reporter, spring 2013
DESCRIPTION
The Reporter Spring Issue 2013TRANSCRIPT
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The
Repo
rter
MISSOURI CHORAL DIRECTORS’ ASSOCIATION
From the President...
At the MMEA Conference we had the distinct pleasure to relish performancesconducted by Beth Burch, James Melton, Paula Mar9n, Barbara Berner, Brian Lanier, Guy Webb, Rika Heruth, Kathy Bhat, Brandon Williams, Jonathan Owen, Mark Lawley, and Paul Crabb. These are conductors at the very top of their game.
Are you curious what it is that makes these conductors so remarkable?
All are masters of the voice and of healthy singing technique. They have a command of periods and styles, and have amassed a vast vocabulary of choral literature. They have both the exac9ng standards and the passionate, pa9ent, and effec9ve teaching skills to bring their choir to its highest level. They are consummate musicians and conductors.
Are you curious what all these conductors have in common?
They are all members of the Missouri Choral Directors Associa9on. Of course, MCDA cannot take credit for their greatness but we
surely can take a bow for providing meaningful development, the kind that breeds technical mastery and inspires ar9stry, the kind that s9rs the soul of choral directors young and not-‐so-‐young.
Are you ready to become a better choral director?
Are you ready to learn, share, and grow?
Are you? InCHOIRing Minds want to know.
The Missouri Choral Directors Associa9on Summer Conference, “InCHOIRing Minds” will be held July 24-‐27 at the Capitol Plaza Hotel, Jefferson City.
You have questions. We can help you find answers.
As you will read in this issue, the Repertoire and Standards Chairs have put together an incredible line-‐up of Headliners and session presenters, many from our own ranks. We will hear a performance by the professional choir, Kantorei of Kansas City, at the Capitol
Rotunda, conducted by our very own Chris Munce.
Our session topics will cover everything from common vowels to Common Core. Our one-‐of a kind Student Conference is set to be beWer than ever, with tons of hands-‐on, prac9cal offerings. Back by popular demand will be the MCDA Golf Tournament, which should involve lots of fun (and broken windows).
And believe it or not, there’s more. So now, we’ll turn this over to our esteemed Reporter Editor, Nick Urvan, and our phenomenal crew of Repertoire and Standards Chairs. On behalf of the Missouri Choral Directors Associa9on, enjoy!
Brian ReevesPresident, MCDA
In this edition:Sight-singing 2Summer Conference 4Common Core and Choral Music 10Life Lessons Through Music 12
MISSOURI CHORAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION2013 SUMMER CONFERENCE: InCHOIRING MINDS
JULY 24-27, 2013JEFFERSON CITY, MO
Spring 2013
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Have you tried...
sightreadingfactory.com?You and your students can generate limitless sight-singing exercises for $29.99 a year.
jsbchorales.net?This free collection of Bach chorales is available in PDF, QT, MIDI, and MP3 formats. Additionally, these files are offered in convenient zipped sets.
Imagine a school system where K – 12 students were never taught the alphabet,vowel sounds, sight words; in short, no reading. Instead, they memorized stories, very short stories for young ones, with increasing complexity. As they grew older the stories became complete books. At the end of 12 years they had memorized en9re volumes; yet presented with a copy of Dr. Seuss, they were clueless as how to read it. Silly isn’t it; but, I submit that this is exactly how vocal music is oben taught!!
I once judged a number of years ago, in a district where the audi9on was a quartet selec9on, followed by a short sight reading piece. The soprano was incredible, on two counts. First, it was a voice of an angel and exhibited (she was a junior) a great deal of vocal training. Secondly, she had no clue whatever about how to read notes. She even held her music upside down. Again, incredible!
I have always viewed my job as a teacher, like that of a parent; work to become unnecessary. When we are finished, our students no longer need us, this includes reading music. I don’t care what system you use, 1-‐2-‐3 or do-‐re-‐mi, as long as you do it for a small amount of 9me each day, reading will happen.
Kelly DameMale Chorus R&S ChairMCDA
2010 AUDITION MATERIALS, MCDA
After teaching choral music for 24 years I have been so thankful that my college theory/sight-reading experience included using solfege!!
My high school sight-‐singing experience did not include either numbers or solfege so the only way was up for me personally. I vowed to myself that my choral students would not leave my classroom unable to sight-‐sing and rhythm-‐read fluently. During my first year of teaching I forced myself to teach solfege and also use the Kodaly hand-‐signs. I was able to stay a step ahead of my students and let them know up front that we were learning this together. We learned quickly and were forgiving to one another when we made errors. We laughed at one another oben but saw the benefits of solfege quickly. All students were more confident and felt accomplished in their reading skills. They proved it to me by making beWer scores on the recorded sight-‐singing and rhythm-‐reading tests that I administered quarterly. Continued on p. 3.
SIGHT-SINGING
3
These tests made them accountable to work hard in class since they knew they would have to sight-‐sing alone as part of their quarterly grade. Since that first year I have con9nued to use a combina9on of sight-‐singing materials including the Jenson Vol. 1, Pag DewiW unison, 2,3 and 4 part exercises and sight-‐singing songs with lyrics and Smart Music sight-‐singing materials available within their library. I also use rhythm sheets, some from books and some created.
To make the learning process faster I use at least one solfege warm-‐up every day and incorporate either sight-‐singing or rhythm-‐reading in EVERY rehearsal. Believe me…..five to ten minutes of sight-‐singing or rhythm-‐reading DAILY makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE in how quickly my students learn the literature for our concerts and the level and quality of literature we are able to perform. I teach in a small school, so I oben have only four students on a part when we do literature with divisi parts. I insist that the students use the hand-‐signs at the proper visual level as they sight-‐sing. Doing this greatly improves their pitch. I have seen this most evident in my beginning choirs over the years. Students who struggle to match pitch gradually develop a range of notes that they can consistently find. I taught for years before I discovered that there were syllables and hand-‐signs for the chroma9c scale. Thanks goes to Pag DewiW, who is regularly at our summer ACDA conference. She introduced me to the chroma9c syllables and hand-‐signs and even sells them in a set to put on your wall. They are color coordinated by regular scale, ascending and descending pitches. The syllables are Do, Di, Re, Ri, Mi, Fa, Fi, So, Si, La, Li, Ti, Do, Ti, Te, La, Le, So, Se, Fa, Mi, Me, Re, Ra, Do. Again, I forced myself to stay a step ahead of my students and start using these syllables and hand-‐signs as well.
Once the students know what a scale sounds like they can begin audia9ng the pitches in their head before they sing an exercise out loud. As they are audia9ng you can watch their hand-‐signs to see if they are correct. As they learn skips and chroma9cs, they can audiate harder exercises and of course real choral literature. My sight-‐singing leaders especially like this because it gives them a chance to actually hear the pitches in their head instead of speaking the syllables to their sec9on before we read a four-‐part exercise. Sliding sideways for doWed quarter, half, and whole notes also helps with students who con9nually rush through these values when sight-‐singing. The sliding technique again gives the teacher a way to see if the students understand the exercise before they open their mouth to sing.
Just this past week as I was aWending the Missouri MMEA conference I had my subs9tute teacher have the students
write in the syllables for the songs that we had not yet started on that we will perform this semester. When I returned on Monday my high school and middle school advanced choirs sight-‐sang en9re four-‐part choral literature in one rehearsal. The middle school group read 14 pages of a 20 page song which was in four parts. My high school group bragged to me that they EVEN sight-‐sang their song with the subs9tute. “It was really quite good, Mrs. Payne, and we love this song. Can we sing it with words now?” they bragged. Now when I say write in the syllables I have the students write the syllable leWer (Ex. D for Do) in as close to the note head as they can get it so that they are s9ll following the vocal line of their part. This way the students who are not as fast as the fastest sight singers can keep up and do not get lost in the music. I tell them to write with a pencil of course. Over the years my students have amazed me with their progress. I NEVER allow them to write the syllables in on our sight-‐singing books or exercises because these are specifically designed for a certain level that you have worked your way up to but as we all know very few actual songs are at one level of sight-‐singing for the en9re song. If they were they would probably not be very pleasing to listen to at a concert.
I hope that I have peaked your interest in using solfege instead of numbers. For chroma9cs and minor songs it sure makes things easy. The students just do it. They can sing a minor scale before you even tell them what it is. You simply tell them to sing from La to La and then tell them they just sang a minor scale. Then you can teach them the other forms of the minor scale using the chroma9c syllables and hand-‐signs. It is great! Hand-‐signs also come in handy when your voice is 9red or simply gone. I have run a few rehearsals in my career only using hand-‐signs and a few cue cards. I love being able to hand my students challenging choral literature and helping them feel really smart when they read it instead of me “singing it for them” or “giving them a prac9ce CD with all the notes sung for them”. My goal is for them to be excellent musicians when they leave my classroom so that they have a life-‐long skill instead of just a few great memories and knowing a handful of songs. With reading skills their poten9al is endless! Thank God for solfege and consistent teachers who use it DAILY! I pray you have a great rest of the year and that your experience in the contest sight-‐singing room is a pleasant one……with solfege it certainly can be fun, pleasant and way less stressful!
Janet PayneWomen’s [email protected]
Sight-singing... Why use solfege?
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Kantorei of Kanas city began in 2008 as an informal assembly of singers preparing to sing full masses at Catholic weddings. The chemistry became palpable promp9ng us to formalize ourselves into a regularly performing ensemble. The first concert season finally materialized in 2010 with our first Christmas concert. Our approach to choral music making is outside of the mainstream. We have carefully selected the finest professional singers available and tasked them all with being in charge of the ar9s9c process. Ar9s9c Director, Chris Munce, serves as a guide and facilitator providing an ar9s9c vision for the big picture while each singer provides his or her exper9se and vocal ability to fill in the details. We have shed the "conductor in front" model in favor of a more collegial music making process.
Local media has already been vocal about Kantorei's crystal clear sound and innova9ve programming.
"...the performance was electric, exci9ng, and welcome respite from the usual fare ...offering a new vision for holiday choral concerts. I will not miss another Kantorei concert."-‐-‐Michael Aus9n, KCMetropolis
"Kantorei is one of the most focused groups in town with clear direc9on, clear programming, and pris9ne singing. Kantorei should be on your must-‐hear list!" -‐-‐Lee Hartman, KCMetropolis
"The groundswell of pure music from these beau9ful voices is a rare treat."-‐-‐Mary Pechar, Lee's Summit Tribune
"In a city with more than its fair share of choirs, look for Kantorei to hold its own and shine through the masses." -‐-‐Kris9n Shafel, KCMetropolis
Now in only our third season Kantorei is already poised break into the na9onal choral consciousness. We have recently agreed to a recording project of the music of MaWhew Harris for London based Resonus Classics. Look for "Music and Sweet Poetry" to be released in 2014. Please visit KantoreiKC on Facebook and TwiWer and at www.kantoreikc.org
-‐-‐Chris Munce
Artistic Director
2013 Summer Conference: InChoiring Minds
Kantorei will be performing in the capital rotunda on July 26, 2013!
Who is Kantorei?
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d
Anton ArmstrongAnton Armstrong, Tosdal Professor of Music at St. Olaf College, became the fourth conductor of the St. Olaf Choir in 1990 aber ten years in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he had served on the faculty of Calvin College and led the Calvin College Alumni Choir, the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus, and the St. Cecilia Youth Chorale.
Dr. Armstrong is a graduate of St. Olaf College and earned advanced degrees at the University of Illinois and Michigan State University. He is editor of a mul9cultural choral series for Earthsongs Publica9ons and co-‐editor (with John Ferguson) of the revised St. Olaf Choral Series for Augsburg Fortress Publishers. In June 1998, he began his tenure as founding conductor of the Oregon Bach Fes9val Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy. A graduate of the American Boychoir School, Dr. Armstrong served for over twenty years on the summer faculty of their summer program ALBEMARLE and held the posi9on of Conductor of the St. Cecilia Youth Chorale, a 75-‐voice treble chorus based in Grand Rapids, from 1981-‐1990. He has conducted the Troubadours, a 30-‐voice boys ensemble of the Northfield Youth Choirs, since 1991. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Boychoir School and the Board of Chorus America.
In February 2005, The St. Olaf Choir shared the stage with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in presen9ng the finale concert for the na9onal conference of the American Choral Director’s Associa9on at the Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, California. Ac9ve na9onally and interna9onally as a guest conductor and lecturer, Anton Armstrong was honored in June 2003 to serve as the first Peter Godfrey Visi9ng Professor of Choral Music at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
In the summer of 2001, Dr. Armstrong conducted the World Youth Choir sponsored by the Interna9onal Federa9on of Choral Music with concerts in Venezuela and the United States. Recent interna9onal engagements include serving as a guest conductor at the 2010 Zimriya-‐The World Assembly of Choirs, and in March 2011 Dr. Armstrong returned to guest conduct the Formosa Singers of Taipei, Taiwan. In the summer of 2011 he was a guest conductor of the Prague Proms Interna9onal Music Fes9val sponsored by the Czech Na9onal Symphony Orchestra. He has been featured as a clinician at the Fourth World Symposium on Choral Music in Sydney, Australia (1996), the Eighth World Symposium in Copenhagen, Denmark (2008,) and led a conduc9ng master class at the Ninth World Symposium of Choral Music in Puerto Madryn, Argen9na (2011). He will return to Israel in July 2013 to once again serve as a guest conductor of the 23rd Zimriya-‐The World Assembly of Choirs. Finally, he is serving as the Co-‐
Chair of the Ar9s9c CommiWee for the 10th World Symposium of Choral Music being held in Seoul, South Korea in August 2014.
Dr. Armstrong has frequently conducted ensembles and appeared before regional, na9onal, and interna9onal gatherings of the American Choral Directors Associa9on, Interna9onal Federa9on of Choral Music, Music Educators Na9onal Conference, Choristers Guild, American Guild of Organists, Associa9on of Lutheran Church Musicians, Organiza9on of
Am e r i c a n K o d a l y Educators, and the O r ff -‐ S c h u l w e r k Associa9on. In recent years he has guest conducted such noted ensembles as the Utah S y m p h o n y a n d Symphony Chorus, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Westminster Choir, and the American Boychoir. He has also collaborated in concert with Bobby McFerrin and Garrison Keillor.
During 2012-‐13, Dr. Armstrong will lead choral fes9vals at Carnegie Hal l and
Lincoln Center, New York, and Orlando, Florida. Other guest conduc9ng/lecturing engagements in 2012-‐13 include appearances in New Jersey, New York, Utah, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Trondheim, Norway.
In January 2006, Baylor University selected Anton Armstrong from a field of 118 dis9nguished nominees to receive the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching. The award is designed to honor great teachers, to s9mulate discussion in the academy about the value of teaching, and to encourage departments and ins9tu9ons to value their own great teachers. He spent February-‐June 2007 in residency at Baylor University as a visi9ng professor. In March 2007 he was the first recipient of the Dis9nguished Alumni Award from the American Boychoir School, and in October 2009 he received The Dis9nguished Alumni Award from Michigan State University.
Clin
ician
sAnton Armstrong
Gre
tche
n H
arris
on
Margie Camp
Aaro
n Hu
fty
Jennifer Barnes
Allen Hightower
Patri
cia B
ourn
e
Brendan Jackson
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Aaron Hufty Missouri na9ve Aaron Huby is the newest member of the choral f a c u l t y a t B a y l o r University. His du9es at Baylor include teaching conduc9ng, direc9ng the Baylor Women’s C h o i r, a s w e l l a s crea9ng VirtuOSO, a new contemporary a cappel la ensemble. P r i o r t o h i s
appointment at Baylor, he spent most of his career in the San Antonio area as a teacher, conductor, and singer. Dr. Huby taught in the Northside Independent School District for nine years, most of them at Sandra Day O’Connor High School. Under his direc9on the program grew to nearly 250 students with 8 performing ensembles. Choirs from O’Connor sang at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and also gave a private concert to Jus9ce Sandra Day O’Connor at the Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. In addi9on to his work with the Choral Society and O’Connor High School, Dr. Huby was
instrumental in developing the Northside Elementary Honor Choir in 2003, which he directed for three years. He also served as TMEA Region XI Vocal Chair for four years and as the O’Connor Fine Arts Department Coordinator for five. A strong advocate for choral music throughout central Texas, Dr. Huby sang for four years with the San Antonio Symphony Mastersingers where he was oben a soloist. He also has the dis9nct privilege of being a charter member and sec9on leader of the San Antonio Chamber Choir. Dr. Huby also had the honor of being chorus master for the Lyric Opera of San Antonio’s produc9ons of Carmen (children’s chorus), Don Giovanni, and The Barber of Seville. During this 9me, he also served as the Ar9s9c Director and Conductor of the San Antonio Choral Society for five years and the Chorus Director of the Mid-‐Texas Symphony. Dr. Huby received his B.S. in Music Educa9on in 1997 from Northwest Missouri State University, and his M. M. in Choral Conduc9ng in 2001 from the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he studied voice with Linda Poetschke and conduc9ng with Dr. John Silan9en. He began post-‐graduate work with Dr. John Dickson at Texas Tech University and recently completed his D.M.A. at he University of Texas at Aus9n while studying with Dr. James Morrow. His research centered around eighteenth-‐century Neapolitan composer Nicola Fago. He and his wife April live in Waco with their daughters, Rachel and Susannah.
Community Choirs
Allen Hightower Allen Hightower is a professor of music and conductor of the renowned Nordic Choir. He serves as director of choral ac9vi9es, giving leadership to a choral program that includes four choral conductors, six choirs, and over 500 singers.
Prior to joining the faculty at Luther, Dr. Hightower served as professor of music and director of choral ac9vi9es at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. During his tenure, the SHSU Chorale performed for the 2007 Na9onal Conven9on of the American Choral Directors Associa9on, the 2010 Southwestern Division of ACDA, and the 2003, 2006, and 2010 conven9ons of the Texas Music Educators Associa9on.
Before joining the faculty at Sam Houston, Allen served on the faculty of California State University, Long Beach, conduc9ng the CSULB Chamber Singers. His high school teaching experience includes teaching at Klein High School in Houston, Texas and at Odessa Permian High School. Under Allen’s direc9on, the Permian
High School Kantorei performed for the 1996 Texas Music Educators Associa9on conven9on.
A life-‐long church musician, Dr. Hightower has served Bap9st, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congrega9onal churches in Texas and California. For the second 9me, he will
serve as the Duesenberg Concert Choir Chair for Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Fes9val in the summer of 2011.
From 2005-‐10 Allen was music director of the Houston Masterworks Chorus, Houston’s largest independent chorus. Performances with this chorus and professional orchestra included Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Crea9on, masses by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, as well as the requiem masses of Fauré, Mozart, and Brahms.
Allen holds degrees from Sam Houston State University, Baylor University, the Eastman School of Music, and UCLA. He was the first-‐prize winner in the graduate division of the ACDA Conduc9ng Compe99on in 1997. From 1997-‐2000 he served as conduc9ng intern wi th the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Allen has been mentored by choral conductors Bev Henson, Donald Neuen, Paul Salamunovich, Joe Flummerfelt, and Weston Noble.
A l len i s marr ied to s o p r a n o , K r i s 9 n Hightower. They are the parents of Caroline and Julianne Hightower.H
igh
Scho
ol
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Margie Camp We are pleased to welcome Margie Camp as
our honor choir clinician this year. Margie is on
staff with the Young Voices of Colorado, on the
music educa9on faculty at Metropolitan State
College of Denver, and brings with her 30 years
of experience in public school music. In
addi9on to direc9ng our fibh and sixth grade
singers, she will present to teachers of our
youngest and our intermediate singers, helping
to answer this ques9on: How Do I Engage My
Young Singers in Rehearsal? One session will
focus on grades 2-‐5 and the other on grades
5-‐8. If you’re one of those general music
teachers who works with a huge range of
grades, you’re in luck! You’re sure to come
away with lots of great 9ps for not only the
rehearsal, but for your classroom as well. Check
out this link if you’d like to see and hear more
about Margie’s work with the Young Voices of
Colorado.
hWp://youngvoices.org/
Boy and Children’s Choirs
Patricia BourneBut wait – there’s more! Few elementary/middle level MCDA
members work exclusively
as choir directors. Most of
us teach general music,
adap9ve music, music
apprecia9on, and a host of
other classes. While we
always enjoy learning how
to be beWer choir directors,
it’s even beWer to come
back from a conference
with new ideas for our
other jobs as well. That’s
why we’re exc i ted to
w e l c o m e a s e c o n d
elementary level headliner,
PaWy Bourne , to th i s
summer’s conference. PaWy is Coordinator of Music Educa9on at
Western Washington University, a member of the instruc9onal staff
for World Music Drumming, and brings a wealth of experience as a
teacher, conductor, and clinician. She will be on hand to answer
ques9ons such as: How Do I Grow a Children’s Choir From my
General Music Classes? and How Do I Keep My Sanity When They
All Have Drums? You can find out more about some of PaWy’s work
by following the links.
hWp://worldmusicdrumming.com/index.html
hWp://www.lorenz.com/product.aspx?id=30_2357H
So, mark your calendars now for July 24-‐27 and start submigng
those honor choir audi9ons. Your students will thank you for it! And
don’t forget to spread the word. If you know an elementary or
middle school general music teacher who has never aWended our
conference, invite them to join us. With honor choir on Wednesday
and great sessions Thursday through Saturday, it will be worth the
trip.
And suddenly it’s February! Winter break is over, we’re back from a great conference at Tan-‐tar-‐a, and now it’s 9me to get busy on
all that spring stuff. I hope that all you elementary music folks are planning to add MCDA Honor Choir audi9ons to your to-‐do list. We have lots
of exci9ng things in store for you and for your students at our summer conference.
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Gretchen Harrison
Gree9ngs and many mus i ca l b l e s s i n g s ! Many people are hard a t w o r k f o r t h e up com ing s ummer c o n v e n 9 o n . E a r l y registra9on has already b e g u n a n d t h e o p p o r t u n i t y f o r par9cipa9on in one of 6 s u m m e r c h o r a l ensembles has opened. For those of you with 7
and 8th grade singers will be excited to know that Gretchen Harrison will be our summer clinician. She brings a warmth and sincerity to music making that I am sure will delight the singers and inspire us to beWer musicianship. Please use the following link to read more about Ms. Harrison: hWp://moacda.org/5-‐6-‐7-‐8-‐9-‐10/
Ms. Harrison has chosen an exci9ng program of music that we all might consider programming at least one piece for our spring concerts. Think about pos9ng and sharing this list with your students to encourage them to audi9on and pari9cpate in a wonderful day of music making. Within the next couple of weeks please look for rehearsal tracks that you might use in preparing one of these selec9ons and then ul9mately to prepare those selected students for the summer honors choir.
Achieved Is The Glorious Work -‐ From “The Crea9on”Joseph Haydn/Ed. MaWhew Michaels
SATB -‐ Hal Leonard -‐ 08596711
Yellow Bird���Norman Luboff/arr. Dan DavisonTB������ -‐ Walton����� -‐ WW1373�����12396
Amavolovolo -‐ Tradi9onal Zulu Dowry Song
Arr. Rudolf de BeerSATB -‐ A capella
An American Anthem
3-‐pt treblearr. Allan Naplan
Boosey and Hawkes -‐ M-‐051-‐47082
Make a Joyful NoiseRollo Dilworth
SATB -‐ Hall Leonard -‐ 08751308
These guidelines will help in the upload process. Make sure to put all of the parts of the audi9on on a single track. Some basic sugges9ons. Think about your recording space. Try not to use a space that is overly resonant as it can muddy the quality of the recording. Oben 9mes the microphone on the computer or laptop is fine enough quality for the purposes of these audi9ons. Finally using a program like Audacity or Garage Band can allow you to edit all the space between the different parts of the audi9on to make the track as compact as possible.
AUDITION PROCESS -‐ For uploads, please put on one track.
1. Vocaliza9on: Sing the top 5 pitches ascending and the boWom 5 pitches descending of the singers range on “Ah” unaccompanied.
2.My Country ‘9s of Thee (America): Star9ng on the pitches listed below, sing the first verse unaccompanied.Accompanied singers will be disqualified.*For My Country ‘9s of Thee begin on the following pitch for each voice part.(all choirs)Soprano: A above middle CAlto: E above middle CTenor: A below middle CBaritone: F below middle C(Tenor/Baritone: 7/8 and 9/10 choirs only)Solo For 7/8 and 9/10 audi9on: One to two minutes of an Aria, Art Song, or Folk Song, etc. (with or without accompaniment) that may be suitable for a compe99on or fes9val. Limit the piano introduc9on to no more than 5 seconds. Pop, Gospel, and Contemporary Chris9an pieces are not acceptable and will result in disqualifica9on. (4/5/6 audi9on does not include the solo)
Please don't hesitate to email or ask ques9ons. The new website submission process will take a liWle gegng use to but should provide a much more streamlined and efficient process for gegng our students submiWed.
Finally be sure to check the MCDA website oben for up to date informa9on and loads of useful tools for your classroom and daily instruc9on. This summers conven9on looks to provide us with much needed inspira9on and opportunity to connect and grow! See you there!
Respec~ully SubmiWed James W. [email protected]‐999-‐9067
Middle Level Choirs
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Jennifer BarnesJennifer Barnes has developed a reputa9on as an excep9onal
musician through her work as a live and studio vocalist, arranger
and educator. Referring to her debut CD recording, “You Taught My
Heart”, legendary jazz bassist Rufus Reid says, “Jennifer integrates
rich vocal quality, clarity of pitch and emo9on with an addi9onal
pivotal skill that sets her apart from other great singers; she sings
improvisa9ons that are melodically and rhythmically interes9ng
from the point of view of a jazz instrumentalist.” She sang in a
na9onally aired Chili’s television commercial, and her voice has
b e en fe a t u re d o n
television and radio
commercials including
Epson, Old El Paso,
M c D o n a l d s a n d
Ke l logg ’s . She has
opened for the Count
Basie Orchestra and performed with her trio
at the 28th Annual IAJE
I n t e r n a 9 o n a l
Conference in New York
C i t y . J e n n i f e r
d e m o n s t r a t e s
tremendous versa9lity
in her ability to not only
lead her own small jazz
group, but also as a big
band vocalist, most
notably as the featured
vocalist on the Doug
Lawrence Orchestra CD,
“B i g Band Sw ing ”.
Chicago Tribune jazz
cri9c Howard Reich
r e p o r t e d , “ s h e
produces a sumptuous, wide-‐open sound...yet she threw off ornate
lines at quick tempos with apparent ease.” Jennifer is the alto voice and one of the primary arranger/composers for the professional a
cappella vocal sextet, Sixth Wave, whose most recent CD release
("Happy Madness") has been highly acclaimed, and they maintain
an ac9ve performance and tour schedule in the U.S. and Canada.
Jennifer resides in the Los Angeles area, where she has established
her vocal presence through both live and studio singing
opportuni9es, having been invited to perform or record with such
musical legends as Doc Severinsen, Barry Manilow, Cy Coleman,
Marilyn & Alan Bergman, Doc Severinsen, as a backup vocalist for
Bono on the 2002 Grammy Awards, and on television shows and
films including "Live Free or Die Hard", "Ice Age 2 & 3", "Wall-‐E",
"Speed Racer", "2012", "Enchanted", "Star Trek" and "Percy
Jackson: The Lightning Thief" and most recently, the FOX smash hit,
"Glee". Jennifer has gained notoriety not only for her performing
abili9es, but also for her commitment to jazz educa9on. She was an
ac9ve long-‐9me member and advocate of IAJE (Interna9onal
Associa9on of Jazz Educators), now is a member of JEN (Jazz
Educa9on Network), and has taught the vocalists at the Jamey
Aebersold Summer Jazz Camps since
1998. In addi9on, she taught privately
and directed downBeat [magazine]
award-‐winning Vocal Jazz Ensembles for
over ten years, including Western
Michigan University, University of Miami
(FL), Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and the
University of Southern California.
hWp://www.jenniferbarnesmusic.com/
Sessions
What are some choices in vo c a l j a z z e n s e m b l e directing?In this session, we will explore the three most valuable choices that a vocal jazz director (aspiring or current) can make to improve the overall level of their e n s e m b l e , w h e t h e r n o v i c e , intermediate or advanced, at any academic level. Philosophical and prac9cal rehearsal sugges9ons as well as ques9on and answer will be included.
What are some vocal jazz ensemble rehearsal techniques?Specific techniques for maximizing efficiency in rehearsal will be discussed, including use of amplifica9on, rehearsing a cappella and with rhythm sec9on, and repertoire selec9on.
Beth FritzVocal [email protected]
Vocal Jazz
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Finding Common Ground Between the Common Core and Choral MusicAs the full implementa9on of the Common Core State Standards approach, music educators get to choose how we embrace this new set of standards. It is easy to become fa9gued with the seemingly con9nuous rota9on of new expecta9ons, curriculum, buzz-‐words, and ini9a9ves that are too-‐oben replaced before they are fully implemented. The Common Core State Standards and the momentum behind them may not last forever, but they will likely be in effect for a large part of our careers. Plus, ignoring or neglec9ng them will put us in opposi9on to a na9onal curricular movement and nega9vely impact how our administrators and communi9es see music and arts educa9on in the effort to teach 21st Century Skills.
We can choose to use the Common Core standards to emphasize the importance of what we have been doing all along and eagerly adopt the 21st Century competencies included in the Common Core into our current rehearsal prepara9on and advocacy efforts. For those of us who have been at this for some 9me, we are profic ient at see ing
commonali9es between new ini9a9ves and our daily prac9ce. Choral music encompasses so many skills and subject areas, that it should not be a stretch to find applica9ons within the English Language Arts standards at the very least.
In reality, I don’t think our advocacy efforts will change much from the past. We know that choral music impacts students in mul9ple ways that reinforce all curricular and social areas. The curricular language may change, but choral music has the unique advantage of incorpora9ng text with music-‐-‐and this is likely the best star9ng place to prove that the skills and competencies required in the Common Core
have been embedded in vocal music all along. If we embrace the Common Core State Standards at the beginning, we will have a voice at the table as the standards are implemented at the district and building level. Now is the 9me to understand how choral music fits into the Common Core.
To help begin the process of understanding choral music’s place in the Common Core, I have listed the links to a few helpful ar9cles and resources below. Rather than rework or summarize them, I will give you the opportunity to explore these resources yourself and choose what will fit best into your advocacy and planning needs. As you explore the new standards and the skills required to master them, you will quickly see relevant connec9ons between your current teaching and what the Common Core demands of students.
* * *
The following PDF begins with a comparison of the Na9onal Music Educa9on Standards and applicable Common Core Literacy standards, along with a few other pre-‐exis9ng standards. Seeing everything on one page helped me make several connec9ons
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between new and familiar standards. The document con9nues with the Northshore School District’s plan to implement the Common Core into the arts.
hWp://www.northshore.k12.ny.us/BoardofEduca9on/Presenta9onstoBOE/Arts%20Ac9on%20Plan.pdf
Another website that outlines the Howard County Public School System’s plan for implemen9ng the Common Core is linked below. This web page includes a link to a 19 page Word document that correlates vocal music to the literacy and math standards of the Common Core.
hWps://transi9ontocommoncore.wikispaces.hcpss.org/Music
The instruc9onal facilitator in my building shared the following video with the elementary teachers of my district at a recent in-‐service. It demonstrates how close reading, a major component of the Common Core, can be accomplished with almost any text by analyzing “Oh The Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss. Before you watch this, prepare yourself to recognize several things you already do while discussing and teaching the lyrics of every piece of choral literature you teach. This video should clearly demonstrate how much overlap there is between what we teach and what the Common Core expects students to understand when reading a text.
hWp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adXdTXEzmzE
A few addi9onal resources:
• hWp://www.scoop.it/t/common-‐core-‐for-‐music-‐teachers
• hWp://www.commoncoreconversa9on.com/art-‐and-‐music-‐resources.html#sthash.nslTc7VC.X9dLBtBT.dpbs
• hWp://www.hicksvillepublicschools.org/Page/5761
• hWp://mindsonmusic.kindermusik.com/early-‐literacy-‐and-‐language/using-‐music-‐to-‐meet-‐the-‐common-‐core-‐state-‐standards/
• hWp://www.p21.org/storage/documents/P21_arts_map_final.pdf
These resources should prove that we have a running start on mee9ng the requirements of the Common Core, and I am confident that many more resources will be printed and published on the web in the future to help as the process con9nues. We are not star9ng from scratch and we do not have to fundamentally change our rehearsal or performance prac9ce to maintain our relevance and become aligned with the new standards. Resist the tempta9on to feel alone or excluded in this process; I know the teachers in my K-‐4 building, regardless of the subject or level they teach, are struggling to understand the Common Core and the instruc9onal shibs the new Standards will require. This is a new paradigm for everyone and by making an effort to understand and adopt the Common Core along with everyone else, we do not risk appearing unengaged in the process. Do not get bogged down in the new seman9cs and labels, or try to implement everything at once. Take small steps and adopt the new standards slowly and inten9onally. In the end, we s9ll get to say (or at least think) “I’ve done that all along, where has everyone else been?”
Gregory Gilmore MCDA Technology [email protected]
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Whether we direct adults singing in achurch, have an elementary choir or everything in between,
music touches us. We as choral directors/musicians have an
enormous responsibility. What we do is a universal language.
The music draws us in and the text touches our souls. I have
oben heard the saying how music is used when we are born, at
high and low 9mes in our lives and at our funerals. Music is
always with us.
Even though I know this, I was strongly reminded of this in the
past month. I enjoyed several performances at MMEA of my
colleagues with their choirs. Those MMEA performances were
very high points for the directors and for the performers, as
well. I didn’t get to hear every group sing, as I was with my
own choir during some performances. I was moved to tears
and laughter in some performances. A few 9mes was moved
to both at the same 9me. Yes, even this heartless old man was
moved.
Aber our performance I had to leave Tan-‐Tar-‐A, as my brother-‐in-‐law had passed away early on Thursday morning. My family
met me in Columbia on Friday evening and we drove to
Wichita to be with my sister and family for the funeral. I
thought of him oben during MMEA this year, even during my
own choir’s performance. The “Taps/Soldier’s Elegy/Tell My
Father” sec9on or our own performance, which I had hoped
would touch audience members, ended up truly touching me.
I found it difficult to make it through the performance.
My oldest sister is 16 years older than I am and Ed had been in
my family since I was seven years old. Although Ed loved to
sing, he would not have considered himself a singer. But he
loved music. As I sat in the church, once again I was reminded
how music can truly touch your innermost being. The music
that my sister and her family had chosen, were the perfect
selec9ons. They were “sound” representa9ons of what Ed
believed in and felt were important. The service was beau9ful.
Everything that was said was figng and well-‐spoken, and even
though what was said was very moving, I find myself thinking
back on the music.
I realize that music is important to me because it is my life, but
we as teachers of music must help our students, whether they
are old or young, learn to enjoy, relate and connect to the
music. They need to have an understanding of the text. They need to “feel” the song. They need to know that music can
move them. They need to see us moved by the music. They
need to know that music can be with them in the high and low
points of life and can be a rejuvenator and a peace-‐giver.
Jonathan Owen
MCDA President-Elect
“MUSIC IS THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF MANKIND”-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow-
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INSIDE OUT
The year was 1969. A thirteen-year-old girl and her two youngest siblings came home to an empty
house. This young girl was suddenly without her parents. Her
Mother and Step-‐Father had run away…run away from home.
The summer between her eighth and ninth grade
years became the pivotal moment upon which her life and
future turned. She would have given up. She would have
been lost. Her life would likely have become a tragedy…had it
not been for the 9mely and effec9ve interven9on of a series of
individuals who reached out to her. These individuals, first and
foremost, loved and accepted her and, because of that love
and acceptance, they challenged her to pursue what she had
previously presumed to be an impossible dream. They
believed that she could become remarkable, that she could
learn to be an independent and responsible person, someone
who could make the same difference in the lives of others that
they had made in hers. They invited her to become a person
of internal strength and capability, not merely someone who
receives a handout and learns to depend on others to
intervene when life trials and tribula9ons come to call. Instead
of en9tlement, she learned empowerment. Instead of
becoming dependent on others, she became the kind of
independent person from whom others can learn the lessons
she has learned. Her successes as a person and as a
professional may be primarily aWributed to the character traits
she developed as a result of the struggles she faced and the
guidance she received from key individuals who cared enough
to enter into a rela9onship with her when she needed one the
most. These characteris9cs became her inner strength…the
core of her character…her true self. The results have been
remarkable. She became a beloved wife and mother. She
became an accomplished musician. She became a teacher
who daily strives to be a posi9ve influence on the lives of
young people.
The challenges facing young people today are real.
Too many young people live in poverty, in abusive situa9ons,
or face parental neglect. Too many young people are under-‐
educated, suffering from low literacy, and lacking the social
and intellectual and spiritual skills necessary to equip them to
encounter and overcome life’s obstacles. To call aWen9on to
this situa9on is to state the obvious. Media repor9ng,
educa9onal theorists, poli9cal pundits, and social-‐issue special
interest groups have made the plight of young people
impossible to ignore. Therefore, the ques9on is not, “Why
isn’t our culture aware of these needs?” Rather, the ques9on
is, “How can we most effec9vely address these needs, and how
can these problems best be remedied?”
One approach condi9ons young people to look for
external interven9ons to rescue them from unpleasant
circumstances. The other approach is to ins9ll in young people
the kind of internal character quali9es that will enable them to
face life and its challenges independently.
The fundamental difference between these two philosophies is
clear: the former approach uses interven9on to give those who
are seen as vic/ms something for nothing, and the laWer
approach uses interven9on as a means for giving individuals
the opportunity to become independent and self-‐reliant. The
old adage, despite its clichéd tarnish, is true: “Give a man a fish
and he will eat for a day; teach him to fish and he will feed
himself for a life9me.”
In 1969 a thirteen-‐year-‐old girl was deserted and
abandoned by the two people in whom she should have been
able to place the most trust. This was a tragedy. She was a
vic9m…of neglect…of abuse…of loneliness and aliena9on.
However, she was also blessed…blessed by a sister who saw
her not as a perpetual vic9m but as a remarkable poten9al…
blessed by a teacher who took the 9me to give her the
opportunity to succeed…as a professional, as a person, and as
a posi9ve influence on the lives of others. She was changed…
transformed…from the inside…from the inside…out. I know
this is true…for I was that thirteen-‐year-‐old girl, and I am the
woman living out her dream.
Alberta SmithSouth Central
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