Issue 33 • Spring 2022
In This Issue: Your Teacher Identity Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Comparison is the Thief of Joy North Dakota in the Spotlight The Official Publication of the North Dakota Chapter
of the American Choral Directors Association
North Dakota ACDA Leadership Dean Jilek, president, University of North Dakota Connie Stordalen, president-elect, Horizon Middle School Cheryl McIntyre, past president, Jamestown High School Sheldon Weltz, treasurer
North Dakota Repertoire and Resources Committee Repertoire-Specific Coordinator: Tom Porter, University of Mary • Men’s Choirs: Tom Porter • Women’s Choirs: Lauren Brandenburg, Fargo South HS/Eielson MS • Vocal Jazz: Mike Seil, Bismarck Legacy High School • Showchoir: Connie Stordalen, Horizon Middle School • Ethnic/Multicultural Music: Phillip Voeller, Beulah Middle/High School
Youth Coordinator: Sarah Barnum, Discovery Middle School • Children and Community: Brady Gudgel, Mandan Middle School • Middle School/Junior High:
Lacey Hanson, Center-Stanton Public School Paige Bondley, Edgeley Public School • Senior High School: Brian Saylor, Bismarck High School
Collegiate Coordinator: Chris Redfearn, University of Jamestown • Youth College/University: Chris Redfearn • Student Activities: Melanie Popejoy, University of North Dakota
Life-Long Coordinator: Sara Lichtblau, Fargo South High School • Community Choirs: Sarah Barnum • Music in Worship:
Traditional: Vicky Boechler, St. Mary’s High School, Contemporary: Sara Lichtblau Brent Rogers, Dickinson State University Editor and Designer, The Chorister brent.w.rogers@dickinsonstate.edu
Contents From the Editor
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Brent Rogers, Dickinson State University Your Teacher Identity
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Micah Bland, Ranger College (TX) Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
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Marie Grass Amenta, Midwest Motet Society Comparison is the Thief of Joy
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Austen Wilson, Lutheran Church of Our Savior (NJ) North Dakota in the Spotlight
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Visit NDACDA online at ndacda.com, or by clicking below.
From the Editor
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W
elcome to the end of another wonderful, grueling, rewarding, draining, fulfilling, trying, amazing year! Especially given the challenges we face—the lingering effects of the pandemic, the outbreak of war, rising inflation, and just normal, everyday life—I hope you feel proud of what you and your students have accomplished.
If you’re like me, you’re probably keenly aware of what might have been accomplished “if only __________.” I think that’s really valid. We musicians tend to be perfectionists, and as choir directors in particular, a large part of our job is to find problems and solve them. So we tend to be very aware of problems. But if you’ve survived more than a few years in the profession, you’ve almost certainly also developed the ability to see and value progress as much as the final product. We know our students, we know their background and prior experience, and we know how hard they work to accomplish what we ask of them. So in many ways it’s easy to overlook the flaws and blemishes in their performances and help them know how
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proud we are of them, and how proud they should be of themselves. But do we treat ourselves the same way? If my experience in grad school is any indication, we do not—at least, not always. Choir directors can be really hard on themselves! We expect our best every day, and don’t always allow for today’s best to be a little (or a lot) different from yesterday’s. We’re understanding if our students have a difficult day because they got broken up with, or they’re going through drama or crisis at home. But when we ourselves experience similar heartache, stress, and pain, sometimes we still expect today’s best to be the same as yesterday’s. Maybe this is a lesson you've figured out better than I have. Maybe you already know that you’re a human being, too. Or maybe you’re somewhere in between—aware that you need to be kind to yourself, but struggling to apply that knowledge. Whatever the case, my encouragement is the same: be as kind and understanding with yourself as you are with your students. Yes, we’re adults and know better how to handle life’s difficulties, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need to allow ourselves to take things a little slower the day after our beloved pet dies. We all know that our students need us; just don’t forget that you can only give them your best if you also make sure you yourself are getting what you need. Happy summer! Brent Rogers Dickinson State University Editor and Designer, The Chorister
Your Teacher Identity
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hen it comes to being a choral educator, one of the most important features contributing to your success in the classroom is your teacher identity. In establishing your teacher identity, you should ask yourself three fundamental questions: 1. Who do you want to be as a teacher? 2. What is your desired choral sound? 3. What are the goals you have for your students?
Many new teachers just starting out may lack clarity when it comes to these questions. For some, this lack of clarity results in the imitation of their past teachers or colleagues copying their teaching style, preferred tone, and classroom demeanor. There’s nothing wrong with imitation. However, by copying others we present an inauthentic version of ourselves to our students. Several years ago, as a new teacher, my teacher identity lacked clarity. Having observed successful teachers throughout my musical development I believed my teacher identity should emulate their classroom persona. For those reading this, you may feel like you need to be exuberant, eccentric, authoritative, commanding, entertaining, etc. In my own experience I felt a disconnect between the false eccentric persona I was trying to portray, and who I was as a person. Over time I came to realize that my persona of calmness and patience was a perfectly acceptable and effective teaching persona. And my faux exuberance was only preventing me from achieving optimal success as a teacher. In terms of your desired choral sound, new teachers are more often guilty of imitating their past teachers and current colleagues. Again, it’s perfectly acceptable to imitate the tone of your teachers. But it’s also important to carefully consider the tone you want from your singers, and fully understand the methods used to achieve that desired sound. For some, the tone asked of you in your collegiate ensemble may not be appropriate for a middle or high school ensemble. Knowing how to achieve your desired choral tone is a challenge and takes time. As you begin your career in choral music continue to expand your knowledge of tone development through reading, listening to podcasts, and attending seminars. Finally, consider the goals you have for your students. This is significant as it will determine the focus of your class, as well as the activities you choose to imple-
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ment. For example, as a teacher do you care about music literacy, diverse repertoire, auditions, solo literature, small ensembles, composition, improvisation, musical theater productions, madrigals, show choirs, jazz ensembles, among other vocal styles and possible choral activities. When it comes to the classroom we have a limited amount of time in rehearsal. As a teacher, you may decide you want to implement as many of these previously listed activities as possible. While this approach may seem ideal at first, the focus of instruction is so vast that the learning lacks depth, resulting in mediocre experiences and quality of instruction. In contrast to this, intently focusing on specific areas provides students with a deep and meaningful experience, but can result in a lack of diverse instruction. By determining the goals you have for your students you can refine your instructional strategies providing students with an optimal learning experience. When it comes to your teacher identity, ideally it is an authentic representation of yourself. During your next break from teaching, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on these three questions, and carefully evaluate your teacher identity to determine if it is who you want to be as a teacher.
Micah Bland Ranger College, Ranger TX
This piece was originally published on ChoralNet.org, American Choral Directors Association's global online choral community, on May 4th, 2022 as the inaugural post of the ChoralEd blog, a new series based on the ChoralEd podcast. It is reprinted here by permission of the author. The original post can be found here. ChoralEd is a video podcast dedicated to providing pedagogical techniques and strategies for secondary choral educators. New episodes are released the first of every month with episode summaries posted on ChoralNet. To watch ChoralEd, Episode 1 on YouTube click here.
Self-FulfillingProphecy
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“America’s future will be determined by the home and the school. The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live.” — Jane Addams
I
have been around the performing arts, LITERALLY, all my life. With an opera singer mother and a tap/ballet dancer/choreographer/stage director father, I can honestly say I made my stage debut before I could walk. I’ve met wonderful people and had many “aunts and uncles” (a show bizzy way of referring to adults who are close to your parents but who do not want to be called mister, miss, ms or Mrs. because they considered themselves “cool”) who had influence on me. Many of those Aunts and Uncles were charming people who tended to be humble, but not too humble. They knew they were good; they knew they were talented but they didn’t hit you over the head with it. In the music world of my youth, my Mom and her friends could sing anything and play any role; it was magic. Dad and his friends knew everybody, saw everybody, and had ideas which were incredibly clever. I have to say, I was often intimidated because they seemed so confident, free, and relaxed. One of the chief things I learned from them was to keep on. If you believed you could do it, you could do it. Maybe it would take perseverance and lots of practice, but you would eventually be able to do whatever you set your mind to. It was important to tell yourself you could do it. There was a time when I was about 15, I believed I could not do fouetté turns. Aunt Helen believed I could and worked with me. My own ballet teacher noticed the improvement over the summer and was
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proud of all my hard work. As a result, I believe in self-fulfilling prophecies; I finally believed I could do the fouettés, so I was able to do them, with much practice. Belief in oneself is not a new idea but should be nurtured. It’s important for young artists to feel confident about their talent and abilities. We as teachers and directors should be supportive as well as realistic. Kindness and nurturing without impatience should be at the top of our list of teaching techniques for our students. Creating a climate of self-confidence and freedom to test their abilities should be our goals. We need to believe in them, so they are able to believe in themselves. Cutting someone down doesn’t motivate, despite dressing it up as being constructively critical, it just weakens self-confidence. And self-confidence is important in our profession; undermining it in others really undermines our own goals. Lifting someone up, encouraging our students and singers to be the best they can be doesn’t sound difficult to accomplish, does it? It’s a little thing but it can make a world of difference in someone’s life.
Marie Grass Amenta The Midwest Motet Society (Chicago)
This piece was originally published on ChoralNet.org, American Choral Directors Association's global online choral community, on May 12th, 2022. It is reprinted here by permission of the author. The original post can be found here.
Comparison is the Thief of Joy 11 | www.ndacda.com
W
ith Holy Week and Easter Sunday in the rearview mirror, I’m already starting to wind down for the season and anticipating summer activities. This year has had its share of ups and downs. I’m feeling weary and definitely in the need for vacation and other rejuvenating experiences. Perhaps you feel the same.
I was reading some earlier blog posts from this year and I almost felt some déjà vu. In September, I mentioned that one day I was at the beach and the waves were too rough to swim. Since the beginning of spring, I’ve gone to the beach more regularly. However, the ocean has been a little too rough to swim in for my taste. So I often sit and watch the ocean, read, or at times stood ankle deep in the water. Since I live 25 – 30 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean in Jacksonville, FL, I’ve been
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to the beach many times. I was reminded that sometimes the waves feel like they’re going to drown us. Other times, it’s smooth sailing. Right now, it feels like life’s waves are rougher rather than smoother. Perhaps you can relate. The hymn O God Our Help in Ages Past came to mind. Here is an excellent rendition of an arrangement by Jeremy Bankson from First Plymouth Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. A book that helped me survive some rough patches was The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker. On page 3, I found a passage to be particularly insightful. “When we don’t examine the deeper assumptions behind why we gather, we end up skipping too quickly to replicating old, staid formats of gathering. And we forgo the possibility of creating something memorable, even transformative.” While the book doesn’t mention choral conducting or rehearsals, there are so many concepts in the book that can transform rehearsals and each piece my choirs sing. Here is a TED talk she gave that illustrates her wisdom. Looking back at my purposes for the year, I haven’t been consistent with all of them. However, I’ve been mostly satisfied with one of the priorities I set back in August: “Enable transformational experiences in rehearsals and in worship”. Yes, there were ups and downs and sometimes I didn’t always hit the mark. On the other hand, there have been some incredible transformational experiences this year. Throughout the year, I’ve kept the following saying in my head: “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Oftentimes, I’ve heard it in context of comparing myself to another singer or comparing a choir I direct to a choir at a different organization. Especially since there are so many choral performances online, it’s so tempting to think or ask “I wish I had that many singers” or “Why can’t my choir sound like that or do that kind of repertoire? I can’t seem to get it together.” Whoever our singers are, they are deserving of our very best energy and teaching. While the balance of our ensembles may not be what we wish, or we yearn to do certain types of repertoire, we can help enable our choirs to have inspiring, emotional experiences. We can teach technique, musicality, etc. no matter the repertoire we choose. Those are things we can rejoice in. I’ve also thought of another context of “Comparison is the thief of joy”. Especially with the pandemic having disrupted so much, it is so easy to compare our current situation to “back then”. Perhaps our numbers in our choirs may have diminished. Perhaps we haven’t been able to do certain types of large-scale musical events because of protocols related to the pandemic. Since I’m in a full-time church setting, I can focus and communicate to my choir members that God moves and speaks in this time period. Today. In each rehearsal and worship service. The more I can do to communicate that message, the more I believe that singers are less tempted to
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make those comparisons to a former time. And the more singers can focus on God and lead the congregation in worship. As it is the Easter season, I thought I would include a link for one of my favorite Adult Choir pieces: With a Voice of Singing by Martin Shaw. With all its Alleluias and the message, it is a joyful and lively piece. May you find strength and wisdom to lead your choirs faithfully at this point in the program year.
Austen Wilson Lutheran Church of Our Savior, Haddonfield, NJ
This piece was originally published on ChoralNet.org, American Choral Directors Association's global online choral community, on April 26th, 2022. It is reprinted here by permission of the author. The original post can be found here.
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Check out our colleagues in the national spotlight! Congrats to Cheryl McIntyre, Lauren Brandenburg, Lacey Hanson, Elise Opp, Connie Stordalen, and Trudy Fraase Wolf on their contributions! (Click on the image below to see the full issue. You will need to log into your ACDA account.)
Photo Credit: pxhere.com