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 Composition Spotlight: Prothalamia: In Celebration of Marriage for All
December 9, 2012 by Scott Dorsey 
(Each week we look at a piece of useful repertoire from the ChoralNet Community Composition Showcase. A variety of voicings and levels of difficulty will be presented. Enjoy!)
Level: College or higher
Uses: General Concert Use, Marriage Ceremony
Program Themes: Love, Marriage, Equal Rights
This Piece Would Program Well With: David and Jonathan by Stefan Weisman available from the composer.
Do you have a special event, theme or idea that you want set to music? Consider commissioning a composer to realize your purpose. Each work in the Composition Showcase has a link to message the composer. A list of composers is available in the Composers of Choral Music Community.
(Each week we look at a piece of useful repertoire from the ChoralNet Community Composition Showcase. A variety of voicings and levels of difficulty will be presented. Enjoy!)
Level: College or higher
Uses: General Concert Use, Marriage Ceremony
Program Themes: Love, Marriage, Equal Rights
This Piece Would Program Well With: David and Jonathan by Stefan Weisman available from the composer.
Do you have a special event, theme or idea that you want set to music? Consider commissioning a composer to realize your purpose. Each work in the Composition Showcase has a link to message the composer. A list of composers is available in the Composers of Choral Music Community.
Prothalamia, which means songs in celebration of marriage, was commissioned by the Empire City Men’s Choir of New York City. Though the movements are titled after the movements of the Catholic Mass, the text is far from traditional. Sources include a poem by Gertrude Stein (1910), a paraphrase of John Boswell’s Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe and a poem of dedication from Anne Bradstreat (1678) to her husband. The text in the final movement is a description of the marriage of two men in early Rome.
Musically the Credo is the strongest movement and could stand alone excerpted from the larger work. Contrasts in texture, juxtaposed vowel ostinatos and melodic writing add to the strength of the piece.
 Scholarly Abstractions: German Motets of Schütz
December 8, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
 Garrepy, Stacey A. Toward A New Stylistic Ideal: The German Motets of Heinrich Schütz. Master of Music thesis. University of Oklahoma, 2011.
This document analyzes the chronological style anomalies (viz. the presence of both late Renaissance and early Baroque influences) in the compositions of Heinrich Schütz as evidenced through his vernacular German motets. In this study, we examine nine of Schütz’s German motets in five different works written over the course of his career in order to gain a broader understanding of Schütz’s compositional style; the motets span in time from 1619 to just prior to Schütz’s death in 1672. Elements informing our discussion include modal and tonal analysis, complex socio-political movements in Dresden (such as the Thirty Years’ War and the growing cultural love of all things Italian in Dresden), and Schütz’s own theology. This study is intended to inform the discussion regarding composers such as Schütz, whose work
Garrepy, Stacey A. Toward A New Stylistic Ideal: The German Motets of Heinrich Schütz. Master of Music thesis. University of Oklahoma, 2011.
This document analyzes the chronological style anomalies (viz. the presence of both late Renaissance and early Baroque influences) in the compositions of Heinrich Schütz as evidenced through his vernacular German motets. In this study, we examine nine of Schütz’s German motets in five different works written over the course of his career in order to gain a broader understanding of Schütz’s compositional style; the motets span in time from 1619 to just prior to Schütz’s death in 1672. Elements informing our discussion include modal and tonal analysis, complex socio-political movements in Dresden (such as the Thirty Years’ War and the growing cultural love of all things Italian in Dresden), and Schütz’s own theology. This study is intended to inform the discussion regarding composers such as Schütz, whose work spans the end of one style era and lapses into another. In closing, this thesis posits some explanations for why these works are neglected in the standard choral canon.
(“Scholarly Abstractions” is a feature highlighting brief abstracts from recent graduate projects in choral music. To share your thesis abstract, contact Scott Dorsey at dorsey@acda.org)
ChoralTech: Task Management and Swatting Flies
December 7, 2012 by Jeff Tillinghast
(nytimes.com)
Buzz, buzz, buzz...
I call them "flies:" those quick to-dos that are constantly floating across my brain, usually at the worst possible time. They're the ones that pop up in the middle of dinner, a conversation, rehearsal or class. Their buzz often sounds like "I was supposed to...", "Don't forget to..." or "I need to..." They are distracting, they're annoying, and most importantly-- they tend to fly away after a few seconds. They may come back at a good time, in which case I can do whatever it is that I was trying to remember to do, or they may be gone for good, in which case I'll never remember what it was that was so important at the time.
There's only one solution: capture them someplace. If you can trap them, they will a) no longer be buzzing around your mind at inopportune times, and b) not fly away, but be there for your examination when you have time to deal with them. In short, if you have flies, you need good flypaper.
The Flypaper
This is mostly a series about process. My preferred flypaper is called "
(nytimes.com)
Buzz, buzz, buzz...
I call them "flies:" those quick to-dos that are constantly floating across my brain, usually at the worst possible time. They're the ones that pop up in the middle of dinner, a conversation, rehearsal or class. Their buzz often sounds like "I was supposed to...", "Don't forget to..." or "I need to..." They are distracting, they're annoying, and most importantly-- they tend to fly away after a few seconds. They may come back at a good time, in which case I can do whatever it is that I was trying to remember to do, or they may be gone for good, in which case I'll never remember what it was that was so important at the time.
There's only one solution: capture them someplace. If you can trap them, they will a) no longer be buzzing around your mind at inopportune times, and b) not fly away, but be there for your examination when you have time to deal with them. In short, if you have flies, you need good flypaper.
The Flypaper
This is mostly a series about process. My preferred flypaper is called " Remember the Milk." It's a great free system with a very active user community sharing tips and tricks about how people use it best. At the end of the day, though, there are tons of free and paid task management websites, software, mobile apps and suggestions online. If you don't want a tech-based solution, many people do well with post-it notes, Moleskines, or any other paper-based solution. If it works for you, go with it. That said, I hope to show you a couple of iron-clad benefits of a online system that I think make it worth the initial investment of time.
Regardless of your system, I encourage you to find flypaper that is:
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Always with you. If you have to remember to write something down/add it to your list, you're not swatting flies, you're creating new ones.
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Easy to use. Flies move fast. By definition, they come up when you're in the middle of doing something else. If you can't capture them fast, you end up losing both the fly and whatever you were initially doing.
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Big enough to take notes in. (Advantage #1 of tech-solutions) The name of the task isn't always enough for me to remember what I have to do. I like to make note of things like who else is involved, any resources that are helpful, any deadlines, or any intermediate steps that I find. I don't always know these immediately, so it's helpful to be able to go back and add notes. Again, this can work with notebooks, etc., as long as I purposely leave space between my tasks to go back and add notes.
The Art of Swatting Flies
Over the next three weeks, we're going to walk through my essential steps of fly swatting:
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Capturing and organizing them.
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Sorting them into lists by category, theme, class, ensemble, project or anything else relevant, and
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Building smart lists that show me the whos, wheres and whens of all the tasks.
Again, these are all just processes, and there are many ways to achieve them. I'll be using Remember the Milk to demonstrate them, though, and I recommend the tool as a way to achieve true fly swatting kung fu. Finally, if you are interested in becoming a fly swatting master, I recommend reading David Allen's "Getting Things Done," which is one of the bedrocks of modern task management.
What About You?
How do you capture all the little to-dos that you have during the course of the day? What are your favorite strategies?
Interlude - Mindset
December 6, 2012 by Richard Sparks
With the end of the semester and lots of "cleanup" to do, I'll put my "Culture" series on hold and probably won't post more until after the break (although you'll see culture mentioned!). Here, part of an earlier blog post of mine on the concept of "mindset":
The basic premise is that there are two basic "mindsets" about learning (this came out of her research on how people cope with failure) and these affect profoundly how you lead your life: the fixed mindset sees tests and challenges as measuring your ability (which is fixed), whereas what she calls the growth mindset sees tests and challenges as ways to cultivate growth and change (and are not judgmental of your intelligence or talent). As she notes, Darwin and Tolstoy were considered ordinary children, Ben Hogan (one of the great golfers) was
With the end of the semester and lots of "cleanup" to do, I'll put my "Culture" series on hold and probably won't post more until after the break (although you'll see culture mentioned!). Here, part of an earlier blog post of mine on the concept of "mindset":
The basic premise is that there are two basic "mindsets" about learning (this came out of her research on how people cope with failure) and these affect profoundly how you lead your life: the fixed mindset sees tests and challenges as measuring your ability (which is fixed), whereas what she calls the growth mindset sees tests and challenges as ways to cultivate growth and change (and are not judgmental of your intelligence or talent). As she notes, Darwin and Tolstoy were considered ordinary children, Ben Hogan (one of the great golfers) was completely uncoordinated as a child, etc. In other words, genius doesn't always show itself early (and we all know many prodigies burn out).
Dweck says, "Everyone is born with an intense drive to learn. Infants stretch their skills daily. Not just walk and talk. They never decide it's too hard or not worth the effort. They walk, they fall, they get up. They just barge forward."
Somewhere along the line, though, some children learn that they are being evaluated and become afraid of challenges (and paradoxically, continual praising children as being smart or supremely talented can lead to the fixed mindset).
She tells of a study where they offered four-year-olds the choice between redoing an easy jigsaw puzzle or trying a harder one. Even at this age, kids who had a fixed mindset--that is, they believed in fixed traits--chose the safe one. They told the researchers, kids who are born smart "don't do mistakes." The other children with a growth mindset--who believed you could get smarter--couldn't imagine doing a puzzle they'd done before. One girl said, "I'm dying to figure them out!"
Again from Dweck, "So children with the fixed mindset want to make sure they succeed. Smart people should always succeed. But for children with the growth mindset, success is about stretching themselves. It's about becoming smarter."
What does this have to do with musicians and conductors?
In another story from the book (it's an easy read) she tells of Nadja Solerno-Sonnenberg (one of the world's great violinists) who was a child prodigy, making her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 10.
Yet when she arrived at Juilliard to study with Dorothy DeLay, the great violin teacher [teacher of Itzhak Perlman, among others], she had a repertoire of awful habits. Her fingerings and bowings were awkward and she held the violin in the wrong position, but she refused to change. After several years, she saw the other students catching up and even surpassing her, and by her late teens she had a crisis of confidence: 'I was used to success, to the prodigy label in newspapers, and now I felt a failure.'
This prodigy was afraid of trying. 'Everything I was going through boiled down to fear. Fear of trying and failing . . . if you go to an audition and don't really try, if you're not really prepared, if you didn't work as hard as you could have and you don't win, you have an excuse . . . Nothing is harder than saying, 'I gave it my all and it wasn't good enough.'
This haunted and paralyzed her. She had even stopped bringing her violin to her lesson!
Then one day, after years of patience and understanding, DeLay told her, 'Listen, if you don't bring your violin next week, I'm throwing you out of my class.' Sonnenberg thought she was joking, but DeLay rose from the couch and calmly informed her, 'I'm not kidding. If you are going to waste your talent, I don't want to be a part of it. This has gone on long enough.'
The upshot was that Sonnenberg, who was terrified of losing DeLay, finally began working again. She says, "This is something I know for a fact: You have to work hardest for the things you love most. And when it's music you love, you're in for the fight of your life."
You might have an idea where I'm headed with this now.
Talking to the grad students at UNT, I said, all of you are talented and have had some success (if you didn't, you wouldn't be here). Some of you have had a lot of success. You've succeeded on the basis of the (gestural) conducting skill you came in with, the rehearsal skills you came in with, the ear and analytical skills you came in with, the vocal skills you came in with, etc.
However, to really succeed, especially long-term, you have to be ready to give up past "successful" habits (like Sonnenberg's way of holding the violin) and go through the struggle of taking away what is comfortable and do something new. This means you will be worse for awhile (a new gesture, new way of rehearsing) and feel awkward and uncomfortable. But unless you're willing to go through that "failure," you will cap how much you can grow and how much you can achieve.
I see this resistance to changing something you like, something you're comfortable with all the time. I understand it. But you have to know that you're hobbling yourself if you aren't willing to struggle with something that is difficult. In a sense, you have to be willing to throw away anything from your past that may be getting in the way of your getting better.
From a personal perspective, I know that when I was an undergraduate, there were many people more "talented" than I am, with much more background. However, I have ended up where I am not because I'm more talented, or even because I worked harder--but because I have kept working and challenging myself in different ways and have been willing to change at any time, no matter how uncomfortable. This is still happening and my coming to UNT (back to academe) has allowed me to see certain things I do in a different light (from conducting technique to rehearsal technique to creating a certain "culture" in a choir) and begin to change them.
And I also know that if I look back at the big career decisions and changes in my life . . . that if I was scared of failure--if failure was a real possibility--that was when I grew most. When I took the position at PLU, Maurice Skones had been there 19 years and was very much a "guru" (and a wonderful musician as well). At the 1982 ACDA national conference, the PLU choir sang and Maury changed the last piece on his program to one of his signature pieces. My friend Bruce Browne, who was sitting with me, turned to me and said, "Maury's leaving PLU--he just announced his swan song." The next night a group of Northwest conductors got together for dinner and everyone was talking about Skones leaving PLU, with the consensus being, "I wouldn't touch that job with a 10-foot pole--no one will succeed immediately following Maury."
Of course, I ended up getting the job at age 33, with exactly three years of college teaching experience (although seven years experience with my Seattle Pro Musica groups, having conducted 40 or so of Bach's cantatas, all of his major works, the Mozart Requiem and C Minor Mass, Beethoven Symphony #1, etc.). Failure was a frightening possibility (in fact, I asked the chair of the department point blank, "Are you looking for the next person to head the program or a sacrificial lamb?"), but the truth was, it resulted in enormous growth for me. I hadn't conducted a choir that toured as this one did. I hadn't done a huge amount of a cappella music (but more than most with orchestra). I hadn't run a large choral program. I wasn't from the Lutheran tradition. The choir had a large alumni base that was very curious (and skeptical!) of this unknown guy who had been chosen to follow Skones. All of this provided challenges where I could have failed. There were, of course, things that didn't go well (especially at first), but what absolutely happened was that I grew enormously as a musician, teacher, and conductor.
It doesn't mean we like failing (in fact, the dislike of it motivates us to work hard), but we're willing to take the chance and also willing to "upset the applecart" over the short run to get better results over the long run.
So, my advice to the UNT grad students, "Please don't take the safe road. Take on challenges of whatever kind you can. If you're asked to change a conducting gesture or long-held (and perhaps cherished!) habit, rather than fighting it, figure out how you can do that, no matter how uncomfortable in the short run. Annoying (and scary) as it is, take video of yourself at every opportunity so you can really see what you look like and whether it helps or hinders. Challenge yourself to dig deeper into the scores you study. Think carefully about your rehearsal technique (or whether you really have one!) and be willing to change the way you do things. Challenge what you know about choral sound. Listen, listen, listen (and listen some more!) to other choirs and recordings, discuss important issues with each other, with me, with Dr. McCoy. Take books out of the library that no one is requiring you to read which stretch your knowledge of choral techniques, performance practice, a particular composer, etc., etc., etc.--and read them!"
An interesting book, indeed!
Choral Caffeine: Special Needs Singers
December 5, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
 It’s reasonable to assume that every conductor working in an education institution has had a special needs student in their choral ensemble. Though perhaps initially intimidating, there is reason to suspect that we all found the experience to have been rewarding, on many levels.
I am in a school where my administration truly supports my call on this issue. I have special needs kids only in the choirs they can handle, and in which I can meet those needs. Mainly, these students are in my beginning-level classes. Rarely do I have them in a contest level group, and if they are, it is because I have had them for several years and can manage them in that setting.”
I like having special needs kids in my choirs because I think, at some level, we all have special needs. I believe having these
It’s reasonable to assume that every conductor working in an education institution has had a special needs student in their choral ensemble. Though perhaps initially intimidating, there is reason to suspect that we all found the experience to have been rewarding, on many levels.
I am in a school where my administration truly supports my call on this issue. I have special needs kids only in the choirs they can handle, and in which I can meet those needs. Mainly, these students are in my beginning-level classes. Rarely do I have them in a contest level group, and if they are, it is because I have had them for several years and can manage them in that setting.”
I like having special needs kids in my choirs because I think, at some level, we all have special needs. I believe having these special individuals helps me keep a sense of perspective in my life. This job is not about me or just about music. It’s about people who are involved in a deeply emotional activity that touches the heart and soul, not just the ears and mind.
(To access the full article, simply click the highlighted title. For additional articles on a dazzling array of choral topics, visit ChorTeach.)
Tune in to ACDA Radio
December 4, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
 Jump in your car. Turn on the radio. Tune to the local classical radio station (assuming you’re lucky enough to live in an area that has one). What do you suppose the odds are that they will be playing a choral work?
If you answered “slim to none”, congratulations . . . you win a cookie.
If classical music radio has become a tiny fringe of that broadcast medium, choral music is a proportionately small sliver of classical music programming.
To the rescue rides ACDA Radio! Available to members at acda.org, ACDA Radio features a continuous stream of choral music from our friends at Naxos, one of the largest purveyors of classical music. ACDA Radio features approximately 700 choral works in five standing playlists, including “Choral,” “Early Music,” “English Choral Music,” “Baroque,” and “Russian.” The latest addition to ACDA Radio is “First Listen,” which provides a sneak peak at not-yet-released choral
Jump in your car. Turn on the radio. Tune to the local classical radio station (assuming you’re lucky enough to live in an area that has one). What do you suppose the odds are that they will be playing a choral work?
If you answered “slim to none”, congratulations . . . you win a cookie.
If classical music radio has become a tiny fringe of that broadcast medium, choral music is a proportionately small sliver of classical music programming.
To the rescue rides ACDA Radio! Available to members at acda.org, ACDA Radio features a continuous stream of choral music from our friends at Naxos, one of the largest purveyors of classical music. ACDA Radio features approximately 700 choral works in five standing playlists, including “Choral,” “Early Music,” “English Choral Music,” “Baroque,” and “Russian.” The latest addition to ACDA Radio is “First Listen,” which provides a sneak peak at not-yet-released choral recordings. Updated monthly, “First Listen” has become an incredibly popular stop on the ACDA website.
You can access ACDA Radio online via your laptop, iPad, or any smartphone device.
Composition Spotlight: All God's Children
December 2, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
(Each week we look at a piece of useful repertoire from the ChoralNet Community Composition Showcase. A variety of voicings and levels of difficulty will be presented. Enjoy!)
Level: Middle School or higher
Uses: General Concert Use
Program Themes: Songs of Travel, Robes, Crowns and Things You Wear, Spirituals,
This Piece Would Program Well With: The Rhythm of Life SAB arr. Richard Barnes available from JWPepper and Sheet Music Plus.
Some works in the Composition Showcase are arrangements of Folk tunes and spirituals. The text and melody of All God's Children may be known to you as I Got Shoes or Walk All Over Heaven. Wallace De Pue is an experienced composer and carefully created this arrangement for middle school use. The easy piano part and cautious men's range of a minor 6th
(Each week we look at a piece of useful repertoire from the ChoralNet Community Composition Showcase. A variety of voicings and levels of difficulty will be presented. Enjoy!)
Level: Middle School or higher
Uses: General Concert Use
Program Themes: Songs of Travel, Robes, Crowns and Things You Wear, Spirituals,
This Piece Would Program Well With: The Rhythm of Life SAB arr. Richard Barnes available from JWPepper and Sheet Music Plus.
Some works in the Composition Showcase are arrangements of Folk tunes and spirituals. The text and melody of All God's Children may be known to you as I Got Shoes or Walk All Over Heaven. Wallace De Pue is an experienced composer and carefully created this arrangement for middle school use. The easy piano part and cautious men's range of a minor 6th makes this an excellent choice for the choir with limitted musical resources. The cheerful text and upbeat rhythms make this a winning concert finale.
Scholarly Abstractions: Comparing Kodály Resources
December 1, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
 Box, Corrie Ann. A Qualitative Comparison of “The Kodály Method” by Lois Choksy and “Kodály Today” by Michael Houlahan and Philp Tacka. Master of Music Education thesis. Texas State University-San Marcos, 2008.
The purpose of this study was to compare two North American adaptations of the Kodály philosophy. The Kodály Method (1999) by Lois Choksy and Kodály Today (2008) by Mícheál Houlahan and Philip Tacka were the subjects of qualitative analysis. Curriculum context was established through published sources and author communication that articulated vision and purpose for each respective curriculum.
Coding techniques were used through the process of unitization. Each page was considered a separate data unit and assigned a category code. Codes were grouped together to identify emerging themes. Results from category assignments along with chapter information were entered into software called PASW 18.0 Statistical Analysis Software
Box, Corrie Ann. A Qualitative Comparison of “The Kodály Method” by Lois Choksy and “Kodály Today” by Michael Houlahan and Philp Tacka. Master of Music Education thesis. Texas State University-San Marcos, 2008.
The purpose of this study was to compare two North American adaptations of the Kodály philosophy. The Kodály Method (1999) by Lois Choksy and Kodály Today (2008) by Mícheál Houlahan and Philip Tacka were the subjects of qualitative analysis. Curriculum context was established through published sources and author communication that articulated vision and purpose for each respective curriculum.
Coding techniques were used through the process of unitization. Each page was considered a separate data unit and assigned a category code. Codes were grouped together to identify emerging themes. Results from category assignments along with chapter information were entered into software called PASW 18.0 Statistical Analysis Software. Data were analyzed for the mode of each chapter and category code. Statistical results were compared to the vision and context expressed by personal communication. Third-party observers, Dr. Jerry L. Jaccard and Patty Moreno, were interviewed to inform and validate analysis. Results from personal communication, summative and statistical analysis were merged to explore commonalities and differences. Similarities arose in areas supportive of the foundational pedagogical philosophy and beliefs of the Kodály concept. Some consistency was observed between curriculum purpose expressed during personal communication with the author(s) and results from frequency analysis of categories. Differences could be explained by variations in curriculum purpose and perceived teacher needs. Implications for future research include a greater use of the role of context as a foundation for analysis of both curriculum and teaching techniques. Recognition of previous pedagogical process informs potential future development.
(“Scholarly Abstractions” is a feature highlighting brief abstracts from recent graduate projects in choral music. To share your thesis abstract, contact Scott Dorsey at dorsey@acda.org)
ChoralTech: The Fog of War
November 30, 2012 by Jeff Tillinghast
Bear with me while I try to apply military strategy to our choral art. Military strategy has a term called "the Fog of War" which refers to uncertainty, specifically areas of engagement that can't be known from one's position. Wikipedia: "The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding one's own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign."
As conductors, we often have our own "fog." If I could define the "Fog of Conducting," it might seek to capture uncertainty regarding... what? Our musicians' differing artistic connections to a piece? Their performance capability in any given rehearsal due to those pesky lives that happen outside of our hall? The audience's potential reactions to a performance?
Stephen Covey says that the 5th Habit of Highly Effective people is to "Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood." If there is a fog that we do not always penetrate as conductors, are we truly seeking first to
Bear with me while I try to apply military strategy to our choral art. Military strategy has a term called "the Fog of War" which refers to uncertainty, specifically areas of engagement that can't be known from one's position. Wikipedia: "The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding one's own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign."
As conductors, we often have our own "fog." If I could define the "Fog of Conducting," it might seek to capture uncertainty regarding... what? Our musicians' differing artistic connections to a piece? Their performance capability in any given rehearsal due to those pesky lives that happen outside of our hall? The audience's potential reactions to a performance?
Stephen Covey says that the 5th Habit of Highly Effective people is to "Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood." If there is a fog that we do not always penetrate as conductors, are we truly seeking first to understand? If we understood more, could we more effectively shape our performance, and performers, as leaders of our ensembles?
We don't have time to sit down for a cup of coffee with each singer in our ensembles on a weekly basis. We do, however, have many ways to communicate with them easily and quickly, that we could solicit feedback and meaningful information from them. Some ideas:
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Set up an ensemble blog: You can post your rehearsal notes, and open it up for musician comments or questions. Ask for a volunteer from each section to post their observations on areas of difficulty (or greatness!). Post your upcoming rehearsal schedule and ask them to "preflect" on the sections in question.
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Twitter: If many musicians have Twitter accounts, following them (and they you) alows quick snapshots into their areas of interest and activity.
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Facebook groups, Google + circles, etc.: Social networking allows easy ways to share discussions and media between groups of people. As a bonus, many of your musicians may already be familiar with these services.
With any of these groups, the key is content: What questions would you, as a conductor, like to ask of each member of your group? What reactions do you hope (or wonder if) your singers are having? What are the big ideas of your performance, piece, etc., that you'd like to discuss?
How do you communicate with your groups outside of rehearsal? How do you penetrate the "Fog of Conducting," and would you like to do it more?
Creating a Positive Culture in your Choir - IV
November 29, 2012 by Richard Sparks
One of the things that makes a huge difference in how much your choir accomplishes is what I'll call the "density" of rehearsal. By that, I mean that the ratio of hard, focused work on those things that need it (versus the time that isn't so productive).
There are lot of things that go into this, much that has to do with you and not your choir: your preparation (knowing the music, knowing what will be challenging or not), having solutions for problems at hand (rehearsal techniques/devices), having a well thought-out rehearsal plan, etc.
However, part of it is convincing your choir (building the culture) for hard, focused work.
I'll go back to Doug Lemov and John Wooden for this (and much more about both in future installments): Lemov (author of Teach Like a Champion) has a new book called Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better. Lemov's rule 7 is "Differentiate Drill from Scrimmage." One of the noticeable things about the way Wooden
One of the things that makes a huge difference in how much your choir accomplishes is what I'll call the "density" of rehearsal. By that, I mean that the ratio of hard, focused work on those things that need it (versus the time that isn't so productive).
There are lot of things that go into this, much that has to do with you and not your choir: your preparation (knowing the music, knowing what will be challenging or not), having solutions for problems at hand (rehearsal techniques/devices), having a well thought-out rehearsal plan, etc.
However, part of it is convincing your choir (building the culture) for hard, focused work.
I'll go back to Doug Lemov and John Wooden for this (and much more about both in future installments): Lemov (author of Teach Like a Champion) has a new book called Practice Perfect: 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better. Lemov's rule 7 is "Differentiate Drill from Scrimmage." One of the noticeable things about the way Wooden worked his UCLA teams was to spend much more time in drill (focused on specific skills) than scrimmaging (playing a mock game). The advantage was that in drill, he could focus his players' work on skills and techniques that needed work (passing, shooting, defence, etc.), whereas in a scrimmage, only one player had the ball at any one time and less work for each player.
I introduced this idea to my choir this fall, equating scrimmage with a run through of a piece or section of a piece--valuable for both me and them to see where they were, what worked well and what didn't (and, of course, to get the experience of singing through the entire piece, which is what they'll do in the concert). However, I explained that we would accomplish most with drill, where we worked the difficult sections of a given piece of music, or focused on pitch, vowel, rhythm, vocal technique, or whatever else needed special attention. Sometimes, I simply said, "scrimmage," so they'd know they were doing a run-through, and to work towards what the performance would be (and to note what was and wasn't ready yet).
In drill on the other hand, they knew they were going to do multiple repetitions of something, perhaps only a few notes, but with great focus on whatever elements were brought to their attention.
They got the concept very quickly, which has meant a much greater rehearsal density for this choir. There are other elements in building this, but I hope you get the idea as well.
Of course, the level and age of your choir will determine how much and how long you can focus on small, but important, elements of the music, and how many repetitions are possible before you need to move to something else. We all have to figure out what the attention span is (although part of building a great choir culture is gradually lengthening and deepening your singers' abilities in this regard), how quickly to pace, how quickly to move from one activity to another. However, even with young singers, I've seen incredible concentration and focus -- and not all in "elite" situations. It's amazing how much young people can learn to do, given a wonderful conductor with the skill to teach them!
CJ Replay: Japanese Choral Music
December 6, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
Japanese choral music has adapted a Western form and transformed it by fusing it with traditional Japanese elements. That which enlivens any art is connected to deep roots of the culture. As Japanese traditional music is essentially monodic, its expression takes on subtle melodic nuances, particularly relying on microtonal fluctuations to color the line. Although melody in Japanese contemporary choral composition usually dispenses with microtones, the vestiges can be heard in melodic construction where the text demands such treatment. Harmony in the Western sense is a relatively recent phenomenon in Japanese music. That it shouldbe applied differently in that country than in Western cultures is not
Japanese choral music has adapted a Western form and transformed it by fusing it with traditional Japanese elements. That which enlivens any art is connected to deep roots of the culture. As Japanese traditional music is essentially monodic, its expression takes on subtle melodic nuances, particularly relying on microtonal fluctuations to color the line. Although melody in Japanese contemporary choral composition usually dispenses with microtones, the vestiges can be heard in melodic construction where the text demands such treatment. Harmony in the Western sense is a relatively recent phenomenon in Japanese music. That it shouldbe applied differently in that country than in Western cultures is not surprising.
The transformation of the Western choral form has been especially marked by the infusion of folk music into the choral medium and the interest of composers in expressing the profound integration of the Japanese psyche with nature. The manner in which these two features are expressed has created a uniquely exciting body of choral literature that deserves explorationby Western choral conductors and a wide hearing by Western audiences.
Stick Time: Choir and Koto
December 5, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
When thinking of the instruments that usually accompany a choral work, one might immediately list piano, organ, a wind instrument or two, or perhaps strings. How about the Koto? Wait . . . Koto!? That’s not an instrument that comes to mind. Though it’s a beautiful and haunting instrument, there aren’t a lot of Koto majors running around the halls at the local college’s music school.
Nevertheless, here is a performance of a work for mixed chorus and Koto from a recent ACDA Divisional Conference. (We will continue this exploration of Japanese choral music tomorrow on ChoralBuzz in “CJ Replay;” featuring an excerpt from the Choral Journal.)
CJ Replay: Drama of Messiah
December 4, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
Oratorio is musical drama. Good oratorio contains the same elements that make for good drama without music: an engaging protagonist, tension and release, crisis and resolution, vicarious involvement of the audience, colorful figures, strong emotional reactions, etc. Good oratorio is, therefore, much more than a concert of sequential musical numbers on a given theme or set of themes. Originally, in the case of Handel's oratorios and others, e.g., Mendelssohn's Elijah, the drama was effective largely because the audiences were already familiar with the stories. Because this was the case, only a minimal, referential narration was needed, and no acting was necessary. At a glance, the oratorios, as drama, may appear to be .quite deficient in detail, when, in fact, the audience was "filling in between the lines" and bringing to bear its much more detailed
Oratorio is musical drama. Good oratorio contains the same elements that make for good drama without music: an engaging protagonist, tension and release, crisis and resolution, vicarious involvement of the audience, colorful figures, strong emotional reactions, etc. Good oratorio is, therefore, much more than a concert of sequential musical numbers on a given theme or set of themes. Originally, in the case of Handel's oratorios and others, e.g., Mendelssohn's Elijah, the drama was effective largely because the audiences were already familiar with the stories. Because this was the case, only a minimal, referential narration was needed, and no acting was necessary. At a glance, the oratorios, as drama, may appear to be .quite deficient in detail, when, in fact, the audience was "filling in between the lines" and bringing to bear its much more detailed knowledge of the story to its musical portrayal.
The contemporary problem is that it cannot be assumed today that the audience has "read the book," or even that the performers have read it. The dramatic impact that should be realized from a performance of the work is often missing. Obviously, in the case of Messiah, the drama is not lost altogether. A number of the movements reference commonly known events and ideas, e.g., the Christmas story, Jesus' suffering, His loving nature, etc. Numerous other movements, however, are either vaguely understood or misunderstood altogether. The enduring music of Messiah along with the several textual themes to which persons more easily relate carry the day. However, the oratorio, in its true and complete character, is not enjoyed.
Stick Time: More Male Voices, Please
December 3, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
Your college choral director did it. You’ve done it. Yes, I’ve done it too.
We’ve ALL complained in one form or another about the need for more male singers in our choral programs. The challenge is so daunting that in the spring of 2012, ACDA devoted both the April and May issues of the Choral Journal to matters related to the cultivation of male singers.
While it’s easy to wring our hands in woe, try to remember that even Bach complained about this issue; so we’re in pretty good company.
Take heart as you listen to this boychoir performance from a recent ACDA Divisional Conference. If all goes well, these young men could soon be coming to a rehearsal hall in your neck-o’-the-woods.
Latin American Rhythm in Your Blood
December 8, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
Latin American Rhythm in Your Blood: An Interactive Workshop
Clinician: Cristian Grases
Friday, March 15, 10:15 a.m. in the Cathedral de Guadalupe - Sanctuary
Explore the world of Latin American Rhythms including the nuances, regional variances, and ways that will help teach these rhythms to singers. The clinician will help you discover the various instrumental combinations for each style. Unravel this eclectic world of rhythms in a fun and interactive workshop and take home a valuable wealth of resources and information.
Funding a Conference Trip
December 7, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
 While some of us may grumble a bit about our administrators, most of us can honestly admit that those who lead our respective institutions are decent people who take their responsibilities seriously and who have the best interest of the institution at heart. Like all of us, they can only respond to the data placed before them.
As you ponder funding your trip to the American Choral Directors Association’s 2013 National Conference, you can simply walk in to your administrator, stomp your feet and say, “I want to go to Dallas. Give me some money.”
Or . . .
You can provide your supervisor with a well-researched proposal that outlines both the cost of a Conference trip and its real world value to you and the institution.
While some of us may grumble a bit about our administrators, most of us can honestly admit that those who lead our respective institutions are decent people who take their responsibilities seriously and who have the best interest of the institution at heart. Like all of us, they can only respond to the data placed before them.
As you ponder funding your trip to the American Choral Directors Association’s 2013 National Conference, you can simply walk in to your administrator, stomp your feet and say, “I want to go to Dallas. Give me some money.”
Or . . .
You can provide your supervisor with a well-researched proposal that outlines both the cost of a Conference trip and its real world value to you and the institution.
Kennesaw State University Men’s Ensemble
December 7, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
The Kennesaw State University Men’s Ensemble
Performing Saturday, March 16, 1:30 p.m. in the Meyerson Symphony Center (gold track) and Friday, March 15, 4:30 p.m. in the Winspear Opera House (blue track).
The Kennesaw State University (KSU) Men’s Ensemble, formed in 2000, is a non-auditioned choir open to all students, including music majors and non-majors from across the campus. Ranging from freshmen to seniors, the choir represents a variety of musical backgrounds and academic disciplines. In 2007, the KSU Men’s Ensemble was featured at the Georgia MEA Conference presentation “Men…Can’t Live with Them, Can’t Sing without Them!” More recently, the KSU Men’s Ensemble performed at the 2012 Georgia MEA Conference in Savannah, Georgia. In the summer of 2013, the KSU Men’s Ensemble will be featured at the American Choral Directors Association State Conference at Spivey Hall.
The Kennesaw State University Men’s Ensemble
Performing Saturday, March 16, 1:30 p.m. in the Meyerson Symphony Center (gold track) and Friday, March 15, 4:30 p.m. in the Winspear Opera House (blue track).
The Kennesaw State University (KSU) Men’s Ensemble, formed in 2000, is a non-auditioned choir open to all students, including music majors and non-majors from across the campus. Ranging from freshmen to seniors, the choir represents a variety of musical backgrounds and academic disciplines. In 2007, the KSU Men’s Ensemble was featured at the Georgia MEA Conference presentation “Men…Can’t Live with Them, Can’t Sing without Them!” More recently, the KSU Men’s Ensemble performed at the 2012 Georgia MEA Conference in Savannah, Georgia. In the summer of 2013, the KSU Men’s Ensemble will be featured at the American Choral Directors Association State Conference at Spivey Hall. Rehearsing twice weekly for an hour, the KSU Men’s Ensemble is fast becoming the most recognized and sought after choral group on campus. This invitation marks the first performance for the KSU Men’s Ensemble at an ACDA national conference. They are under the direction of Leslie J. Blackwell.
Integrating Common-Core Learning Standards into the Choral Curriculum
December 6, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
Integrating Common-Core Learning Standards into the Choral Curriculum
Clinician: Victoria J. Furby
Thursday, March 14, 9:00 a.m. in the City Performance Hall
The adoption by numerous states of the Race to the Top Common-Core learning standards brings new, exciting, and perhaps daunting challenges to the performing choral ensemble director. In addition to focusing on music national standards, curriculum objectives, and performance objectives, teachers must now integrate literacy training and understanding into their choral rehearsals. It is necessary for even the most experienced teachers in programs with well-established reputations to complete plans that show whether or not choral music students have met academic and behavioral standards and competencies in line with the Common-Core Learning Standards. This session is designed to introduce the
Integrating Common-Core Learning Standards into the Choral Curriculum
Clinician: Victoria J. Furby
Thursday, March 14, 9:00 a.m. in the City Performance Hall
The adoption by numerous states of the Race to the Top Common-Core learning standards brings new, exciting, and perhaps daunting challenges to the performing choral ensemble director. In addition to focusing on music national standards, curriculum objectives, and performance objectives, teachers must now integrate literacy training and understanding into their choral rehearsals. It is necessary for even the most experienced teachers in programs with well-established reputations to complete plans that show whether or not choral music students have met academic and behavioral standards and competencies in line with the Common-Core Learning Standards. This session is designed to introduce the Common-Core Learning Standards for the secondary grade levels (7–12), and discuss ways in which these standards can be integrated into the secondary choral rehearsal. Specific concert ideas that support the Common Core Learning Standards will be presented, along with assignment guidelines, lesson-plan templates, and assessment rubrics. This presentation is designed for the practicing secondary choral director to align their teaching with the standards upon which teachers will be evaluated.
Just 4 Kicks
December 5, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
Just 4 Kicks
Thursday, March 14, 7:00 p.m. Majestic Theater
Just 4 Kicks is an unaccompanied vocal jazz quartet. That’s kind of like saying the Empire State Building is a skyscraper. It’s true, but it doesn’t begin to describe the experience of hearing this amazing wacky, virtuoso vocal jazz ensemble for the first time. Four uniquely talented and musically successful vocalists from the West Coast, each with independent careers in the music industry, were thrust together at several Northwest jazz festivals in 1993, and a quartet emerged! Just 4 Kicks’s Kirby Shaw, from Ashland, Oregon, is one of the most well-known choral and vocal jazz composers/arrangers of our time. Randy Crenshaw is among the first-call studio singers and arrangers in Los Angeles. Four Freshmen alumnus Kirk Marcy directs the internationally-acclaimed vocal jazz ensemble Soundsation at Edmonds Community
Just 4 Kicks
Thursday, March 14, 7:00 p.m. Majestic Theater
Just 4 Kicks is an unaccompanied vocal jazz quartet. That’s kind of like saying the Empire State Building is a skyscraper. It’s true, but it doesn’t begin to describe the experience of hearing this amazing wacky, virtuoso vocal jazz ensemble for the first time. Four uniquely talented and musically successful vocalists from the West Coast, each with independent careers in the music industry, were thrust together at several Northwest jazz festivals in 1993, and a quartet emerged! Just 4 Kicks’s Kirby Shaw, from Ashland, Oregon, is one of the most well-known choral and vocal jazz composers/arrangers of our time. Randy Crenshaw is among the first-call studio singers and arrangers in Los Angeles. Four Freshmen alumnus Kirk Marcy directs the internationally-acclaimed vocal jazz ensemble Soundsation at Edmonds Community College, just north of Seattle. Vijay Singh, widely known for his versatility as a composer, arranger, soloist, and director of the vocal jazz program at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington, rounds out the quartet. Just 4 Kicks began as a diversion from these active careers in a spirit of fun and spontaneous musicality. Now, to their great surprise and delight, this talented group finds themselves in demand at jazz festivals and clinics throughout the United States and Canada. With the release of their fourth CD, titled Joyful Noise, Just 4 Kicks covers even more stylistic ground than ever before, singing a wildly adventurous all-new set of sacred material, arranged by the four Kickboyz themselves. Ranging far afield, from reggae, gospel/funk, and bluegrass, to classical choral, calypso, swing, and hymn tunes, they happily expand the parameters of a cappella vocal group singing, while retaining their love for spontaneous vocal improvisation and their signature collective sense of humor. Since putting their quartet together, Just 4 Kicks has become a staple at jazz festivals, clinics, and concerts throughout the United States and Canada. As charismatic performers and strong educators, they are able to present themselves and their entertaining art in an engaging way that audiences of every demographic stripe and students of all ages can appreciate, applaud, understand, and learn from.
Strategies for Small Church Choirs
December 4, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
Where 10 or 12 Are Gathered: Strategies for Small Church Choirs
Clinician: Matt Caine
Saturday, March 16, 11:30 a.m. in the Cathedral de Guadalupe - Sanctuary
Many members of ACDA conduct small church choirs. These positions are part-time and are often held by school music teachers or college professors who, while having excellent skills as educators and conductors, have little to no formal training specific to the unique challenges facing the conductor of a small church choir. This session will focus on the unwritten job description of the part-time church music director and strategies and resources for fulfilling these musical and non-musical responsibilities with limited time and limited funding. Special consideration will be given to the consortium concept (a new, formal take on old, informal ideas). The session will end with attendees exchanging useful strategies of their own. While this session will focus specifically on smaller church choirs, all
Where 10 or 12 Are Gathered: Strategies for Small Church Choirs
Clinician: Matt Caine
Saturday, March 16, 11:30 a.m. in the Cathedral de Guadalupe - Sanctuary
Many members of ACDA conduct small church choirs. These positions are part-time and are often held by school music teachers or college professors who, while having excellent skills as educators and conductors, have little to no formal training specific to the unique challenges facing the conductor of a small church choir. This session will focus on the unwritten job description of the part-time church music director and strategies and resources for fulfilling these musical and non-musical responsibilities with limited time and limited funding. Special consideration will be given to the consortium concept (a new, formal take on old, informal ideas). The session will end with attendees exchanging useful strategies of their own. While this session will focus specifically on smaller church choirs, all of the strategies are applicable to church choirs of all sizes.
Iowa State Cantamus
December 3, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
The Iowa State Cantamus
Performing Saturday, March 16, 10:30 a.m. in the Winspear Opera House (gold track) and Friday, March 15, 2:00 p.m. in the Meyerson Symphony Center (blue track).
Cantamus Women’s Choir was created in 2000, and is one of four major choral ensembles at Iowa State University. The women of Cantamus are selected by audition and range in year from freshmen to graduate students. They come from many fields of study across campus. and all share an enthusiasm for new and challenging repertoire, along with a love for adventurous programming. Recent commissions include works by Pietro Ferrario, Ko Matsushita, Levente Gyongyosi, Abbie Betinis, Eric Barnum, and Nathaniel Adams. Cantamus annually presents a four-concert season, which includes a tour and a choral-orchestral masterworks concert. The ensemble rehearses three times a week, and music majors comprise ten percent of its
The Iowa State Cantamus
Performing Saturday, March 16, 10:30 a.m. in the Winspear Opera House (gold track) and Friday, March 15, 2:00 p.m. in the Meyerson Symphony Center (blue track).
Cantamus Women’s Choir was created in 2000, and is one of four major choral ensembles at Iowa State University. The women of Cantamus are selected by audition and range in year from freshmen to graduate students. They come from many fields of study across campus. and all share an enthusiasm for new and challenging repertoire, along with a love for adventurous programming. Recent commissions include works by Pietro Ferrario, Ko Matsushita, Levente Gyongyosi, Abbie Betinis, Eric Barnum, and Nathaniel Adams. Cantamus annually presents a four-concert season, which includes a tour and a choral-orchestral masterworks concert. The ensemble rehearses three times a week, and music majors comprise ten percent of its membership. Cantamus performed at the 2004 and 2010 ACDA North Central Division Conferences and the 2004 National MENC/NAfME Convention. They are under the direction of Kathleen Rodde.
The Reasons Why They Sing
December 1, 2012 by Scott Dorsey
The Reasons Why They Sing
Clinician: Paul Caldwell
Friday, March 15, 10:15 a.m. in the Cathedral de Guadalupe - Gran Salon
Amid the crescendo of America’s sports culture and an increasing number of arts activities for youth, choral music faces fierce competition. What messages compel arts-inclined families to choose between the various options? What pre-conceptions do they hold about choral music? What impressions, messages, and values have prompted families to involve their children in choral music? What specific reasons cause them to continue singing? Recent research projects sought answers to these questions. Interestingly, a survey of America’s choral directors revealed that our answers are largely out of sync with those given by our chorus families and the general public. This session combines three groundbreaking pieces of research to
The Reasons Why They Sing
Clinician: Paul Caldwell
Friday, March 15, 10:15 a.m. in the Cathedral de Guadalupe - Gran Salon
Amid the crescendo of America’s sports culture and an increasing number of arts activities for youth, choral music faces fierce competition. What messages compel arts-inclined families to choose between the various options? What pre-conceptions do they hold about choral music? What impressions, messages, and values have prompted families to involve their children in choral music? What specific reasons cause them to continue singing? Recent research projects sought answers to these questions. Interestingly, a survey of America’s choral directors revealed that our answers are largely out of sync with those given by our chorus families and the general public. This session combines three groundbreaking pieces of research to examine why some of America sings … and why some of America doesn’t. This data helps us craft new messages and methods for singer recruitment. It enables choral programs and choral conductors to become their own best advocates.
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