ChoralBuzz 
Date: June 11, 2013 by Scott Dorsey  Views: 156
The composer first transmits his musical image to the conductor through the medium of the music score. The conductor in turn recreates this image as faithfully as possible in his own mind, and communicates it to his chorus through conductorial and verbal signs and symbols, supplemented by the score in the hands of the singers. Then, manifest in the magic of sound. the music finds fulfillment in the response of the listener.
What a complex of communication this is, and how fraught with the chance of error! During this entire process the music should not change its elemental nature any more than water does as it permutes from icy solid to liquid and then to gas. But the chemistry of music is less predictable than that of water. Without constant vigilance the chain of communication may break down at several points and the elements of the music be distorted in transit.
In the first place, efficient transmission of the music from the mind of the composer to the mind of the conductor relies on a very primitive and anachronistic medium, music notation. Secondly, communication of this recreated image to the chorus is efficient or not according to the effectiveness of the conductor's conducting techniques, his verbal expressiveness and the receptivity of the singers. Most critical of all is the final phase of this chain of communication when the breath of life is breathed into the music through the miracle of concerted response.
It is the conductor who stands at the very center of this transmission complex, and who must accept major responsibility for its success or failure. Indeed. he is involved in communication as surely as AT&T. And he is well-named "conductor", for like the conductor of electricity, the copper wire, he provides the chief channel for the current.
Date: June 6, 2013 by Scott Dorsey Views: 241
During the decade just past, we have gotten used to seeing the world divided into two parts-the developed and the underdeveloped. To bring this closer, the ghetto and suburbia have become America's two worlds. Each can be characterized as developed and underdeveloped.
"The central issue of our time remains the fact that the rich are getting richer and the poor-poorer," says Ivan Illich.
In the United States, for all its gargantuan prosperity, real poverty levels rise faster than the median income. In the capital-starved countries, median incomes move rapidly away from rising averages. Most goods now produced for rich and poor alike in the United States are beyond the reach of all but a few in other areas. This is not a message of doom, but a desperate plea for a change of direction. I am convinced that Music can do it.
During the decade now beginning, we must learn a new language, a language that speaks not of development and underdevelopment, but of true and false ideas about man, his deeds, and his potential. There must be a growing awareness of the cultural contributions of all men; a utilization of the history of blacks, chicanos and other minorities; an inclusion of compositions by indigenous native composers in all programs; an insistence that centers like the Black Music and Latin-American Centers at Indiana University, Bloomington, be readily accessible in more strategic locations in the United States; that conductors read seriously John Hope Franklin, Cesar Chavez's story; The L. A. Times' story on the life of reporter, Ruben Salazar; Black Music in Our Culture, a complication of discussions at the June 1969 Black Music Seminar, Indiana University, by Dr. T. J. Anderson (artist in residence, Atlanta Symphony), Oily Wilson (University of California, Berkeley), Hale Smith, Dave Baker, Dr. William Grant Still - all well-known black composers currently listed in the Schwann Catalogue; Black Americans and Their Music, a magnificent 300-year history of music making by blacks, written by the eminently qualified black musicologist. Dr. Aileen Suthern, Queens College, New York: Blues People and Black Music bv Leroi Jones, must be included to get a complete picture. Read the article about America's great black choral conductor, Hall Johnson, appearing in the January 1971 ACDA Journal.
Date: June 5, 2013 by Scott Dorsey Views: 86
Singers, whether as soloists or as choristers, are forever engaged in communicating text, often of profound import, which has been enhanced by and further revealed through its musical setting. The soloist becomes one with the music he projects; the personal unity brought about with much soul searching and travail by the solo singer must be achieved for the chorus by its director. His responsibility is a great one as he seeks to mold his chorus to think about, make response to, and project music as one body. It is a great moment in art when a singer or a chorus achieves an exalted performance of a great work, when an audience has been moved deeply by such inspired statement in music.
We have all known such moments; we are met tonight and will meet again and again to find ways that more people may share such experiences. We are not so naive as to assume that such music will be heard merely by our willing it to be so. Ours is the task of providing the many means through which such musical tasks can be accomplished.
Date: May 30, 2013 by Scott Dorsey Views: 190
Giles Farnaby was born about 1565 although the actual date is not known. Because his music does not occur in The Triumphs of Orialla, many scholars believed his death to be about 1600, but recent investigation puts it much later, probably around 1630. Barnaby received a Bachelor of Music degree at Oxford in 1592. His last known musical compositions date from 1625, but they are not complete. As a writer for the virginal, his work was of a high standard and amount with almost fifty separate pieces. Yet, Thurston Dart correctly pointed out in the 1962 revision of Fellowes' edition (1), that the quality found in the music of Giles Farnaby may be attributed to his "freshness and gusto" rather than his technical skills.
Possibly his most important set of music was his Canzonets to Four Voices, published in 1598. There are twenty canzonets whose texts speak on various situations of love and/or passion. Some of the stylistic characteristics of Farnaby's canzonets are his lack of concern over the use of parallel fifths, octaves, etc.; his sometimes striking use of chromaticism; and his frequently complex rhythmic designs.
Certain characteristics may be observed in the twenty cazonets of Giles Farnaby:
1. Lack of solid technical writing skills typical of other contemporaries.
2. Inventive and fresh settings.
3. Consistent use of imitation.
4. All had four voices but the exact classification varies.
5. Wide ranges occur, especially in inner voices.
6. Most canozet settings are brief.
7. Chromaticism abounds.
8. Texts concern love (passion).
9. Syllabic setting of text dominates.
10. Text (word) painting moderately employed.
Date: May 29, 2013 by Scott Dorsey Views: 214
 (An excerpt from the interest session, “Dynamic Score Study: A Model for Teaching and Learning from the Art Museum," by Andrew Crow. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.)
One of the barriers we face in carving out time for score study is the silent and perhaps even tedious nature of the task. We stand a better chance of inspiring students to pursue score study with diligence if we avoid the “have-to’s” and consider it a sport.
Our overarching process is to examine the piece at a level closer, and closer, seeing greater detail, down to the closest note-by-note basis in our musical analogy. Then, we’ll work our way back out to gain perspective until we see the whole again.
For most of the process, score study occurs in silence and our goal has been to see everything that the composer put into the piece – we have “decomposed” it, as though reducing an elaborate meal to its raw ingredients. Next, we turn around and begin to reconstruct the recipe as we work our way back out, adding sound by sound until we have made the performance.
Remember that the ensemble’s rehearsal is the conductor’s performance. Our first rehearsal must be fully fledged, having traveled the full journey of score study to arrive at that moment. What remains of the process for us it to fit the composition to the ensemble and to wrap the ensemble around the composition itself.
Learning the score is not the ultimate goal of our study. Our goal is to make connections and the score/the music is our tool. In order to do this, we hold up the composition and treat the music itself as a frame, not an object. The frame holds a window through which we see a composer in the near or distant past. We see a culture near or far away. Hold it up again and we see that the frame holds also a mirror that reflects our own time and our own cultural image.
(The ACDA National Conference is just one of the many benefits of membership in the American Choral Directors Association. Join ACDA today.)
Date: May 28, 2013 by Scott Dorsey Views: 477
Beautiful tone is the desired result of all good singing. Understanding the vocal mechanism and its unique capabilities will lead to this result. Good singers need to develop an awareness of 1) breath control, 2) tonal support, 3) voice placement, 4) tone quality, 5) tonal resonance, 6) intonation, 7) balance and blend when singing with others, 8) diction, 9) sensitivity to the music and lyrics, and 10) stylistic authenticity.
No matter what type or style of music being performed (Bach, rock, opera, jazz, etc.), the basic concepts of good singing always apply. Good singing technique does not change with the style of music; what changes is the approach to the basic musical concepts as they apply to that particular style of music. This means a change in approach to 1) tone, 2) diction, 3) rhythmic interpretation, 4) articulation, and 5) sensitivity to the lyrics.
We all know the difference between a voice teacher and a vocal coach, but many of our students do not. We encourage our singers to take private voice lessons and we advise our advance students to work with a vocal coach. When this is not possible, we bring the teacher/coach into our group lessons and masterclasses. In this way, we avoid vocal abuse and encourage good vocal technique and health. In essence, we all benefit-our choirs sing better and sound better!
Date: May 25, 2013 by Scott Dorsey Views: 540
Monkeying around with the classics is rarely a smart move. But these talented comedic artists obviously hold the original material (used in this column last week) in the highest respect, as this is really well done.
It’s Memorial Day weekend. Here’s wishing everyone a safe and restful summer break!
Date: May 23, 2013 by Scott Dorsey Views: 345
Choral directors can foster even stronger partnerships with their choir members if they occasionally ask them what their individual objectives are. For example, a choral director might say, "Yesterday we sang measures 40 to 72 unaccompanied and in tune. With that in mind, what would be our next step to sing these measures artistically? Let's select one specific objective and determine how we will know we accomplished that objective in our rehearsal today." By taking the time to do this, students begin to think critically about their learning and it promotes their active engagement in the rehearsal. It also fosters a sense of ownership of the process among the choir members. This can be a powerful and motivating force for many middle school students, who are at an age where they are seeking greater autonomy and more decision-making power.
These examples undoubtedly resonate with the experiences of many middle school choral directors, and they are validated by Saphier and Gower's research. When students know specifically what they are supposed to do, they are more likely to work harder toward the objective. Moreover, when students are actively involved in a rehearsal, they are more likely to remember what they learned when they come back to rehearsal the next time.
Middle school students are also more likely to achieve when they know the time frame in which they are expected to accomplish objectives. Thus, a choral director could include the time he or she intends to spend on each piece planned for the rehearsal with the daily agenda. When students know they have limited to accomplish an objective, their sense of urgency and engagement will be more focused, heightening their involvement.
Date: May 22, 2013 by Scott Dorsey Views: 395
 (An excerpt from the interest session, “Paradigm Shift: The New Conductor/Composer Dynamic," by Reginald Unterseher. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.)
My perspective on the evolving way that conductors find and purchase music is formed by my experience as a composer and as an R&S Chair. I am part of both the traditional publishing model, by way of my pieces with Oxford and Walton, and the evolving model of publishing directly from my web site. As NWACDA Men’s Choirs R&S, I have been through the process of selecting and presenting pieces for reading sessions for state, divisional, and national ACDA conferences. My goal is for quality music to get the attention of conductors, regardless of publishing model.
These things led me to create an “ePublishing Reading Session” at the 2012 NWACDA conference in Seattle. This had several challenges—without any budget available for it, we had no access to printing, room rental, or internet at the conference hotel. The session was quite successful, and we presented pieces from excellent, known composers as well as less known ones that had been excluded from the reading session process because they were not published in the traditional model. It was paperless, with options of reading from tablet or laptop or projected scores. We read some in the traditional way, piano and participants’ singing, and presented recordings and YouTube video for others. We believed that we were the very first such session at an ACDA conference, but later learned there was a similar session presented the very same day at the Eastern ACDA conference. This proves to me that it is an idea whose time has come.
(The ACDA National Conference is just one of the many benefits of membership in the American Choral Directors Association. Join ACDA today.)
Date: May 21, 2013 by Scott Dorsey Views: 306
Douma: Do you find it helpful when you're beginning a composition to have a particular artist or ensemble in mind?
Argento: Oh yes. Not so much helpful as it is ~ way of focusing. Because, first of all, once I know I have a particular performer or organization in mind, it automatically starts to narrow down the possible subjects or kind of music. Then when we get down to an individual such as like Hakan Hagegard or [Frederica] von Stade, I know them so well, I know their persona, I know what they like to sing and what they don't like to sing. I've had the argument with students who know I like doing that, and they say, "But if you write something for Frederica von Stade that you think is exactly for her voice, isn't that bad for the other singers who are trying to sing it?" I say no, and the best example is that Britten wrote Peter Grimes for Peter Pears, and when you hear Peter Pears sing it, obviously you know it is written for him. But now that both Pears and Britten are dead, when Jon Vickers does it, it's extraordinary! And, I think the explanation is that when Britten was writing it, he was building a well-made house, in this case for a singer named Peter Pears, but since it's such a well-made house, and I'm speaking in terms of vocal composition, it's well made for Jon Vickers or any other singer, and they can live in it comfortably. Whereas, if somebody was commissioned to write a piece for some unknown, unspecified singer, they're apt to have done things that will make it look like an eccentric house from a singer's point of view. It would not be a comfortable one, whereas I think the idea of focusing on a singer makes it habitable for anybody else.
Date: May 20, 2013 by Scott Dorsey Views: 470
 (An excerpt from the interest session, "Is It Really THEIR Voices? Teaching the Urban Youth Choir," by Nicole Becker & Jeanne Goffi-Fynn. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.)
A person's voice is their means of expression in their everyday lives. They have lived with their voices, they are comfortable with them, it is a great source of their identity. We realized that asking them to change this, to change their voices was challenging for many students. Many students feel their voices need to be acknowledged before they are ready and able to change them. Our work here helps us to work with them and to involve them in the exciting process of developing their own voices. Everyone can improve if they are ready to listen. But we, too, need to listen to them, to their voices, to what they say. We want to acknowledge who they are.
We regularly ask our students how they feel about chorus and how they feel about their voices in questionnaires or interviews. Four weeks into the semester last spring, a new member wrote,
“I just think that instead of encouraging all of us to sing in a high voice we should sing out. The voice may be pretty but it’s not choir and it’s not strong. It’s singing in your chest, throat, and head instead of your vertebrae and stomach and singing strong with meaning. Personally, singing here I feel trapped and oppressed in one voice.”
The strong feelings this girl expressed reminded us that the ways that students sing, and the ways that they respond to our advice about singing is strongly shaped by how they want to sing and their conception of what good singing is. We believe that in order to work successfully with these students, we need to understand what they want to do, and to let them do it.
We invite kids to suggest songs, and we spend some time in each rehearsal singing their songs around the piano, with kids frequently volunteering to take solos. This gives students the chance to share their abilities with us and with their peers, which is an important step in their process of feeling appreciated and valued, and as a result, to engaging fully in our work. Vocally, we often find that when kids sing their own music, many pieces of vocal technique are in place; their posture and breathing tend to be quite good, and they support well. Kids singing their own songs frequently identify the problems they would like to address: “I can’t sing that high part,” or “That hurts my throat.” These observations and goals can be the launching point for their work with our voice specialist.
(The ACDA National Conference is just one of the many benefits of membership in the American Choral Directors Association. Join ACDA today.)
Date: May 18, 2013 by Scott Dorsey Views: 654
Yes, it's been around a long time, but it's brilliant and still hilarious!
Date: May 16, 2013 by Scott Dorsey Views: 302
 The Spring 2013 issue of the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing is now available!
The current edition includes such articles as "The English Choral Tradition and the Secular Trend in Boys' Pubertal Timing" (Ashley), "Changes in Tone Quality as a Function of Focus of Attention in Untrained Singers) (Atkins and Duke), "The Effects of Watching Three Types of Conductor Gestures and Performing Varied Gestures Along with the Conductor on Measures of Singers' Intonation and Tone Quality: A Pilot Study" (Brunkan), and much more of interest to the choral musician.
Date: May 16, 2013 by Scott Dorsey Views: 355
 (An excerpt from the interest session, “Integrating Common-Core Learning Standards into the Choral Curriculum," by Victoria J. Furby. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.)
Changing lesson planning ideas to address the Common Core Learning Standards is presenting new challenges to integrate literacy into the choral music classroom. Many choral music teachers are struggling with the idea of teaching more than they already do. For secondary choral musicians, the Common Core Learning Standards can be approached in a variety of ways; the best ideas will be those that enhance and support the music instruction leading to the best possible cumulative performances that choral musicians desire.
The Common Core Learning Standards have been adopted by forty-five states across America, and are designed to provide a set of benchmarks that students should achieve at each grade level in both literacy and mathematics. In the elementary grades, all teachers are expected to support the acquisition of math and literacy skills across the curriculum. At the secondary level, where most choral musicians work, teachers should be prepared to utilize the set of standards developed for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects. “Just as students must learn to read, write, speak, listen, and use language effectively in a variety of content areas, so too must the Standards specify the literacy skills and understandings required for college and career readiness in multiple disciplines” (www.corestandards.org). These standards are designed so that students are not just “musically literate” and able to read musical symbol systems, but also “literate about music”; in other words, that students can use the appropriate vocabulary and language in order to write and speak about music.
Choral musicians have a unique opportunity to teach some traditional language instruction through the text of their repertoire. However, it is important that choir directors also strive to teach literacy about music. Below are several ideas for literacy assignments that would also help prepare students to become literate about music, while enhancing musical knowledge and performance quality.
{} Describe the vocal quality you hear in this recording using appropriate musical terminology.
{} Evaluate this recording of our performance using appropriate musical terminology?
{} Define these musical terms.
{} Research and write a one paragraph biography of the composer of one of our concert pieces.
(Teachers: use this as program notes for your concerts!)
(The ACDA National Conference is just one of the many benefits of membership in the American Choral Directors Association. Join ACDA today.)
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