of resources that they can predict they will need to devote to those patients who show severe symptoms to save as many lives as possible. (ie, the much touted “having enough hospital beds, ventilators,” etc.)
IFR is the lower number that reflects all people who become exposed and infected with SARS-Cov-2 and the proportion of those people who pass away. It is a much lower number for all viruses because it includes the people who don’t get sick at all, and the ones who only have minor symptoms and don’t seek medical treatment. This number is MUCH harder to pin down, also for obvious reasons. This requires MANY data collection points from across the world to be aggregated and vetted, and it also requires the widening of the testing net to include people in the general population who would otherwise have no reason to be tested. So, a solid attempt at publishing an IFR is impossible in the early stages of a pandemic.
Seeing that current best estimate from CDC is 35% asymptomatic that puts the IFR at .26% or 2.6 in 1000 (you can find these by age below as well, simply by multiplying the CFR by .65)
This number is a better used for individuals in the community to measure the risk to themselves and their families. Because it represents how the disease statistically effects the general population. In other words, understanding the risk if they or their loved one were to be exposed to another person with the virus.
All of this must then be factored in to our best local indicators in order to assess your overall risk. Best local indicators are new hospitalization and new deaths. NOT new cases because new cases vary greatly depending on the local availability of testing. (Which is why comparing “spikes” in one country or even state to numbers somewhere else, is not productive.)
How Narrow Focus and Tribalism Leads to Bad Decision Making
A special edition of the Choralosophy Podcast. It’s basically not about choir at all… But, it’s short and I hope it’s thought provoking, or even helpful!
We sure are living in a strange time. The mission of the Choralosophy Podcast is to encourage conversation to zoom OUT and see the big picture, whether it be in matters strictly musical, or on any other topic. Please join the conversation.
The Eye of the Tiger
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This special episode is a Podcast exchange with the brand new “Music (ed) Matters” podcast hosted by Dr. Emmy Burch. I invite you to check out her show!
I am excited to welcome Emmy Burch to the Choral Podcast “scene” with this episode. She already has several excellent conversations available on her channel. In this conversation we discuss some mutual concerns about what we see as under-discussed issues in what could be the early stages of a new era of online delivery of large group music instruction.
Episode 35 with Emmy BurchEmmy Burch
Discussions:
Do virtual choirs create equity issues?
What are some necessary steps to close the opportunity gaps?
When we see our students again, how can we prepare them for future online learning?
Does grading online work help or hurt?
Dr. Emily Williams Burch is the founder and artistic director of RISE Chorales, a community choir organization in Savannah, GA with a mission of experiencing musical artistry, education, and personal growth through the choral arts and community experiences. Burch received her Doctorate in Conducting with doctoral minors in music history and music theory from the University of South Carolina, during which she taught introduction to music, designed and taught the history of rock, and directed the university women’s chorus. Dr. Burch earned her Masters of Music Education from Florida State University, where she assisted with the Capital Children’s Choir, and a Bachelor of Music Education from Louisiana State University, where she graduated magna cum laude. Prior to that, she served on the podium as Director of Education and Music for the Savannah Children’s Choir for nine years and worked as Department Chair/General Music/Piano Teacher at Garrison School of Visual and Performing Arts.
She continues to have the privilege of traveling the country as a Teacher Trainer and Choral Curriculum Developer for Quaver’s Marvelous World of Music, an interactive K-8 music curriculum. Additionally, she serves as an Artistic Adviser for Perform International, where she helps organizations create and realize their dreams on tours in the US and abroad. Choirs under her direction choirs have performed regionally, nationally, and internationally. Emmy has volunteered in various roles within the American Choral Directors Association, including Repertoire & Resources Chair for Children’s and Youth Community Choirs for the Southern Region. She and her husband live in Savannah, GA where they are members of the Metropolitan Savannah Rotary Club and marathoners who train with the Savannah Striders.
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As we all look forward to an uncertain future in our choral rehearsals, we might also turn our attention to what was an already RAPIDLY changing market for choral sheet music. For a conversation on this topic I reached out to Susan LaBarr, composer and editor for Walton Music. Our conversation was wide ranging from the changes that have occurred over the last 10 years, to her prognostications of things to come. We also discussed common myths about copyright law and the pros and cons of traditional publishing and self publishing.
Discussions:
Rules related to performance and recording rights.
Changes in the industry pre-covid
What could the future look like due to increasing use of technology and increased online music learning.
What does “educational use” ACTUALLY mean…
Susan LaBarr
Episode 34
Susan LaBarr (b. 1981) is a composer and choral editor living and working in Springfield, Missouri. Her compositions are published by Walton Music, Morningstar Music, and Santa Barbara Music Publishing. Susan has completed commissions for choirs worldwide, most notably Seraphic Fire, the National ACDA Women’s Choir Consortium, and the Texas Choral Director’s Association’s Director’s Chorus. She served as the Missouri Composer Laureate for 2012 and 2013. Her arrangement of Quem pastores laudavere appeared on New York Polyphony’s 2014 Grammy- nominated album, Sing Thee Nowell. Her work for mezzo soprano and piano, Little Black Book, was premiered at Carnegie Hall in October 2019.
Central to Susan’s musical vocabulary is the knowledge she gained from studying with Alice Parker at her home in Hawley, Massachusetts, where she attended the Composer’s Workshop and Melody Studies Workshop. Susan attended Missouri State University in Springfield, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in music and a Master of Music in music theory. Susan, her husband Cameron, and their son Elliott reside in Springfield, Missouri, where Cameron is the Director of Choral Studies at Missouri State University and Susan works as Editor of Walton Music.
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Dr. Adalja is a Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. His work is focused on emerging infectious disease, pandemic preparedness, and biosecurity.
I am honored to be able to publish this in a time in which all of the education field is reeling with the possibility that school might be unrecognizable in the fall. From state educational organizations publishing recommendations that look very scary, to “The Webinar” that blew up facebook.
I publish this NOT because this episode provides a solution, (because there is no easy solution) but simply to begin a dialogue on how to assess our own risks. In our current world, this is a skill everyone will need in order to do their work. We cannot farm risk assessment out completely to politicians or to our bosses.
My goal is to help us be self and singer advocates. The parents of many of our student singers who own restaurants are doing this right now. We are next.
Episode 33Episode 33
Many of these decisions will not be made by us, but we need our voices at the table armed with solid information. Follow Dr. Adalja on Twitter @AmeshAA
Dr. Adalja has served on US government panels tasked with developing guidelines for the treatment of plague, botulism, and anthrax in mass casualty settings and the system of care for infectious disease emergencies, and as an external advisor to the New York City Health and Hospital Emergency Management Highly Infectious Disease training program, as well as on a FEMA working group on nuclear disaster recovery. He is currently a member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s (IDSA) Precision Medicine working group and is one of their media spokespersons; he previously served on their public health and diagnostics committees. Dr. Adalja is a member of the American College of Emergency Physicians Pennsylvania Chapter’s EMS & Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness Committee as well as the Allegheny County Medical Reserve Corps. He was formerly a member of the National Quality Forum’s Infectious Disease Standing Committee and the US Department of Health and Human Services’ National Disaster Medical System, with which he was deployed to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake; he was also selected for their mobile acute care strike team. Dr. Adalja’s expertise is frequently sought by international and national media.
Dr. Adalja is an Associate Editor of the journal Health Security. He was a coeditor of the volume Global Catastrophic Biological Risks, a contributing author for the Handbook of Bioterrorism and Disaster Medicine, the Emergency Medicine CorePendium, Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple, UpToDate’s section on biological terrorism, and a NATO volume on bioterrorism. He has also published in such journals as the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of Infectious Diseases, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Emerging Infectious Diseases, and the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Adalja is a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American College of Physicians, and the American College of Emergency Physicians. He is a member of various medical societies, including the American Medical Association, the HIV Medicine Association, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. He is a board-certified physician in internal medicine, emergency medicine, infectious diseases, and critical care medicine.
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Dr. Adalja completed 2 fellowships at the University of Pittsburgh—one in infectious diseases, for which he served as chief fellow, and one in critical care medicine. He completed a combined residency in internal medicine and emergency medicine at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, where he served as chief resident and as a member of the infection control committee. He was a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine from 2010 through 2017 and is currently an adjunct assistant professor there.
He is a graduate of the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, and he obtained a bachelor of science degree in industrial management from Carnegie Mellon University.
Dr. Adalja is a native of Butler, Pennsylvania, and actively practices infectious disease, critical care, and emergency medicine in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, where he also serves on the City of Pittsburgh’s HIV Commission and on the advisory group of AIDS Free Pittsburgh.
Speech Pathologist, Singing Voice Specialist and Classical Soprano
I have notice during my time working from home that my voice felt fresher, freer and more resonant than ever. I immediately began noticing other teachers mentioning this online as well, so I sought out an expert on the physiology and function of the voice who also has an intimate knowledge of the wear and tear that singers and music teachers put on their voices through her clinical practice.
Episode 32
Our conversation is wide ranging from the phenomenon of rest we are all experiencing, to practical tips for staying in shape while not leading choirs, thoughts about how how to “reset” your voice for an even healthier return to school in the fall, as well as common vocal myths or misdiagnoses.
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LORI L. SONNENBERG is a Speech-Language Pathologist and Voice Specialist. In her clinical work, she combines her passion for treating injured voices with her extensive background as a singer and voice teacher. She has achieved remarkable results in working with her own students and patients as well as in assisting some of the country’s most respected voice teachers and clinicians. This blend of talents and skills makes Ms. Sonnenberg a formidable asset to the clinical and singing voice worlds.
Ms. Sonnenberg works exclusively with voice and breathing disorders and specializes in helping singers overcome voice injuries, post-operative voice struggles, and problematic technical voice issues. She is a certified member of the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) holding the Certificate of Clinical Competency (CCC-SLP) and is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). She is a former Speech Pathologist with Bastian Voice Institute in Downers Grove, IL, and has been teaching private voice since 1998.
Instead, I will temporarily place myself inside of a different box as an educator. Believe me, I will be busting out of that box and shredding it ASAP.
I will start off by saying, that OF COURSE, I will claw and scrape to make Distance Learning meaningful for students. But “embracing” sounds too loving. I don’t love this. Do any of you love this?
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Have you been looking for an excuse to try your hand at composing or creating custom classroom materials for your students? Ryan Main made the switch from teaching to composing full time years ago and has some advice.
Ryan and I had this conversation about a month ago when we were still allowed to have people in our houses… 🙂 It turns out the conversation was very timely, as many of us now have some time on our hands to spend on being creative. In fact, many of us have been forced to create custom materials for our class. Ryan’s story of transitioning from classroom teacher who began to write for his OWN students, to full time composer contains a lot of helpful ideas for those of us having to reinvent the teaching of choral music.
Episode 31
Of course, we all want to go back to normal, but is it possible that we will discover some NEW best practices in the next month that we can carry forward in to the future? I think so!
Composer, director and clinician, Ryan Main writes music for choirs and bands at all levels. An award winning composer, his music has been published and performed internationally. His titles have earned multiple Editor’s Choice distinctions from JW Pepper, and have been performed at honor choir events, honor band events, and conferences around the nation, including the Midwest Band Clinic and the American Choral Director’s Association national conference.
Ryan holds a Master of Music in Music Composition and a Master of Music in Music Education from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition from the University of Missouri – Kansas City’s Conservatory of Music and Dance.
Ryan is passionate about quality music education for all. He founded and serves as artistic director of the Youth Chorus of Kansas City, a non-profit organization serving youth of all socio-economic and cultural backgrounds throughout the Kansas City metro area. He is also the Director of Music at Village Presbyterian Church on Antioch.
Ryan is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the Missouri Choral Directors Association, the National Association for Music Education and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
Watch conversations on YouTube!Poem from the show intro
Just a short note of encouragement to those of you colleagues putting a lot of pressure on yourself right now. Stop it! Do your best, but stop it. 🙂
Most Recent Episode
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And other musings about my plans to take choir online.
This is a strange time to be posting about choir in a Podcast right now. Considering that choirs are being sidelined all around the world. Of course, we might be the worst kind of activity right now. Sitting in crowded rooms deep breathing… But sadly, we might be one of the most NEEDED activities right now. So how do we keep the social interaction of a choral rehearsal alive and well during this public health crisis?
I will also share my thoughts about how I like to run a “final” rehearsal before a big performance.
Are your final rehearsals before big events frantic and stressful? Does it affect your singers negatively?
How do we spend our final hour with a group before an important performance where the details really matter? I present this to you, not as the CORRECT approach, but as MY approach philosophically. I truly hope it helps.
1. It won’t be perfect. So chill. Instill chill. 2. Your stress will be magnified in your singers. 3. The final rehearsal should be focused on SINGER directed final detail fixes as much as possible. Your ideas are present too, but each singer, if invested has a bunch of things they want to fix. Provide a way for them to voice it. 4. If your demeanor is calm, the singers will bring less nerves into the performance. You can show intensity of purpose while also showing a relaxed sense of calm. 5. Don’t overwhelm them with LONG list of things to fix. If it’s the day before, it’s too late… big picture, big issues only.
If you would like to see the WHOLE one hour rehearsal, I will be posting video and discussion in March on Patreon as the next patron only episode. www.patreon.com/choralosophy
In this fourth and final installment of the first Choralosophy Miniseries, Dr. Christopher Harris and I discuss the potential influence of representation on the choral profession and the next generation of students. However, the conversations was quite wide ranging allow us to touch on other topics like cultural influences on music, the universality of music and even rehearsal strategies, including the strategies involving music literacy as well as rote learning. I found Dr. Harris’ take on all of these topics to be uniquely explained and articulated in a way that helped me grow during our conversation. Tune in and I think it will help you too!
Episode 29 part 4
Dr. Christopher H. Harris, native of Fort Worth, Texas, is a music educator, conductor, performer, and choral composer. In August 2017 he joined the faculty at Arkansas Tech University as Director of Choral Studies and Assistant Professor of Music. He received his PhD in Choral Music Education from Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL, his Master’s in Choral Conducting from Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY, and his Bachelor’s in Music Education from Texas Southern University in Houston, TX. Prior to entering graduate school, Harris enjoyed several years of successful public school teaching in Houston, Texas. His choirs received numerous sweepstakes awards at state UIL competition as well as honors to perform with the Bay Area Chorus and an invitation to perform as a demonstration group at the Texas Choral Directors Association Convention.
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Harris is the founder of the Houston Master Singers and has served as the Assistant Director for the Houston Ebony Opera Guild. He is active as an adjudicator and has presented numerous sessions on choral rehearsal techniques at state and regional conventions. He is a published composer with several accolades including winner of both the Eastern and National Divisions of the 2013 National Association for Music Education Composition Competition, and the Grand Prize Winner of the 2016 Ithaca College Choral Composition Competition. His music has been performed internationally by mixed, men’s, and treble choirs of varied ages and abilities. Most recently Harris was honored through the selection of his music for performance by the 2018 Texas All-State Mixed Choir, the 2018 Southwest American Choral Directors Association Men’s Honor Choir, the 2018 Arkansas Intercollegiate Choir, and the 2019 Arkansas All-State Mixed Choir and New York All-State Mixed Choir.
As a performer Christopher has performed as guest baritone soloist for concerts with the Texas Southern University Choir, the Houston Ebony Opera Guild, the Houston Symphony Chorus, the 2013 Owego School District’s Production of Faure’s Requiem, with choirs from Florida State University, and the Tallahassee Community Chorus. Harris was guest soloist with the ATU Symphonic Wind Ensemble for their performance at the Southwestern Division of the College Band Directors National Association Convention in Houston, Texas in March 2018.
In this part of the February series, I invited my friend Jazz Rucker into the studio to discuss a term that has rocketed to the top of education vernacular in recent years. “Equity” is frequently confused with “equality,” but has some very important qualitative differences. Jazz is currently serving as the Equity Chair for the Missouri Music Educators Association, which is a new position in the organization. As a result, Jazz has found himself in a position of inquiry and forging a new path toward an ideal of equity and justice in music education. In this conversation we take a birds eye view of the topic and discuss in depth our thoughts on good ways to get everyone to buy in to this journey.
Episode 29: Part 3
There is so much great space for this discussion. We have to get out of “this way or that way” mentality. I just want people to agree to go on the journey. Whatever that means for you.
Jazz Rucker
Jazz Rucker He recently joined the faculty at Lee’s Summit North High School. He came to LSN from Columbia Public Schools. He began his career as a middle school vocal specialist. He then opened Muriel Williams Battle High School as the Director of the Vocal Arts program which included the launch of the school’s first competitive show choir. Jazz earned a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the University of Missouri and is pursuing a Masters of Music Education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Conservatory of Music and Dance. Jazz is grateful for the support of his wife Tara and their two daughters Brynlynn and Berkley.
Jazz would like to recommend the following books on the topics discussed today:
Teaching with Respect by Stephen Seick
We Got This by Cornelius Minor
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In this episode Maria Ellis and I discuss the practical aspects of recruiting across cultural lines for our choirs through the telling of her own story. Maria grew up not knowing that a career as a conductor was possible for her, but through a big dream and a big change of life direction, she began her music degree after 12 years in the business world. Now doing what she loves, she reflects back on the journey and offers us great advice in helping to make sure our students never grow up seeing themselves as limited.
Maria Ellis
Maria in her own words, “
Music Educator, Choral Conductor, with over 20 years of choral music experience. I have been called a Master Educator and a Force of Nature by Dr. Jim Henry, University of Missouri- St. Louis. I hold a B.M. in Music Education emphasis on Voice (K-12 Certified) Degree from the University of Missouri- St. Louis.
I have served as the Arts and Administrative Fellow for The St. Louis Symphony and I currently serve as the Community Engagement Manager for The St. Louis Children’s Choirs. I am the Founding Conductor of The Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries’ newly formed City of Music All-Star Chorus.
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Stay tuned throughout February for my first ever Podcast mini series! Choral Music: A Human Art Form
Part 1: Why does representation in Choral Music matter? In this first installment, I address the question “Why Does Representation in Classical Music matter?” (or choral music) My answer to this question, and subsequent defense of that answer got me kicked off of a Facebook page. So in this episode, I tell that story. It’s a doozy. My answer was, “Representation matters because music is for ALL. From all to all. It can and should transcend innate characteristics.” It turns out this put me at odds with the moderator who had a “music is not universal” perspective which I have noticed has become more prevalent in the last five years or so. I have a lot problems with this trend though I see it as well-meaning one.
So, I decided to line up a series of episodes and guests during Black History Month in order to advance the conversations around representation, equity, equality and inclusion of ALL in the most HUMAN of all art forms: Choral Music.
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This is a FASCINATING discussion with Donald Brinegar, author of the recently published “Pitch Perfect: a Theory and Practice of Choral Intonation.” Donald and I discuss the sometimes misunderstood concepts related to intonation and what makes something “in tune” or “out of tune.” Is it possible that we our education related to this topic has been lacking? I think it has been lacking for many, which is why I think this episode is so important. The conversation runs mostly along two tracks. The common misconceptions surrounding the mathematics of intonation as well as practical ways to bring concepts of intonation into rehearsals with singers of all levels.
Donald Brinegar is a conductor, tenor soloist, voice instructor, educator and master class clinician. Professor Emeritus of Music at Pasadena City College, Brinegar directed the Choral Studies program at PCC for 36 years. Brinegar also conducts the Donald Brinegar Singers, a community choral ensemble in Pasadena, California, Director of Choruses for the Pasadena Symphony and POPS, . During the summers he co-directs the Cal State Los Angeles masters program in choral conducting.
He has an extensive background as a performer both as a soloist and a conductor having performed throughout the United States, Japan, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and Canada. Brinegar has performed as a featured soloist with Robert Shaw, Helmuth Rilling, Roger Wagner, Gerard Swartz, Murray Sidlin, Howard Swan, Charles Hirt, Rod Eichenberger, William Hall, Marvin Hamlisch, Michael Feinstein, and with numerous music festivals, orchestras and opera associations. He has collaborated artistically with Henry Mancini, Barry Manilow, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, John Delancie, and the Chieftains. His choirs have given five performances for the American Choral Directors Association Conferences, California Music Educators (MENC), Choral Conductors Guild, and have performed in Carnegie Hall, the Los Angeles Music Center, and the Hollywood Bowl. In the Fall of 2017, Brinegar was recognized by the Pasadena Symphony as their Artist of the Year.
The Donald Brinegar Singers, choral ensemble, was founded in the Fall of 1997 as an ensemble of former students and colleagues of Professor Brinegar. Their first concert was given in November of 1997. Their second performance was the premiere of Lauridsen’s organ edition of Lux Aeterna, accompanied by organist James Buonemani. The ensemble presented music of the holiday season and was then invited to perform at The ACDA Western Division Convention in Los Angeles, 2000. Shortly following the convention appearance, the Singers recorded Ubi caritas et amor and Madrigali Six Fire-Songs: for Lauridsen’s compact disc, Northwest Journey. The Singers performed the Chansons des Roses with Lauridsen accompanying at the San Antonio, Texas, ACDA National Conference. The Singers followed with two more performances of Lauridsen’s music in Las Vegas, 2004 ACDA Western Division Conference, and the premiere of Nocturnes (The Brock Memorial Convention Commission) 2005, Los Angeles ACDA National Convention.
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Seven important concepts to master to keep your choir moving forward for an ENTIRE academic year.
Sometimes we fall into ruts. Sometimes the singers do… Ultimately, both scenarios are bad and are OUR fault as the director. I have had wildly successful school years and seasons with churches and pro choir. And some that fell flat… In this episode I draw on that experience to come up with list of winning strategies synthesized from my best years on the podium. The list below is NOT ranked in any type of way.
Episode 27
Keep sight reading every day. If they’re bored, then you’re boring them.
Raise the bar. Once a choir thinks they are “good” they will stop working.
Group building is not just for the first day of school. Do more.
Set goals. Communicate them publicly. Don’t assume they know why.
Create engaging rehearsals by BEING engaging. (Hint: learn to be yourself!)
Interpret text. A lot. If you don’t know how, then ask somebody.
If the morale or rehearsal etiquette is not what you want it to be, it’s time to shock the system.
Tune in to this episode to hear the full explanations of each concept!
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In this episode I asked the expert, Dr. Amanda Quist to chat with me about teaching the concept of vowels, resonance and intonation. Is it possible to measure a vowel scientifically? Or is the purity of a vowel subject to the opinion of the conductor? We discuss what I believe to be a new frontier in choral classrooms by using technology to teach students how visualize and then hear their own resonant singing. One important topic we discuss is the unfortunate practice of “Choral Band-Aid” vowels. I define this as avoiding the teaching of proper anatomy of vowel structures in order to get to a blended sound more quickly.
Dr. Amanda Quist
Episode 26
Dr. Amanda Quist is the Director of Choral Activities for the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. Dr. Quist was previously Chair of the Conducting, Organ, and Sacred Music Department, and Associate Professor of Conducting at Westminster Choir College. Dr. Quist is the recipient of Westminster Choir College of Rider University’s 2014 Distinguished Teaching Award, the 2018 Mazzotti Award for Women’s Leadership, and she is the Carol F. Spinelli Conducting Fellow. Dr. Quist was recently invited to be a conductor for the ACDA International Exchange Program, clinician for the 2019 ASPIRE International Youth Music Festival in Australia, juror for the Penabur International Choir Festival in Indonesia, and clinician for the Interkultur International Choral Festival. Westminster Kantorei, winner of the 2018 American Prize in College & University Choral Performance, has performed at the American Choral Directors Association’s (ACDA) Eastern Division Conference, Boston Early Music Festival, American Handel Festival, and Interkultur.
The choir recently released its first commercial recording, Lumina, distributed by Naxos, which was hailed by infodad.com as a recording “sung with great beauty of sound and excellent articulation … a CD to cherish” and by National Medal of Arts recipient Morten Lauridsen as “superb, a splendid recording, highly recommended.” During her work with the Westminster Symphonic Choir, Dr. Quist collaborated with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Dresden Staatskapelle. She also serves as Chorus Master for the Philadelphia Orchestra Chorus. Dr. Quist’s role as Chorus Master for the premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s opera Matsukaze at the Spoleto Festival USA and the Lincoln Center Festival garnered praise from The New York Times and Charleston City Paper, who described the chorus’ performance as “beautifully prepared, gripping,” a “gossamer web of voices” and “bridging the vocal and instrumental textures with perfect intonation.”
Dr. Quist was Director of the Westminster Vocal Institute, a highly regarded summer program for talented high school students, and Director of Choral Activities at San José State University. Her other honors include the James Mulholland National Choral Award and the Audrey Davidson Early Music Award. An active guest conductor and clinician, her recent and upcoming appearances include the NAfME All National Honor Choir, All State High School & Collegiate Honor Choirs throughout the country, and serving as a headliner for music conferences in the US and abroad. Dr. Quist is the National ACDA Repertoire & Resources Coordinator for Collegiate Activities, and her choral series is published through Walton Music.
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In this episode, Beth and I chat with our mutual friend, Dr. Jaclyn Johnson about her choice to step away from the choral classroom and her University teaching post to go to Brazil to teach Yoga. We discuss her goals in embarking on this adventure, and how she is using this time away to reboot her focus as an educator and conductor. I think you will enjoy this chat and the fascinating story behind it! Other topics include mindfulness, and cultural norms dealing with physical touch and materialism.
Described as an energetic firecracker, Dr. Jaclyn Normandie-Johnson’s goal is to share her passion for life and music around the world. Her current areas of research include Latin American music, vocal pedagogy, and music-incorporated yogic philosophy. Johnson is a prolific lecturer, honor choir conductor, and clinician around the country. An avid Wellness Life Coach, she spent the last 6 months living in India and Brazil practicing and teaching yoga.
Johnson earned her doctoral degree from the University of Michigan, and has had a thriving career as a high school, university, and church choral educator. Ensembles under her direction received numerous honors, including performances at the American Choral Directors Association National Conference, Western Division Conference, and Central Division Conference.
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“We live in a time where directing choirs for a living is possible. In the broad scope of human history, THAT alone is an amazing luxury.”
Choralosophy.com
Episode 24
I believe that an underlying philosophy is a necessity for each successful professional. Some call this a “why statement.” Have you found your “why?” Is it the same as it was 10 years ago? In this episode, I share my thoughts about practicing gratitude as a life principle, as well as an exercise in class. In order to illustrate this, I enlisted the help of some friends. In addition to my thoughts on gratitude, you will hear “why” statements from Dr. Ryan Board of Pepperdine, Mark Lawley of Willard High School, Robert T. Gibson of Reed Academy, Dr. Giselle Wyers of U of Washington, Dr. Jennaya Robison of Luther College and Ryan Main, composer and director of the Kansas City Youth Choir program and Dr. Andrew Crane of BYU. Special thanks to each of them for sharing with us!
I am beyond excited to show you an amazing tool that I use to introduce my students to the concept of vowels, resonance and formants! And, by extension, the concept of blend. This is a passion for me in the classroom. I love watching the students eyes and ears come alive to the power of an overtone rich sound. To that end, we provide visual aid for them to understand if they are doing it correctly. One thing we know about good teaching is that not all students learn in the same way.What if the visual learners could SEE if their vowel is correct or if the choir is tune?!
Bonus episode!
No more arguing with kids about their “O” vowel! You don’t have to be the bad guy anymore!
When singers can SEE if they are in tune, if they can SEE that they are singing the right vowel, it creates an amazing path toward being able to HEAR it in context.
In this episode, I have the privilege of chatting with Charles Anthony Silvestri, noted lyricist, about the artistic magic that is possible when music and text are fused. He believes that this intersection is what makes our beloved art form special, and I whole heartedly agree. I pick his brain about his process from idea to final project for a new piece. We talk about his new endeavors as a composer of notes and not just lyrics, as well as some witty banter about Eric Whitacre’s early years and his role in bringing the choral art form into the 21st Century.
Charles Anthony Silvestri
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Poet, composer, and speaker Charles Anthony Silvestri has worked with composers from all over the world to create texts tailor-made for their commissions and specific artistic needs. He has provided custom poetry, opera libretti, program notes and other writing for composers including Eric Whitacre, Ola Gjeilo, Kim Arnesen, and Dan Forrest, and for ensembles ranging from high schools to the Houston Grand Opera, from the King’s Singers to the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, from Westminster Choir College to Westminster Abbey. As a clinician Silvestri speaks to choirs, classes, and concert audiences about his works, the creative process, the marriage of words and music, and about his collaborative relationships with composers. He is the author of three books, including A Silver Thread (GIA 2019), a retrospective of almost 20 years of his lyric poetry. He teaches Ancient and Medieval History at Washburn University, and lives in Lawrence, Kansas.
Find more about Tony as well as links to his published poetry books mentioned on the website at:
For this episode, I sat down (twice… long story) with Paul Smith, co-founder and CEO of VOCES8 and the VOCES8 Foundation while he was in Kansas City. We had a lot of great conversations about the state of music education in the U.K. and the U.S. and the role of VOCES8 and other performing ensembles in sparking a passion for choral music in young singers. The talk ranged from discussions of disparity of music education quality regionally all the way to the interesting differences between the preferred “British” choral sound vs. that preferred by most American Choral Directors.
Paul Smith- CEO of VOCES8
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Paul Smith is an innovative and creative performer, conductor, composer, an inspirational educator and an empowering public speaker. As co-founder of VOCES8, author of The VOCES8 Method and CEO of the VOCES8 Foundation, his annual programme sees him working globally in prestigious concert venues, festivals, schools and universities.
Paul is passionate about the impact singing and the arts can have in the widest possible context – from academic improvement to social skills and building more cohesive communities. He uses that passion to design and deliver unique, inclusive and uplifting performance projects.
In the 2019-20 season, highlights will include: leading the ‘Singing Brussels’ massed choir project with BOZAR in Brussels; touringhis new album and concert programme titled ‘Reflections’; a series of concerts and workshops at the VOCES8 Centre in the City of London; leading his family concert ‘The Winter House’ programme with the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia; conducting the Orchestra of Avignon in a series of concerts for families and young people; conducting the Orchestre D’Auvergne in a new concert for students; leading the Israeli Vocal Ensemble for a series of concerts in Israel; leading a series of concerts across France with VOCES8 and Apollo5, supported by Vivendi,and concerts and workshops in Germany, the USA, New Zealand and Japan. Paul will be continuing his work at the University of Cambridge in 2019.
The VOCES8 Method, written by Paul, is published by Edition Peters in four languages, and is now being used in thousands of schools in numerous countries around the world. The Method is designed to link specific music-making activities with academic improvement in numeracy, literacy and linguistics.
https://youtu.be/qwyqJoTmPCM – Paul’s new setting of the Nunc Dimittis. There’s a link to the sheet music on the video blurb.
https://youtu.be/kSZubXsjUmI – New arrangement of the Edo Lullaby, a Japanese traditional song. Again, sheet music links are in the video blurb.
Is choir a real class? Can the group goals be balanced with the individual academic accountability that we owe to our students? I think the answer to all of this is yes. You can grade your students INDIVIDUALLY in sight singing to ensure that no one falls through the cracks, and stick to a rehearsal rubric that can nearly eliminate classroom management issues. The secret? It’s how we grade.
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Episode 21
Anyone can get an A in choir…
Let’s talk about assessment. One of the biggest challenges as I see it facing our field is the fact that many in education don’t see our content as an academic subject. How many of you are governed under the “Activities” umbrella in your school or state? Yet, you can get a PhD in Choral Music, but you can’t get a PhD in Football…Choral music is an academic field of study for good reason. It is rigorous. It requires research, practice, and individual skill development to learn it and understand it. I believe that one of the reasons our Education colleagues don’t see us as a subject on par with theirs is the way that we grade. They see our students getting almost all A’s with very little individual accountability due to the “group” nature of our performance goals.
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In this episode, I will walk through some systems that have worked well for me to balance the group performance goals with the educational IMPERATIVE to hold each student accountable as well as to hold ME accountable to teach each student.
We will talk about daily rehearsal grades and why I DON’T grade on participation. We will talk about grading kids on the QUALITY of their singing both alone and in small groups. We will also talk about moving past “showing up is enough” at concerts.
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By increasing the rigor, and accountability in your classroom you may experience a backlash at first. It will take time to adjust and you might lose a student who doesn’t want to do the work. However, if you frame it the right way, they will give it a chance. In my experience, this type of rigor only makes kids feel more pride in their work in our classroom. The reality is that a student who is riding on the coattails of stronger singers in the section, but still getting an A, KNOWS they are not earning that grade. Humans will usually accept the unearned, but it takes a toll on the self esteem.
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One of the hottest topics of discussion online in the last few weeks in the choral world has been the topic of cultural appropriation. Who should be allowed to perform, compose or arrange which kinds of music? Where do we draw the line? Does intent matter? What should a conductor do if they are worried about how a performance will be interpreted? In our chat, Brandon and I make no attempt to define what is or is not appropriation. That is not our focus. Instead we center on the WAY we should communicate about this important topic as professionals and as fellow human beings.
Brandon Boyd
Ep 20: Choral Appropriation?
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Dr. Brandon A. Boyd is the Assistant Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education at the University of Missouri, where he conducts the Concert Chorale Men’s Ensemble. In addition to his conducting duties, he teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting, choral arranging, and choral music education. He appears regularly as a conductor, clinician, composer in residence, collaborative pianist, and lecturer for conferences, conventions, collegiate choirs, church choirs, choral festivals, and workshops.
As a proponent of choral singing to help build community, his research interests include organizing choirs for the homeless, social and physical effects of choral singing on seniors and field experience for music therapy and choral music education students. For three years, he co-directed three community choral partnerships: The Tallahassee Senior Choir, RAA Middle School Chorus, and the MTC Women’s Prison Glee Club. He was recently invited by the Santa Fe Desert Chorale to serve as the composer in residence and community engagement lead for their Giving Voice to the Voiceless program. The Chorale premiered his commissioned work, “I Search,” during their 35th Anniversary Summer Justice Concert series where he served as assistant conductor, pre-concert lecturer, and guest pianist. Boyd used a text written by “Poet V,” a participant in the Voces de Libertad program at the Santa Fe County Youth Development Center, to set to music. His duties also included organizing and conducting the Interfaith Community Shelter Street Choir, creating a safe place for men, women, and children experiencing homelessness within the Santa Fe community.
An active composer and arranger, his music is sung regularly by ensembles throughout the United States and abroad. In 2018, the “Brandon Boyd Choral Series” was launched as a division of Hinshaw Publishing Company. His music also appears in GIA Publications’ catalog.
He holds a Ph.D. in choral music education and M.M. in choral conducting from Florida State University, where he studied with Drs. André J. Thomas and Judy S. Bowers. He earned a B.S. in music education (emphasis in piano) from Tennessee State University. He is a proud member of the American Choral Directors’ Association (ACDA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM), American Guild of Organists (AGO), and Chorus America.
I feel like this episode might be PHILOSOPHICALLY the most important episode I have published to date. Eric and I pick up right where I left off in Episode 18 when I claimed that students should lose the net when learning to sight read. The psychological principal at play is Nassim Taleb’s coined term, “Anti-Fragility” referring to systems that require stress in order to improve. What processes in the choral rehearsal can apply the right amount of stress on your singers in order to make them stronger, and better.
Episode 19: Eric Barnum
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A conductor and composer, Eric William Barnum continues to passionately seek new ground in the choral field. Working with choirs of all kinds, his collaborative leitmotif endeavors to provide intensely meaningful experiences for singers and audiences.
Barnum is currently the Director of Choral Activities at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa and previously, the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. He holds a DMA in Choral Conducting from the University of Washington (Seattle, WA), under the direction of Dr. Geoffrey Boers. He has an advanced degree in conducting from Minnesota State University (Mankato, MN), primary study with Dr. David Dickau, as well as BAs in Composition and Vocal Performance from Bemidji State University (Bemidji, MN). He has appeared as a conductor across the United States and the International stage, and has had the opportunity to work with some of the most innovative minds in the choral field.
His voice and vision continues to gain popularity around the globe with performances from choirs Internationally. He composes for choral ensembles of all types, from professional to youth choirs, and has received numerous awards and prestigious grants such as a Bush Foundation Artist Fellowship and a McKnight Foundation Grant. He has also held residencies with such ensembles as Choral Arts (Seattle, WA), Cantus (Trondheim, Norway), The Rose Ensemble (St. Paul, MN), Kantorei (Denver, CO), Magnum Chorum (Minneapolis, MN), Coro Vocal Artists (Tucson, AZ), as well as with many high schools and collegiate choirs.
Why you CAN and SHOULD stop playing notes and making tracks for kids tomorrow.
The sight reading episode
In this episode I will take you through a topic that I believe should be CENTRAL to all of our philosophies as choral educators. Should I be the high priest in my classroom or the shepherd? The high priest is the conduit that the masses must pass through in order obtain musical knowledge. Put plainly, the student cannot learn the song without your help. Or do you want to be the shepherd who guides the class to the source of the information and then steps back to allow them to drink it in?
This really is NOT an elitist position. I know many will list the reasons it can’t work in their classrooms. I believe it can happen ANYWHERE at any level. If it CAN happen, then I think it is our job as educators to put a system in place for our students. This episode outlines my system. I hope you find something you like!
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In this episode Marques and I discuss importance of the music of black composers that do NOT fit into categories of idiomatically black music like Gospel, Jazz and Spirituals. The conversation ranges from the social aspects at play in spreading the word about this music, all the way to what it’s like to be minority seeking to be seen. Since composers like R. Nathaniel Dett, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and others are gone, Dr. Garrett is fighting for their music to be seen AND heard. You find the Rep list referenced in episode here!
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MUSIC IN CHORAL ACTIVITIES AREA OF FOCUS: CONDUCTING, VOICE PhD, Music Education, Florida State University MM, Choral Conducting, University of North Carolina at Greensboro BA, Music, Hampton University
A Virginia native, Marques L. A. Garrett is an Assistant Professor of Music in Choral Activities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the Glenn Korff School of Music. Before earning his PhD in Music Education (Choral Conducting) at Florida State University, he was the Director of Choral Activities at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, he holds an MM from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a BA from Hampton University.
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An active conductor, Dr. Garrett has served as a guest conductor or clinician with several church, community, and collegiate choirs throughout the country and served as the festival conductor for the Harry T. Burleigh Spirituals Festival at Tennessee State University. At the Hampton University Choir Directors’ Organists’ Guild Workshop, he has served as the basic conducting workshop clinician. His formal conducting studies were with Dr. Andre J. Thomas, Dr. Carole J. Ott, Dr. Carl G. Harris, Jr., and Mr. Royzell Dillard.
A versatile voice that performs both as a baritone and countertenor, Dr. Garrett has sung with several community, church, and university groups as both a chorister and soloist. He was the baritone soloist for the Germantown Concert Chorus’s performance of Haydn’s Missa in Augustiis. Recently, his premiere as a countertenor in Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo served as the work’s European premiere in Limerick, Ireland. Additionally, he performed the role of Lil Lud in Bernstein’s White House Cantata with the Tallahassee Community Chorus.
Dr. Garrett is an avid composer of choral and solo-vocal music whose compositions have been performed to acclaim by high school all-state, collegiate, and professional choirs including the Santa Fe Desert Chorale and Seraphic Fire. His music can be heard on recordings by the National Lutheran Choir, Winston-Salem State University Choir, and Missouri State University Concert Chorale. GIA Publications, Walton Music, Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Hinshaw Music, G. Schirmer, Beckenhorst Press, and Carus-Verlag have published several of his compositions.
Dr. Garrett holds membership in the American Choral Directors Association; American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers; National Association for Music Education; National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc.; National Collegiate Choral Organization; and Pi Kappa Lambda.
In this episode, I had a blast chatting with Beth Philemon of the Choir Baton Podcast and Instagram Takeover account about MANY concepts related to the business of the choral profession. We hit scarcity mentality and the fixed pie fallacy of economics all the way to being more mindful of the “products” we create with our students. I am also excited to feature the first COMPOSER EXPOSER episode brought to you by Graphite Publishing, featuring composer and cofounder Tim Takach. I hope you enjoy.
Episode 16
Beth Philemon- Choir Baton
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Composer Exposer with Tim Takach
Beth Philemon is National Board Certified Teacher and choral conductor based out of Raleigh, NC, where she is currently pursuing her Masters in Business Administration with a focus in marketing and entrepreneurship from North Carolina State University. After ten years of teaching choir in public schools, she found a personal and institutional gap in the understanding of how to run school choir programs like the businesses they are and she hopes to educate others how to effectively promote, manage, and build choral music programs through the art of business. Conversely, Beth believes the world of business has much to learn from choral singing and she is passionate about delivering opportunities for community involvement in choir.
Beth earned an undergraduate music education degree from Trevecca University in Nashville, TN, and a master’s degree in choral conducting from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. At NAU, Beth conducted the Shrine of the Ages choir, Women’s Chorale, Chamber Singers, Northern Voices vocal jazz ensemble, and opera scenes. Beth was Assistant Director for the 100+ member Flagstaff Master Chorale and Arizona Mountain Chorale and currently serves on the choral music faculty of the North Carolina Governor’s School. Beth taught middle and high school choral music in Tennessee and North Carolina (and several other courses along the way like musical theater, fundamentals of music, show choir).
In 2018 she founded CHOIR BATON, a collaborative online community about life and choir. CHOIR BATON seeks to engage others through social media takeovers, the CHOIR BATON podcast, and online resources, under the mission of #morepeoplesinging. CHOIR BATON sends weekly newsletters to the community and information about how to sign-up for an Instagram takeover. Sign up at bit.ly/ChoirBatonEmail or follow along @choirbaton on Instagram. While on Facebook and Twitter, Beth’s main love is Instagram where you can see what shenanigans she’s up to @bethphilemon. And because she’s in business school, know you can also connect with her on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/bethphilemon.
I have noticed in the 6 months I have been doing this show that there is a hunger for questioning and exploring choral and educational topics at a philosophical level, about asking why, offering answers, and dialogue. We don’t get much of this at conventions, we get presentations. We get it a bit in college, but they are mostly lectures and prescriptions. So I invited Adam Paltrowitz of the Choral Clarity Blog to join me in discussing this brave new world and his experience in the choral blogosphere.
Making Your Choir Thoughts Public with Adam Paltrowitz
Adam Paltrowitz is a master educator, composer, conductor, and clinician.
During his 21-year tenure as the Director of Choral Activities at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School in New York, his groups have toured throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States.
What makes his choirs unique is his belief that anyone can sing; as a result, his ensembles are always self-selected, while maintaining the highest standard of musical excellence. He also has pioneered a philosophy that every student is a soloist. All students in his choirs continually learn and perform solo repertoire in various languages. Adam’s choral program has also gained great acclaim for the cultivation of eight student-run a-cappella ensembles; some of these ensembles have performed on national and local television programs.
Adam earned his B.S. in music education from New York University, M.A. in vocal pedagogy from Columbia University – Teacher’s College, and Ed.M. choral conducting from Columbia University – Teacher’s College.
His weekly blog, Choral Clarity, has gained a large international audience as it provides a unique perspective to both the role of the choral director and the empowerment of all students.
Be sure to check out all of Adam’s great work at www.choralclarity.com and on the Choral Clarity facebook page.
Adam resides in Manhattan with his wife, Blair Goldberg, a professional Broadway actress, and their daughter, Lyla, and son, Nolan.
In this episode, I joined William Baker and Patrick Neas of the Choral Conversations Podcast to discuss a variety of topics including the distinctions and practices that set the amateur choral ensemble apart from the professional ensemble, and in what ways they are similar. Is a professional ensemble “better” than an amateur one? Are they so structurally different, that a comparison is useless? We discuss programming for large and small ensemble, the development of a sound ideal, as well as the business aspects of running a choral organization. Dr. Baker is the founder of the William Baker Choral Foundation . Patrick Neas is an arts contributor to the Kansas City Star and KC Arts Beat and serves as the moderator for the conversation.
William O. Baker has earned a reputation as an entrepreneurial conductor and creator of choral organizations. He founded the DeKalb Choral Guild in 1978 at the age of 19. By the age of 21 he had conducted Brahms’ German Requiem, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Schubert’s Mass in G, and Handel’s Messiah with professional orchestras, launching a career of ambitious artistic leadership that now has extended over forty years. In the last few years he has conducted the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor of Bach, and the Sacred Service of Ernest Bloch, at the time of the performances the only Kansas City-based conductor to lead the works in over a quarter-century.
Baker created the Atlanta-based William Baker Festival Singers, originally called Gwinnett Festival Singers, in 1985, and established the William Baker Choral Foundation in 1990. In 1998 the conductor moved his home to the Kansas City area and created the Kansas City ensemble of the Festival Singers. The Choral Foundation has created over a dozen ensembles based in three states, involving hundreds of singers during the course of any year. His choirs have performed for numerous conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, the National Association for Music Education, and the American Guild of Organists, in addition to the 1982 World’s Fair and music festivals in the United States and Great Britain, most notably appearances before capacity audiences at Charleston’s Piccolo Spoleto Festival since 1989. He has led the Festival Singers in the production of 25 nationally released recordings and in television and radio appearances across the nation, including The First Art, The Sounds of Majesty and National Public Radio’s Performance Today.
No stranger to the orchestral podium, William Baker created the Mountain Park Wind Symphony in 1994 and the Kansas City Wind Symphony in 1998. Recent orchestral performances have included Vivaldi: The Seasons, Sibelius: Finlandia, Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, Bizet: Suite L’Arlesienne, Haydn: Symphony No. 59 “Fire,” Mozart: Symphony No. 41,Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 and Symphony No. 9. Choral collaborations have included projects with members of the Kansas City Symphony, the Kazanetti Chamber Orchestra, the Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Kansas City Civic Orchestra, the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Gwinnett Symphony Orchestra, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and, in recent years, the Atlanta-based Orchestra of the American Heartland.
An Atlanta native, Dr. Baker studied voice and choral conducting at Mercer University and the University of Georgia before culminating his formal education at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago where he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting. His accomplishments have been recognized in his home states through proclamations by two Georgia Governors, Joe Frank Harris and Sonny Purdue, by Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer, by United States Congressman Phil Gingrey, by proclamations from the cities of Kansas City, MO and Roeland Park, KS, by the Johnson County (KS) Commission, and by a 2015 proclamation by the State of Georgia House of Representatives. In 2012 he was honored for his contributions to the cultural life of his hometown by the Pro-Mozart Society of Atlanta. In 2015 he was named Conductor Emeritus of The DeKalb Choral Guild.
A special JOINT production of the Kantorei Summer Choral Institute and the Choralosophy podcast that took place on June 19th, 2019. Each of the guests were in Kansas City working with the 120 regional young singers that participate in a one of a kind week of intense rehearsals, collaboration with adult professional educators and performers, and finally, a performance in beautiful acoustical venues. While they were here, I thought it would be great to sit them all down and pick their brains. This special episode features Dr. Allen Hightower of the University of North Texas, Dr. Alyssa Cossey of the University of Arizona and Robert T. Gibson of Reed Academy in Springfield, MO.
I moderated a broad range of topics from the stories that led each of the guests to where they are today, their philosophies on programming, representation, tone building and much more. As always, if you have anything to add after listening, be sure to head over to FB, and join the Choralosophers private group and share your thoughts. You can also find the show on Twitter and Instagram! I hope you enjoy!
In this episode I dig deeper with Chris Maunu on his “choiral” blog called “Choral Elitism” which has been a frequent conversation starter on choral conversation pages. I identified with his article very deeply, and felt the need to talk to Chris more about this topic. My hope is to use this show to help the audience gain a deeper understanding of the cultural change that is possible in our profession. Join us for an in depth discussion on the pressures we put on each other as choral musicians, conductors and teachers.
Episode 13: Choral Snobbery? with Chris Maunu
Chris Maunu- Arvada West HS
The question is How do we make our profession a reflection of the choirs we trying to build? NOT, how do we make our choirs a reflection of us.
Chris Munce
Chris Maunu is a conductor, educator, and professional singer based in the Denver-Metro area. GRAMMY® nominated conductor Maunu is the Director of Choral Activities at Arvada West High School. A passionate teacher, Mr. Maunu was 1 of 10 Finalists for the 2018 Music Educator Award at the 60th GRAMMY® Awards. He was also 1 of 10 educators named as a 2019 CMA® National Music Teacher of Excellence. Since starting his career at Arvada West in 2006, the department has nearly tripled in size and has become one of the premiere high school choir programs in the United States. Choirs under Maunu’s direction have performed at 10 state and national music conferences, including Arvada West’s Vocal Showcase being one of two high school mixed concert choirs in the nation invited to perform at the 2017 National American Choral Directors Association Conference in Minneapolis. They were also recent winners of the prestigious American Prize in Choral Performance and have been invited by audition to perform in the Champions Competition of the 2020 World Choir Games (the 9th American high School choir in history to receive this invitation).
Mr. Maunu received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Northern State University where he delivered the 2018 Commencement Address. He was also a recipient of a Commendation from the 71st House of Representatives for his work as a choral educator.
Christopher has enjoyed serving as a clinician for all state and honor choirs in numerous states, including a recent appointment to the faculty of Guest Artists at Manhattan Concert Productions (MCP) in New York City. An active member of NAfME, CMEA, and ACDA, Christopher currently serves as the High School Chair for Colorado ACDA and is a past member of the CMEA Vocal Music Council.
Mr. Maunu is also co-founder and artistic director of Colorado’s Anima Chamber Ensemble, an elite 16-voice ensemble of choral professionals. New to the Rocky Mountain choral scene, Anima has enjoyed plenty of time on the classical music airwaves and packs the halls with enthusiastic concert goers of all ages. In addition, Maunu has sung professionally with various ensembles. Such groups include St. Martin’s Chamber Choir, Evans Choir, and Colorado Bach Ensemble. He has also performed with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Central City Opera, and Opera Omaha.
Christopher holds a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Bachelor of Music Education from Northern State University in South Dakota. When not on the podium or singing in an ensemble, Christopher enjoys sharing his life with his beautiful wife Aleisha, and their pets, Paavo and Ligeti.
In this episode we parse our way through a Choral Journal Article from December of 2018 called “What is Written on our Choral Welcome Mats” with the author, Dr. John Perkins of Butler University. In the article, Dr. Perkins seeks to tie the tendency toward valuing a performance standard and competition in choral culture to racial and cultural prioritization. As the reader I found myself bouncing back and forth between agreement and disagreement with the premise. While I do see the pernicious influence of COMPETITIVENESS in choir (ie. choir is NOT a sport…), I do not share his view that this can be tied in any way to race or culture. So, I just HAD to talk to him about this and he graciously accepted the invitation to parse out the particulars in the article. The end result was a civil and productive conversation that left me a greater understanding of his view on this topic. I hope you find it informative.
Be sure to take the time to read the whole article here for context discussed in the episode.
Dr. John Perkins owes his professional career to his loving partner, Emily, and children, Lili Amna, and Noah Ameen. He is the Associate Director of Choral Activities and an Associate Professor of Music at Butler University. Instruction at Butler includes the Butler University Choir (SATB ensemble) and Spectra (SSAA ensemble), Aural Skills I, and Conducting (undergraduate), and Graduate Choral Conducting Seminar. Combining with Nassim Al Saba Choir (United Arab Emirates), Sao Vicente Acapella (Brazil), and five local high school choirs, Dr. Perkins created a transnational course in Spring 2016, entitled “Peacebuilding through Choral Singing.” The course focused on social justice dialogue, relationship-building, and community leadership through choral singing. In the summer of 2019, Dr. Perkins will lead a similar course with partners in Malaysia, entitled “Musicking Futures.” Recently, the Butler University Choir has partnered with Eastern Star Church, Fishers campus, to encourage dialogue between predominantly Black and White communities. He practices choral-dialoguing with his ensembles and in the community as a way to more deeply engage in justice learning.Outside of Butler’s campus, Dr. Perkins is the Director of Music at Castleton United Methodist Church, a Fellow at the Desmond Tutu Center for Peace, Justice, and Global Reconciliation, and an Advisory Board Member for Euro Mediterranean Music Academy (EMMA) for Peace, and a member of the American Choral Directors Association Diversity Initiatives sub-committee.
Before arriving in Indianapolis in Fall of 2014, he taught at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 2008-2014 and developed the country’s first music program in higher education. There, Perkins directed the university’s choral program and founded the Nassim Al Saba Choir, the first Arabic, four-part choir in the Gulf region. The ensemble, aimed at building bridges between Arab and non-Arab countries, performed extensively in the UAE and abroad in New York City, Indonesia, and Jordan.As a guest clinician, Dr. Perkins has been a resident artist and has given conducting masterclasses in the United Arab Emirates, USA, Indonesia, Oman, Lebanon, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. His research and professional contributions include, presentations, articles, and arrangements concerning social justice through choral musicking, Arabic choral music, cross-cultural initiatives, the choral works of Lili Boulanger, music of the Symbolist (Belle Époque) era, conducting technique, and collaborative music projects. Perkins’s new choral-orchestral arrangement of Lili Boulanger’s Psaume 130, Du fond de l’abîme and Arabic choral arrangements have been internationally premiered.
Dr. Perkins has presented at the International Society for Music Education (Azerbaijan), Research in Music Education (United Kingdom), New Directions in Music Education, ACDA statewide and regional conferences, the Lund International Choral Festival (Sweden), Aswatuna Arabic Choral Festival (Jordan), International Symposium on Choral Music (Indonesia), and the International Musicological Conference: Marginal Figures in 20th-century Music (Russian Federation). His research is published in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, the Choral Journal and the International Choral Bulletin.Originally hailing from Titusville, New Jersey, Perkins holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the University of Arizona (Tucson), a master’s degree in choral conducting, from Temple University (Philadelphia), and a bachelor’s degree in theory and composition from Westminster Choir College of Rider University (Princeton). He continues to grow through many transformative moments with his students.
In this episode I sit down with the biggest star in the Choral World right now. Dr. Jason Max Ferdinand of the famed Aeolians, fresh off their WORLD changing performance at the ACDA National performance in Kansas City this spring. Our topics are wide ranging including his upbringing in the Caribbean and early life, his planning process for ACDA, the proper approach to spirituals, racial stereotypes in Choral Music and the social significance of the Aeolians’ rise to prominence.
Episode 11: Breaking Down Barriers with Jason Max Ferdinand
Dr. Jason Max Ferdinand- Oakwood University
Jason Max Ferdinand is a Full Professor, Chair of the Music Department, and Director of Choral Activities at Oakwood University where he conducts the Aeolians of Oakwood University.
A native of Trinidad & Tobago, Ferdinand received his Bachelor of Arts degree in piano from the Oakwood College (now Oakwood University), the Master of Arts in Choral Conducting from Morgan State University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Maryland.
As a doctoral student, Dr. Ferdinand was privileged to have studied under the heedful eyes of Dr. Edward MaClary who is a protégé of the late Robert Shaw and also studied and collaborated with Helmuth Rilling, Margaret Hillis and Robert Page. During his time at the university, he served as co-director for the University Choir and was an assistant conductor for the Chamber Singers and the Maryland Chorus. In addition, he taught undergraduate conducting classes. In the summer of 2006, Ferdinand was selected to lead the Summer Choral Festival Program at the University of Maryland. Jim Ross, a former pupil of Kurt Masur and Leonard Bernstein served as his orchestral conducting teacher. The late Dr. Nathan Carter at Morgan State University changed the life of Dr. Ferdinand in a potent way. He served as graduate assistant to Dr. Carter and it was here that a true and clear vision for his life work was formed. Dr. Ferdinand attained his undergraduate degree in piano performance at Oakwood University. He studied piano with Dr. Wayne Bucknor. Dr. Lloyd Mallory was his choral director and he was afforded the opportunity to serve as student conductor, student accompanist and had his arrangements performed.
Under Dr. Ferdinand’s baton, the Aeolians of Oakwood University have graced stages the world over. Their repertoire of choral music which ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century has been sought after and performed at venues throughout the USA, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Canada, Poland, Romania, Great Britain, Russia, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Hungary. Capping off a successful 2011 – 2012 Concert Series which saw the Aeolians visiting Moscow, Russia as part of the Russia-US Bilateral Presidential Commission on development of cooperation between Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama, they made their inaugural entrance at the 7th World Choir Games held in Cincinnati, USA, resulting in the choir earning gold medals in all three categories of entrance and the overall championship for the Spiritual category.
In October 2015, Ferdinand made his debut at Carnegie Hall conducting the Aeolians, the Altino Brothers Concert Chorale and the Beyond Boundaries Symphony Orchestra. Later that month, Ferdinand directed the Aeolians as they accompanied the world acclaimed soprano, Kathleen Battle at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center in her, “Underground Railroad: A spiritual Journey” Concert Series. In January 2016, Ferdinand directed the Alabama Symphony Orchestra as they accompanied the Aeolians in a collaborated annual Martin Luther King Jr. tribute at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center in Birmingham, Alabama.
The summer of 2017 was a highlight in Dr. Ferdinand’s career. Having attended the LLangollen International Musical Festival, in Wales, UK as a doctoral student with the University of Maryland in 2007, he returned as the director of the Aeolians of Oakwood University and won the coveted “2017 Choir of the World” award along with the event’s first ever “Most Outstanding Director” award.
Ferdinand maintains an active schedule as a presenter, adjudicator and guest conductor for high schools, collegiate, and church choirs throughout North America, Europe, and the Caribbean. He is a former board member of the Alabama American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). A choral series bearing the name of Jason Max Ferdinand is now in circulation by Walton Music publishers. He continues to actively compose and to mentor up-and-becoming composers. His greatest passion is watching those who he has mentored as conductors and composers, become conductors and composers in their own right.
Dr. Ferdinand loves to teach and was named “Teacher of the Year” for the 2017/18 school year by Oakwood University. Dr. Ferdinand is thankful for his parents, Dr. T. Leslie and Mary Ferdinand who are both retired educators. His siblings Alva Ferdinand, J.D., Ph.D. and Abdelle Ferdinand, M.D. tribute any academic accomplishments they have attained to their parents.
Dr. Jason Max Ferdinand is married to Meka, who is a registered nurse and they are the parents of Caleb, Ava and baby Jamē.
Is it possible that removing gendered language from our choral rehearsals solves the problem of inclusion? Is it possible that it DOESN’T solve the problem? Is there room for nuance in the conversation? This week, I open up a dialogue with Theo Wren, a freelance musician, multi-instrumentalist, choral singer and Trans Baritone. So far on the show, I have conversed only with Choral Directors. This time, I thought it might be informative to flip that a bit and sit down with someone who has spent many years on the other side of the baton. We in the choral profession have seen a recent wave of cultural shifts related to the use of gendered language in our choral ensembles. So, I sought out the perspective of a singer who, for years felt as if he was in the wrong section.
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Greetings, friends and colleagues. As Choral Directors, we stand in front of large diverse groups of people from different backgrounds, races and religions. With that comes a beautiful diversity of opinion. For people in our position, we should be a beacon of peace and reconciliation in a world coming apart at the seams.
Seem dramatic? I don’t think it is. As we all consolidate our time and energy online, it is creating a necessary convergence of many people into public sphere. When that happens, we will come across more people than ever before with whom we disagree. Never before have I seen such aggressive online behavior in my feeds. From COVID-19 all the way to virtual choir question shaming. We can do better.
Episode 9 follows Chris through the core principles of the Choralosophy Podcast.
Chris Munce-Host of Choralosophy Podcast
Why would I need to address this? First, this show, as promised from the beginning, did not set out to be a nuts and bolts focused show. I will occasionally approach the occasional “how to” episode that would be a safe interest session at a convention. But that is not the main mission of this project. I think talking about elephants in the room within the choral profession is important also, and there are very few venues that achieve this in a way that is civil and open conversation. If a discussion topic elicits NO contention at all, then what will anyone learn. I think deep down, no listener want to listen to a bunch of stuff that is so safe that it doesn’t challenge them. That is ultimately what I hope to provide through this platform. My goal is to promote a culture where open inquiry, the pursuit of greater understanding and support for each other as colleagues becomes the norm. I am wary of what I see as a culture of fear on social media and in academia that causes many to just keep their opinions to themselves because they might be accused of Orwellian wrong-think. I think this is dangerous to any field of study. Iron sharpens iron as the saying goes, which means we do NO good when we only smile and nod.
So, in an effort to do this, I will lay out my core principles for this show.
Knowledge and Truth that are shareable by all of us are not only possible, but worthy goals. Some would suggest that we cannot really know anything, and that nothing is really true. Our only way of knowing is through our socialized minds with biases that we cannot escape. This is PARTIALLY true, but NOT because of socialization. Each person holds some part of the story that you don’t know, because no two people look at the world from the same perspective. It is precisely because we all see things differently that we MUST have conversations. It is only through challenging each other’s perceptions can we discover that tiny bit of truth that each person possesses and synthesize it into one BIG axiom or truth. So, we will talk on this show, agree or disagree, and pursue knowledge and truth as an ideal. We will speak as if there is no such thing as a “Two-Sided” issue. All issues have 7+ billion sides and all we need to do today is try to have my perspective and your perspective mingle until we arrive at a truth neither of us had before our conversation.
I believe that people have good intentions and are speaking with me in good faith. I like to avoid assuming the worst about people, and I know that even if someone holds a diametrically opposed position to mine, I know that they are a person who wants what is best for the world. They are a person who loves their children, their spouse, their students etc just like I do. We are fellow humans. Treating people with contempt will have no place on this show. Please hold me to this if I ever slip. This also applies to any online discussions moderated by me on the page.
Since everyone knows something I don’t, I want my guests to be HAPPY with their chance to get their point across. All of my conversations are free form, so there are no timed or “gotcha” questions. If I ask a question, I genuinely want to know what the person thinks about it. That being said, I will rarely do “interviews” and I am not a journalist. My opinions and analysis will be very much a part of each show.
I will strive to avoid logical fallacies but no one is perfect… I will also hold guests to this. The big no-nos will be ad hominem and straw man arguments. I am not interested in this platform being used to impugn anyone’s character, talent or ability. I will also try very hard to understand someone’s position by asking very pointed precise questions when necessary. I don’t want to force someone to defend a claim that they didn’t make, and I would like it to not be done to me… 🙂
One of the things that excites me about this show is it’s potential to be a platform that promotes the profession as an academic discipline, as well as an art form. I seek to promote YOU and what great work you are doing. And if you don’t feel like you are doing great work, I hope these discussions serve as a sharpening tool for you as you listen, and as always keep the feedback coming. Even if you think I’m wrong.
Voice lessons for a fourteen year old, admittedly are not the same as a lesson for a college freshman. In fact, when many high school students begin voice study, they are fresh off of puberty, or at its tail end… For many, learning just get their dang vocal folds to touch is a challenge, let alone singing Lieder in a stylistically accurate way! What then, should be their starting point, or Step 1? Are we happy if they just memorize a song? When we are fortunate enough to get our students to take voice lessons, what do we want them to learn? What is best for them? What is best for our choirs? Are all voice lessons the same? We have so many questions… and, we think, some answers for those questions! We invite you to listen and join the conversation! As always, each episode is just a conversation STARTER, so join the conversation on Facebook in the Choralosophers group!
Stream Episode 8 on your favorite Podcast Ap!
In this episode we discuss at length the philosophy of healthy singing as a starting place for young singers. We take the position that classical training is THE route to this goal. Classical training is not just a style of repertoire, but a type of instruction. Like classical dance or theater training, it builds fundamentals and technique first. Flare, photo ops, and competition ratings MUST come second.
What can we learn from the philosophies of Leonardo on Art and Music? Does he have anything to say to us in the 21st Century? The host discusses da Vinci’s ideas sourced from “Thoughts on Art and Life” by the great artist himself, then is joined by Jocelyn Hagen to discuss her new multi-media symphony “The Notebooks of Leonardo Davinci” as well as her recent TED talk about the work.
Jocelyn Hagen composes music that has been described as “simply magical” (Fanfare Magazine) and “dramatic and deeply moving” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis/St. Paul). Her first forays into composition were via songwriting, and this is very evident in her work. The majority of her compositional output is for the voice: solo, chamber and choral. Her dance opera collaboration with choreographer Penelope Freeh, titled Test Pilot, received the 2017 American Prize in the musical theater/opera division as well as a Sage Award for “Outstanding Design.” The panel declared the work “a tour de force of originality.” Her melodic music is rhythmically driven, texturally complex, and has recently become more experimental in nature. In 2013 she released an EP entitled MASHUP, in which she performs Debussy’s “Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum” while singing Ed Sheeran’s “The A Team.” Jocelyn is also one half of the band Nation, an a cappella duo with composer/performer Timothy C. Takach, and together they perform and clinic choirs from all over the world.
Her commissions include Conspirare, The Minnesota Orchestra, the American Choral Directors Associations of Minnesota, Georgia, Connecticut and Texas, the North Dakota Music Teacher’s Association, Cantus, the Boston Brass, the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and The Houston Chamber Choir, among many others. She is currently an artist-in-residence at North Dakota State University and regularly composes for their ensembles. For ten years she was a composer-in-residence for the professional choir she also sang in: The Singers, under the direction of Matthew Culloton. Her music has been performed all over the world, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City. Her work is independently published through JH Music, as well as Graphite Publishing, G. Schirmer, Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Fred Bock Music Publishing, and Boosey and Hawkes.
Are students prepared to enter the profession… with all that goes into teaching music that can’t be taught in a Music Ed Program?
“If you are there for the music, you’re in the wrong profession. It has to be student centered, or you will burn out.”
Elisa Janson Jones
Elisa Janson Jones specializes in helping music educators build, grow, and manage thriving school music programs. With an MBA alongside her degree in music, she is also a coach and consultant to small businesses and nonprofits around the country, and serves as the conductor of her local community band. She has been teaching music for nearly 20 years and currently holds the prestigious position of elementary music teacher at a private K-8 Catholic School in Grand Junction, Colorado. Elisa has presented at state, national, and international music education conferences. She is the founder of the International Music Education Summit and the author of The Music Educator’s Guide to Thrive.
Elisa is also the host of the Music Ed Mentor podcast. Find her show in iTunes, Google Play or your favorite platform!
In this episode I share a small part of my “suck list” as well as my “not suck” list to demonstrate the healthy balance we all must have between acknowledging our struggles and giving ourselves credit where credit is due. I will also offer a short reflection on the National ACDA Convention including WHY I MISSED THE AEOLIANS concert at Helzberg Hall and the inspiration of Eph Ehly’s session at the Folly Theater, “What’s Really Important.” Finally, I will be responding to some Choralosopher responses from our Facebook page. Several listeners responded with one item from their “suck” and “not suck” lists.
Chris Munce
Episode 5
I am horribly messy and unorganized.
If it is not written into my calendar, I forget it and even that is no guarantee…
In the classroom, I am not good at sticking to a plan, so I don’t even make one.
Musically, I have a MUCH better ear for pitch than I do for rhythm, so often times I struggle to hear the trickier patterns in my head. This also causes my to avoid music with those challenges…
Keyboard skills are not where I want them to be.
I am not good at reading people’s body language and recognizing their emotional needs.
I am not a good listener. Working on it… Way better than I used to be….
In the second part of this episode, I look to Anthony Maglione for insight into this topic from the collegiate perspective.
Anthony J. Maglione- William Jewell College
Conductor/Composer/Tenor Anthony J. Maglione is a graduate of Westminster Choir College of Rider University, East Carolina University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the Director of Choral Studies at William Jewell College where, under his direction, the Concert Choir was Runner Up (2nd Place) for the 2015 American Prize in Choral Performance, College/University Division. In addition to his responsibilities at William Jewell College, he serves as Conductor Emeritus of the Freelance Ensemble Artists of NJ, a symphony orchestra based in Central NJ and is Artist-in-Residence and Choir Master at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City.
An active composer, Anthony’s choral works are growing in popularity and are published on GIA’s “Evoking Sound” choral series. In the last several years his music has appeared at state and national-level conventions, on TV, in video games, and has been recorded on Gothic Records, Albany Records, and Centaur Records. In 2014 and 2015, Anthony was honored as a Semi-Finalist and Finalist (respectively) for the American Prize in Composition, Professional Choral Division and was recently awarded the 2016-2017 William Jewell College Spencer Family Sabbatical, a year-long fully funded sabbatical in order to compose two new large-scale works for choir, soloists and chamber orchestra. Anthony was also been commissioned by the American Guild of Organists for a new cantata which premiered at the AGO National Conference held in Kansas City in 2018. As a tenor, Anthony has appeared with Kansas City Baroque Consortium, Spire Chamber Ensemble and currently performs and records with The Same Stream Choir conducted by James Jordan.
In this episode I make the shocking claim that there is no such thing as a choir. Then I bring on Stephen Rew for a discussion about connecting with students on an individual level.
Stephen Rew- Raymore-Peculiar High School
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Stephen Rew holds his Bachelors and Masters of Music Education from the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri, Kansas City where he studied with Charles Robinson. In over a decade as a public educator he has received his district’s Teacher of the Year Award two times (Drexel in 2005 and Raymore-Peculiar in 2013) and is a sought after clinician and motivational speaker with “Fired Up” Presentations. Currently, he also is the President-Elect for the Missouri Choral Directors Association. Rew was the music teacher at Eagle Glen Intermediate School in Raymore, MO for 8 years after spending 3 years teaching at the Middle School level and one year as a K-12 band and choir teacher and is also entering his 17th year as a professional church musician serving as the music director at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.
At the start of the 2017-18 school year took the reins of the Raymore-Peculiar High School program from his mentor and friend Roxanne Martin upon her retirement. This was a homecoming for Rew as he was an All-State choir member under the direction of the late Steve Orr. He lives in his dream home with his beautiful and supportive wife, Cindy and two children Mason (age 12) and Chloe (age 9) that are often the subject of a ridiculous amount of Facebook posts and photos.
Bradley Ellingboe has led a wide-ranging career in the world of singing, including accomplishments as a choral conductor, soloist, composer, scholar and teacher. As a choral conductor he has led festival choruses in 35 states and 14 foreign countries. He made his operatic conducting debut in December, 2011, leading the world-premiere of Stephen Paulus’s opera Shoes for the Santo Niño in a joint production by the Santa Fe Opera and the University of New Mexico. As a bass-baritone soloist he has sung under such conductors as Robert Shaw, Helmuth Rilling, and Sir David Willcocks. Ellingboe has over 140 pieces of music in print, including the Requiem for chorus and orchestra, which has been performed more than 300 times in this country and Europe, and his newest work, Star Song, which had its New York debut (Lincoln Center) in May of 2014, and its European debut in July of that year. For his scholarly work in making the songs of Edvard Grieg more accessible to the English-speaking public, he was knighted by the King of Norway in 1994. As a teacher, the University of New Mexico Alumni Association named him Faculty of the Year in 2008.
Bradley Ellingboe retired in 2015 after serving on the faculty of the University of New Mexico for 30 years, where he was Director of Choral Activities, Professor of Music and Regents Lecturer. During his three decades at UNM he also served at various times as Chairman of the Department of Music and Coordinator of Vocal Studies. He is a graduate of Saint Olaf College and the Eastman School of Music and has done further study at the Aspen Music Festival, the Bach Aria Festival, the University of Oslo and the Vatican.
Ellingboe has won annual awards for his choral compositions from ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Arrangers and Publishers since 2000. His choral music is widely sung and is published by Oxford, G Schirmer, Augsburg, Walton, GIA, Hal Leonard, Mark Foster, Choristers Guild, Alliance, Concordia, Selah, and particularly the Neil A. Kjos Music Company, for whom he edits two series of choral octavos. In 2017 he became Acquisitions Editor for National Music Publishing.
In the second part of this episode, I chat with composer Dale Trumbore about how we, as performers and composers, can tell our story in an authentic and vulnerable way.
Dale Trumbore is a Los Angeles-based composer and writer whose music has been praised by the New York Times for its “soaring melodies and beguiling harmonies.” Trumbore’s compositions have been performed widely in the U.S. and internationally by ensembles including the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, Modesto Symphony, Neave Trio, Pacific Chorale, Pasadena Symphony, The Singers – Minnesota Choral Artists, and VocalEssence.
Trumbore is Composer in Residence for Choral Chameleon and was previously Composer in Residence for Nova Vocal Ensemble. She has been an Artist in Residence at Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, Copland House, Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, and Willapa Bay AiR.
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How to Go On, Choral Arts Initiative’s album of Trumbore’s choral works, debuted at #6 on Billboard’s Traditional Classical Chart. Choral Arts Northwest, The Esoterics, Helix Collective, New York Virtuoso Singers, and soprano Gillian Hollis have also commercially recorded works by Trumbore. Her music is published through Boosey & Hawkes, G. Schirmer, and MusicSpoke.
As a composer who works frequently with words, Trumbore is passionate about setting to music poems, prose and found text by living writers. She has written extensively about overcoming creative blocks and establishing a career in music in essays for 21CM, Cantate Magazine, the Center for New Music, MusicSpoke, and NewMusicBox. She is currently at work on her first book, Staying Composed.
Trumbore holds a dual degree in Music Composition and English from the University of Maryland and a Master of Music degree in Composition from the University of Southern California. A New Jersey native, Trumbore lives in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of L.A. with her fiancé and their twocats.
How do we “sell” our profession? How do we tell the story of what we do so that non-musicians can understand? We all know our “why,” now let’s learn how to share that with the world! In this episode I will discuss Music Education Advocacy with Dr. Elise Hepworth.
Dr. Elise Hepworth
Dr. Elise Hepworth is associate professor and Director of Choral Activities and Music Education at Missouri Western State University. This is her fourth year as an alto in Kantorei of Kansas City, and is the founding director of the Robidoux Chorale, a semi-professional chamber ensemble in Saint Joseph.
and Music Education at Missouri Western State University. This is her fourth year as an alto in Kantorei of Kansas City, and is the founding director of the Robidoux Chorale, a semi-professional chamber ensemble in Saint Joseph.
Dr. Hepworth was recently awarded the Foundation for Teaching Excellence by Missouri Western State University, the Mayor’s Award for Arts Educator of the Year and the Shine On Award for the community of Saint Joseph, and the MCDA Northwest District Outstanding Director for the year 2016. She is an avid performer and presenter at state, national, and international conventions.
At times, we, as working professionals, struggle to maintain our health and balance. As a result, our happiness suffers. In this episode, I will share my thoughts on this as well as get a reality check from my wife, Beth, on whether or not I am “balanced.”
The Inaugural episode of the Choralosophy Podcast was designed to let you know where I am coming from. A little bit about what makes me me. I discuss one of the original reasons for starting this show: the belief that the ability to ground our work in philosophy and a solid “why” is critical for avoiding burnout and despair in our work lives, and lives in general. Since then, the show has taken me on MANY wild rides. Please enjoy this flashback.
Beth Kakacek-Munce, a coloratura soprano, is renowned for her “beautifully effortless” and “stunning” singing. Beth is passionate about the choral arts and actively sings in several professional choral ensembles and as a featured soloist for chamber works. Beth has sung with Kantorei of Kansas City since its inception in 2009 and has been a featured soloist on Kantorei’s albums “To Bethlehem,” and “Music and Sweet Poetry,” recorded by the UK-based label, Resonus Classics.
Beth has also been a member of the Grammy-award winning Kansas City Chorale and was fortunate to add her voice to the recording of “The Sacred Works of Joseph Reinberger” which was nominated for two Grammy Awards. Beth was also a founding member of the nationally renowned Early Music Ensemble, Armonia, under the direction of Dr. Ryan Board. Beth was consistently a featured soloist with Armonia and was featured at the Piccolo-Spoleto Festival in 2006 and 2007 and The National ACDA convention in 2007. Recent projects Beth has enjoyed lending her voice to include performing the production of the Medieval musical play of “Daniel” under the direction of Anne Azema, a collaboration with Boston Camerata and KC’s Te Deum Antiqua. Beth has also recently performed the soprano solos for Handel’s Dixit Dominus under the baton of Dr. Jacob Narverud, the soprano solos for The Biber Requiem under the direction of Matthew Shepard as well as the soprano solos for Handel’s Messiah under the direction of Dr. William Baker. Beth also frequently lends her voice to professional demo recording projects.
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Beth completed her Master of Music Degree in Vocal Performance at the Conservatory of Music at UMKC in 2006 under the tutelage of Dr. Rebecca Sherburn and Dr. Scott Anderson. Prior to that Beth earned her undergraduate degree from Idaho State University. Beth has enjoyed performing operatic roles such as The Doll” from Les Contes d’Hoffman, Papagena from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Zerlina from Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Guinone from Monteverdi’s “Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria” and “first witch” from Purcell’s Dido and Aneas. Beth is a passionate voice teacher and has an active voice studio of 34 students. Beth and her husband Chris are the proud parents of Clara and Colin, their biggest pride and joy in life.
Link to post on FB and Twitter about Happiness and Teen suicide so you can see them in their contexts or share them if you there are people that you think need to see them.
