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iRooted in the experience of a professional choral conductor, this book provides a guide to practical issues facing conductors of choral ensembles at all levels, from youth choruses to university ensembles, church and community choirs, and professional vocal groups. Paired with the discussion of practical challenges is a discussion of over fifty key works from the choral literature, with performance suggestions to aid the choral conductor in directing each piece. Dealing with often-overlooked yet vital considerations such as how to work with composers, recording, concert halls, and choral tours, A Practical Guide to Choral Conducting offers a valuable resource for both emerging choral conductors and students of choral conducting at the undergraduate and graduate levels.ii iii

Two principal hypotheses came from the social and cultural contexts outlined above: 1) Composer diversity, particularly with regards to race, would generally increase; and 2) Composition difficulty would generally decrease. Of the seventy schools that met these criteria, sixteen submitted complete and useable programming records. Because the typical length of a master's degree in choral conductingis two years, the study covered a twoyear period of repertoire performed at each school before 2020 (academic years 2017-2019) and a two-year period after (academic years 2021-2023). The following additional data were stored for each school: (1) Whether the school issues choral conducting degrees at the master's level only or whether it also has a doctoral program (2) The region of ACDA in which the school is located (3) Whether the school is public or private (4) Whether the school experienced any change in its choral faculty during the study period, and if so, during which year Each composer appearing in the database was coded according to the composer's race/ethnicity, gender, and nationality. Each work appearing in the repertoire database was coded according to seven characteristics: (1) Approximate year of composition (2) Approximate duration (3) Sacred/secular status (4) Language of text (5) Accompanied/unaccompanied status (6) Difficulty rating according to three distinct resources that catalogue works by difficulty (7) Whether the work belongs to the spiritual, gospel, folk, or world genres (or none of the above) Finally, each performance of a work was coded according to five factors: (1) The school performing the work (2) The approximate date of performance (3) Whether the work was conducted by a faculty member or a student (4) Whether the work was performed by the school's top ensemble (5) Whether the work was performed by a treble, tenor/bass, or mixed ensemble Results and Analysis A total of 3,757 performed works were reported across all sixteen schools, with 50.3% (1,891) from 2017 to 2019 and 49.7% (1,866) from 2021 to 2023.

If you want answers to similar questions or get excited when discussion centers around repertoire and resources, then the R&R area of ACDA is for you! ACDA has R&R leaders in national, regional, and state positions throughout a variety of age groups and ensemble types from children's choirs to 4-year college & university singers and everything in between. The chairperson supports ACDA constituents though one specific area, while the coordinator supports the chairs. With that, here is a short list of some newer-tome search locations for interesting, off-the-beaten-path choral music: * MUZIKSEA - The first fully digital choral music publisher and distributor from Southeast Asia. https://www.muziksea.com/ * Dozan World - Sheet music library from the Middle East. https:/ /dozanworld.com/ collections/ human-voices * African Composers Edition - African Sheet Music https:/ / african-composers-edition.co.za/ * The Institute for Composer Diversity - Works of composers from historically excluded groups https://www.composerdiversity.com/ choral-database * Rowan University - Music Sources for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion https:/ / libguides.rowan.edu/ musicde1/ repertoire * African Diaspora Music Project https:/ / africandiasporamusicproject.org/ search-pieces * Song Helix - A Database for Art Song Research and Discovery https://www.songhelix.com/ I am so honored to work with one of the most creative, talented, diligent and passionate choral experts on the national R&R team.

[...]it has seen performances by myriad types of choral ensembles at institutions including Baylor University, Canadian Chamber Choir, Chœur de Chambre du Québec, Creekview High School, Michigan State University, R.L. Turner High School, University of North Texas, University of Wyoming, and Vancouver Youth Chorus. In addition to performing the work in its entirety, conductors might consider excising various movements for a concert. Fancy the professional recording of Figures de danse by Julia Davids and the Canadian Chamber Choir or various reference recordings of the work available on YouTube and other streaming platforms.· Revel in the wittiness of the text and enjoy an exploration of this moribund musical fantasy.· Brian C. Murray is the director of choral activities and assistant professor of music at the University of Wyoming. bmurray7@uwyo.edu NOTES Daunais's Figures de danse is a fanciful delight and a welcome respite to programs that are often replete with somber repertoire.

[...]westernization in Eastern Slavic music began much earlier and continued during the Russian Empire when the Romanoff Tsars and Tsarinas imported German and Italian composers to their court in St. Petersburg. [...]Bortniansky's exposure to westernized choral music began when he was a choirboy for the court (singing music by those composers) and continued in Italy. Dr. Marika Kuzma Professor Emerita, University of California, Berkeley Editor, Dmitry Bortniansky: 35 Sacred Choral Concertos (Carus Verlag, 2016) Author, Carols of Birds, Bells, and Sacred Hymns from Ukraine: An Anthology and Cultural Companion (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024) Editor's Corrections: From the March/April 2025 issue, \"Serge Jaroffs Don Cossack Choir,\" page 28, column 2, paragraph 2.

In this study we examine the effects of experience and culture on choral teachers’ description of choral tone across a range of genres. What does a “good” choral music performance sound like? Is there an objective standard of performance excellence, or is beauty in the eye of the beholder? In teacher preparation programs, choral directors in the United States have been taught to identify and teach particular, culturally-bounded standards of choral tone in their students. Choral directors evaluate their students’ voices along two dimensions: health and appropriateness. They discern and describe whether the student’s musical instrument—their voice—is producing sound in a healthy and non-damaging way. They also judge whether the style of their sound is appropriate for the music they are singing. However, teacher preparation programs do not provide common standards or lexicon for describing tone. This may increase implicit bias of individual directors, and inadvertently exacerbate ethnocentrism and harm students’ self-perception. Using a computational text analysis approach, we evaluate the content of open-ended survey responses from teachers, finding that the language used to describe and rate choral performance varies by experience, and by the choral selection (e.g., whether it is a traditional Western or non-Western song). We suggest that regularizing the terminology and providing common training through professional organizations can minimize potential bias and generate more systematic, precise use of qualitative descriptors of health and appropriateness, which will benefit students and teachers.

[...]of his vast experience and success working with tenor-bass voices, I invited Dr. Seelig to present at our Repertoire and Resources Tenor-Bass Forum at the 2025 ACDA National Conference in Dallas, Texas. A Philosophy Rooted in Respect Tim Seelig's approach to teaching is rooted in his background as a professional opera singer and voice teacher. The group's motto \"singing for the rest of our lives\" -was gifted to the ensemble by activist and songwriter Holly Near, who wrote the LGBTO + social justice anthem, \"Singing for Our Lives.\" Whether conducting a world premiere, mentoring an emerging conductor, or building a new ensemble from the ground up, Seelig remains focused on creating meaningful human connection through music.

Monophonic plainchant is an exciting and refreshing addition to a choral program in that it provides singers with the opportunity to perform music that is a different texture and style than much of the repertoire performed in high school, university, and community settings. Twelfth-Century Rhineland Neumes6: Dendermonde and Riesencodex Hildegard's Symphonia exists in two primary sources that include text and music known as the Dendermonde and Riesencodex.7 The Dendermonde Codex was a gift to the monks of Villers from around 1175 and may have been copied under Hildegard's supervision.8 Riesencodex is a large volume of Hildegard's collected works, likely produced in the scriptorium of the Rupertsberg cloister and presumably completed in the decades following her death.9 Scholars have had access to high-quality digital images of the manuscripts since the 1990s. Other advantages to working with a Lieder edition includes the correction of suspected scribal errors in the manuscript12 and the addition of breath marks, suggested ficta, and custodes (a little note at the end of a line indicating the next pitch) to aid the performer. The International Studies of Hildegard von Bingen Website is a rich resource and, in addition to a wealth of information about Hildegard's works, includes pitch content, recordings, translations, and scholarly commentary on the poetry and music (for a musical example,

(Note: Please do tell the choir from the start that not everything will be performed.) This can also enhance delivery of curricular goals if the \"extra\" selections focus on one or more skills that you're emphasizing: a specific harmonic mode, long-line phrasing, music from a particular style period or geographic region, etc. At Creighton University (as a scholastic example), our annual December concert is titled \"Creighton's Classical Christmas,\" which differentiates the performance from the more pop-oriented instrumental show, but does not otherwise limit the program beyond its inherent seasonal nature. At Sing Omaha, we do a pop concert every March with a full rock band, but I also theme those (80s, Icons, One Hit Wonders, etc.) The predictability and tradition around a singular annual branded concert galvanizes singers and audiences, and makes the event a can't-miss performance each year. Please do a self-evaluation of those exercises and see if you can identify their intended purpose and their actual result.