In 2014 the new National Core Arts Standards were introduce demphasizing student understanding and independence. The overarching structure includes three artistic processes: creating, performing, and responding with a focus on connecting. Middle and high school choral directors are challenged to balance the demands of public performance with the philosophical foundations and lifelong goals articulated in […]
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Connections: Ideas for Effective Worship Planning
Those of us leading music in congregations often have the additional responsibility of putting together the flow of the order of worship. This session presents some practical ideas to add some variety to our services and explores ways to tie the service together.
Conductor and Choir Creating a Collective Story
Kevin Fenton will describe an approach to the rehearsal process that emphasizes the creation of a collective story that is related to music being prepared specifically and related to the identity of the group generally. Those in attendance will work as members of the choir to develop behaviors of a storyteller and a sense of […]
Australian Choral Music for All Choir Levels
The composition of new Australian choral music has flourished over the last fifty years. Outside of Australia, however, this music is relatively unknown. Through the vast and diverse Australian landscape, the traditions and sounds of the indigenous Aborigines, and the music of neighboring countries such as Indonesia and the Pacific Islands, Australian choral composers have […]
Why Men Sing
This session discusses how to involve more male singers in your choral program. The session is based on the clinician’s successful recruiting experiences at the middle school, high school, and collegiate levels.
When 12 or 15 Are Gathered Together: Practical Repertoire for the Smaller Church Choir
This session provides repertoire and survival techniques for directors of church choirs with twenty or fewer members. Your two tenors have gone south for the winter? No basses at all? Even when you have all four parts “on the books,” directors of smaller choirs have to be prepared for last-minute changes in repertoire due to […]
