The First Days of Choir Part 1: Introduction and Day 1

“It could be dangerous to teach the way you were taught.”-Harry Wong. Research is not something only scientists do. Businesspeople do research; so do baseball players, chefs, plumbers, lawyers, dentists, artists, and actors. Students, when they write term papers, do research. To search and search and search, over and over again. That is why it … Continue reading "The First Days of Choir Part 2: The Power of Infrastructure"

“You will be able to be successful, because what we do here works.” Day 1 is when the indoctrination begins. You heard it here. We ARE indoctrinating students… into believing that they can sing and be GOOD at it. This begins on the first day of school. Harry and Rosemary Wong literally “wrote the book” … Continue reading "The First Days of Choir Part 1: Introduction and Day 1"

Elena Sharkova is a an artistic leader and pioneer in American Choral Music. But, her roots are Russian. This shared identity has its complexities now of course. You won’t want to miss her thoughts on this. This week I had the pleasure of speaking with a true leader in the choral art, Elena Sharkova. who … Continue reading "Episode 254: Finding Passion in EVERY Note with Elena Sharkova"

A Choralosophy first. A podcast, with a guest, recorded in my car. Chris Maunu and I riding to the airport, discussing how our roles change, or don’t… when leading classroom ensembles verses community based ensembles of young people. To what degree does our role as an “educator” shift? In this engaging conversation, Chrises Munce and … Continue reading "Episode 253: Car Thoughts with Chris Maunu"

The American Education System(s) are facing a crisis that too few within these systems are wanting to name or face. It is a Literacy crisis. As educators of any subject, this is a call to action. In this enlightening conversation, Kareem J Weaver discusses the critical importance of literacy in education, emphasizing its role in … Continue reading "Episode 252: Literacy is Agency with Kareem Weaver"

A special episode where I read audience questions, comments, raised points for the benefit of all listeners. I have also updated the form on the main page to collect ideas for future shows and your questions or comments. This episode turns the focus out toward you. The listener. I have been collecting feedback since the … Continue reading "Episode 251: Audience Mailbag"

For those of us who have been in the classroom since 2019, we KNOW things of changed. Programs are shrinking and kids are coming to us with lost years of experience and the skills that go with it. So, what do we do about it? Welcome to the return after almost a whole year of … Continue reading "Episode 250: Accessible IS Beautiful with Edryn J. Coleman"

How do we decide what is and what isn’t a “Great work of choral repertoire?” Dennis Shrock says, “Time.” Let a few hundred years pass and see if people still perform that music. This show is proud to collaborate with authors and composers from GIA/Walton and Oxford Press. Dennis has many titles available on both! … Continue reading "Episode 249: The 10,000 Foot View of Choral Repertoire with Dennis Shrock"

Kids learn at a young age how to show teachers that they are learning. Even if they aren’t… And with many kids, ESPECIALLY when they are not. The long awaited return of “Car Thoughts” Short episodes designed to get you thinking about your educational practice. In this episode, I would also submit this as food … Continue reading "Car Thoughts: Evidence of Engagement is Not Evidence of Learning"

Is there value to teaching the “science of singing” to young kids? I say yes. The goal is not to over-intellectualize the voice. It is to demystify it for young singers. Part of the Vocal Pedagogy Series Have you ever asked kids “what is a vowel made of?” Try it! See what answers they give … Continue reading "Episode 248: What is a Vowel Made Of?"