December 2014 Bethlehem Academy Candlelight Christmas Concert
https://vimeo.com/channels/985332/114630553
Sunday, March 1, 2015
MMEA Mid-Winter Clinic - Day 2, Part 3
Day 1 posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Previous Day 2 posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Okay, so I am going to ram all of the rest of what I attended at Day 2 into this part, so it may get long. For your knowledge this post will review three session: (1) Sharri VanAlstine of UW-Whitewater on Madrigal Dinners, (2) Tesfa Wondemagegnehu's entertaining session on Vocal Pedagogy for Adolescent singers, and (3) the Great Northern Union concert and information session. Are you ready? Well here we go.
1:15 PM SESSION
During the 1:15 PM session, I attended Dr. Sharri VanAlstine's session entitled: The Educational Value, Creation, and Running of a Madrigal Dinner. Dr. VanAlstine is an assistant professor of vocal music and music education at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. Her own experience in directing madrigal dinners came during her time as choir director at St. Francis High School in St. Francis, MN. When she arrived the madrigal program was already well established, so she admitted that she never had to create a madrigal dinner tradition from scratch. However, she gave a very detailed description on all of the administrative tasks that go in to creating a madrigal dinner concert at the high school level, and how such a concert will benefit your music department both educationally and from a community PR stand point.
I have long been kicking around the idea of beginning a madrigal dinner tradition at schools that I have worked at and have attended a number great sessions and spoke with many colleagues in the past including speaking with former Dubuque Senior High School director Dan Nye, purchasing Paul Brandvik's Compleet Madrigal Dinner Booke, and speaking a little with Iowa Western Community College Director Luke Johnson who wrote his master's thesis on Madrigal Dinners. I think I might be ready to start jumping in the pool for this one.
2:30 SESSION
At 2:30 Tesfa Wondemagegnehu lead a session entitled, Vocal Pedagogy for Adolescent Singers: The ABC's of Healthy Choral Singing. Mr. Wondemagegnehu, or Tesfa as he encourages many of his colleagues to call him, has been a welcome addition to the Minnesota choral scene since relocating from Florida a couple of years ago. Currently working as MPR's Choral Stream Representative, he has worked with MPR to be a readily available asset and partner with Minnesota choral directors.
The session on vocal pedagogy gave choral directors practical tools to communicate proper vocal technique to novice adolescent singers to produce a better more unified choral tone. Along with giving very practical tips, Tesfa directly referenced a number of great sources for the directors present to either revisit or read for the first time to help improve our instruction to our classes full of singers. Three that stood out from the session include Richard Miller's Structure of Singing and Solutions for Singers, Dr. Rodney Eichenberger's What They See is What You Get, and Dr. Alan Zabriskie's text Foundations of choral tone. These are three resources, along with others listed, that I will be sure to review or consult for the first time.
Additionally, I need to make sure I invite Mr. Wondemagegnehu down to work with my choirs in the near future. I think it would be a great experience for my singers.
3:45 SESSION
The Great Northern Union Chorus presented an educational concert on barbershop harmony singing in the Central Lutheran Church sanctuary. I have had the privilege to "sing in" on a number of GNU rehearsals in recent years. My current schedule has prevented me from joining the ensemble, but there rehearsals are always open to new singers (and singer educators) to learn more about them as a group and barbershop singing. In fact, GNU is one of the leading organizations in the Barbershop Harmony Society in advocating and encouraging singing opportunities for young male singers. Over the past couple of years, I have gotten to know some of the leadership in the ensemble and they are passionate about helping educators excite and recruit young men into choirs.
In my opinion, the session was under attended, and I believe many educators missed out on a great opportunity to see what GNU can do for them. I highly recommend that choir directors bring their young men to the GNU Real Men Sing Festival on October 3rd, 2015. Open to male singers in grades 7-12, the GNU Real Men Sing is a fantastic opportunity to get your men excited at the beginning of the school year. In previous years, my students have loved the experience. Oh, and it is FREE!
Additionally, there are other Real Men Sing Festivals sponsored by other great institutions in the Upper Midwest throughout the year:
1. The Staples Area Men's Chorus - The SAM founded by Stan Carlson has been a pioneering group in RMS festivals in Minnesota, having hosted one in mid-October for a number of years. If you live near Staples in North Central Minnesota it is a great event. If not, it might be a good retreat for your men, their dad's and you. And it is FREE!
2. St. Cloud State: Brothers Sing On! - Alan Hawkins and Dr. Matthew Ferrell of SCSU. The cost is $30 per singer, and includes lunch and a "Brothers Sing On!" T-shirt.
3. Wartburg College: Real Men Sing - Dr. Lee Nelson of Wartburg College in Waverly, IA has begun the tradition of hosting a Real Men Sing Festival in early October. Cost $10 per student, $25-35 for adults. Another opportunity to bring your high school men and their fathers together.
4. Minnesota Valley Men's Chorale - Although currently not scheduled, the MVMC under the direction of Steven Boehlke, has hosted men's choral festivals for high school students in the past, and are great advocates for men's choirs in the Twin Cities.
5. The Apollo Men's Chorus - Under the direction of Dr. Sean Vogt, the Apollo Club has hosted a festival for high school men in recent years.
I am sure there are a number of events which I am missing. If you know of any feel free to leave information in the comments section and I will update.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Previous Day 2 posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Okay, so I am going to ram all of the rest of what I attended at Day 2 into this part, so it may get long. For your knowledge this post will review three session: (1) Sharri VanAlstine of UW-Whitewater on Madrigal Dinners, (2) Tesfa Wondemagegnehu's entertaining session on Vocal Pedagogy for Adolescent singers, and (3) the Great Northern Union concert and information session. Are you ready? Well here we go.
1:15 PM SESSION
During the 1:15 PM session, I attended Dr. Sharri VanAlstine's session entitled: The Educational Value, Creation, and Running of a Madrigal Dinner. Dr. VanAlstine is an assistant professor of vocal music and music education at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. Her own experience in directing madrigal dinners came during her time as choir director at St. Francis High School in St. Francis, MN. When she arrived the madrigal program was already well established, so she admitted that she never had to create a madrigal dinner tradition from scratch. However, she gave a very detailed description on all of the administrative tasks that go in to creating a madrigal dinner concert at the high school level, and how such a concert will benefit your music department both educationally and from a community PR stand point.
I have long been kicking around the idea of beginning a madrigal dinner tradition at schools that I have worked at and have attended a number great sessions and spoke with many colleagues in the past including speaking with former Dubuque Senior High School director Dan Nye, purchasing Paul Brandvik's Compleet Madrigal Dinner Booke, and speaking a little with Iowa Western Community College Director Luke Johnson who wrote his master's thesis on Madrigal Dinners. I think I might be ready to start jumping in the pool for this one.
2:30 SESSION
At 2:30 Tesfa Wondemagegnehu lead a session entitled, Vocal Pedagogy for Adolescent Singers: The ABC's of Healthy Choral Singing. Mr. Wondemagegnehu, or Tesfa as he encourages many of his colleagues to call him, has been a welcome addition to the Minnesota choral scene since relocating from Florida a couple of years ago. Currently working as MPR's Choral Stream Representative, he has worked with MPR to be a readily available asset and partner with Minnesota choral directors.
The session on vocal pedagogy gave choral directors practical tools to communicate proper vocal technique to novice adolescent singers to produce a better more unified choral tone. Along with giving very practical tips, Tesfa directly referenced a number of great sources for the directors present to either revisit or read for the first time to help improve our instruction to our classes full of singers. Three that stood out from the session include Richard Miller's Structure of Singing and Solutions for Singers, Dr. Rodney Eichenberger's What They See is What You Get, and Dr. Alan Zabriskie's text Foundations of choral tone. These are three resources, along with others listed, that I will be sure to review or consult for the first time.
Additionally, I need to make sure I invite Mr. Wondemagegnehu down to work with my choirs in the near future. I think it would be a great experience for my singers.
3:45 SESSION
The Great Northern Union Chorus presented an educational concert on barbershop harmony singing in the Central Lutheran Church sanctuary. I have had the privilege to "sing in" on a number of GNU rehearsals in recent years. My current schedule has prevented me from joining the ensemble, but there rehearsals are always open to new singers (and singer educators) to learn more about them as a group and barbershop singing. In fact, GNU is one of the leading organizations in the Barbershop Harmony Society in advocating and encouraging singing opportunities for young male singers. Over the past couple of years, I have gotten to know some of the leadership in the ensemble and they are passionate about helping educators excite and recruit young men into choirs.
In my opinion, the session was under attended, and I believe many educators missed out on a great opportunity to see what GNU can do for them. I highly recommend that choir directors bring their young men to the GNU Real Men Sing Festival on October 3rd, 2015. Open to male singers in grades 7-12, the GNU Real Men Sing is a fantastic opportunity to get your men excited at the beginning of the school year. In previous years, my students have loved the experience. Oh, and it is FREE!
Additionally, there are other Real Men Sing Festivals sponsored by other great institutions in the Upper Midwest throughout the year:
1. The Staples Area Men's Chorus - The SAM founded by Stan Carlson has been a pioneering group in RMS festivals in Minnesota, having hosted one in mid-October for a number of years. If you live near Staples in North Central Minnesota it is a great event. If not, it might be a good retreat for your men, their dad's and you. And it is FREE!
2. St. Cloud State: Brothers Sing On! - Alan Hawkins and Dr. Matthew Ferrell of SCSU. The cost is $30 per singer, and includes lunch and a "Brothers Sing On!" T-shirt.
3. Wartburg College: Real Men Sing - Dr. Lee Nelson of Wartburg College in Waverly, IA has begun the tradition of hosting a Real Men Sing Festival in early October. Cost $10 per student, $25-35 for adults. Another opportunity to bring your high school men and their fathers together.
4. Minnesota Valley Men's Chorale - Although currently not scheduled, the MVMC under the direction of Steven Boehlke, has hosted men's choral festivals for high school students in the past, and are great advocates for men's choirs in the Twin Cities.
5. The Apollo Men's Chorus - Under the direction of Dr. Sean Vogt, the Apollo Club has hosted a festival for high school men in recent years.
I am sure there are a number of events which I am missing. If you know of any feel free to leave information in the comments section and I will update.
MMEA Mid-winter Clinic - Day 2, Part 2
Day 1 posts in three parts posted in the following links:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 1 of Day 2 is posted here.
On Friday, February 13th, Dr. Brad Holmes of Millikin University in Decatur, IL led an interest session entitled: Which Choir is this Anyway? A Practical Approach to Variety in Sound. Many choir directors (including me) have longed admired Dr. Holmes' work with the Millikin University Choir. Dr. Holmes excels at encouraging his choral singers to use a variety of timbrel colors in their singing through a varied selection of repertoire, but grounding these vastly different vocal colors in a healthy pedagogical approach.
During his presentation Dr. Holmes, with the benefit of handouts and recordings, illustrated his approach to programming a wide variety of tonal colors for his choirs. He first does this through repertoire selection. Below is a picture of the chart that Dr. Holmes created placing different genres of choral music on a grid system.
In this chart, Dr. Holmes places various genres of vocal / choral repertoire in relation to the desired shape of the singers vowels to the amount vibrato present in the voice. He places vibrato on the "x axis" with less vibrato on the left and more vibrato on the right. On the "y axis", he places accepted vowel shapes from wide (horizontal) on the bottom to long (vertical) on the top. Holmes readily admits that this is his interpretation of his observations of accepted performance practice, and one can debate where each genre is placed. Looking at the chart I tend to agree generally with his interpretation of these genres.
In creating a program, Dr. Holmes will often begin with a piece that sits in the "core" sound which utilizes a moderate level of vibrato with vowel shapes leaning toward vertical placement, but not overly so. He then will pick pieces that will branch out in a certain plane away from the core, return to a genre that utilizes a core sound, and then program pieces that plane away in another direction. He always returns to a core sound to allow his singers to recalibrate his or her instrument. Below is a picture laying out a sample program using recordings from 2014, 2012, and 2010. Please excuse my notes in the margins cluttering up the diagram, but the program when compared to the above chart illustrates the use of the core sound to create balance.
Dr. Holmes gives a lot of credit to his colleagues on the Millikin University Vocal Music faculty for working hand in hand with him to help teach his singers sound and healthy pedagogical approaches for creating all of the desired choral timbres. As a collegiate choral director, he is still dealing with relatively immature and developing vocal instruments. So he feels it is important to be aware of where each singer is on his or her vocal development. To negate wear and tear on the instrument he will strategically place rests in the music for individual singers. He finds this especially necessary for lighter or higher passages in the music.
In the end, this session was probably the one I was most looking forward to attending during the Mid-Winter Clinic. Strangely, I had never previously had the opportunity to learn from Dr. Holmes, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning from him.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 1 of Day 2 is posted here.
On Friday, February 13th, Dr. Brad Holmes of Millikin University in Decatur, IL led an interest session entitled: Which Choir is this Anyway? A Practical Approach to Variety in Sound. Many choir directors (including me) have longed admired Dr. Holmes' work with the Millikin University Choir. Dr. Holmes excels at encouraging his choral singers to use a variety of timbrel colors in their singing through a varied selection of repertoire, but grounding these vastly different vocal colors in a healthy pedagogical approach.
During his presentation Dr. Holmes, with the benefit of handouts and recordings, illustrated his approach to programming a wide variety of tonal colors for his choirs. He first does this through repertoire selection. Below is a picture of the chart that Dr. Holmes created placing different genres of choral music on a grid system.
In this chart, Dr. Holmes places various genres of vocal / choral repertoire in relation to the desired shape of the singers vowels to the amount vibrato present in the voice. He places vibrato on the "x axis" with less vibrato on the left and more vibrato on the right. On the "y axis", he places accepted vowel shapes from wide (horizontal) on the bottom to long (vertical) on the top. Holmes readily admits that this is his interpretation of his observations of accepted performance practice, and one can debate where each genre is placed. Looking at the chart I tend to agree generally with his interpretation of these genres.
In creating a program, Dr. Holmes will often begin with a piece that sits in the "core" sound which utilizes a moderate level of vibrato with vowel shapes leaning toward vertical placement, but not overly so. He then will pick pieces that will branch out in a certain plane away from the core, return to a genre that utilizes a core sound, and then program pieces that plane away in another direction. He always returns to a core sound to allow his singers to recalibrate his or her instrument. Below is a picture laying out a sample program using recordings from 2014, 2012, and 2010. Please excuse my notes in the margins cluttering up the diagram, but the program when compared to the above chart illustrates the use of the core sound to create balance.
Dr. Holmes gives a lot of credit to his colleagues on the Millikin University Vocal Music faculty for working hand in hand with him to help teach his singers sound and healthy pedagogical approaches for creating all of the desired choral timbres. As a collegiate choral director, he is still dealing with relatively immature and developing vocal instruments. So he feels it is important to be aware of where each singer is on his or her vocal development. To negate wear and tear on the instrument he will strategically place rests in the music for individual singers. He finds this especially necessary for lighter or higher passages in the music.
In the end, this session was probably the one I was most looking forward to attending during the Mid-Winter Clinic. Strangely, I had never previously had the opportunity to learn from Dr. Holmes, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning from him.
Monday, February 16, 2015
MMEA Mid-Winter Clinic 2015 Day 2, Part 1
I posted a three part post on Day 1 of the Clinic earlier.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
The Friday morning sessions began with the Choir Open Forum at 8:00 AM. Lead by MMEA Choral - Vice President Melanie Kjellberg of Andover High School. The forum continued the annual discussion regarding MSHSL Large Group and Solo and Small Ensemble Contests coming up, as well as ideas for revamping the audition procedure for the MMEA All-State Choir. It is a good forum to share ideas and concerns. One important note is that the MMEA is always looking for section leaders for the All-State Choir camp in August. If one is interested in participating in that experience, Melanie Kjellberg would love to hear from you. Click the MMEA hyperlink to contact her.
At 9:15 AM, Dr. Jonathan Reed of Michigan State University lead an interest session entitled: Where the Boys Are.... Men's Choir 101: "This is not art..."
Attending this session continued MMEA's initiative to bring more young men into choral music, and my own desire to re-evaluate and fine tune my approaches in retaining the young male singers at my school. Of my interest sessions focused on young male's, I probably enjoyed Dr. Reed's the most. He covered much of the same topic discussed by Dr. Sieck and Professor Bass on Thursday, but added some additional information points I found valuable.
One resource the Dr. Reed referenced was Perspective on Males and Singing, specifically the chapter written by Dr. Patrick Freer, of Georgia State University. Dr. is an expert in the male changing voice, and is a great resource for young adolescent male singers. I have attended a session lead by Dr. Freer in the past when he presented at the Iowa Choral Director's Association Summer Symposium a few years back. (As a side note, his text on middle school choirs is a very helpful resource, even for experienced educators.) The larger point that Dr. Reed made while referencing Freer's research, is that the current repertoire for young adolescent choirs has not caught up with the research, and educators MUST be willing to rewrite the score to work with the singers they have in their groups.
The overarching point of Dr. Reed's presentation is that male singers want to feel successful and that they are improving as singers in their class. At this age we as educators need to focus on the process, and not the end result. So we should not worry about achieving performance perfection in our young adolescent ensembles, because it is a virtual impossibility. What we should focus on is developing a fluidity in the vocal musculature as we work on transitions from the different registrations in and out of the passagio. (For more information on this reference the Dr. Sieck presentation here.) At this point we discussed a number of vocalization exercises, transitioning downward from the head voice through the passagio to the chest or modal voice.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
The Friday morning sessions began with the Choir Open Forum at 8:00 AM. Lead by MMEA Choral - Vice President Melanie Kjellberg of Andover High School. The forum continued the annual discussion regarding MSHSL Large Group and Solo and Small Ensemble Contests coming up, as well as ideas for revamping the audition procedure for the MMEA All-State Choir. It is a good forum to share ideas and concerns. One important note is that the MMEA is always looking for section leaders for the All-State Choir camp in August. If one is interested in participating in that experience, Melanie Kjellberg would love to hear from you. Click the MMEA hyperlink to contact her.
At 9:15 AM, Dr. Jonathan Reed of Michigan State University lead an interest session entitled: Where the Boys Are.... Men's Choir 101: "This is not art..."
Attending this session continued MMEA's initiative to bring more young men into choral music, and my own desire to re-evaluate and fine tune my approaches in retaining the young male singers at my school. Of my interest sessions focused on young male's, I probably enjoyed Dr. Reed's the most. He covered much of the same topic discussed by Dr. Sieck and Professor Bass on Thursday, but added some additional information points I found valuable.
One resource the Dr. Reed referenced was Perspective on Males and Singing, specifically the chapter written by Dr. Patrick Freer, of Georgia State University. Dr. is an expert in the male changing voice, and is a great resource for young adolescent male singers. I have attended a session lead by Dr. Freer in the past when he presented at the Iowa Choral Director's Association Summer Symposium a few years back. (As a side note, his text on middle school choirs is a very helpful resource, even for experienced educators.) The larger point that Dr. Reed made while referencing Freer's research, is that the current repertoire for young adolescent choirs has not caught up with the research, and educators MUST be willing to rewrite the score to work with the singers they have in their groups.
The overarching point of Dr. Reed's presentation is that male singers want to feel successful and that they are improving as singers in their class. At this age we as educators need to focus on the process, and not the end result. So we should not worry about achieving performance perfection in our young adolescent ensembles, because it is a virtual impossibility. What we should focus on is developing a fluidity in the vocal musculature as we work on transitions from the different registrations in and out of the passagio. (For more information on this reference the Dr. Sieck presentation here.) At this point we discussed a number of vocalization exercises, transitioning downward from the head voice through the passagio to the chest or modal voice.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
MMEA Mid-Winter Clinic Day 1, Part 3
Previous posts in this thread include:
Part 1
Part 2
During the 3:30 PM session of the MMEA Mid-Winter Clinic I attended the Christine Bass session entitled "Where the Boys Are: Recruiting, Engaging, and Maintaining Tenors and Basses". Bass was a very successful high school choir director in Cherry Hill, NJ outside of Philadelphia, PA. Currently, she teaches at Temple University in Philadelphia as the Women's Choir director and as a part of the music education faculty. An incredibly successfully educator, I looked forward to learning from her in this session.
Admittedly, I was a little nervous at the beginning of the Bass session that it would merely be an advertisement for her educational DVD by the same name. Bass is one of Hal Leonard's star convention presenters, and has a very busy schedule traveling around the country. While the clinic did begin with clips from her DVD (which I am sure she is contractually obligated to do), I found her presentation engaging and to the point. Her website is quite user friendly as well, including suggested repertoire lists for SATB and TTBB ensembles, which are great starting points.
I would not say that anything information she gave in the session was revolutionary or ground breaking, but that is the point. She reiterated some very important points:
Part 1
Part 2
During the 3:30 PM session of the MMEA Mid-Winter Clinic I attended the Christine Bass session entitled "Where the Boys Are: Recruiting, Engaging, and Maintaining Tenors and Basses". Bass was a very successful high school choir director in Cherry Hill, NJ outside of Philadelphia, PA. Currently, she teaches at Temple University in Philadelphia as the Women's Choir director and as a part of the music education faculty. An incredibly successfully educator, I looked forward to learning from her in this session.
Admittedly, I was a little nervous at the beginning of the Bass session that it would merely be an advertisement for her educational DVD by the same name. Bass is one of Hal Leonard's star convention presenters, and has a very busy schedule traveling around the country. While the clinic did begin with clips from her DVD (which I am sure she is contractually obligated to do), I found her presentation engaging and to the point. Her website is quite user friendly as well, including suggested repertoire lists for SATB and TTBB ensembles, which are great starting points.
I would not say that anything information she gave in the session was revolutionary or ground breaking, but that is the point. She reiterated some very important points:
- You will get out of your program only proportionally to what you put in. To get a program to where you want it to go requires a lot of time and hard work.
- Men in particular (and all students in general) are attracted to what is cool, but will only STAY if what they are a part of is successful and of high quality. Meaning, you can (and should) use gimmicks to get young men in the door, but if what you teach is not grounded in good technique that produces excellence you will not keep them.
- Younger male students are best recruited by the high school men that they look up to. High school male students are best recruited by the high school female students in your choir.
One point Bass strongly encourages is the use of popular music to woo students into your program. In her defense she insists that you program a varied repertoire of music. However, I always have slight reservations of investing too much of my limited budget to purchase repertoire that quickly becomes obsolete. My belief is to use purchase popular repertoire sparingly, and if you do so be extremely selective. Ask yourself, "Will this song still be popular or powerful to young singers 5 years from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now?" If not, I would be hesitant to spend $2 a copy for 50-60 copies of a piece of music. My recommendation to director's facing this dilemma is to dabble in arranging vocal a cappella arrangements of popular tunes for SATB and TTBB choirs. The other option is to get in contact with vocal a cappella arrangers, and purchase from them. Generally, on a singer for singer level, the price point it is a cheaper route, and if the song arranged is forgotten five years from now (or the radio exposure "kills" it), it is not collecting mildew in your files. Granted this almost a separate topic/tangent to the greater point of Bass's presentation, but is worth stating here.
A good starting point in search of vocal a cappella arrangers can be found here.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
MMEA Mid-Winter Clinic Day 1, Part 2
Part 1 of this thread of consciousness was posted here.
During the 2:15-3:15 session period on Thursday, 12 February 2015, I went across to Central Lutheran Church where the choral performances are held. The Mound Westonka High School Choir under the direction of Kate Larson was the first choir to perform. Ms. Larson is the 2014 ACDA-MN Young Director of the Year, and she has created an outstanding program at Mound Westonka during the past 8 years. Not only do I enjoy the sound this ensemble creates for a high school group, Ms. Larson utilizes very inventive programming ranging through a variety of cultures, time periods, and styles.
The Mound Westonka Program...
During the 2:15-3:15 session period on Thursday, 12 February 2015, I went across to Central Lutheran Church where the choral performances are held. The Mound Westonka High School Choir under the direction of Kate Larson was the first choir to perform. Ms. Larson is the 2014 ACDA-MN Young Director of the Year, and she has created an outstanding program at Mound Westonka during the past 8 years. Not only do I enjoy the sound this ensemble creates for a high school group, Ms. Larson utilizes very inventive programming ranging through a variety of cultures, time periods, and styles.
The Mound Westonka Program...
- "Alleluia Incantation" Andrew Miller (Santa Barbara Music Publishing)
- "Cantate Domino" Claudio Monteverdi (CPDL)
- "Bobinom' Saintom'" arranged by Stephen Hatfield (earthsongs)
- "Good-Night" Matthew Emery (Santa Barbara Music Publishing)
- "Fear Not" Daniel Schreiner (Santa Barbara Music Publishing)
- "Balleilakka" A. R. Rahman / arranged by Ethan Sperry (earthsongs)
Larson selected music predominantly from SBMP and earthsongs, two publishers I regularly trust due to the high quality of the repertoire that they put out. Rarely, do I find pieces published by these two smaller companies lacking in musical quality. When I am looking for new repertoire, these are the two websites I check first. The repertoire was both a choral nerd's delight, and contains music that an audience will find entertaining and moving.
The second choral performance during the 2:15 session was the Willmar Senior High School Cardinal Choir under the direction of Neal Haugen. Mr. Haugen has had a distinguished career as a vocal music educator at Willmar. I appreciated the Cardinal Choir's vitality of sound, and the numerous genres represented in Mr. Haugen's programming.
The Willmar Program...
- "Hainerot Halalu" by Stanley Hoffman (ECS Publishing s492)
- "Ave Verum Corpus" by William Byrd (ECS Publishing 2976)
- "Evening Prayer" by Ola Gjeilo (Walton Music / GIA Publications WW1520)
- "Run to You" by Pentatonix (www.ptxfans.com/run-to-you)
- "I Can Tell the World" by Moses Hogan (Hal Leonard HL08703198)
- "One Day More" from Les Miserables, arranged by Mark Brymer (Hal Leonard HL0862112)
- "The Ground" by Ola Gjeilo (Walton Music / GIA Publications WW1460
I thoroughly enjoyed the first two selections, especially hearing the Byrd. EC Schirmer is another publisher of quality choral repertoire who I trust and appreciate. Ola Gjeilo is arguably one of the most popular composers in the current repertoire and much of his work is published by Walton Music. Walton recently transferred over its distribution rights from Hal Leonard to GIA Music.
The Pentatonix arrangement I did not find particularly interesting, which is unusual because I enjoy Pentatonix, and have followed them since their season on the Sing-Off. Brymer's "One Day More" performance did not particularly move me either. However, this is not a criticism of the programming of either piece. These are pieces that will connect with the regular audience in our communities the most. In the end, we as choral educators need to sell our programs to our audiences. By programming these pieces for the MMEA Conference performance, Mr. Haugen shared with his colleagues two pieces that have worked for him in that manner.
I think programming like this is valuable to the membership from a community advocacy perspective. Too often, I see choral directors at an ACDA or NAfME convention program to show off to his or her colleagues. (On the flip side, I see and hear too many choir directors make snide comments about a choir's performance or a director's programming at a convention.) I love the program Mr. Haugen showed in this instance, a complete combination of Ivory Tower programming and programming for the masses.
Well done to both Kate Larson and Neal Haugen!
MMEA Mid-Winter Clinic Day 1, part 1
The Minnesota Music Educator Association hosted its annual Mid-Winter Clinic, February 12-14, 2015 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. As a middle school and high school choral music educator, I was very pleased with the number of interest session options that the MMEA scheduled for this clinic, along with some great concert sessions. It is impossible to go to everything, but to the credit of the scheduling committee, I did not have an hour where I felt there was nothing to go to. In fact, I probably spent a great deal less time in the vendor area than normal which is fine with me. Normally, I prefer not speak with vendors unless I have a specific reason, and I had enough time to visit the booths I needed to visit.
Most of the choral interest sessions that were offered that I attended were centered around one of two areas: (1) Recruiting, teaching, and keeping male singers in your ensembles, and (2) vocal pedagogy. As I have spent time in a new position this year, it is always helpful to get reminders in ways other teachers have successfully recruited. Also, I always worry that in my hurry to teach repertoire, I may be missing important details in teaching proper vocal technique. Again, I was reminded of a lot of fantastic ideas that reinforces what I am already doing or will enhance my approach in the classroom.
First Session: Thursday, 12 February 2015, 1:00-2:00 PM. Building a Beautiful Sound with Young Tenors - Stephen Sieck, DMA, Co-Director of Choral Studies, Lawrence University.
Dr. Sieck's session reinforced much of what I have learned over the course of my career about voice classification in young male singers, specifically finding young tenors (ages 12-20). However, there were a few subtle points that he brought up that set off some alarm bells in my own teaching, and I want to make sure I recheck how I am doing things in order to best serve my middle school and high school aged men. He references Richard Miller's The Structure of Singing in his presentation. The Miller text is referenced by later presenters during the conference, and is text that I recall glancing at as an undergrad, and looking at in greater detail as an graduate student. However, I do not own this text, and I believe it is a source I may need to revisit in greater detail. I know there have been advances in scientific understanding of the human voice since it was written in 1986, but it continues to be an important text in the field of singing.
The topics that Dr. Sieck touched upon that I felt were good refreshers were numerous. He began by reviewing the principal of the bell curve principal: most male voices are baritones. There are few true basses and tenors. In diagnosing where a singer is one must pay attention to a singer's (1) fry tone, (2) modal (chest) voice, (3) mixed voice, (4) upper (head) voice, and (5) falsetto. When assessing a singers range we need to pay attention to a number of aspects. When a singer shifts from a modal tone to a fry tone is important to note. A fry tone is difficult for a singer to sustain and is essentially not useable for an extended period. It is something I pay attention to individual singer evaluations, but maybe not as closely as I should. The next important step is identifying the lifts/breaks/passagio in a singers voice. This is something I pay the closest attention to, but according to Dr. Sieck's presentation, I may need to be certain unhealthy modifications are not being utilized to mask or negotiate the breaks. I may have baritones (or baritenors) that can not healthily sustain pitches above an F4. From that point finding a singers "highest" note is less important, but valuable in identifying how smoothly he changes registration and whether or not it is with healthy technique.
After identifying the pitfalls, Dr. Sieck identified three common problems and rehearsal strategies to avoid the problems and build healthy techniques. The problems he identified include: (1) lifting of the larynx, (2) spreading of the vowel, and (3) overly nasal timbres. All of these can be addressed directly or indirectly by teaching the singer to engage his head voice in a relaxed and unforced manner. Keeping the tongue forward, using voiced consonants and rounded vowels, and singing "ng-ah" passages all will help the singer develop understanding through sensation.
The challenges I face is delivering this information to my middle school men in a mixed choral setting. It is difficult for men to explore this vocal sensations in a room in which the opposite gender is present. I can do these things in one on one lessons or sectional rehearsals, but it will take some work to develop a culture in which my men will feel "safe" to take these risks in our middle school choir rehearsal. I attempt to do some of these activities already, but again serious engagement is difficult in this setting. It is less of a challenge in the high school choral rehearsal, because a culture has been quickly been established in which figuring out proper vocal technique for men and women is essential. Dr. Sieck has provided great tools, and I appreciate the information he provided.
Most of the choral interest sessions that were offered that I attended were centered around one of two areas: (1) Recruiting, teaching, and keeping male singers in your ensembles, and (2) vocal pedagogy. As I have spent time in a new position this year, it is always helpful to get reminders in ways other teachers have successfully recruited. Also, I always worry that in my hurry to teach repertoire, I may be missing important details in teaching proper vocal technique. Again, I was reminded of a lot of fantastic ideas that reinforces what I am already doing or will enhance my approach in the classroom.
First Session: Thursday, 12 February 2015, 1:00-2:00 PM. Building a Beautiful Sound with Young Tenors - Stephen Sieck, DMA, Co-Director of Choral Studies, Lawrence University.
Dr. Sieck's session reinforced much of what I have learned over the course of my career about voice classification in young male singers, specifically finding young tenors (ages 12-20). However, there were a few subtle points that he brought up that set off some alarm bells in my own teaching, and I want to make sure I recheck how I am doing things in order to best serve my middle school and high school aged men. He references Richard Miller's The Structure of Singing in his presentation. The Miller text is referenced by later presenters during the conference, and is text that I recall glancing at as an undergrad, and looking at in greater detail as an graduate student. However, I do not own this text, and I believe it is a source I may need to revisit in greater detail. I know there have been advances in scientific understanding of the human voice since it was written in 1986, but it continues to be an important text in the field of singing.
The topics that Dr. Sieck touched upon that I felt were good refreshers were numerous. He began by reviewing the principal of the bell curve principal: most male voices are baritones. There are few true basses and tenors. In diagnosing where a singer is one must pay attention to a singer's (1) fry tone, (2) modal (chest) voice, (3) mixed voice, (4) upper (head) voice, and (5) falsetto. When assessing a singers range we need to pay attention to a number of aspects. When a singer shifts from a modal tone to a fry tone is important to note. A fry tone is difficult for a singer to sustain and is essentially not useable for an extended period. It is something I pay attention to individual singer evaluations, but maybe not as closely as I should. The next important step is identifying the lifts/breaks/passagio in a singers voice. This is something I pay the closest attention to, but according to Dr. Sieck's presentation, I may need to be certain unhealthy modifications are not being utilized to mask or negotiate the breaks. I may have baritones (or baritenors) that can not healthily sustain pitches above an F4. From that point finding a singers "highest" note is less important, but valuable in identifying how smoothly he changes registration and whether or not it is with healthy technique.
After identifying the pitfalls, Dr. Sieck identified three common problems and rehearsal strategies to avoid the problems and build healthy techniques. The problems he identified include: (1) lifting of the larynx, (2) spreading of the vowel, and (3) overly nasal timbres. All of these can be addressed directly or indirectly by teaching the singer to engage his head voice in a relaxed and unforced manner. Keeping the tongue forward, using voiced consonants and rounded vowels, and singing "ng-ah" passages all will help the singer develop understanding through sensation.
The challenges I face is delivering this information to my middle school men in a mixed choral setting. It is difficult for men to explore this vocal sensations in a room in which the opposite gender is present. I can do these things in one on one lessons or sectional rehearsals, but it will take some work to develop a culture in which my men will feel "safe" to take these risks in our middle school choir rehearsal. I attempt to do some of these activities already, but again serious engagement is difficult in this setting. It is less of a challenge in the high school choral rehearsal, because a culture has been quickly been established in which figuring out proper vocal technique for men and women is essential. Dr. Sieck has provided great tools, and I appreciate the information he provided.
Friday, November 21, 2014
ACDA-MN State Conference, Day 1
November 21, 2014
Today was day one of the Minnesota chapter of the American Choral Director's Association annual fall conference held at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church. Every year ACDA-MN does an outstanding job of putting together diverse interest and reading sessions to help re-energize the choral director's in our membership as we surge into the holiday season.
This morning I attended two interest sessions that addressed the concepts of creating a community within the choral classroom. First, Reid Larsen of Cottage Grove Middle School lead a session entitled, Finding Unison in a Harmonized World. Mr. Larsen did an excellent job of reminding us that there ways in which can get students to feel ownership in the ensemble. He suggested a variety of simple games that require interaction, communication, listening, and trust. Empowering students to be leaders and established community expectations has been effective in his classroom. His ideas were numerous, and Larsen invited many of us to share what has been effective in creating community in our classes, adding to the shared knowledge.
The second session, was lead by Steven Albaugh of Rosemount High School with a session entitled, Creating Connections in a Disconnected World. Mr. Albaugh did not provide us with handouts, but kept all of us very engaged in many of the activities he does on regular basis with his ensembles. (Sometimes handouts and powerpoint presentations can be distracting in an experiential interest session.) To boil it down, Albaugh shared ways in which he creates an energized, engaged, and invested community with his ensembles. His approaches range from silly to serious, and active movement to more quiet introspection. However, he picks activities and interactions that come naturally to him so they come across as genuine to his students. (At the same time, if we are encouraging our students to stretch outside of their comfort zones, we must be willing to do so as well.)
Overall, Reid Larsen and Steven Albaugh provided great information and encouragement for the rest of us to continue to create learning communities in our choral ensembles. It is important to remember that although we must worry about the notes, rhythms, and other content, in order to take our students to a higher experiential level we must take the time to build community in our ensembles. Likely, I am better at creating this environment than I give myself credit for, however I must continue to challenge myself to do more.
Today was day one of the Minnesota chapter of the American Choral Director's Association annual fall conference held at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church. Every year ACDA-MN does an outstanding job of putting together diverse interest and reading sessions to help re-energize the choral director's in our membership as we surge into the holiday season.
This morning I attended two interest sessions that addressed the concepts of creating a community within the choral classroom. First, Reid Larsen of Cottage Grove Middle School lead a session entitled, Finding Unison in a Harmonized World. Mr. Larsen did an excellent job of reminding us that there ways in which can get students to feel ownership in the ensemble. He suggested a variety of simple games that require interaction, communication, listening, and trust. Empowering students to be leaders and established community expectations has been effective in his classroom. His ideas were numerous, and Larsen invited many of us to share what has been effective in creating community in our classes, adding to the shared knowledge.
The second session, was lead by Steven Albaugh of Rosemount High School with a session entitled, Creating Connections in a Disconnected World. Mr. Albaugh did not provide us with handouts, but kept all of us very engaged in many of the activities he does on regular basis with his ensembles. (Sometimes handouts and powerpoint presentations can be distracting in an experiential interest session.) To boil it down, Albaugh shared ways in which he creates an energized, engaged, and invested community with his ensembles. His approaches range from silly to serious, and active movement to more quiet introspection. However, he picks activities and interactions that come naturally to him so they come across as genuine to his students. (At the same time, if we are encouraging our students to stretch outside of their comfort zones, we must be willing to do so as well.)
Overall, Reid Larsen and Steven Albaugh provided great information and encouragement for the rest of us to continue to create learning communities in our choral ensembles. It is important to remember that although we must worry about the notes, rhythms, and other content, in order to take our students to a higher experiential level we must take the time to build community in our ensembles. Likely, I am better at creating this environment than I give myself credit for, however I must continue to challenge myself to do more.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Choral Music of the Americas Symposium Day 1
North Dakota State University in Fargo in conjunction with the American Choral Director's Association hosted the Choral Music of the Americas Symposium this weekend May 3rd - 5th.
The blog entries over the next couple of days will serve as a collection of my thoughts for the sessions and concerts that I observed during the day. They may form the basis for a future article for the ACDA-MN quarterly publication Star of the North. The schedule is so full of interesting sessions it may take a few days to mentally unpack everything which I have heard and hopefully learned.
The days events began at 8:00 AM with a key note speech by ACDA Executive Director, Dr. Tim Sharp. The primary focus of the day was music of Latin America. Dr. William Belan of Cal-State Los Angeles presented upon the choral music of Costa Rica. Over the past thirty years, Dr. Belan has spent a lot of time contributing to and learning from the choral music community in Costa Rica. He has published over 100 Latin American choral pieces that he has either edited or arranged. Later in the afternoon, Maria Elina Mayorga and Ana Alejandra Blech presented the choral history and repertoire of Argentina. What I took away from these two sessions was there is a rich repertoire base from both the classical and folk traditions from the Latin American countries that are available for U.S. conductors to program. The pieces composed out of the sacred classical tradition provide a great fusion of classical form and indigineous rhythmic patterns. The pieces arranged from folk music or dance rhythms provide different tonal and rhythmic challenges for our students and singers to learn. Many of the folk arrangements could be programmed by vocal jazz ensembles because many of the Latin rhythms have fused with the jazz repertoire of the past half century.
Another session I found interesting from the days events included Brainerd Blyden-Taylor's presentation on Afrocentric Choral Traditions. Dr. Blyden-Taylor is the founder and artistic director of Toronto's Nathaniel Dett Chorale, a choir dedicated to the performance of Afro-centric music. He presented a packet of great spiritual literature from a variety of composers. I most appreciated his sharing some of the "forgotten" arrangements of Wendell Whalum and Nathaniel Dett. Adolphus Hailstork's "Set Me as a Seal", Ruth Watson Henderson's "Make Me a World", and Ivo Antognini's "I am the rose of Sharon" all stood out as a remarkable pieces from composers whom I have admired over the years.
In the afternoon, Dale Warland gave an interesting session on his 15 keys to improving choral tone. As a midwest educated choral director this was a fantastic session, but one that I have heard from Dr. Warland in the past. Inspiring and always a great refresher, but I won't elaborate upon it greatly here.
The evening concert was an enriching experience for the choirs of the greater Fargo-Moorhead community and many of the guest headlining conductors who came to the conference. I will elaborate upon it further on my next post.
The blog entries over the next couple of days will serve as a collection of my thoughts for the sessions and concerts that I observed during the day. They may form the basis for a future article for the ACDA-MN quarterly publication Star of the North. The schedule is so full of interesting sessions it may take a few days to mentally unpack everything which I have heard and hopefully learned.
The days events began at 8:00 AM with a key note speech by ACDA Executive Director, Dr. Tim Sharp. The primary focus of the day was music of Latin America. Dr. William Belan of Cal-State Los Angeles presented upon the choral music of Costa Rica. Over the past thirty years, Dr. Belan has spent a lot of time contributing to and learning from the choral music community in Costa Rica. He has published over 100 Latin American choral pieces that he has either edited or arranged. Later in the afternoon, Maria Elina Mayorga and Ana Alejandra Blech presented the choral history and repertoire of Argentina. What I took away from these two sessions was there is a rich repertoire base from both the classical and folk traditions from the Latin American countries that are available for U.S. conductors to program. The pieces composed out of the sacred classical tradition provide a great fusion of classical form and indigineous rhythmic patterns. The pieces arranged from folk music or dance rhythms provide different tonal and rhythmic challenges for our students and singers to learn. Many of the folk arrangements could be programmed by vocal jazz ensembles because many of the Latin rhythms have fused with the jazz repertoire of the past half century.
Another session I found interesting from the days events included Brainerd Blyden-Taylor's presentation on Afrocentric Choral Traditions. Dr. Blyden-Taylor is the founder and artistic director of Toronto's Nathaniel Dett Chorale, a choir dedicated to the performance of Afro-centric music. He presented a packet of great spiritual literature from a variety of composers. I most appreciated his sharing some of the "forgotten" arrangements of Wendell Whalum and Nathaniel Dett. Adolphus Hailstork's "Set Me as a Seal", Ruth Watson Henderson's "Make Me a World", and Ivo Antognini's "I am the rose of Sharon" all stood out as a remarkable pieces from composers whom I have admired over the years.
In the afternoon, Dale Warland gave an interesting session on his 15 keys to improving choral tone. As a midwest educated choral director this was a fantastic session, but one that I have heard from Dr. Warland in the past. Inspiring and always a great refresher, but I won't elaborate upon it greatly here.
The evening concert was an enriching experience for the choirs of the greater Fargo-Moorhead community and many of the guest headlining conductors who came to the conference. I will elaborate upon it further on my next post.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Job Update!
Super Quick Post...
The odyssey has ended. On Monday, I signed my contract for the Music Director of Traditional Worship at Gethsemane Lutheran in Maplewood, MN. Today, I was offered the 0.6 FTE High School Choir Director Position at Richfield (MN) High School, and have verbally accepted.
The odyssey has ended. On Monday, I signed my contract for the Music Director of Traditional Worship at Gethsemane Lutheran in Maplewood, MN. Today, I was offered the 0.6 FTE High School Choir Director Position at Richfield (MN) High School, and have verbally accepted.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Great Day at Iowa Choral Director's Association...
Quick post today...
I had a great day at the Iowa Choral Director's Association's 36th Annual Summer Symposium. The highlight of my day was co-leading the Ethnic and Multicultural Music Reading Session with Nick Page. The session was my last official duty as the out-going Repertoire and Standards Chair for E/M music. It was a pleasure to meet Nick, who is a wonderful person and a strong advocate for multicultural music as a bridge to understanding. Also, a special big thank you to my long-time friend Darcy Hendriks, who accompanied both Nick and I for the reading session.
Another great part of the day was the annual worship service held at the convention. This year's prayer service of hymns and scripture was lead by Michael Burkhardt. Dr. Burkhardt is a nationally renowned church musician, and he did a fantastic job creating this year's prayer service.
Carol Stewart's speech about the importance of our art upon receiving the Robert McCowen Award inspired and empowered. I hope to carry the echoes of her words a long time in my heart.
Finally, it was a bittersweet day for me. I have been an extremely active member of the Iowa Chapter of the American Choral Director's Association since joining in 2005. There are many men and women in the ICDA for whom I have developed a great deal of respect and admiration. Some of these colleagues have become like family. We rejoice in each other's success, and help each other in our moment's of professional frustration. It was humbling to hear so many of my colleagues who I admire, lament my departure from the state. It is great to feel that sense of belonging and appreciation.
As I re-establish myself in my home state of Minnesota, I am hopeful that I can develop similar professional connections. But to those brothers (and sisters) in song from Iowa, I will always remain close. I may make a point to come down to future ICDA conventions from time to time, but I will definitely see you at divisional and national conventions.
I had a great day at the Iowa Choral Director's Association's 36th Annual Summer Symposium. The highlight of my day was co-leading the Ethnic and Multicultural Music Reading Session with Nick Page. The session was my last official duty as the out-going Repertoire and Standards Chair for E/M music. It was a pleasure to meet Nick, who is a wonderful person and a strong advocate for multicultural music as a bridge to understanding. Also, a special big thank you to my long-time friend Darcy Hendriks, who accompanied both Nick and I for the reading session.
Another great part of the day was the annual worship service held at the convention. This year's prayer service of hymns and scripture was lead by Michael Burkhardt. Dr. Burkhardt is a nationally renowned church musician, and he did a fantastic job creating this year's prayer service.
Carol Stewart's speech about the importance of our art upon receiving the Robert McCowen Award inspired and empowered. I hope to carry the echoes of her words a long time in my heart.
Finally, it was a bittersweet day for me. I have been an extremely active member of the Iowa Chapter of the American Choral Director's Association since joining in 2005. There are many men and women in the ICDA for whom I have developed a great deal of respect and admiration. Some of these colleagues have become like family. We rejoice in each other's success, and help each other in our moment's of professional frustration. It was humbling to hear so many of my colleagues who I admire, lament my departure from the state. It is great to feel that sense of belonging and appreciation.
As I re-establish myself in my home state of Minnesota, I am hopeful that I can develop similar professional connections. But to those brothers (and sisters) in song from Iowa, I will always remain close. I may make a point to come down to future ICDA conventions from time to time, but I will definitely see you at divisional and national conventions.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
A preview for the Iowa Choral Director's Association Ethnic and Multicultural Music Reading Session
On Wednesday, July 27th, 2011 I will be presenting the ICDA Ethnic & Multicultural Perspectives reading session with the help of esteemed clinician Nick Page. For more information on Mr. Page please visit his website. The purpose of this blog is to provide as much additional information on the pieces printed for this year's reading session as possible. Where possible, I will provide the publishers link and any performance/recording links available. While compiling this years reading session list we tried to cover a variety of cultures. We also attempted to pick pieces that would cover ensembles from a variety of ages and ability levels. It was my goal to have an elementary music teacher and a collegiate choral director both have a couple pieces from this session worth considering.
I will write a second blog covering pieces suggested by Nick Page and a handful that did not make the final cut that I reviewed. Enjoy.
1. Bowling Green (2 part treble). arranged by Nick Page. Boosey & Hawkes (Hal Leonard) #48005003.
This selection is a Page arrangement of an American Bluegrass piece suitable for a middle school treble choir, originally commissioned by the Central Kentucky Children's Choir. This is an uptempo piece with sections of unison singing and simple harmonies. It is definitely a crowd pleaser. Originally performed and recorded by Cousin Emmy in the 1940s. Here is a decent live performance link via youtube.
2. Great Mornin' (2 part). arranged by Cristi Cary Miller. Hal Leonard #08552267.
This piece is a simple two part arrangement of four different African American Spirituals by Cristi Cary Miller. In my opinion Ms. Miller is one of the finest choral arrangers for developing voices active today. Her ability to interweave melodic material and create counter melodies that makes 2 part and Three Part Mixed choral music interesting for students to sing is outstanding. If you are not familiar with her arrangements, I highly recommend them. Here is the Hal Leonard link, with studio sound clip. Here is a youtube link that I found. Not the greatest video quality, but quality age appropriate performance.
3. "We're Goin' Around" from Treemonisha (SSAB). Scott Joplin / arranged by Nick Page. Boosey & Hawkes (Hal Leonard) #48019422.
This piece is another Page arrangement of a piece from Joplin's second opera, Treemonisha. Suitable for high school or more advanced junior high choirs, this piece exposes choral students to the ragtime genre. Ragtime of course is covered prominently by piano students, and its place in the history of African-American music is essential when one seeks to see the evolution of the spiritual to later styles like jazz, blues, and gospel. Here is the Hal Leonard link with a studio recording. Here is a youtube clip from the 2008 Windy City Youth Choir Festival - good quality.
4. Alma Llanera (SATB). Pedro Gutierrez / arranged by Angel Sauce. earthsongs #S-37.
This wonderful Venezuelan piece was selected by both Nick Page and myself separately. An SATB a cappella arrangement suitable for an advanced mixed ensemble (high school, collegiate, or community choir), Alma Llanera "is a joropo, a typical Venezuelan dance rhythm which is based on the simultaneous combination of 3/4 and 6/8 meter" (Maria Guinand's editorial notes at the back of the score). It is an exciting, spirited Latin American piece that will energize your concert program. Here is the earthsongs link on the publisher's website. There are a few youtube clips available. Here is one I found well done. Check out some others that add instrumental accompaniment (drums, guitar) to the piece.
5. Boatmen's Song (SSAA). Bright Sheng. G. Schirmer (Hal Leonard) #50486623.
Bright Sheng's arrangement of a folk song from the Shaanxi Province in China was originally commissioned by the Young People's Chorus of New York City under the direction of Francisco J. Nunez. Sheng is one of the premiere classical composers active today, but many may be unfamiliar with his work. It is a great opportunity to create a bridge for your singers to modern classical composers.
This piece is designed for an ADVANCED women's chorus or children's choir. In my opinion it is the most difficult piece in the session, and quite a challenge, but the end result is worth the effort. Here is the link to the program notes from Bright Sheng's website. Check it out further for more information about Dr. Sheng. Here is the Hal Leonard link with brief audio clip. A recording by the Young People's Chorus of New York can be found on their CD, Transient Glory 2.
6. Desh: An Indian Raga (TTBB). arranged by Ethan Sperry. earthsongs #S-330.
Staying on the Asian continent, we move down to India for an arrangement of Desh by Ethan Sperry, for advanced men's choir. This piece is also available from earthsongs in an SATB arrangement (#S-252). I have personally been intrigued by Indian choral music ever since I first heard, Victor Paranjoti's Dravidian Dithyramb. Dr. Sperry further contributes to this genre for earthsongs. Desh is named for a specific raga (ie. scale) that is similar to the major scale with a lowered seventh on the descent. Sperry provides very detailed ethno-musicological notes at the back of the score. The piece alternates between a slower 7/8 section, followed by a fast 4/4 essentially operating in cut time. Here is a link to the publisher's page. Here is a youtube link of the Miami University of Ohio Collegiate Chorale performing the SATB version, under the direction of Dr. Sperry. Outstanding and it works as a primary resource in your preparation.
7. Fog Elna Khel (SATB). arranged by Salim Bali. earthsongs #S-320.
Moving west to the Middle East, I chose a rare piece: choral music from a Middle Eastern country. Choral music is not a common art form in this part of the world, and Salim Bali's work has been an invaluable resource in cultivating music for this genre. Fog Elna Khel is an arrangement of a folk song with both Iraqi and Syrian origins. The part writing is excellent, and provides an opportunity to explore a non-Bel Canto singing technique with your ensemble (ie. bright and non-vibrato) to attempt to create a sound that is authentic to the Arab World. Although not overly complicated, I would recommend this piece for an advanced high school choir, beginning collegiate, or community ensemble. Here is the link to the publisher's webpage. And here is a youtube link. It appears to be a high school ensemble (unsure?), but fairly well done.
8. N'kosi Sikelel'i Afrika (unison to four parts a cappella). Joseph Shabalala and Nick Page. World Music Press VTS #14.
This another great selection contributed by Nick Page through his collaboration with Joseph Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. This is a four part arrangement of the South African National Anthem composed by Enoch Mankay Sontonga in 1897. The voicing is very flexible and therefore it is an approachable and programmable selection for any number of ensembles. Here is the link from World Music Press. Of course here is the famous video of Miriam Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and Paul Simon. In the words of Stan Lee, "Nuff said."
9. Hamisha Asar (3 part treble). Flory Jagoda / arranged by Nick Page. Boosey & Hawkes (Hal Leonard) #48004912.
This piece is an arrangement of a piece by Flory Jagoda by Nick Page. (Page also created an SATB arrangement.) Ms. Jagoda was a descendent of Sephardic Jews living in Bosnia. The lyrics are in Ladino which is a Spanish / Hebrew hybrid language. The piece dances in a fast, 7/8 meter, providing an energetic contrast in your program. Here is the Hal Leonard link. Here is a youtube link of the 2003 New Mexico All-State Women's Choir.
10. "Sano Duso" from Two Serbian Folk Songs (SATB). arranged by Tina Harrington. Pavane Publishing (Hal Leonard) #P1373.
Staying in the former Yugoslavia, I selected an arrangement of a Serbian folk song by Tina Harrington entitled Sano Duso. Oscillating between F minor and F major, the piece is about love and longing. This a great slower and deeply emotional piece for your programming. It sounds like a hybrid between Arabian and Russian influences, and considering the geographic location of Serbia and the country's history, this is not surprising. Here is the Hal Leonard link with a sound clip. And a youtube clip.
11. Ma come bali bene bela bimba (2 part). arranged by Mark Sirett. Boosey & Hawkes (Hal Leonard) #48019930.
This Venetian folk song is beautifully arranged for two part treble choir that would be well suited for an advanced middle school or junior high ensemble, or high school women's choir. A fantastic up tempo Italian piece. Here is the link to the Hal Leonard page with sample audio. And a youtube link, low quality recording, but gives you the idea.
12. D'ou Viens-tu, Bergere (2 part), by Thomas Bell. Hal Leonard #08751311.
An up tempo, French language piece with alternating meter composed by Bell for the Mississauga Children's Choir in Ontario. This is a great piece for middle school treble choirs with great part writing and strong unison sections. Here is the Hal Leonard link, with sample audio. Here is a great youtube clip of the Indianapolis Children's Choir performing the piece.
13. The True Lover's Farewell (SATB). arranged by Reginald Unterseher. Walton Music (Hal Leonard) #08501740.
This piece is a good arrangement of a traditional English folk song. Unterseher's arrangement is designed for female heavy junior high ensembles or beginning high school choirs in which the tenor part frequently doubles the soprano, and the bass line frequently doubles the alto. It is a great approach for developing choirs with changing voices. Here is the link to the Walton Music website with sound clip (very high quality).
Again, I hope this post provides an additional more in depth resource to the piece presented at this summer's reading session. Later, I will post a list of pieces that Nick Page and I considered for the reading session, but did not make the cut.
I will write a second blog covering pieces suggested by Nick Page and a handful that did not make the final cut that I reviewed. Enjoy.
1. Bowling Green (2 part treble). arranged by Nick Page. Boosey & Hawkes (Hal Leonard) #48005003.
This selection is a Page arrangement of an American Bluegrass piece suitable for a middle school treble choir, originally commissioned by the Central Kentucky Children's Choir. This is an uptempo piece with sections of unison singing and simple harmonies. It is definitely a crowd pleaser. Originally performed and recorded by Cousin Emmy in the 1940s. Here is a decent live performance link via youtube.
2. Great Mornin' (2 part). arranged by Cristi Cary Miller. Hal Leonard #08552267.
This piece is a simple two part arrangement of four different African American Spirituals by Cristi Cary Miller. In my opinion Ms. Miller is one of the finest choral arrangers for developing voices active today. Her ability to interweave melodic material and create counter melodies that makes 2 part and Three Part Mixed choral music interesting for students to sing is outstanding. If you are not familiar with her arrangements, I highly recommend them. Here is the Hal Leonard link, with studio sound clip. Here is a youtube link that I found. Not the greatest video quality, but quality age appropriate performance.
3. "We're Goin' Around" from Treemonisha (SSAB). Scott Joplin / arranged by Nick Page. Boosey & Hawkes (Hal Leonard) #48019422.
This piece is another Page arrangement of a piece from Joplin's second opera, Treemonisha. Suitable for high school or more advanced junior high choirs, this piece exposes choral students to the ragtime genre. Ragtime of course is covered prominently by piano students, and its place in the history of African-American music is essential when one seeks to see the evolution of the spiritual to later styles like jazz, blues, and gospel. Here is the Hal Leonard link with a studio recording. Here is a youtube clip from the 2008 Windy City Youth Choir Festival - good quality.
4. Alma Llanera (SATB). Pedro Gutierrez / arranged by Angel Sauce. earthsongs #S-37.
This wonderful Venezuelan piece was selected by both Nick Page and myself separately. An SATB a cappella arrangement suitable for an advanced mixed ensemble (high school, collegiate, or community choir), Alma Llanera "is a joropo, a typical Venezuelan dance rhythm which is based on the simultaneous combination of 3/4 and 6/8 meter" (Maria Guinand's editorial notes at the back of the score). It is an exciting, spirited Latin American piece that will energize your concert program. Here is the earthsongs link on the publisher's website. There are a few youtube clips available. Here is one I found well done. Check out some others that add instrumental accompaniment (drums, guitar) to the piece.
5. Boatmen's Song (SSAA). Bright Sheng. G. Schirmer (Hal Leonard) #50486623.
Bright Sheng's arrangement of a folk song from the Shaanxi Province in China was originally commissioned by the Young People's Chorus of New York City under the direction of Francisco J. Nunez. Sheng is one of the premiere classical composers active today, but many may be unfamiliar with his work. It is a great opportunity to create a bridge for your singers to modern classical composers.
This piece is designed for an ADVANCED women's chorus or children's choir. In my opinion it is the most difficult piece in the session, and quite a challenge, but the end result is worth the effort. Here is the link to the program notes from Bright Sheng's website. Check it out further for more information about Dr. Sheng. Here is the Hal Leonard link with brief audio clip. A recording by the Young People's Chorus of New York can be found on their CD, Transient Glory 2.
6. Desh: An Indian Raga (TTBB). arranged by Ethan Sperry. earthsongs #S-330.
Staying on the Asian continent, we move down to India for an arrangement of Desh by Ethan Sperry, for advanced men's choir. This piece is also available from earthsongs in an SATB arrangement (#S-252). I have personally been intrigued by Indian choral music ever since I first heard, Victor Paranjoti's Dravidian Dithyramb. Dr. Sperry further contributes to this genre for earthsongs. Desh is named for a specific raga (ie. scale) that is similar to the major scale with a lowered seventh on the descent. Sperry provides very detailed ethno-musicological notes at the back of the score. The piece alternates between a slower 7/8 section, followed by a fast 4/4 essentially operating in cut time. Here is a link to the publisher's page. Here is a youtube link of the Miami University of Ohio Collegiate Chorale performing the SATB version, under the direction of Dr. Sperry. Outstanding and it works as a primary resource in your preparation.
7. Fog Elna Khel (SATB). arranged by Salim Bali. earthsongs #S-320.
Moving west to the Middle East, I chose a rare piece: choral music from a Middle Eastern country. Choral music is not a common art form in this part of the world, and Salim Bali's work has been an invaluable resource in cultivating music for this genre. Fog Elna Khel is an arrangement of a folk song with both Iraqi and Syrian origins. The part writing is excellent, and provides an opportunity to explore a non-Bel Canto singing technique with your ensemble (ie. bright and non-vibrato) to attempt to create a sound that is authentic to the Arab World. Although not overly complicated, I would recommend this piece for an advanced high school choir, beginning collegiate, or community ensemble. Here is the link to the publisher's webpage. And here is a youtube link. It appears to be a high school ensemble (unsure?), but fairly well done.
8. N'kosi Sikelel'i Afrika (unison to four parts a cappella). Joseph Shabalala and Nick Page. World Music Press VTS #14.
This another great selection contributed by Nick Page through his collaboration with Joseph Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. This is a four part arrangement of the South African National Anthem composed by Enoch Mankay Sontonga in 1897. The voicing is very flexible and therefore it is an approachable and programmable selection for any number of ensembles. Here is the link from World Music Press. Of course here is the famous video of Miriam Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and Paul Simon. In the words of Stan Lee, "Nuff said."
9. Hamisha Asar (3 part treble). Flory Jagoda / arranged by Nick Page. Boosey & Hawkes (Hal Leonard) #48004912.
This piece is an arrangement of a piece by Flory Jagoda by Nick Page. (Page also created an SATB arrangement.) Ms. Jagoda was a descendent of Sephardic Jews living in Bosnia. The lyrics are in Ladino which is a Spanish / Hebrew hybrid language. The piece dances in a fast, 7/8 meter, providing an energetic contrast in your program. Here is the Hal Leonard link. Here is a youtube link of the 2003 New Mexico All-State Women's Choir.
10. "Sano Duso" from Two Serbian Folk Songs (SATB). arranged by Tina Harrington. Pavane Publishing (Hal Leonard) #P1373.
Staying in the former Yugoslavia, I selected an arrangement of a Serbian folk song by Tina Harrington entitled Sano Duso. Oscillating between F minor and F major, the piece is about love and longing. This a great slower and deeply emotional piece for your programming. It sounds like a hybrid between Arabian and Russian influences, and considering the geographic location of Serbia and the country's history, this is not surprising. Here is the Hal Leonard link with a sound clip. And a youtube clip.
11. Ma come bali bene bela bimba (2 part). arranged by Mark Sirett. Boosey & Hawkes (Hal Leonard) #48019930.
This Venetian folk song is beautifully arranged for two part treble choir that would be well suited for an advanced middle school or junior high ensemble, or high school women's choir. A fantastic up tempo Italian piece. Here is the link to the Hal Leonard page with sample audio. And a youtube link, low quality recording, but gives you the idea.
12. D'ou Viens-tu, Bergere (2 part), by Thomas Bell. Hal Leonard #08751311.
An up tempo, French language piece with alternating meter composed by Bell for the Mississauga Children's Choir in Ontario. This is a great piece for middle school treble choirs with great part writing and strong unison sections. Here is the Hal Leonard link, with sample audio. Here is a great youtube clip of the Indianapolis Children's Choir performing the piece.
13. The True Lover's Farewell (SATB). arranged by Reginald Unterseher. Walton Music (Hal Leonard) #08501740.
This piece is a good arrangement of a traditional English folk song. Unterseher's arrangement is designed for female heavy junior high ensembles or beginning high school choirs in which the tenor part frequently doubles the soprano, and the bass line frequently doubles the alto. It is a great approach for developing choirs with changing voices. Here is the link to the Walton Music website with sound clip (very high quality).
Again, I hope this post provides an additional more in depth resource to the piece presented at this summer's reading session. Later, I will post a list of pieces that Nick Page and I considered for the reading session, but did not make the cut.
Monday, June 13, 2011
The interview process...
This evening I will be interviewing for a church music position in the Twin Cities metro area, and in preparation for the interview the pastor sent me two questions to contemplate ahead of time. I appreciate it when future employers give me opportunities to think of my answers ahead of time. In this situation, I found the questions to be quite thought provoking. So much so, that the questions alone make me more excited at the prospect of working for this particular church.
As I began meditating upon these questions, I thought, "This would make a good blog entry, and making it a blog entry may help me articulate my answers better." Out of respect for the church, I will keep the identity of the church and its denomination out of my answers below.
Question #1 - Being a choral director in a church involves the intersection of music, theology, and the worship life of the church. How do you understand these multiple aspects of the job?
This question describes the essential distinction between the job of the church choir director, and a choir director in any other position. I believe it is the job of the church choir director to enhance the worship experience of the congregation. However this "enhancement" is not done by merely adding wonderful choral anthems to the worship setting, but by inviting and encouraging the members of the congregation to become more actively engaged in worship. As a church musician, it is my job to prevent congregants from becoming mere spectators in the liturgy. Too often in recent years, I have observed congregants of various denominations and social make ups exist as non-participating members of the worship service. As a musician and person of faith who believes that speaking the prayers and singing the liturgy is an essential part of the worship experience this trend baffles, and to an extent, frightens me.
Early on in my professional career I had the fortune of working for two ELCA churches that were very traditional in their liturgy, but also maintained strong congregational participation. As a liturgical snob/traditionalist, I took great pride to work for such churches. I realize now that this is the exception. However over the past decade, I have attended churches that utilize worship and praise bands and a more contemporary liturgy, but suffer from the same spectator worship. This has lead me to the conclusion that it is not entirely the music, nor is it the fault of the congregation.
The worship leadership must find a way to implement music in the liturgy that members of the congregation will feel comfortable singing. Part of this process is selecting quality music in a singable range. Some older hymns and contemporary worship songs have melodic material that ranges to wide or sits in a higher tessitura. The other part is educating the congregation. The choir can be utilized either directly or indirectly when introducing new music to educate and provide support to the congregation. If a new hymn is being introduced, it would be wise to teach it to the choir the week before, and then allow them to sit with their families throughout the sanctuary to provide a security net for the remainder of the congregation. If an unfamiliar or new liturgy is implemented for a portion of the church year (ie. Lent), I have found it is beneficial to educate the congregation regarding the unfamiliar music with the choir and cantors directly. More often than not, congregants want to participate in the liturgy, but if they are unfamiliar with the text or music they do not feel comfortable doing so.
In conclusion, the choir director can provide very beneficial leadership within the worship team to invite the congregation to actively participate in the liturgical celebration. In the end this is what we all want when we attend worship. We want to "get something out of it", but to do so we must participate, and help others to do so.
Question #2: (The church) designates two Sundays each year - one in Advent and one in the Spring - as "Choral Music Sundays." The choir director has the creative license to design the entire service. What kinds of "all music" Sundays would you envision?
I am certain other choir directors who might read this blog share my view that his aspect of the job is awesome. To be entrusted with the planning of two worship services in a year that features your preferred art form as a central component to worship is a tremendous honor and responsibility. This is an extremely exciting aspect of this particular position, because it hints to the importance that the congregation and pastor holds the use of music within the liturgy. As a choral musician how I could help but not want to work in an environment like that.
Enough of my gushing... onto the actual answering of the question...
As a member of the American Choral Director's Association and specifically and extremely active member of the Iowa chapter over the past five years, I have participated in and witnessed some wonderful worship and music sessions and services at regional and national conventions, and state summer conventions. Clinicians that particularly struck a chord with me include Dr. John Ferguson of St. Olaf College and Dr. Joey Martin of Texas State University - San Marcos. Ferguson and Martin have drastically different approaches to music in worship with the former taking a more traditional approach, and the latter using a more eclectic/contemporary approach. However both are successful in touching the congregation on a musical and spiritual level. That is what is important.
Advent...
During the Advent season the natural approach is to have a service of lessons and carols, which is an Anglican tradition that many denominations have embraced. (Forgive the wikipedia reference, not very "academic.") The options vary. The most obvious is to begin with the established Nine Lesson and Carols tradition at King's College, and modify the selection of hymns and carols based upon the traditions of the church and the ability of the choral ensemble. One would be to create my own selecting readings, hymns, and anthems that interconnect from the church's established choral library, with a few newer purchases depending on the allowance of the budget. In this approach, I sometimes like to replace some of the scriptural reading with sacred poetry. This was an approach I used frequently as a Catholic high school choir director in Iowa. This particular thread from Choralnet was invaluable in developing this idea. Another idea is to purchase a complete published Lessons and Carols service from a music publisher. In recent years composers and librettists have created entire compositions around this idea. Some publishers that have these compositions within their catalogues include: Augusburg Fortress, MorningStar, Concordia Publishing, among others. I would admittedly need to more fully examine each potential composition before recommending this approach.
Spring...
When examining potential options for Choral Music Sundays during the spring there are many more variables. Is this particular Sunday occurring in Lent, during the Easter Season, or after Pentecost? What are the scheduled readings for that Sunday? Is there a special occasion that occurs on this Sunday? Hymn sings are a possibility. However in these incidents, I am inclined to explore unique worship music possibilities. In recent years I have been increasingly interested in the work of the All Saints Company attached with St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. The ASC's program of Music that Makes Community focuses upon learning congregational music from rote based upon the folk traditions of the past. I have only scratched the surface of ASC's ideas, but I think it is something worth exploring and has great potential.
Well the interview is tonight. Hopefully, my thoughts on the questions above will help me in the interview process. If nothing else, the questions have helped me in greater depth about the role of the choral director in a church setting.
As I began meditating upon these questions, I thought, "This would make a good blog entry, and making it a blog entry may help me articulate my answers better." Out of respect for the church, I will keep the identity of the church and its denomination out of my answers below.
Question #1 - Being a choral director in a church involves the intersection of music, theology, and the worship life of the church. How do you understand these multiple aspects of the job?
This question describes the essential distinction between the job of the church choir director, and a choir director in any other position. I believe it is the job of the church choir director to enhance the worship experience of the congregation. However this "enhancement" is not done by merely adding wonderful choral anthems to the worship setting, but by inviting and encouraging the members of the congregation to become more actively engaged in worship. As a church musician, it is my job to prevent congregants from becoming mere spectators in the liturgy. Too often in recent years, I have observed congregants of various denominations and social make ups exist as non-participating members of the worship service. As a musician and person of faith who believes that speaking the prayers and singing the liturgy is an essential part of the worship experience this trend baffles, and to an extent, frightens me.
Early on in my professional career I had the fortune of working for two ELCA churches that were very traditional in their liturgy, but also maintained strong congregational participation. As a liturgical snob/traditionalist, I took great pride to work for such churches. I realize now that this is the exception. However over the past decade, I have attended churches that utilize worship and praise bands and a more contemporary liturgy, but suffer from the same spectator worship. This has lead me to the conclusion that it is not entirely the music, nor is it the fault of the congregation.
The worship leadership must find a way to implement music in the liturgy that members of the congregation will feel comfortable singing. Part of this process is selecting quality music in a singable range. Some older hymns and contemporary worship songs have melodic material that ranges to wide or sits in a higher tessitura. The other part is educating the congregation. The choir can be utilized either directly or indirectly when introducing new music to educate and provide support to the congregation. If a new hymn is being introduced, it would be wise to teach it to the choir the week before, and then allow them to sit with their families throughout the sanctuary to provide a security net for the remainder of the congregation. If an unfamiliar or new liturgy is implemented for a portion of the church year (ie. Lent), I have found it is beneficial to educate the congregation regarding the unfamiliar music with the choir and cantors directly. More often than not, congregants want to participate in the liturgy, but if they are unfamiliar with the text or music they do not feel comfortable doing so.
In conclusion, the choir director can provide very beneficial leadership within the worship team to invite the congregation to actively participate in the liturgical celebration. In the end this is what we all want when we attend worship. We want to "get something out of it", but to do so we must participate, and help others to do so.
Question #2: (The church) designates two Sundays each year - one in Advent and one in the Spring - as "Choral Music Sundays." The choir director has the creative license to design the entire service. What kinds of "all music" Sundays would you envision?
I am certain other choir directors who might read this blog share my view that his aspect of the job is awesome. To be entrusted with the planning of two worship services in a year that features your preferred art form as a central component to worship is a tremendous honor and responsibility. This is an extremely exciting aspect of this particular position, because it hints to the importance that the congregation and pastor holds the use of music within the liturgy. As a choral musician how I could help but not want to work in an environment like that.
Enough of my gushing... onto the actual answering of the question...
As a member of the American Choral Director's Association and specifically and extremely active member of the Iowa chapter over the past five years, I have participated in and witnessed some wonderful worship and music sessions and services at regional and national conventions, and state summer conventions. Clinicians that particularly struck a chord with me include Dr. John Ferguson of St. Olaf College and Dr. Joey Martin of Texas State University - San Marcos. Ferguson and Martin have drastically different approaches to music in worship with the former taking a more traditional approach, and the latter using a more eclectic/contemporary approach. However both are successful in touching the congregation on a musical and spiritual level. That is what is important.
Advent...
During the Advent season the natural approach is to have a service of lessons and carols, which is an Anglican tradition that many denominations have embraced. (Forgive the wikipedia reference, not very "academic.") The options vary. The most obvious is to begin with the established Nine Lesson and Carols tradition at King's College, and modify the selection of hymns and carols based upon the traditions of the church and the ability of the choral ensemble. One would be to create my own selecting readings, hymns, and anthems that interconnect from the church's established choral library, with a few newer purchases depending on the allowance of the budget. In this approach, I sometimes like to replace some of the scriptural reading with sacred poetry. This was an approach I used frequently as a Catholic high school choir director in Iowa. This particular thread from Choralnet was invaluable in developing this idea. Another idea is to purchase a complete published Lessons and Carols service from a music publisher. In recent years composers and librettists have created entire compositions around this idea. Some publishers that have these compositions within their catalogues include: Augusburg Fortress, MorningStar, Concordia Publishing, among others. I would admittedly need to more fully examine each potential composition before recommending this approach.
Spring...
When examining potential options for Choral Music Sundays during the spring there are many more variables. Is this particular Sunday occurring in Lent, during the Easter Season, or after Pentecost? What are the scheduled readings for that Sunday? Is there a special occasion that occurs on this Sunday? Hymn sings are a possibility. However in these incidents, I am inclined to explore unique worship music possibilities. In recent years I have been increasingly interested in the work of the All Saints Company attached with St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. The ASC's program of Music that Makes Community focuses upon learning congregational music from rote based upon the folk traditions of the past. I have only scratched the surface of ASC's ideas, but I think it is something worth exploring and has great potential.
Well the interview is tonight. Hopefully, my thoughts on the questions above will help me in the interview process. If nothing else, the questions have helped me in greater depth about the role of the choral director in a church setting.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Sifting through the trash to find treasure...
One of my greatest joys over the past year was serving as the R&S Chair of Ethnic and Multicultural Music for the Iowa Choral Director's Association. Part of the fun was sifting through all of the new octavos published by the various music publishers in the past year and determining which had value. That was also a major part of the burden of the position. "Value" is a difficult label, because much of what is published does not excite me as a "choral snob", but one must look at each score from different perspectives to determine its merit. To be perfectly honest too much of what is published is not worth performing.
First and foremost, one must determine the intended audience of each octavo. Was this piece written for elementary choir or an advanced collegiate / professional ensemble (or somewhere in between)? How well does this piece serve the purpose for the given ensemble? Admittedly, there is a lot of music written for elementary and middle school choirs that lacks substance and quality, and I as an educator would avoid programming many of these pieces. There are composers and arrangers for young voices who do outstanding work to create worthwhile octavos for those embryonic performers. (Christi Cary Miller is an arranger that is outstanding for young choirs.) Conversely, there is also repertoire written for advanced ensembles that appear composed as a compositional exercise, and fail to move me as a listener. Difficulty for the sake of difficulty.
How do we find pieces that inspire and move? None of what I will say here is ground breaking. In fact these are beliefs "stolen" from teachers and colleagues with whom I have had the fortune to come in contact over the course of my career. Often these same inspiring mentors unabashadly admit they "stole" their successful ideas from someone else. I am merely paying it forward.
My first qualifier is the text. Do the words inspire me? Now granted there are moments in concerts where we as directors will program pieces from the popular or broadway repertoire that are meant to humor or entertain an audience. But, if you look closely, even those pieces grab us because of the lyrics.
My second qualifier is the part writing. Is the melodic line that the composer shapes memorable? Are the harmonic parts accessible for the interior voices without being too dull (poor altos). Are the root movements in the bass line singable for those men? Are the different voice parts written in a manner that all components can be heard, or is the part writing too dense to reveal the true beauty of the piece.
My third qualifier is generally a result of the sum of the previous two: Does the piece have a moment that leaves the audience moved in some way (awestruck, shaken, smiling, or entertained)? For a piece of music to be memorable for conductor, performer, and audience alike it needs to have a moment that stands from the rest, some sort of "climax" if you will. However the climax does not have to be loud or audacious, it can be as simple as one lone voice pleading for forgiveness.
Over the course of my time writing this web-log, I intend to look through my stacks of choral rep (multicultural or otherwise) and give my thoughts on the subject. If anyone follows, it would be great to hear your thoughts on the manner. I wish I had started this venture sooner, I am excited for the intellectual stimulation it may create. Admittedly, I will post about other aspects of a life as a choral director and educator, but as my graduate school mentor Dr. Brad Barrett always said, "Repertoire, repertoire, repertoire."
First and foremost, one must determine the intended audience of each octavo. Was this piece written for elementary choir or an advanced collegiate / professional ensemble (or somewhere in between)? How well does this piece serve the purpose for the given ensemble? Admittedly, there is a lot of music written for elementary and middle school choirs that lacks substance and quality, and I as an educator would avoid programming many of these pieces. There are composers and arrangers for young voices who do outstanding work to create worthwhile octavos for those embryonic performers. (Christi Cary Miller is an arranger that is outstanding for young choirs.) Conversely, there is also repertoire written for advanced ensembles that appear composed as a compositional exercise, and fail to move me as a listener. Difficulty for the sake of difficulty.
How do we find pieces that inspire and move? None of what I will say here is ground breaking. In fact these are beliefs "stolen" from teachers and colleagues with whom I have had the fortune to come in contact over the course of my career. Often these same inspiring mentors unabashadly admit they "stole" their successful ideas from someone else. I am merely paying it forward.
My first qualifier is the text. Do the words inspire me? Now granted there are moments in concerts where we as directors will program pieces from the popular or broadway repertoire that are meant to humor or entertain an audience. But, if you look closely, even those pieces grab us because of the lyrics.
My second qualifier is the part writing. Is the melodic line that the composer shapes memorable? Are the harmonic parts accessible for the interior voices without being too dull (poor altos). Are the root movements in the bass line singable for those men? Are the different voice parts written in a manner that all components can be heard, or is the part writing too dense to reveal the true beauty of the piece.
My third qualifier is generally a result of the sum of the previous two: Does the piece have a moment that leaves the audience moved in some way (awestruck, shaken, smiling, or entertained)? For a piece of music to be memorable for conductor, performer, and audience alike it needs to have a moment that stands from the rest, some sort of "climax" if you will. However the climax does not have to be loud or audacious, it can be as simple as one lone voice pleading for forgiveness.
Over the course of my time writing this web-log, I intend to look through my stacks of choral rep (multicultural or otherwise) and give my thoughts on the subject. If anyone follows, it would be great to hear your thoughts on the manner. I wish I had started this venture sooner, I am excited for the intellectual stimulation it may create. Admittedly, I will post about other aspects of a life as a choral director and educator, but as my graduate school mentor Dr. Brad Barrett always said, "Repertoire, repertoire, repertoire."
Choral Conductor as "Addict"
So what is the purpose of this blog? Will anyone read it? Or is this merely an exercise for me to work out my own intelluctual problems?
First the genesis of the title of this blog, which is a long convaluted story. Recently, I have been reading a book that I have been planning to read for a long time, Parker's "Once a Runner". I was a competitive distance runner in high school and college, and took pride in my athletic achievements no matter how humble. Early in the book Parker describes the obsessively regimented life of a competitive distance runner. I remember it well. My entire schedule was centered around when I was going to "get my miles in" for the day to contribute to my ever increasing weekly mileage goal. I miss that compulsion, which leads me to the greater realization I have what one might call an "addictive personality".
How so...
It is human nature for people to harbor some sort of compulsion or addictive behavior. I would venture to label my compulsion is border line hoarding. Looking back on my life I have collected or horded a lot of things: comic books, sports cards, video games, CDs, books, and now choral music octavos. Unfortunately, I still possess many of these items, which reminds of the idea that we can be "weighed down by our possessions." I need to declutter, especially now
Conversely, I would argue that being single-minded or compulsive in our pursuits and behavior is not all bad. As long as I pick and choose where I allow my addictive behavior to manifest itself, it can contribute positively to my life. So I have decided to be addicted to these things:
1.) My family - my wife and children always number one on my list.
2.) My faith - when I remain active in a faith a community, and my own spiritual development, that is when I feel focused.
3.) Running - I know I won't run a mile in about 4:45 again, but I could sure stand to get back in the healthy habit of distance running. I often equated my distance running sessions in my youth as "mobile meditation".
4.) Choral music - however, admittedly I could stand to pair down the choral octavo library, and book collection. This blog will serve as an outlet for this addiction as I write about choral topics I find interest in.
That means all the fairly meaningless distractions of my long ago youth need to be sold off, given away, or just thrown out. Only by simplification and focus can we maximize our potential.
First the genesis of the title of this blog, which is a long convaluted story. Recently, I have been reading a book that I have been planning to read for a long time, Parker's "Once a Runner". I was a competitive distance runner in high school and college, and took pride in my athletic achievements no matter how humble. Early in the book Parker describes the obsessively regimented life of a competitive distance runner. I remember it well. My entire schedule was centered around when I was going to "get my miles in" for the day to contribute to my ever increasing weekly mileage goal. I miss that compulsion, which leads me to the greater realization I have what one might call an "addictive personality".
How so...
It is human nature for people to harbor some sort of compulsion or addictive behavior. I would venture to label my compulsion is border line hoarding. Looking back on my life I have collected or horded a lot of things: comic books, sports cards, video games, CDs, books, and now choral music octavos. Unfortunately, I still possess many of these items, which reminds of the idea that we can be "weighed down by our possessions." I need to declutter, especially now
Conversely, I would argue that being single-minded or compulsive in our pursuits and behavior is not all bad. As long as I pick and choose where I allow my addictive behavior to manifest itself, it can contribute positively to my life. So I have decided to be addicted to these things:
1.) My family - my wife and children always number one on my list.
2.) My faith - when I remain active in a faith a community, and my own spiritual development, that is when I feel focused.
3.) Running - I know I won't run a mile in about 4:45 again, but I could sure stand to get back in the healthy habit of distance running. I often equated my distance running sessions in my youth as "mobile meditation".
4.) Choral music - however, admittedly I could stand to pair down the choral octavo library, and book collection. This blog will serve as an outlet for this addiction as I write about choral topics I find interest in.
That means all the fairly meaningless distractions of my long ago youth need to be sold off, given away, or just thrown out. Only by simplification and focus can we maximize our potential.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
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