This ethnography aimed to describe the culture and philosophy of the Northwestern Community Ensemble (NCE), a predominantly Black gospel choir at a predominantly White institution. Data collection comprised standard ethnographic procedures—31 hours of observation at rehearsals and concerts as a non-participant observer, 28 hours as a participant observer, and 15 semi-structured interviews with ensemble members […]
IJRCS
Male adolescents’ narratives about their choral (non)participation in public secondary music schools of Greece
The purpose of the present study was to investigate boys’ views about their participation insecondary school music ensembles with emphasis on the factors which influenced their decisionwhether to join school choirs. To fulfill this aim, the researcher conducted individual semi-structured interviews with 17 boys, students and graduates of two provincial public secondary music schools in […]
Assessment in the Choral Classroom: A Case Study of a Secondary Choral Program
Assessment in the large choral ensemble classroom continues to be a widely examined topicamong music education practitioners and scholars. Scholars have dedicated a significant body ofresearch to identifying and examining the assessment practices of music educators (Denis, 2016; McQuarrie & Sherwin, 2013) However, due to their design, a number of the studies did not thoroughly […]
Undergraduate Singers’ Voice Use During an Intensive Week of Choir and Musical Rehearsals: A Case Study
The purpose of this case study was to document undergraduate students’ (N = 2) voice use before, during, and after an intensive week of choral and musical theatre rehearsals through (a) acquired voice dosimeter data; (b) daily surveys, (c) participant activity logs, (d) 3 administrations of the Singing Voice Handicap Index (SVHI), and (e) administrations […]
Key Changes: Choral Directors’ Experiences with Gender-Inclusive Teaching
As adolescent gender identity has expanded to encompass non-binary forms of gender identity in contemporary social contexts, scholars in music education have begun to examine the music learning experiences of transgender students and the role of the music teacher in fostering an environment that is affirming to gender-diversity. Anecdotal observations of choral music practices in […]
Still singing after all these years – A Perceptual Study of Post-menopausal Singing Voice Behaviors with Implications for Singers, Voice Teachers, and Choral Conductors
This study examined N = 23 post-menopausal singers through a questionnaire that addressed twenty-four aspects of vocal behavior, hormone therapy use/non-use, and typical singing mode, as well as other demographic information. It follows and was prompted by my 2010 doctoral dissertation, which examined N = 307 women’s voices in pre-, peri-, and post-menopausal lifespan stages. […]