Though many of us spend time teaching sight-singing at the beginning of each choral rehearsal, students are not always able to see how the skills they build during this time impact the learning and performance of choral repertoire. In this session, choral pieces will be used to construct music reading exercises and activities that apply […]
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BodySinging: Moving Singers Toward More Expressive Choral Performance
This session will focus on the musical, emotional, and expressive development of choral singers through the integration of the vocal/physical connection in rehearsal and performance. The session will include demonstration and discussion of how building “body-voices” allows singers to feel, express, and understand the deep meaning in the music they are singing. Through the gentle […]
Behind the Scenes with the Czech Boys Choir
The conductors of the Czech Boys Choir and Young Men’s Ensemble will provide an in-depth picture of the ensembles. They will address topics such as recruitment, vocal development of technique for unchanged and changing voices, and boychoir performance practices. They will also introduce central European choral music by contemporary composers suitable for boys choirs.
A Community That Sings: New Arrangements of America’s Classics – Songbook Vol. II
The North Central ACDA Division’s continuing effort to provide its members with quality arrangements of American folk songs has produced twelve new pieces by some of our country’s best-known composers. Kevin Meidl, former NC ACDA president and originator of this project, will lead this reading session. Pieces premiered at this session are available for NC […]
Surveying the Wondrous Cross: Christ’s Atonement Through the Eyes of Hymnody and Historical Choral Music
Led by New Testament scholar Valérie Nicolet-Anderson and choral conductor and doctoral student Jeshua Franklin, this session will briefly highlight historically understood atonement theories, consider the drama of various passion oriented texts, and delve into the interpretational effects of diverse musical settings. Participants will also be encouraged to consider these sometimes conflicting elements in the […]
Strength, Balance, Core: The Benefit of Pilates for the Choral Conductor
Even the most innately musical conductors sometimes struggle with the transfer of musical expression into physical movement. Effective gestural communication requires the utmost in body awareness, subtlety of movement, balance, posture, and strength. It should come as no surprise, then, that conductors often develop postural deficiencies and shoulder issues. In this session, the presenters will […]