Good books for an eager student of choral conducting

Date: March 17, 2010

Hi. I'm an undergraduate music student who is looking to learn as much as I can about choral conducting. Tthe director of choral studies at my college has been extremely kind to me and an excellent teacher, but I'm hoping to get some more feedback from the choral community at large. I'm currently working on an independent study course in choral conducting and would love some suggestions of books, articles, websites, etc. that would be good to read. I'm interested in everything about choral conducting including but not limited to: rehearsal technique, conducting technique, vocal pedagogy, music history, music education, the history of the choral tradition, famous conductors, female role models in the choral community. I read these forums all the time and really cherish some of the wisdom that comes out of them. Any suggestions would be welcome!

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Kentaro (Ken-P) Sato on March 18, 2010 3:17am

Hi, Sarah.

Books...

There are many books related to vocal/choral music. So, I will just list some books which might be a good place to start.

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-Choral Music in General-

Choral Concepts by Donald Neuen

This book covers various aspects of choral music practically.

-Singing Technique-

The Structure of Singing by Richard Miller

Probably, the first book that every classically-trained singer would buy.

The Diagnosis & Correction of Vocal Faults by James C. McKinney

Comprehensive and logical approaches to solve many vocal problems

The Voice by Miriam Jaskierowicz Arman

"Spiritual" approach to singing...

-IPA and Diction-

Diction (Italian, Latin, French, German) by John Moriarty

Nicely compiled. I wish it had Spanish section...

The Singer's Manual of English Diction by Madeleine Marshall

This is a great book.

A Practical Introduction to Phonetics by J C Catford

It is not introduction to practical phonetics, however it is great to have solid understanding on phonetics and IPA.

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Articles...

If you are not a member, I recommend you to be a student member of ACDA, and start reading Choral Journal.

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Website...

http://www.chorusamerica.org/

http://www.choirs.org.uk/

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If you are not good at composition, arrangment, improvisation/chord symbols, using music technology software and equipment, this would be a good time for you to be familiar with that area. You don't have to be a pro, but those knowlege will be great assets for you later.

Tom Carter on March 18, 2010 12:02pm

Sarah,

You might consider the following:

The Bodymind & Voice series, put out by the VoiceCare Network (http://www.voicecarenetwork.org/courseinfo.cfm?ID=4)
My website (www.choralcharisma.com) and related book -- Choral CHARISMA: Singing with Expression (there's a community notice about the website on the ChoralNet homepage...)
Wisdom, Wit, and Will: Women Choral Conductors on Their Art (http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Wit-Will-Choral-Conductors/dp/1579997600/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268938582&sr=1-1)
The Conductor as Leader: Principles of Leadership Applied to Life on the Podium, by Ramona M. Wis, http://www.amazon.com/Conductor-As-Leader-Principles-Leadership/dp/1579996531/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269021685&sr=1-1
The Robert Shaw Reader, edited by Robert Blocker, http://www.amazon.com/Robert-Shaw-Reader-Dean-Blocker/dp/0300104545/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269021778&sr=1-1
The following DVD's, all available at Santa Barbara Music Publishing (http://sbmp.com/VideosPage.html) Ready, Set, Sing!, by Jeff Johnson, The Collaborative Choral Rehearsal, by Leslie Guelker-Cone, Daily Workout for a Beautiful Voice, by Charlotte Adams, Enhancing Musicality through Movement, by Rod Eichenberger, Fine Tune Your Conducting Skills, by Timoth Mount, Working with Male Voices, by Jerry Blackstone,
What They See is What You Get, by Rod Eichenberger, http://www.rodneyeichenberger.com/store/store.htm

Lots more out there, so have fun exploring!

All my best,

Tom

Sarah Warsco on April 12, 2010 7:30pm

Thanks for all the great advice! I'll definitely be reading some of these books over the summer.

David Janower on April 13, 2010 4:45am

Two conducting books I relaly liked, in large part becuase they don't take themselvse too seriously, are those by Sandra Willets (actually there are two by her) and Bill Dehning, "Chorus Confidential." Both have excellent senses of humor. I can't remember which of Willetts I liked, maybe both.

Richard Sheil's Diction book is worth a look. It covers LTOS of languages, more than Moriarty. It does't go into as much depth, and for the professional singer it's perhaps not sufficient, but for the choral director it's pretty good.

David

Kathleen Friedman on September 12, 2010 6:06pm

As a female conductor I found Wisdom, Wit and Will, Women Coral Conductors on Their Art by Joan Catoni Conlon to be an incredibly interesting book.

Joanna Pearson on November 10, 2010 8:24am

Hello Sarah,

I was put in touch with Choral Net by Simon Carrington with whom The Masterclass Foundation has just recorded a choral conducting masterclass. This sees him working with four young conductors on choruses from Handel's Messiah. This masterclass is now available on DVD from http://www.masterclassfoundation.org. As you probably know, until recently Simon Carrington was Professor of Choral Conducting at Yale University and conductor of the Yale Schola Cantorum. Amongst many other things he directs his own choir, The Simon Carrington Chamber Singers. I hope this would be of interest to you - slightly off piste, I realise, but this masterclass is a very interesting look at the subtleties and genius of Handel's great masterpiece and how conductors can try to bring this out of their choirs. If nothing else, it might solve some Christmas present problems for you!!

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