For people like me who are too stingy to buy software (and particularly suspicious of sites which require a monthly fee for eternity), we're always on the lookout for freebies. One of the needs of choral directors is to make seating charts, and periodically there's a request on the forums for computer-based solutions to address this.
I use a Word clone to make charts, but a UK-based group, the Monday Mondays, decided to make their own, JavaScript-based one. It's free for anybody to use.
It's a little clunky, but hey, it's free.
Pros:
Reasonably intuitive to use: click on a name, then click where you want it to go (can't drag). Entering the names in the first place is kind of a pain, but that's true for any system. Fast.
Flexible section names (in case you have baritenors or other "transsectionals")
Switch two singers' seats easily (something hard to do in Word)
Move groups of singers at once (for example to add a singer in the middle)
Browser-based; print directly from browser (a mixed blessing)
For people like me who are too stingy to buy software (and particularly suspicious of sites which require a monthly fee for eternity), we're always on the lookout for freebies. One of the needs of choral directors is to make seating charts, and periodically there's a request on the forums for computer-based solutions to address this.
I use a Word clone to make charts, but a UK-based group, the Monday Mondays, decided to make their own, JavaScript-based one. It's free for anybody to use.
It's a little clunky, but hey, it's free.
Pros:
Reasonably intuitive to use: click on a name, then click where you want it to go (can't drag). Entering the names in the first place is kind of a pain, but that's true for any system. Fast.
Flexible section names (in case you have baritenors or other "transsectionals")
Switch two singers' seats easily (something hard to do in Word)
Move groups of singers at once (for example to add a singer in the middle)
Browser-based; print directly from browser (a mixed blessing)
Did I mention it's free?
Cons:
Can't save to file; you have to do a complicated workaround to save charts from one session to the next
Row width is limited to 15 seats (really?)
Name length limited to 10 characters
Fixed cell width (although you can change it manually)
Can't edit singer or section names within cell; have to create a new cell and discard the old one if you change somebody's section designation
Overall: might be helpful for some users, has a lot of potential for improvement. I'll stick with my Word clone (Apple's Pages) for now. I'll write to suggest to them that they might save the user's work in a cookie rather than the multi-step process they're using.
Given that the first of ACDA’s seven Divisional Conferences kicks off next week in Madison, Wisconsin, it seems a good time to share a few helpful hints for those journeying to one of these grand events. (You ARE planning to attend your ACDA Divisional Conference, aren’t you? You can still register.)
To help with some of the financial concerns, ACDA has provided a detailed discussion for seeking funding from your school or church. There is also a sample letter available to help you reach out to your superiors.
Given that the first of ACDA’s seven Divisional Conferences kicks off next week in Madison, Wisconsin, it seems a good time to share a few helpful hints for those journeying to one of these grand events. (You ARE planning to attend your ACDA Divisional Conference, aren’t you? You can still register.)
To help with some of the financial concerns, ACDA has provided a detailed discussion for seeking funding from your school or church. There is also a sample letter available to help you reach out to your superiors.
<> Arrive well-rested. We don't get much sleep at ACDA Conferences.
<> Don’t be shy about reading those name tags. You could be sharing the elevator with Eric Whitacre or Tim Sharp.
<> Arrive early for concerts. They're usually packed.
<> Attend EVERYTHING! An ACDA conference is not the time to nap or shop.
<> PLEASE visit with exhibitors. They are our industry partners in the choral arts (and save some room in your luggage for all the stuff you will buy in the exhibit area).
ACDA Conferences are exhilarating, overwhelming, and exhausting . . . they are absolutely the crown jewels of ACDA activities.
(Next week in Choral Caffeine, we’ll discuss ways to focus our listening to get the most out of those fabulous conference concerts.)
In Elliot Eisner’s book The Arts and the Creation of Mind (2002, Yale University Press), Eisner states, “The arts' position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.” In Chapter 4, What the Arts Teach and How It Shows, Eisner outlines Ten Lessons the arts Teach:
The arts teach children to make good judgments about qualitative relationships.Unlike curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it is judgment rather than rules that prevail.
The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solutionand that questions can have more than one answer.
The arts celebrate multiple perspectives.One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.
The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity. Learning in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender to
In Elliot Eisner’s book The Arts and the Creation of Mind (2002, Yale University Press), Eisner states, “The arts' position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.” In Chapter 4, What the Arts Teach and How It Shows, Eisner outlines Ten Lessons the arts Teach:
The arts teach children to make good judgments about qualitative relationships.Unlike curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, it is judgment rather than rules that prevail.
The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solutionand that questions can have more than one answer.
The arts celebrate multiple perspectives.One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.
The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity. Learning in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds.
The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor numbers exhaust what we can know. The limits of our language do not define the limits of our cognition.
The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects. The arts traffic in subtleties.
The arts teach students to think through and within a material.
All art forms employ some means through which images become real.
The arts help children learn to say what cannot be said. When children are invited to disclose what a work of art helps them feel, they must reach into their poetic capacities to find the words that will do the job.
The arts enable us to have experience we can have from no other source and through such experience to discover the range and variety of what we are capable of feeling.
The arts' position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.
The National Art Education Association (NAEA) gives reprint permission for the above 10 lessons, with proper acknowledgment.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal calls Morten Lauridson the "best composer you've never heard of."
Choral musicians don't say that, do we?
It looks like a film will come out soon on this composer -- a deep look into the composer's thoughts, inspirations, and ideas.
From the article:
The film, directed by Michael Stillwater, is a heartening rarity, a thoroughly intelligent classical-music program that strikes an appropriate balance between words and music. Most of the talking is done by Mr. Lauridsen himself and all of it is to the point, but plenty of time is devoted to the music that is the true point of "Shining Night," and by film's end you'll know what it sounds like and whether you want to hear more of it—as I expect you will.
A great trailer here from YouTube gives you a feeling for the hymn:
A good friend from the Samford Music faulty pointed me to this article - Thanks, Ron!
One of the features of the Middle School/Junior High School Conference for Choral Music will be the opportunity to hear something seldom heard on ACDA conferences: MS/JHS choirs. Includede on this events are ensembles from A. Mario Loiederman MS, Beckendorf JHS, Rice MS, Blalack MS, Parkhill JHS, Briarhill MS, W.E. Greiner Academy, Arbor Creek MS, Hernando MS, and Yound JHS.
The ACDA Southwestern Division Conference will include a performance of "Angel of the East." The work sets part of John Donne’s poem Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward, explaining the spiritual context: the poet rides out on business on a Good Friday, neglecting his meditations on Christ’s death. He journeys away from Jerusalem and the crucifi xion, which lies due east, moving in the opposite direction to which his mind automatically turns. Donne argues against his guilt that by travelling westwards he will eventually reach the east. Thus, the earth is a sphere where east and west become one. The work is scored for solo soprano, SSA voices, bass instruments, plucked instruments, organ, virginals, harmonium, two percussionists, violins.
“The Eastern Conference is all about "Community" beginning the day with Yoga, Tai Chi, or a free breakfast with your colleagues,” said Eastern Division President Bob Eaton, “Then sharing of talents and expertise in concert and presentations, learn about "Building Community through Song" for Special Needs, Homeless, Hospice and other outreach programs and end the day with an outstanding concert.”
To Be Certain of the Dawn was commissioned by the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis as a gift to Temple Israel Synagogue in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps. It is the result of interfaith dialogue and stands as a testimony to the power of understanding and of music’s unique ability to encourage hope, to promote peace. The rehearsal and performance of this transformative piece are being approached in an exceptionally process-driven way, with the intention of modeling the Beyond the Notes philosophy on which this conference is based. The oratorio will be performed on February 10 by choirs from Nebraska Wesleyan University, Minnesota State University, Wartburg College, and members of the Madison Boys and Girls Choirs, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra, and soloists from throughout the North Central Division.
One of the risks of adding movement to a choral performance is that the physical gesticulation could have a negative impact on the sound of the choir. Sometimes, however, certain works almost cry out for movement, as in this performance of "War Song" from the 2007 ACDA National Conference. Note how simple the movement is, yet how it enhances the performance.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Three weeks out from the Super Bowl, Indianapolis Children's Choir artistic director Henry Leck had heard nothing.
He had been pushing for two years to get his kids involved in the Super Bowl. He thought that he would have heard something by then, so he figured he was out of luck. But the call from the NFL did come, with a vague message: "We have something we'd like you to do on the weekend of February 5."
ICC management had to sign a five-page nondisclosure form but weren't told what it was for. They waited four or five more days before they got their answer: They'd be providing the choir to back up Kelly Clarkson when she sings the national anthem at Lucas Oil Stadium, right before the game.
EDMONTON - The position of artistic director at Pro Coro Canada was finally announced Friday night, and the winner is: Michael Zaugg.
The sixth person to hold the job since the choir was founded in 1980, the Montreal-based Zaugg beat out some fairly stiff competition in San Francisco’s Magen Solomon and Yale Russian Chorus conductor Mark Bailey to replace Richard Sparks, who left last year for a position at the University of North Texas.
BBC MOBILE -- A record company has begun a worldwide search for the singer who can sing a note so low that it is thought never to have been sung before.
Written by Military Wives composer Paul Mealor, the choral work De Profundis includes a low E, which lies more than two octaves below middle C.
It is six semitones below the lowest note found in a mainstream choral work - a B flat in Rachmaninov's Vespers.
The search for the bass voice will take place via trade magazines and online.
"My setting of De Profundis calls for a rich and powerful voice; a voice that can not only touch the heart with its sincerity and truth, but also make every fabric of the human body resonate as it plunges into the very lowest parts of the vocal spectrum," said Mealor.
(Ed. note: the current Guiness World's Record for lowest note is F#, a whole step above this target, sung in 2011 by US gospel quartet singer Roger Menees)
NAPLES, FL -- It's been said that when you love what you do, work doesn't feel like work. And for 51-year-old Becky Lynn Weese, truer words have never been spoken. "I just love what I do," proclaims Weese, director of music and the organist at the Naples United Church of Christ (UCC). "I love, love, love it," she adds for emphasis.
Weese, who has undergraduate degrees in church music and music education and a doctorate in musical arts and choral conducting, doesn't see her job as work, but more as something she's both called and blessed to do.
"I'm one of those people, that I get up in the morning and I pinch myself how lucky I am," she says enthusiastically of the job she's had for almost 11 years.
Forty-five members of Indianapolis Children's Choir will sing the national anthem along with recording artist Kelly Clarkson at the Super Bowl in Indianapolis on Sunday, the local not-for-profit announced Thursday.
The choir members will be conducted by ICC founder Henry Leck and Assistant Artistic Director Joshua Pedde.
