Sunday, October 19, 2014

ChoralNet Post- FORCED CHOIR

Today I have been assigned to look at a recent post on the ChoralNet forum. I came across this post and I immediately felt great sympathy for Christine Reda, who posted about her middle school choir program.

Here is her post titled “FORCED CHOIR”:

I have been teaching choir for 20 years. My middle school forces all students who do not play an instrument into the choir. It doesn't matter if the student can sing or not, can speak or not, can read (words) or not, etc. I love all children but there are students in my class with disabilities where they cannot even speak, let alone, sing. I have made many accommodations for students with special needs, which I am pleased to do! I love that they can participate in the group as long as they want to be there!  As for the general education students, some of them do not sing either, yet are capable, but refuse. Our school is grades 6-8.  Upon entering grade 6, any student who plays an instrument will automatically go into band. If a student does not like band or wants to quit, he comes into the choir by default. Each year gets worse and worse. This year is by far the worst and I have entire sections of students (for example the sopranos in one class) who will not even open their mouths to sing. They have had every kind of warm-up, explanation, and lesson on vocal projection, but they will not sing because they DO NOT WANT to be in Choir. I have petitioned the administration to do something about this. Some years in the past, the stronger singers have "covered up" for those who do not fully participate. That is not working this year.  I am letting the refusal to sing reflect in the grading. Does anyone have this situation in their school?  Any thoughts on what you would do if you were faced with this situation? Are there any articles out there about forcing students to be in choir? I have proposed a music appreciation course/ general music class on the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade levels but monetary logistics and scheduling issues seem to thwart this initiative.  I find it amazing that I have been able to get some of the past choirs to sing in three parts! Everyone always thinks I am doing a great job, but I know that I am doing everything I can to stay afloat. This year, it doesn't look as though we will get past unison singing. Thank you for any thoughts!”

This is a very unfortunate situation where students are forced to take a music class, and choir ends up being the default over concert band. I think there is always a struggle in balancing music programs in public schools and figuring out how to accommodate the classes into the school schedule. When I was in junior high school, I had to be pulled out of my class to go to band and I would have loved to have music class incorporated into my schedule where I wouldn’t have to miss another class. This said, I do not agree with this system where students are forced to take a music class. Maybe if they could choose between music, art, and drama it would better accommodate a larger population of students and their personal interests. Forcing students to sing in choir who clearly do not want to be there will only result in making those students detest singing, and they will probably remember those negative connotations they had towards choir in middle school, and continue to hate singing well into their adult lives. This is the opposite effect we wish to have on our students as a music educator.


Let me know what you think. Do you have any suggestions for Christine?

Monday, October 13, 2014

Coastal Sound Music Academy- Coquitlam, BC

This is a class presentation I created on Coastal Sound Music Academy- A very impressive choral organization!

Coastal Sound

Coastal Sound
Coquiltlam, BC
This choir program began over 24 years ago as an honour choir for students, and has now evolved into a choral music program with 6 choirs, offering opportunities to everyone from pre-school to adult.
The program includes quality early childhood music education, sight-singing and music theory training, vocal coaching, and choreography.

Artistic Team
Diana Clark- Artistic Director
Carrie Tennant- Associate Artistic Director
Morna Edmundson- Interim Youth Choir Director
Tia Turner- Con Bella Director
Angie Lundin- Sources Early Childhood Music Education specialist
Kelly Proznick- De Coro Director
Deanna Gestrin- Con Brio 1 director

Mission
Vision: to be an innovative and creative, joyful community of singers striving for excellence
Mission: to enrich lives through choral music

Choirs
Sources: ages 4 & 5 no audition
Con Brio: boys and girls ages 6 & up (placement evaluation)
Con Bella: girls ages 8 & up (placement evaluation)
Children's Choir: unchanged voices ages 10-16 (audition & interview)
Youth Choir: ages 15-22 (audition & interview)
De Coro: adult singers (interview, no audition)
- Both children’s choir and youth choir tour and perform professionally.

Awards and Achievements
2013 – Youth Choir won First Place in the “Mixed Voice Youth Choir” category in the Association of Canadian Choral Communities’ National Competition for Amateur Choirs
2013- Children's Choir performed with Michael Bublé on his Holiday TV Special
2012 – Youth Choir won National Festival as well as overall Grand Prize for top choir.
2011– Children’s Choir, Youth Choir and Women’s Choirs won Provincial Festival

Repertoire
I am the Great Sun- Jussi Chydenius
-       Sections require precise articulation, good diction exercise, textured writing, beautiful build
Prairie Lullaby- Stephen Chapman
-       Canadian representation, solo singing, dynamic control
Bogoróditse Djévo- Arvo Part
-       Introduces challenging pronunciations, allows choir to develop musicality
The Gift To Be Simple- Bob Chilcott
-       layered voices, tuning
The Ground- Ola Gjeilo
-       dynamic contrast, large build


-       Find more information at: http://coastalsoundmusic.com

Looking for some helpful choral warm-ups?

These are five helpful warm-up videos created by myself and another classmate. Feel free to watch and take away some ideas for your own choir.


Wednesday, September 17, 2014

"If you love something, give it away..."

My first blog post will be a response to Itay Talgam’s TEDtalk “Lead like the Great Conductors.”

I found this TEDtalk very inspiring! It is so amazing how effective one single person’s facial expressions can be.  It goes to show that sometimes simple is better. Overcompensating can greatly decrease the chance of getting the desired result. One of the directors states that the worst thing he can do is give the orchestra clear direction because it prevents the ensemble from listening to each other.
I have experienced ensemble directors who are on both ends of the spectrum. Giving an ensemble clear and precise directions often leads to quick positive results. Providing an ensemble with guidance while allowing them to think for themselves opens a space for musicians to add interpretation. The best music making involves no direct instructions. It promotes creativity and allows the orchestra to become the storyteller.

The final conductor displayed something that I had never seen before. He led the entire orchestra with his honest emotional reactions to the music. I could not help but get a warm feeling inside witnessing the pure joy that he had on his face while in front of the ensemble. I found it fascinating how well the musicians reacted to him and read his direction so well.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Welcome to A-CHOIR-ED TASTE

Hello, I am currently a student at Memorial University of Newfoundland studying a Bachelor of Music Education. I have created this blog for my Voice and Choral Methods class as a tool to post class materials, discussion, and share resources with fellow classmates and educators.

I am currently living in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada while completing this Music Education degree. I have previously completed a Bachelor of Music degree at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. I have studied clarinet in my music degree, and my career goal is to become a high school band teacher.

I have grown up playing in many bands and orchestras, but I am not at all experienced in the choir world! I imagine I will learn a lot from this blog experience, and hopefully provide some helpful resources to others.


I would love to hear from anyone who wishes to add to the discussion!