When exploring music of cultures beyond western art music, we now know that these songs are sung in their cultural context—the style and the vocal timbre are different from bel canto, but should we ask bel canto trained singers to approximate the timbre of other styles of singing? How do other vocal styles differ from […]
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Variations on a Tech Theme: Tune it Up with Tech!
This interactive session is designed to transform the musically mundane to the musically miraculous through the use of technology integration! It will demonstrate the use of free online resources designed to captivate students’ attention and rejuvenate the educational aspect of rehearsal. Discover how to use technology to your advantage and to cultivate student engagement/autonomy. Students […]
Unraveling the Mysteries of Performance Practice: Breathing Life and Style into Choral Music
Does your Byrd sound like Brahms? Does your Mozart feel like Mahler? The term “performance practice” strikes fear into the hearts of many conductors whose training did not include much information about this topic. This session is designed to help relieve this fear and provide strategies for feeling comfortable with music from all eras. Using […]
Scatting with Soundsation Vocal Jazz Improvisation
Improvisation is the foundation of jazz! Many educators have come up through the educational system having never experienced first hand improvising in a jazz setting. Thus, many jazz choir directors avoid including any kind of improvisation with their own groups. This session will explore strategies and techniques to successfully integrate vocal improvisation into your rehearsals/performances.
Repertoire for Advanced Women’s Choirs
This session explores the wealth of available music for advanced women’s choirs—ranging from excellent high school groups to university and community or professional groups. The session will include repertoire lists of new and recent works, as well as significant historical works for women’s choirs, with an emphasis on lesser-known works. A sampling of scores and […]
Percussion Techniques For the Choral Classroom
It has probably been a while since you took a percussion methods course. Many choral composers have written music with percussion accompaniment; some simply list the instruction “ad lib.” Whether you’re playing the part yourself or helping a student, you will need to know the correct playing techniques. This session will help you gain confidence […]
