Choral music educators can invert the practice of “arts integration” by purposefully integrating humanities studies into their music curriculum. By choosing repertoire that is thematically linked, each concert cycle becomes a curricular unit in which singers explore more deeply some aspect of what it means to be human. Choral music educators can transform their thinking: […]
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A Meaningful Approach to Teaching Improvisation in the Choral Rehearsal
The 2014 publication of the National Core Standards for Music has centralized improvisation as an essential element in the artistic process of creating. Structuring improvisation activities that are engaging and meaningful in a choral context, however, can be tricky. We can argue that activities that are too structured might reduce the creative impulse, but we […]
Integrating Contemporary A Cappella into Your Choral Program
Contemporary a cappella is exploding all over the globe. This workshop will explore all aspects of contemporary a cappella, including custom and stock arrangements, where to get them and how to begin to write them; vocal percussion, solo instruction, creating a rock star without hurting their voice; sound, live and recorded; choreography, no, this is […]
Homogenize Your Rehearsal: Balancing Repertoire, Technique, and Literacy Needs
Rehearsal time is a precious commodity, and conductors must make difficult choices about what occupies space on a rehearsal agenda. The pressing demands of learning repertoire for performance often win out over the conductor’s need or desire to also be a music educator and a vocal pedagogue. This session explores ways to meet the musical […]
Hands to Mouth: Manual Mimicry in Choral Singing and Conducting
This session bridges the fields of speech-language pathology and choral conducting to introduce participants to manual mimicry, a tool that links the spatio-temporal parameters of hand gestures to vocal articulations. Manual mimicry offers choral conductors a new approach to facilitating the production, unification, and expressivity of vocal sounds for singing. Join speech-language pathologist and educator […]
Handel’s Esther: A Woman, Genocide, and an Oratorio
Known as the first English oratorio, Esther is a compelling work not only for the beauty of the music but also the relevance of important issues in the narrative: a young woman, chosen for her beauty, becomes queen and accepts the task of averting genocide of her people. How does knowledge of the Jewish story […]
