Choral Director Magazine

MARCH 2012 $5.00

Dave Willert

of Brea Olinda High School

The Dawning of the Show Choir Roundtable:

Money-Saving Travel Tips

Repertoire Forum: American Choral Music, 1940-1960

21 Highland Cir. Ste. 1 Needham, MA 02494 Change Service Requested

MARCH 2012

16 Dave Willert

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Our goal each year is to have the best show choirs out there.

Guest Editorial

Features 8

Sound Advice from

By Kenneth Wayne Thompson

I

is intended as a serious commentary on what we might learn

about teaching music from a seemingly unlikely source. Growing up performing in bands, orchestras, and choirs, and later becoming a professional conductor, I assumed my first child would study music without complaint. Surely he would be tenor or a cellist, the instrument I would play if I had it to do all over again, or he would play the piano, or maybe even the oboe.

“If we want to begin to develop great musicians, we need to cultivate great technique and allow students the freedom to apply the technique to all situations.”

From the Trenches Bob Morrison relates the story of how Arts and Music first became core subjects.

26 26

12 Commentary: Teaching Musical Literacy

the Pitch

f you follow soccer, or football as it’s known around the world, the title of this article is not only a play on words, but rather

As usual in situations like this, I was wrong. He doesn’t play the cello, piano, oboe, or even the banjo – my six-year-old son is a “footballer,” and he’s pretty good.

He plays with a grace and agility that mirrors what I try to achieve on the podium.

I played soccer as a child, but because of my son, after many years away from the game, I have begun to play again. Unfortunately, what I realize every time I walk onto the field is that my son is much better than I am at this game.

As much as I enjoy watching him play, I most enjoy watching his academy training sessions. I am grateful to have rediscovered the game as an adult, as the sound advice from the pitch has been quite a personal and professional revelation. I find the relationship between soccer training and some inherent problems I find in music teaching in this country to be insightful. We are very fortunate to have brilliant soccer teachers in my son’s academy, and the academy philosophy of “fall in love with the game” is evident in every training session.

Numerous times, we hear there are relationships between music and athletics. I agree with this statement, primarily because we should first and foremost consider learning to master techniques of singing a physical endeavor, not an artistic one. The development of technique, no matter if it involves learning F# or dribbling a ball, is training the body to physically replicate a specific act. Artistry is the application of technique - perhaps singing that F# with slightly more emphasis because it is a suspension that will resolve, or dribbling a ball with the outside of the foot in order to set up a pass or shot. These

Roundtable: Travel

Without Breaking the Bank

26 Guest Editorial: Sports and Music Kenneth Wayne Thompson of Bowling Green State University draws some surprising similarities between team sports and musical ensembles.

29 Repertoire Forum: American Choral Music John C. Hughes presents a choral works written by iconic American composers between 1940 and 1960.

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Choral Director • March 2012

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Not many, because the emphasis on winning at an early age reduces an emphasis on technical development. When placed in difficult situations, technique matters above all else. Our bodies need to be able to react quickly and with purpose.

Without individual technique, everything we know becomes specific to a situation. Ask a small child on the soccer field why they are standing in a certain spot and you might receive different answers depending on how they were trained. The young tactical development approach will yield a response similar to “because my coach told me to.” In the ensemble, asking the student why they placed an emphasis on the middle of a particular phrase might result in “because my teacher told me to.”

Is that really learning? Is the child really developing anything other than a reliance on someone else to tell her what to do? I think this is why if you see a youth soccer game, you will often hear the coach screaming at the players about where to go, what to do, and when to do it – and that sounds shockingly similar to some ensemble rehearsals we might have expe-

over the span of two years for more expensive trips.”

Stan Scott, from Grand Junction, Colorado, puts it succinctly: “With the economy the way it is and unemployment at a pretty high rate, keeping trips affordable is very important. The school that I am currently teaching is mostly middle to middle low income. So even doing fundraisers is somewhat difficult, because people just don’t have the money to spend.”

Beverly Laney, from South Pointe High School in Rock Hill, S.C., notes that inclusivity is important. “It is always my goal that every student be able to attend • Usefulour Products trip,” she says. “So I try to make • Tremendous sure it Value is attainable for all through fund• Amazing Prices raisers, and payments that are small and spread out.”

Joyce Bertilson, the director at PhoeRequest your FREE catalog nix’s North Canyon High School, pointed and information packet: out that she looks more at the value of each destination, but also makes sure to space out the trips to relieve the burden or www.RadaCutlery.com on parents. “I do try and space out expensive trips every two to three years though NOTE: Dept A12SBO so parents aren’t getting hit hard financially every year.”

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A handful of experienced educators discuss moneysaving tips for taking choral groups on the road.

1. 40% Profit 2. USA Kitchen Items 3. Easy System

From transportation to registration costs to housing, there are all sorts of financial obstacles to overcome when planning to take your school’s choir on the road.

Choral Director invited four directors from around the country to discuss their strategies when it comes to setting up travel plans for their choirs each year.

Affordability

16 UpClose: Dave Willert

22 Roundtable: Travel

Fund Raising

Hitting the Road

Choral Director • March 2012

Kyle Weary explores methods and reasons for teaching musical literacy in the choir room.

Dave Willert, director of the nationally acclaimed choral department at California’s Brea Olinda High School, chats with CD about the rise of show choir and current trends in this booming genre.

nized to present performances. We have texts to learn, melodies to perfect and harmonies to tune – thrown in with trying to just make sure 8th grade boys can make it through the performance! In soccer we see the same thing as coaches get their teams organized to win games. Organization without individual skill is useless.

The soccer equivalent to a concert preparation model is having kids play lots of games and practicing a in a very tactical, or organizational manner – as a team – in order to win games. This happens in excess with young players and the outcome is that the tactical model does win games at early stages of development, just as the young musicians likely have no trouble pulling together to play simple tunes in three or four parts. At some point, however, children must possess individual technique, and it is at this point we really begin to see deviations between various instructional models. The emphasis on winning, or concertizing, has catastrophic consequences for youth development.

How many goals have U.S. strikers recently scored in international matches?

The first thing we learned was that, maybe now more than ever, affordability plays a key factor in decisions about planning a trip. Adam Beeken, of Kentucky’s Lexington Catholic High School, says plans have been altered according to the slackened economy.

“We have been scaling back from taking one significant trip each year ($350-750 for a trip) to alternate years for more and less expensive trips he says, “Location is impacted to lower the price by traveling to appealing locations that are closer, this lowers bus expense and the number of nights we need to stay in a hotel. With this plan we encourage parents and students to save money

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Contents

are both applications of physical skill for a specific purpose.

In American sports, there is an emphasis on winning games. This can, and often does come at the expense of actually developing more proficient technical skill, and importantly, usually comes at the expense of learning to appreciate and love the sport. The parallel to this is readily seen in many ensemble classrooms across the country. There is an emphasis on performing, which unfortunately comes at the expense of learning to develop better technique, and definitely at the expense of falling in love with music as an art.

How many programs simply go through vocal warm-ups as quickly as possible in order to get to the “important” things - preparing for the first holiday concert? It starts a vicious cycle, because after the performance when you might want to focus on specific technical aspects of vocal sound production and technical development, unfortunately it’s time to prep for the winter concert, and then the spring concert, and on and on…we continuously try and get our ensembles orga-

Well-Laid Plans A good plan is always the best tool 27 in making sure every trip is manageable.

From timing out trips properly to planning for meals, it always seems to pay to have your accounts in order in advance.

Beeken: “The biggest way to save money on a trip is to plan one yourself. That way, you’re not also paying for a tour guide, tour company overhead, and insurance coverage that is already covered by your district. Also making connections or using connections in the location we are traveling can lower expenses. So instead of going to a festival that has really high cost and not great incentives and feedback, I can work with a college director and alumni I respect to have a clinic or perform at a church with amazing acoustics for little to no expense to my group.”

Bertilson echoes that sentiment. “I can save up to $1,000 by booking with a charter bus company directly instead of having the travel agent do it,” she says.

Laney looks more toward a careful cost-benefit analysis. “I make sure when traveling by bus that we fill however many buses we are using. Nothing wastes more money than paying for a bus

Choral Director • March 2012

that only is filled half to capacity. Secondly, I try to include almost all meals for students in the price. Parents seem more likely to respond to trip price if it is more of an ‘all-inclusive’ kind of deal. In my experience, trips that don’t include meals can end up disastrous with students who have run out of money, lost their wallet with large amounts of cash, etc. Thirdly, on trips with eight hours driving or more, we tend to depart for our destination and back home at night to save nights in the hotel. Students will sleep through the night on the bus and then hit the ground running once we reach our destination.

When coming back home, we spend the whole last day at our destination, and once again, they sleep all the way home.”

The overnight route is a favorite of Beeken’s as well, and he notes one other added benefit if the itinerary has the bus rolling into destinations in the evening.

“This insures that students will be tired when you get to the hotel – I try not to have much free time in the hotel.” He does note a few downsides in that it decreases the flexibility of the bus schedule because of professional drivers’ limited hours, and it also makes it slightly more difficult to find chaperones that want to endure the overnight rides.

Meanwhile, Stan Scott notes that it always helps to remind participants to start saving as early as possible. “The biggest factor I believe is letting parents know about the trip that you are taking at least a year or more in advance,” he says. “I typically give them a chart that states how much money they should be putting away a month to save for the trip.”

Making the Most of Housing Though housing costs can be cut down by overnight travel, a few nights’ stay in destination cities is inevitable. Our round table had a variety of ideas about how to make the most of your budget for student housing during these trips.

Laney goes against conventional wisdom and seeks out hotels with good rates on suites. “I like to look for hotels that have suites that fit more than four students in a room and also include breakfast,” she says. “If I have 10 boys on a trip, it actually can work out cheaper to have them in suites than can fit five to a room rather than use three regular hotel rooms.”

Choral Director • March 2012

Beeken agrees. “I also tend to try and book hotel suites so we have five to six students in each room as opposed to four or less,” he says. “When traveling with a small group in a tour situation I prefer to do overnights in high school or church facilities. They’re not the most plush accomodations, but it helps the group grow together and is much, much cheaper.”

Bertilson reiterates the idea of booking housing that includes breakfast in order to cut down on the cost of one more meal (not to mention the assurance that everyone’s eating well in the mornings).

She adds, “Believe it or not, I also often find that when traveling with one of my smaller ensembles, using something like a AAA discount gets me a better price than a group rate. Some hotels won’t give a group rate unless its over 10+ rooms.”

Fundraising Programs Finally – the subject of fundraising, seemingly a cornerstone in any school program hoping to set up ambitious travel plans. While many use sales and pledging programs as a surefire way to gather up community support, it’s not a clearcut winner for everyone. Scott gives an enthusiastic “Yes!” to the idea and loves Stan Scott, Choral Director Central High School Grand Junction, Colo.

Beverly Laney, Choral Director South Pointe High School Rock Hill, S.C.

Joyce Bertilson, Director of Choral Activities, North Canyon High School Phoenix, Ariz.

Adam Beeken Lexington Catholic High School Lexington, Ky.

Choral Director • March 2012

Columns 3

Opening Notes

35 Vocal Tip

4

Headlines

35 Classifieds

32 New Products

36 Ad Index

Cover photo by Sara Press, Los Angeles, Calif.

Choral Director® Volume 9, Number 2, is published six times annually by Symphony Publishing, LLC, 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham, MA 02494 (781)453-9310, publisher of School Band and Orchestra, Musical Merchandise Review, Music Parents America and JAZZed. All titles are federally registered trademarks and/or trademarks of Symphony Publishing, LLC. Subscription Rates: $20 one year; $30 two years. Rates outside U.S.A. available upon request. Singles issues $5 each. Resource Guide $15 Standard Postage Paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER/SUBSCRIBERS: Send address change to Choral Director, 21 Highland Circle, Suite 1, Needham MA 02494. The publishers of this magazine do not accept responsibility for statements made by their advertisers in business competition. No portion of this issue may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher.

Copyright © 2012 by Symphony Publishing, LLC, all rights reserved. Printed in USA.

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Opening Notes

Separation of Church and Choir?

It’s no secret that choral music and religion have been closely intertwined throughout history. Across religions around the world, singing is an integral part of the spiritual ceremony. Indeed, much of the great classical literature for voice used in today’s choral groups was born out of exaltation of the creator. In modern times, however, this can be a murky topic, especially when it comes to the public school setting.

Recently, national headlines followed a high school senior in Denver, Colorado who refused to participate in his school’s choir after learning that the English translation of a song programmed by the director included a line that proclaimed, “There is no truth except Allah.” The choir was preparing the song – “Zikr” by A.R. Rahman – in Urdu, a language common in India and Pakistan, and the controversy erupted after the teacher distributed an English translation. The student, a senior at Grand Junction High School, complained to the local school board and, when administration defended the choral director’s programmatic decision, he later quit the volunteer choir. The ensemble was also concurrently preparing an Irish folk song and another piece of Christian origin for an upcoming choral festival.

Religious content in schools has long been a volatile topic. In fact, many music education associations have established guidelines for the appropriate use of sacred repertoire. The key distinction seems to hinge on wheth“The key distinction er non-secular pieces are used as worship or indoctrinaseems to hinge on tion, or as a vehicle for educating students about imporwhether non-secular tant musical, cultural, or historical concepts.

The NAfME website states, “The study and perforpieces are used as wor- mance of religious music within an educational context ship or indoctrination, is a vital and appropriate part of a comprehensive music or as a vehicle for edu- education. The omission of sacred music from the school would result in an incomplete educational cating students about curriculum experience.” However, they do qualify this by noting, important musical, “Young students (and their parents) sometimes become cultural, or historical confused and upset by what they view as contradictions concepts.” to their religious teaching. It is important to communicate that music learning, not religious indoctrination, is the motivation in choosing repertoire.”

ACDA policy largely agrees, also warning, “While public school teaching objectives and criteria for repertoire selection should not include religious indoctrination, the selection of quality repertoire will invariably include, within its broad scope, music with a sacred text…

In no way should music be selected for study and performance in the public schools for the purpose of advancing or perpetuating a particular religious belief system. Rather, music should be selected first, on its own merits as an art form and second, as a cultural object for study that enhances the understanding of the cultural development of a particular movement in human civilization.”

Given that the recent flap in Colorado involved a voluntary choral ensemble and the repertoire was varied in origin and message – and because the song in question has demonstrable musical attributes – it is clear that the choral director acted appropriately in her programmatic decisions. Likewise, the young singer was fully within his rights to refuse to participate in something that he felt violated his belief system. While perhaps in the end it was much ado about nothing, it is still food for thought…

®

March 2012 • Volume 9, Number 3 GROUP PUBLISHER Sidney L. Davis sdavis@symphonypublishing.com PUBLISHER Richard E. Kessel rkessel@symphonypublishing.com Editorial EXECUTIVE EDITOR Christian Wissmuller cwissmuller@symphonypublishing.com EDITOR Eliahu Sussman esussman@symphonypublishing.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Matt Parish mparish@symphonypublishing.com Art PRODUCTION MANAGER Laurie Guptill lguptill@symphonypublishing.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Andrew P. Ross aross@symphonypublishing.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Laurie Chesna lchesna@symphonypublishing.com Advertising ADVERTISING SALES Iris Fox ifox@symphonypublishing.com CLASSIFIED SALES Maureen Johan mjohan@symphonypublishing.com Business CIRCULATION MANAGER Melanie A. Prescott mprescott@symphonypublishing.com ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Popi Galileos pgalileos@symphonypublishing.com

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RPMDA Eliahu Sussman Editor • esussman@symphonypublishing.com Choral Director • March 2012

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Headlines World Choir Games Releases 2012 Schedule

The Cincinnati Organizing Committee for the 2012 World Choir Games has released the 2012 Games schedule of events with day-to-day events July 3-14. The list includes the Opening Ceremony at the U.S. Bank Arena on the night of July 4, which will feature the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and May Festival Chorus and will highlight the ringing of the Peace Bell and a performance of the Official Song of the 2012 World Choir Games. Competition will proceed throughout the week with Celebration Concerts from different choirs from around the world taking place in the evenings. A parade through downtown and party on Fountain Square will take place on July 8, while awards ceremonies finally occur on July 13 and July 14, followed by a Champions Concert and a presentation from the 2014 World Choir Games host city. Tickets for the event went on sale on March 1.

www.2012worldchoirgames.com

The recently launched website RealSing.org and its RealSing Advisory Collective provide certification as to the authenticity of a singer’s vocal performance on audio recordings, broadcast media, tours and telecasts, intended as a way to differentiate “real” performers with those using digital corrective tools on their vocals. The RealSing Collective is comprised of singers, songwriters, producers and engineers, as well as a growing number of industry organizations. The Collective includes Tommy Lipuma, multiGrammy winning Producer/Arranger; Ginny Mancini, Chairwoman of Society of Singers; Phil Ramone, 15-time Grammy-winning Producer/Engineer/Technologist; Wendy Moten, Singer; Rudy Perez, Singer/Songwriter/Producer; Al Schmitt, 17-time Grammy-winning engineer; Society of Singers; Aspen’s Wheeler Opera House; the Brooklyn Opera and more.

Many contend that pitch correction is akin to athletes taking steroids, and RealSing points out that even the most beloved athlete sees their legacy tarnished fans discover that he or she used performance enhancing substances. RealSing is designed to hold vocalists to the same standard.

www.RealSing.org 4

Choral Director • March 2012

Disney Performing Arts Launches Search for Alumni

The search is on for Disney Performing Arts alumni who have achieved success in the performing arts or related careers. The new alumni search celebrates former participants of Disney Performing Arts workshops, clinics, performances and competitions, whose known alumni include TV star Jennifer Morrison, School of Rock’s Caitlin Hale, and Jerry DePizzo of O.A.R. Disney wants to hear from some of the millions of students who since 1955 have marched, danced, performed or sung in Disney parks as part of music and dance ensembles. Inductees can profile their success and shine a spotlight on their school bands, dance teams, and choral and theater groups.

The organization hopes that today’s students will find inspiration in the stories of past Disney Performing Arts participants and learn firsthand about the value of performing arts education. These stories should reflect the diverse opportunities available through performing arts, from performance-based careers such as theatre and dance, to leadership careers including talent management, marketing and promotions. The discipline and energy derived from a performing arts background can also serve as a foundation for other successful careers beyond entertainment.

Since 1955, Disney Performing Arts has built a family of the world’s most elite singers, dancers and musicians. These performers have a common bond by performing for international audiences at Disneyland Resort in California or Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Today, millions of student performers representing all 50 U.S. states and six continents have become a part of the Disney Performing Arts family, and many have continued to have a career in music, on stage or on screen.

visit www.disneyyouth.com.

RealSing.org Launches to Certify Recordings that Don’t Use Auto-Tune

Headlines Heath Takes Choir Teacher to Grammys

Christian singer Brandon Heath, who was up for three awards, including Best Contemporary Christian album for his Leaving Eden, brought a very special date to the awards ceremony in February – his high school choir teacher. The 33-year-old Heath didn’t win any of the awards, but he did make waves with his 79-year-old guest, Bobby Jean Frost.

Frost mentored Heath at Nashville’s Hillsboro High School, where she taught for 31 years. Heath told the story that in his freshman year, Frost encouraged him to enter the “Grammy in the Schools” contest for a chance to sing at an event in New York featuring Gloria Estefan. Heath took her advice, sent in a video of himself singing Garth Brooks’ “One Night A Day,” and won.

Heath has since climbed to the top of the Christian music charts. He’s had number one hits like”I’m Not Who I Was,” “Give Me Your Eyes” and “Your Love,” he’s won an Emmy Award and was the Gospel Music Association’s male vocalist of the year in 2009 and 2010.

Stucky to Compose 2013 Brock Memorial Work

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Steven Stucky will write the 2013 ACDA Brock Memorial composition to be premiered at the National ACDAConference in Dallas next March.

Stucky’s compositions were featured in three recent and prominent New York City performances: his “Silent Spring” symphonic poem was performed in Avery Fisher Hall on February 26 by the Pittsburgh Symphony in Avery Fisher Hall; “Son et Lumiere” was presented by the New York Philharmonic; and the New Amsterdam Singers performed his choral piece “Whispers” on March 2.

Established in 1991, the Brock Series seeks to continue ACDA’s long tradition of promoting new choral works by some of the world’s best composers. Previous Brock composers have included Morten Lauridsen, Gian Carlo Menotti, Daniel Pinkham, Eric Whitacre, and others. www.acda.org

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Choral Director • March 2012

Perform for nationally recognized adjudicators at this once-in-a-lifetime event, then celebrate your accomplishments at our Inaugural Gala.

From the Trenches: A History Lesson

The Untold Story:

How Music and Arts Education Became Core Subjects

By Bob Morrison The Commission, with its work complete, was disbanded.

Immediately, a new group was formed out of this meeting to lead the national campaign and thus began the National Coalition for Music Education. MENC, NAMM, and NARAS were joined by the American Music Conference (AMC) to lead the push to implement the recommendation from “Growing Up Complete.”

I noted in that article that there was more to the true story of how the arts actually came to be recognized as a core subject. Today, borrowing a phrase from that historic commentator Paul Harvey, here is the rest of the story… and it is extraordinary…

The Back Story

L

ast March, I wrote about the 20-year anniversary of the release of the landmark report “Growing Up Complete: The Imperative for Music Education” by the National Commis-

sion on Music Education, which was a partnership between NAMM (Larry Linkin, Karl Bruhn), NARAS: The Recording Academy (Mike Greene), and MENC/NAfME (John Mahlmann). I noted how in March of 1991, several hundred people from music education, the record business (yes they did sell records at one time), the music products industry, and government leaders all gathered at the JW Marriott Hotel in Washington D.C. to release this groundbreaking report to Congress and the Bush I administration. This was the culmination of two years of organizing of the broader music community against the threat of marginalization in our schools.

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Choral Director • March 2012

In 1989, the “National Education Goals” were unveiled by the National Governors Association. The goals, released in the summer of 1989 at a meeting chaired by the Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton stated: Goal Three: “children will demonstrate competency in core subjects English, math, science, history and geography.”

Something missing? Yep: no music and no arts!

Well this omission of music and arts education from our nations educational agenda was the spark that brought together the partners of the National Commission for Music Education and ultimately the report “Growing Up Complete” followed by the formation of the National Coalition for Music Education in the March of 1991.

Later in 1991 President Bush announced “America 2000”… and again core subjects were listed as English, math, science, history, and geography.

Again, no music, no arts.

All requests to change Goal Three of “America 2000” and include the arts were met with blunted replies of “No” from then President Bush (I), thensecretary of education Lamar Alexander (who had served as governor of Tennessee), and even head of the National Governors Association’s Education Goals Panel Roy Romer, among others.

The Comment Heard “Around the World” Then, in a November 1991 letter to MENC, secretary of education Alexander, the highest ranking education official in this country and himself a musician, called music and arts education...

“Extracurricular.”

He went on to write: “If it were my community, I would want to be sure that the school provided music and art.”

These words would soon haunt him.

This provided the coalition partners with the kind of proof that was needed to get people moving to fight for our music and arts programs. Calling arts education “extracurricular” was like waving a red cape in front of an angry bull.

For the previous two-and-a-half years, the coalition had battled for the arts inclusion and recognition as part of education reform. All suggestions and requests for change were constantly rebuffed, no matter how strong the case was made and no matter how influential the leaders were who brought the issue forward on the community’s behalf.

But, in one ten-day time period – almost exactly 20 years ago – because of the efforts of just a few people, everything changed.

The Bully Pulpit of One Mike Greene, angered by the lack of progress with national leaders, took the stage at the Grammy Awards on Tuesday, February 25, 1992 and in front of 1.5 billion people, like a preacher at the pulpit, launched the following salvo:

“Calling arts education ‘extracurricular’ was like waving a red cape in front of an angry bull.” ...America’s creative environment affords all of its citizens the opportunity to create and appreciate music, and that begins with education. In the near future, you’re going to be hearing a great deal about the government’s plan for education.

It’s called, “America 2000.”

It’s a supposed educational blueprint for the next millennium. And guess what?

Among the goals, the words “art” and “music” are not even mentioned one time. The very idea that you can educate young

people in a meaningful way without music and art is simply absurd… If current trends persist, music will no longer be a universal entitlement, but one of the markers future historians point to as the beginning of a cultural caste system tied to personal and class economics… If a child has never been inspired by a poem, if a kid has never been moved to tears by a great symphonic work… why on earth should we believe that our future generations could even be bothered by the banning of records or the burning of books?

Immediately following the show, Secretary Alexander called a friend in Nashville’s music business and asked (sanitized for publication): “Who is Mike Green and what is his problem?”

The Maryville Two On the Friday of the week following the Grammy Awards, a concert had been scheduled to protest the lack of inclusion of the arts in the National Education Goals and the threatened cuts to the music program in Maryville,

virginia international music festival at the norfolk nato festival april 25 – april 28, 2013

Join us in Norfolk for a weekend filled with outstanding entertainment and performance opportunities for your students. Exciting events include the Virginia International Tattoo and the Parade of Nations along with Choral, Jazz and Instrumental groups performing at Chrysler Hall and much more.

Call 1-800-USA-FEST or email mike@usafest.org and start planning today.

visitnorfolktoday.com 1-800-368-3097

Choral Director • March 2012

9

Blount County, Tennessee. The concert was organized by the choral director, Stacey Wilner, and the art teacher, Carla Thomas, with the support of the Tennessee Coalition for Music Education (an affiliate of the National Coalition).

The second half of the concert would open with an empty stage to represent the loss of the music program. Country stars were sending in letters of support, Mike Greene had considered attending, and there were rumors and local newspaper stories about Garth Brooks (the hottest star at the time) attending the concert to support the protest.

Why was this so important? Because this is the hometown of Lamar Alexander, the same person who said, “If it were my community I would want to be sure that the school provided music and art.” Well, this was his community and he was about to be held accountable for his words. The secretary of education became so obsessed with the potential for bad publicity in his hometown he went so far as to have his public affairs officer contact a local newspaper and pose as a parent to see if Garth Brooks would be at the concert for fear of the additional negative media that would create. That’s right you read this correctly. And yes… this was amazing!

The combination of being called out on the Grammys telecast and the poten-

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Choral Director • March 2012

tial to be publicly embarrassed in his own hometown proved to be too much.

Blink In an effort to head of the negative press, Secretary Alexander announced from a pay phone in an airport to an education reporter for the Tennessean Newspaper in Nashville, the creation of the “America 2000 Arts Partnership,” just in time to be printed in the paper the day of the concert (March 6, 1992).

Think about this. A major new education initiative for music and arts education for the country coming from the US Department of Education is announced to an education reporter in Nashville!

Which brings us to the main question: Did this decision have anything to do with… children? The answer, unfortunately, is no. It was all about politics and perceptions. This is a very important lesson that has driven the modern day arts education advocacy movement.

It would be three weeks before the formal details of the plan were released.

When they were music and arts education were at least invited to the table: The America 2000 Arts Partnership. The plan spoke of National Standards for Arts Education but stopped short of embracing the arts as a core subject. It would take a change of administration and a new secretary of education to make this happen.

The New Administration Seals the Victory With the change of administration after the 1992 election a new secretary of education, Richard Riley, entered the scene.

After being in office for less than one month – on February 23, 1993 (we know for a fact this was strategically released on the eve of the Grammy Awards), the new US secretary of education released the following statement on the importance of Arts in education: As we work to improve the quality of education for all children, the arts must be recognized as a vital part of our effort. The arts – including music, theater, dance, and visual arts – are a unique medium for communicating what is common to all of us as human beings and what is special to each of us as creative individuals. The arts provide valuable opportunities for understanding our cultural heritage and that of all other civilizations. The arts also enhance our nation’s economic competitiveness by developing creative problem-solving skills, imagination, self-discipline and attention to detail.

Emerging national education standards will, for the first time, provide a clear vision of the knowledge, skills, and concepts that all students need to learn through studying the arts.

Building on existing arts education partnerships, the Department will imple-

ment and support new education reform efforts which insure that the arts are an integral part of every child’s education.”

I guess he saw the Grammy Awards from the previous year!

The overwhelming response to this statement from music and arts educators, advocates, and supporters from across the country gave the secretary the courage to then change the National Education Goals and add the Arts as a core subject to the new education legislation “Goals 2000.”

On March 31, 1994 President Clinton signed Goals 2000 and now music and the other Arts are codified into federal law as a core subject. That same month, the National Standards for Arts Education were released. Not long after new research studies would be published connecting music and arts education to all sorts of educational benefits.

Leading When It Matters The battle the music and arts education community had waged for the inclusion of the arts as a core subject

ended in victory largely due to that ten-day time period in 1992, between the Grammy Awards and the Maryville protest concert.

Mike Greene had nothing to gain by taking the Grammy stage on February 25, 1992 to deliver what is now the most important speech ever delivered on our behalf. Stacey Wilner and Carla Thomas had everything to lose – including their jobs – when they stood up against the system, against a sitting secretary of education, to fight for the rightful place of music and art in their school.

When the future of music and arts education hung in the balance these individuals did something. They did not know at the time their actions would be responsible for sending music and arts education into a new and higher trajectory. They all did stand up for what they believed regardless of the personal risk.

It is a lesson for us all.

As we look 20 years hence, it is clear the future of music and arts education in our nation will be de-

termined by how individuals and groups work together to right now to face the challenges of our time, not based on self interest or personal gain, but based on doing the right thing for our students regardless of the personal risk… just as Mike and Stacey and Carla did 20 years ago.

So when you come face to face with a new challenges or opportunities in your school or district to fight for music and arts education for your students, I have one simple question: What will you do?

Robert B. Morrison is the founder of Quadrant Arts Education Research, an arts education research and intelligence organization. In addition to other related pursuits in the field of arts education advocacy, Mr. Morrison has helped create, found, and run Music for All, the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, and, along with Richard Dreyfuss and the late Michael Kaman, the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation.

He may be reached directly at bobm@artsedresearch.org.

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Choral Director • March 2012

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Commentary: Music Literacy

Teaching Musical Literacy: Developing the Independent Choral Singer

By Kyle J. Weary

W

hile many instructors of choral music would agree with the notion of teaching musical literacy as part of educating

choral singers, few choral instructors actually devote significant time to teaching musical literacy, suggests Dr. Steven Demorest in his 2001 publication, Building Choral Excellence. However, regardless of the many factors that impact whether or not a choral instructor teaches musical literacy, if a singer leaves the choral setting without learning how to be an independent musician, the choral instructor has failed to do his or her job.

Most teachers teach how they were taught, by pounding out notes in rehearsal. The issue with this paradigm is that unless we recognize the weaknesses of our own training, we will not teach our students any better than we have been taught. Those who teach musical literacy know that teaching students to be independent musicians ultimately saves time in rehearsal. Students are able to learn music much faster and, most importantly, without the aid of a piano, part cd, or learning by rote. There are many methods and approaches to teaching musical literacy to choral students.

These systems must be divided into rhythmic patterns and pitch patterns before they are put back together. Dr. Don Ester notes that tonal and rhythm systems must serve the needs of the learning approach used by the teacher; they must not drive the approach or be the approach.

Best Practices - Rhythm There are many methods or approaches for rhythmic patterns; I have found that the Takadimi syllables work best. Takadimi gives students a systematic approach to decoding music no12

Choral Director • March 2012

tation, once they are ready to begin reading. Many prominent music educators have noted that students should be taught sound before symbol, but many materials sold and used for teaching musical literacy start with sight, rather than sound.

The Takadimi System was developed at Ithaca College as a method of tutoring students. Like the Gordon system, the Takadimi System is a beat-based syllables system, rather than notation based. The Takadimi System is relatively simple as it is only two related

sets of syllables: one for simple beat division and one for compound beat division. Unique to the Takadimi System is that every subdivision has a unique syllable. “In simple meter, any attack, regardless the notation, is called ‘Ta,’ and any attack on the second half of the beat is called ‘di.’ Further subdivisions are called ‘ka’ and ‘mi.’ In compound meter, ‘ta’ again represents an attack on the beat, and the syllables ‘ki’ and ‘da’ serve to articulate the divisions on the beat. Further subdivisions are ‘va,’ ‘di,’ and ‘ma’.” I believe that teachers must first prepare the ear to help students develop a sound “vocabulary.” Just like any other type of learning, teachers must create the proper sequence of instruction or student learning will be diminished.

Best Practices - Tonal Jane Kuehne observed that in her research, middle school choral directors in Florida mostly agreed with using the moveable do system with exercises created by the teacher. Using a letter-based or fixed-do system may work for some students, but since most people do not hear in absolute pitches, one may conclude that establishing tonality in major, minor, and other modes (as needed) will stand to help the choral singer aurally, rather than establishing absolute pitch names. When students are taught using a fixed-do or letter-based system, they essentially must learn 15 different syllable patterns that are associated with 15 different key signatures.

In contrast, if students learn using a moveable-do system, they must learn one pattern for major, one for minor, and then (if needed) the patterns for the church modes. The next factor that a teacher must make a decision on is on which minor system they would prefer to teach: the do-based minor system or the la-based minor system. Both have a place for sight-reading. I personally start with la-based minor because tonal patterns are easier to teach because of aural familiarity of the major scale.

Conversely, using a do-based system, the tonic-dominant function of ‘do-sol’ is maintained, which also may help build students’ aural awareness.

The use of the Curwen hand signs is a topic that is forever debated by choral instructors. Alan McClung found in his research that the use of hand signs only significantly enhanced the performance when the singer also had an instrumental music background; otherwise, the results were very close to each other. Janice Killian and Michele Henry note in their research that, students who used hand signs while sight-singing material score significantly higher on assessments.

Combining Tonal and Rhythmic Patterns Carol Krueger, assistant professor of Music at Emporia State University, has developed a systematic approach for teaching both rhythmic and tonal patterns. The three phases noted below are all based off of the synthesis of her education and teaching career. In

are successful at step two, they will continue to step three. In step three, the teacher will patsch the beat and speak rhythms on a neutral syllable and the students will patsch the beat and echo on the Takadimi syllables.

The students will be ready to enter the reading phase, if they are able to successfully complete step three. If they are not able to complete step three, the teacher should return to the first step and repeat the final two steps.

Phase One - Tonal For teaching tonal patterns, the teacher should start by singing on a neutral syllable, these patterns (starting with three notes, there are only 12 possible patterns to sing) and the students will sing those patterns back to the teacher. After the students are able to successfully sing these patterns, then the teacher will sing the same patterns

“Those who teach musical literacy know that teaching students to be independent musicians saves time in rehearsal.” the three phases, skills are separated to simplify them, before we combine them. Phases One and Two teach the students to decode the music, while Phase Three teaches the students to encode the music.

Phase One - Rhythmic This process will mostly center around rote teaching. The students will begin by imitating the teacher. The teacher should start with small beat increments (4 to 8 beats for simple meter and 6-12 beats for compound meter) to aid in their students’ success. First, the teacher will speak rhythms on a neutral syllable while patsching the beat and the students will echo on a neutral syllable (while patsching the beat). This will take up very little of the choral rehearsal (two to three minutes daily).

After the students are able to successfully complete step one, they will begin step two. In step two, the teacher will patsch the beat and speak rhythms using the Takadimi syllables and the students will echo on Takadimi syllables while patching the beat. Once students

using solfége syllables, while using the Curwen hand signs, instead of a neutral syllable. After the students are able to successfully sing these patterns, the final step is the teacher singing the patterns on a neutral syllable and the students will echo with the proper solfége syllables and Curwen hand signs successfully.

These three steps are not all done in a row, but they are practiced over time. Each of the steps should take no more than two to three minutes per class period for students to be successful. If the students are able to complete step three successfully, then they are ready to move onto preparing for reading notation, but if they are not able to successfully complete step three, then the teacher must go back to step one and start over. After this is completed, students are then ready to move onto symbolic association.

Phase Two Once the students are able to successfully listen to a rhythm or melody Choral Director • March 2012

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the music. After the tonal patterns are created, teachers should write out the tonal line of each voice part. The tonal line will be every note, deleting repeated notes, without any rhythm. From this, the teacher will have a curriculum map based on the repertoire, allowing them to introduce the concepts in the repertoire without starting with the repertoire directly.

Materials

Demorest notes that while completing his research he found that among teachers who regularly test and give students feedback in connection with group instruction, results showed significant improvement in individual sight-singing performance, even under different testing conditions. Demorest also suggests that teachers ask questions based on the score to individual

method of individual assessment to keep classroom instruction moving. In the rehearsal, Demorest suggests that utilizing quartet testing because of the similarity to sight-reading in a choral ensemble. He notes, each student is responsible for his or her own part; they still have to read in a four-part context and function as a member of a group. In addition, the singers get the benefit of a harmonic context to help the find their part. Charles Norris’ research indicates that less than half of the states in the US have a sight-singing requirement as part of the assessments at a choral festival. With assessment, group reading can be a good point to ease into preparing students to be individually tests on their sight-reading abilities.

As music technology advances, there are other ways that teachers may be able to have instant assessment for

Steven Demorest, an authority on teaching musicianship within the choral setting, has done a multitude of research in the past 10 years. His surveys found there was no one single method book that was widely used in teaching. Most teachers end up creating their own materials, rather than purchasing ready made materials, because they are not always sequenced properly for certain teaching situations.

Rather than spending time on creating materials without a goal in mind, I urge teachers to use the repertoire that they have selected to teach musical literacy. Teachers should use repertoire to teach music skills, not teach the repertoire for performance reasons only. Creating a curriculum map will take time on the teachers behalf, but then all sight reading will directly relate to the repertoire. Students will move more quickly in the music because of the direct relation to the sight reading. Teachers should closely examine their repertoire selections and write out the different rhythmic and tonal patterns found in

students (such as key, time signature, and so on) during the rehearsal process. Krueger suggested that students tape themselves (video or audio) for assessment procedures. Her suggestion was that the students could go into a practice room or other quiet location during class or at home to complete the assessment. While this method will add extra teacher time to grade the assessments, I believe that this is a good

students. Using SmartMusic software, instrumental students are able to play and be graded based on their rhythmic and melodic accuracy. As the technology and software advance, it will be easier for teachers to assess their students electronically, which will be more time efficient for all involved.

Students should have a mixture of both written as well as performance based assessment on musical literacy

on a neutral syllable and then decode what they hear and then are able to perform that rhythm or melody on the taught syllables, they are ready to begin reading. The students will now learn to read and write the patterns they learned in phase one. The students must be reminded to feel the beat with rhythms, and use hand signs with melodies. Now, students will reunite rhythm and melody together following the written notation. Krueger notes that students should focus on reading groups of notes (patterns) rather than a series of individual of notes.

Phase Three In phase three, students will strive to read and write with complete musical comprehension.

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Choral Director • March 2012

Assessment

skills. This will balance all types of learning, as well as give students more confidence in what they are learning. Utilizing written work may also help the teacher for when teacher absences are necessary, and when a music substitute is not available.

Suggestions for Additional Research Research in many areas of music literacy, specifically, sight-singing, need to be researched more thoroughly. Three such areas are: sequence of learning, individual assessment; and large group festivals. In the age of assessment on teachers’ progress and teaching ability, large group festivals are a good way to assess whether or not, a teacher is properly educating students, creating independent musicians.

Because of the detailed system for Florida All-State auditions, quality research, articles, and resources are available.

The Florida Vocal Association’s in-depth assessment that a singer must go through to gain acceptance into an All-State Choral Ensemble is quite challenging, but the directors themselves are the ones who created this audition sequence as a way to balance assessment. At the high school level, students must sing five tiered eight-measure examples for a total of 40 measures of sight-reading. At the middle school level, there are three tiered eight-measure examples for a total of 24 measures. Upon completion, a written musicianship exam is completed. This exam covers topics including vocabulary, aural skills, and theory identification.

References

Demorest, S.M. (2001). Building Choral Excellence: Teaching Sight-Singing in the Choral Rehearsal. New York: Oxford University Press.

Ester, D.P. (2005). “Sound Connections.” Self Published Hoffman, R., Pelto, W., White, J.W. (1996). “Takadimi: A BeatOriented System of Rhythm Pedagogy.” Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, 10, 7-30.

Killian, J. N., & Henry, M. L. (2005). “A comparison of successful and unsuccessful strategies in individual sight-singing preparation and performance.” Journal of Research in Music Education, 53(1), 51-65.

Kuehne, J.M. (2007). “A survey of sight-singing instructional practices in Florida middle-school choral programs.” Journal of Research in Music Education, 55(2), 115-128.

McClung, A.M. (2008). “Sight-singing scores of high school choristers with extensive training in movable solfége syllables and Curwen hand signs.” Journal of Research in Music Education, 56(3), 255-266.

Norris, C. E. (2004). “A nationwide overview of sight-singing requirements of large-group choral festivals.” Journal of Research in Music Education, 52(1), 16-28.

Conclusion The research shows that many choral instructors believe in the importance of teaching musical literacy to their singers. Many choral instructors who do not teach musical literacy to their students either believe that they do not have the time in their rehearsal to teach it, or they simply do not know how or where to start. If more people knew about Kruegers’ system and approach, many teachers would move quickly to the Takadimi method and her approach for teaching students sound-before-sight. As the focus on teacher assessment continues, I hope that teachers start holding each other accountable for what our students should be learning – to be an independent, lifelong learner and enjoyer of music.

An active presenter and music educator, Kyle Weary is the Vocal Music Department lead teacher for the Barbara Ingram School for the Arts in Hagerstown, Md. Kyle has experience teaching both secondary and elementary levels as a music and drama teacher. Recently, Kyle’s high school choral ensemble had their first Carnegie Hall appearance singing under the direction of Eric Whitacre in the premiere of his new opera: “Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings,” as well as having the opportunity to sing as the backup choir for Todd Rundgren’s fall 2010 tour. Kyle has a Bachelor of Music Education (vocal emphasis) and Master of Music in Conducting from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music.

Choral Director • March 2012

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“ ” We’ll do a dance break here, a build-up here, a cappella here – just like you’re building a house.

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Choral Director • March 2012

The Dawning of the Show Choir Now an Established Force in the Choral World, Brea Olinda High School’s Dave Willert Looks Back on the Early Days of Show Choir

By Matt Parish

Choral Director • March 2012

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It’s early in the morning in a darkened conference hall at the Anaheim Convention Center when a team of whirling students from Brea Olinda High School takes the stage. The audience is a mix of music educators and administrators in town for the annual National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) conference, and the atmosphere has been calm and reserved so far.

The choir will have none of that. Masquerade, Brea Olinda’s marquee show choir, plows through a 15-minute set that careens through high-wire arrangements of music from the Who, Elton John, the Doors, and musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar and Moulin Rouge. They transported the audience from a postbreakfast haze into a surreal world where Alice in Wonderland referenced KC and the Sunshine Band and wide-eyed kids bounded across the stage and up ladders with infectious energy.

And they sounded great, to boot.

Brea Olinda’s choir program, headlined by Masquerade but stocked with several talented groups, has grown into one of the best programs in the state under the leadership of its choral director, David Willert. They’d been invited to NAMM to perform for the organization’s “Music Education Days” series of seminars, designed to focus on the best methods and success stories for music education, and Willert’s story is integral in the development of show choirs in California.

As Willert tells it, he’s spent his 35 years as choir director watching as show choirs evolved from the days of watching one ambitious director run away with shows using Broadway tactics no one had considered before. By the ‘80s, everyone was using choreography and fast pacing to gain attention, and things have developed to the point now that Willert even finds himself stepping back from high-tech production values to preserve attention for the kids themselves.

It hasn’t stopped the accolades from pouring in for his choirs, with performances consistently ranking among the top of national competitions. He runs two high-class show choirs

(Masquerade and Spellbound), along with an intermediate mixed group and intermediate men’s and women’s groups.

An author and composer, this California native (he grew up in Glendora and studied at Citrus College and the University of Redlands) comes from an energetic, do-it-yourself background and makes sure to instill those values in his students, who he is sure to incorporate in every backstage element of the performances as well as the stage time. “There are no divas in our program!” he says.

Sure enough, as the show wraps in Anaheim, students scatter backstage to lead themselves in different units tasked with organizing props and costumes. Within half an hour, the entire show is packed away into cases that the group is calmly loading out down hotel escalators. Willert himself hangs back in the venue as the troupe works with the efficiency of a seasoned crew, and it’s only through talking to one of his students who is working seriously as a production organizer and, in this case, media representative, that Choral Director was able to meet up with Willert for a morning discussion about all things show choir.

Choral Director: How have things changed since you started 35 years ago?

Dave Willert: Well, when I went to school, there was no show choir, not in California. It wasn’t until I was student teaching in the late ‘70s that it had just started. The Aztech Sing was the big one in the Azusa Glendora area. There were about four really good ones. I got a teaching job in Norco and they already had a show choir. We weren’t very good and I didn’t know what I was doing. It probably took me a good three years before I finally figured out how to do it – how you had to get the sound first and the show second and balance it like that.

Things were easier at the time.

Things were very simple. It was straight singing and a little bit of choreography. The thing is, as the years went on, we started getting into Broadway styles. Out in San Diego in Bonita Vista, Ron Bolles starting coming with a program that was almost like a circus.

My groups bumped heads with his for a number of years and I think the competition was really good for the show choir circuit and especially for motivating our groups. Ron has a book out now about those years. All this dancing just started to take hold, so by the time you hit the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, there was lots of dance. Now it’s like a Broadway show where people have sets and backdrops and screens. It’s all gone high tech, like what you seen in a music video. It’s all like that.

CD: Were you in touch with people throughout each year, with a good idea where things were headed?

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Choral Director • March 2012

DW: In my experience most choir directors tend to keep to themselves and maybe have a small band of friends they can hang with. They’re very competitive, at least in the time that I’ve been doing it.

You can be as friendly as anything, but when it gets to competition, they don’t want to talk about their show. They don’t even want to tell you what their numbers are – they’re afraid you’re going to steal something or get an edge on them.

CD: What do you do differently now than when you started organizing the group?

DW: We take close looks at what’s going on professionally. We go to see Broadway shows. We go to Vegas. We go to New York. We keep abreast of everything going on. If things are starting to go toward doing lights differently, or if ballet is starting to come in more, we incorporate all that. So we try to keep aligned with what they’re doing on Broadway and what they’re doing at Disneyland.

A lot of our kids work at Disneyland after they graduate. They get involved in shows and parades and characters – it’s a natural fit. We try to see where everything is and move it on from there. We don’t want to be one of those groups that just loves ‘60s music and so every year you have a ‘60s show. We want to move with the times and at the same time be able to reach back and use some of those things. That’s why the shows have three segments. We try to use different things.

CD: You’ve mentioned how you stay on top of as many trends in live shows as possible – are there trends you see and try to avoid?

DW: I’m not really a big fan of the whole electronic thing with the big screens and everything because I think it takes away from the kids. I want the focus to be on the kids. I want to be paying attention to their singing and dancing and when you have too many special effects, it draws away. That’s a decision we’ve made. We do have them – you saw the smoke and everything – but we don’t want that to become “it.” You want people saying, “Boy, that group was really good.” Not, “I really loved your special effects.” We try to make sure it stays group-focused and kid-focused.

ON THE ROAD WITH DAVE WILLERT CD: As your career has progressed, how has your approach to traveling with the choirs changed?

DW: In the beginning, we went to San Diego or San Francisco for overnight trips because they were cost effective and fun. However, as my groups became more competitive and the show choir circuit more national, we began traveling to competitions in New York City, Orlando, Branson, and Chicago. The financial aspect of these trips is challenging, but if the kids and parents want to do it, I find a way to make it happen (with everyone’s help, of course.) There is nothing like competing against groups from other states, which we never see normally. This helps us all grow in the show choir world, and leads to a great way to end the year.

CD: What are some steps you’ve taken to make trips with the choir work more smoothly?

DW: I have handled a lot of our trips’ accommodations myself and saved everyone a lot of money when I have been to the city before. Lately, however, we are going new places and we rely on tour companies to help us. I would tell other directors who are new to traveling, buyer beware. Some of these companies jack up the prices a lot, while others are more reasonable. It pays to price out everything yourself first (group air, group lodging, group activities, and group meals) and then look at the bids from the travel companies. I tend to select nice hotels for the kids to stay in and our price when I handle the trip is still significantly cheaper than the travel agency that wants to book us in a cheaper property. Group sales prices are usually a lot cheaper than the regular advertised prices.

CD: We all know that schools everywhere are facing tighter and tighter budgets – have you found any time-tested tactics for saving money here and there?

DW: Our goal each year is to have the best show choirs out there. This involves custom costumes, sets, music, band, and props. One way we “save” money is through using the same dress for some of the younger groups for two years so everyone doesn’t need to buy a new one. Another way is by using some of the same arrangements between groups on different years. We use some of the same parts of the sets every year, and when we can make it work we reuse some of the other parts but in a “fresh” way. Creativity is the name of the game.

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CD: How important is making your students so autonomous throughout the shows – tearing down sets, running the scene backstage, and so on?

DW: Very important. If you noticed, I just sat out in the house and that’s what I always do for the shows. We have officers and the kids like to be responsible. If you give them the opportunities, they’re not afraid of it and they learn. We have kids doing the props, we had a student directing the a cappella portions. The band is professional, but the kids are involved with every other step possible so that when they go out and try to get a job, they’ll understand not just the stage part, but the backstage part and the tech part and the lighting and sound and all that stuff. That makes them more prepared for the industry.

CD: And probably cuts down on divas in the group, I’d imagine.

DW: Oh yeah! It does – the whole diva thing, we’re not like that. When someone comes in, they learn that real quick. “Now, would you sweep the floor over there, please?” We’re all in this big pot together. We all do everything – we don’t want to do it all for the kids because that would actually be doing them a big disservice.

CD: Did you begin arranging in the beginning, or did that develop over time?

DW: I was inspired to arrange by a director named Dick Kinsler, who was at Edgewood High School in West Covina when I was at Nogales, which was my second school in my third year. He arranged his whole show and I was so impressed because everyone else was doing stock arrangements. They’re going to the shop and you’d have seven choirs doing the same thing. He was arranging his own stuff, which I thought was cool.

I spent a whole summer going through it because I’d never done it before, and that was our best show yet. I discovered that you can really affect the choreography a lot with the music, so I started working with the choreographer a lot – we sat together and planned it out. We’ll do a dance break here, a build-up here, a cappella here – just like you’re building a house.

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Choral Director • March 2012

CD: When arranging, do you work from sheet music or do you work things out by ear?

DW: Both. If there’s sheet music available, I’ll use that just so I have the tune.

Piano parts, I do pretty much all myself.

Standard piano parts tend to be not very good – they’re usually just chords – so I do those myself. Sometimes, if you know the song – well sometimes I write my own and have no music, so you just work it out from scratch. I’m a guitar player, too, and so I think through the guitar. I use the piano, but I “think” guitar, in terms of chord structures and things like that, so a lot of my piano parts almost sound like strumming a guitar. [laughs] I’m no classical piano player. I was in a rock band when I was younger.

CD: You’re dealing with a lot of guitarbased music to begin with, at least.

Was that your biggest influence growing up?

DW: Yeah since it’s a lot of pop music, for sure. I studied guitar in high school, but I was never going to be a professional. I just kind of did it. When I got into show choir, I realized I could incorporate all this neat stuff. The guitar, the bass, the drums – it was just great for me. And I always loved the Beatles and was so inspired by what they did. It wasn’t only writing great songs, but they used great orchestrations, which was so cool. No one else

did it. They did “ooohs” and “ahhhs” and everything. To me, they were the first show choir! They had the big walls of sound everywhere – I try to use all the same ideas. They’re probably my biggest musical influence.

CD: Let’s end on how this all translates to getting kids excited about the program – is it any more difficult nowadays with so many strong outside examples, like Glee, of how show choir works?

CD: At what point did it seem like show choir was a real thing that had taken hold?

DW: It takes a special kid and I think we’ve made our market smaller for the kids who do come into choir, but the ones that come in are more dedicated and they’re willing to work as hard as we do. We demand that they try their hardest and that they work together. That’s really it, and then they come in and if they don’t fit, they’ll eventually quit. They’ll drop out because they don’t like it. We’re just too intense. But the kids that like it?

They’re in heaven.

DW: When I was student teaching. I used to work with Tom Kessler at West Covina and his group was number one.

He hired a professional choreographer from Broadway to come down and work with their kids. They had an incredible show and no one could touch them.

They would always win Show and never win Music, but whatever. There was an incredible jealousy that built up in the area. Not me – I’m still friends with him. But no one could beat him. When he retired, that’s when Ron Bowles and Burroughs and few other choirs starting getting into it. We all thought it was a great idea.

CD: You have about 10 percent of the high school enrolled in the program – is it ever tough to get students at Brea interested in joining the choir?

DW: It’s not bad. A lot of the kids at Brea – they like the shows, but a lot of

At a Glance: Brea Olinda High School Choirs Location: 789 Wildcat Way, Brea, Calif.

On the Web: bohs-bousd-ca.schoolloop.com Students in the CGHS Choirs: 130 Students Enrolled at CGHS: 1,600 Ensembles: Masquerade Spellbound Chamber Singers Tiffany’s Thundercats Staff: Dave Willert – Director Doug Kuhl – Choreographer Hannah Hemwall – Band Leader Kurt Nielsen – Acting Coach Alex Willert – Music Coach Drew Hemwall – Drummer

them are afraid. They think they could never do it. Just because you see it after months and months of work. Really, you can do it. We just take it one step at a time.

Choral Director • March 2012

21

Roundtable: Travel

Hitting the Road

Without Breaking the Bank F

or choral directors looking to increase chorale morale and school-wide interest in their programs, there’s nothing like a well-planned trip. It can develop group cohesion and a sense of purpose and accomplishment

like no other performance can, create memories and goals for all levels of students, and make for a great punctuation on any season’s progress.

But as any teacher knows, these trips aren’t cheap. From transportation to registration costs to housing, there are all sorts of financial obstacles to overcome when planning to take your school’s choir on the road. Choral Director invited four directors from around the country to discuss their strategies when it comes to setting up travel plans for their choirs each year.

Affordability The first thing we learned was that, maybe now more than ever, affordability plays a key factor in decisions about planning a trip. Adam Beeken, of Kentucky’s Lexington Catholic High School, says plans have been altered according to the slackened economy. “We have been scaling back from taking one significant trip each year ($350-750 for a trip) to alternate years for more and less expensive trips he says, “Location is impacted to lower the price by traveling to appealing locations that are closer, this lowers bus expense and the number of nights we need to stay in a hotel. With this plan we encourage parents and students to save money over the span of two years for more expensive trips.”

Stan Scott, from Grand Junction, Colorado, puts it succinctly: “With the economy the way it is and unemployment at a pretty high rate, keeping trips affordable is very important. The school that I am currently teaching is mostly middle to middle low income. So even doing fundraisers is somewhat difficult, because people just don’t have the money to spend.”

Beverly Laney, from South Pointe High School in Rock Hill, S.C., notes that inclusivity is important. “It is always my goal that every student be able to attend our trip,” she says. “So I try to make sure it is attainable for all through fund-raisers, and payments that are small and spread out.”

Joyce Bertilson, the director at Phoenix’s North Canyon High School, pointed out that she looks more at the value of each destination, but also makes sure to space out the trips to relieve 22

Choral Director • March 2012

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the burden on parents. “I do try and space out expensive trips every two to three years though so parents aren’t getting hit hard financially every year.”

Well-Laid Plans A good plan is always the best tool in making sure every trip is manageable. From timing out trips properly to planning for meals, it always seems to pay to have your accounts in order in advance. Beeken: “The biggest way to save money on a trip is to plan one yourself. That way, you’re not also paying for a tour guide, tour company overhead, and insurance coverage that is already covered by your district. Also making connections or using connections in the location we are traveling can lower expenses. So instead of going to a festival that has really high cost and not great incentives and feedback, I can work with a college director and alumni I respect to have a clinic or perform at a church with amazing acoustics for little to no expense to my group.” Bertilson echoes that sentiment. “I can save up to $1,000 by booking with a charter bus company directly instead of having the travel agent do it,” she says.

Laney looks more toward a careful costbenefit analysis. “I make sure when traveling by bus that we fill however many buses we are using. Nothing wastes more money than paying for a bus that only is filled half to capacity.

Secondly, I try to include almost all meals for students in the price. Parents seem more likely to respond to trip price if it is more of an ‘allinclusive’ kind of deal. In my experience, trips that don’t include meals can end up disastrous with students who have run out of money, lost their wallet with large amounts of cash, etc.

Thirdly, on trips with eight hours driving or more, we tend to depart for our destination and back home at night to save nights in the hotel. Students will sleep through the night on the bus and then hit the ground running once we reach our destination. When coming back home, we spend the whole last day at our destination, and once again, they sleep all the way home.”

The overnight route is a favorite of Beeken’s as well, and he notes one other added benefit if the itinerary has the bus rolling into destinations in the evening. “This insures that students will be tired when you get to the hotel – I try not to have much free time in the hotel.” He does note a few downsides in that it decreases the flexibility of the bus schedule because of professional drivers’ limited hours, and it also makes it slightly more difficult to find chaperones that want to endure the overnight rides.

Meanwhile, Stan Scott notes that it always helps to remind participants to start saving as early as possible. “The biggest factor I believe is letting parents know about the trip that you are taking at least a year or more in advance,” 24

Choral Director • March 2012

he says. “I typically give them a chart that states how much money they should be putting away a month to save for the trip.”

Making the Most of Housing Though housing costs can be cut down by overnight travel, a few nights’ stay in destination cities is inevitable. Our round table had a variety of ideas about how to make the most of your budget for student housing during these trips.

Laney goes against conventional wisdom and seeks out hotels with good rates on suites.

“I like to look for hotels that have suites that fit more than four students in a room and also include breakfast,” she says. “If I have 10 boys on a trip, it actually can work out cheaper to have them in suites than can fit five to a room rather than use three regular hotel rooms.”

Beeken agrees. “I also tend to try and book hotel suites so we have five to six students in each room as opposed to four or less,” he says. “When traveling with a small group in a tour situation I prefer to do overnights in high school or church facilities. They’re not the most plush accomodations, but it helps the group grow together and is much, much cheaper.”

Bertilson reiterates the idea of booking housing that includes breakfast in order to cut down on the cost of one more meal (not to mention the assurance that everyone’s eating well in the mornings). She adds, “Believe it or not, I also often find that when traveling with one of my smaller ensembles, using something like a AAA discount gets me a better price than a group rate. Some hotels won’t give a group rate unless its over 10+ rooms.”

Fundraising Programs Finally – the subject of fundraising, seemingly a cornerstone in any school program hoping to set up ambitious travel plans. While many use sales and pledging programs as a surefire way to gather up community support, it’s not a clear-cut winner for everyone. Scott gives an enthusiastic “Yes!” to the idea and loves the idea of bringing the community together through activities like his group’s “Rakea-Thon.” “Students get pledges for the amount of yards they rake… usually only five or six.

One day is picked to go rake leaves and 14-16 students descend on that lawn to rake up the leaves. We put out a public service announcement that says we will come rake the yard of anyone who is over 60 years old or who is disabled for free. (Typically they pay us some money anyway).”

Also on board is Lane, who makes sure students can raise more money than they need for future trips. “Each student is set up with a trip account and, before the payment is due, I update the profit from the last fundraiser and send the statement home to the parent,” she says. “When parents and students see the

small, manageable payments and the fundraisers they can utilize for their benefit, it no longer is just a ‘dream’ for many lower income students to be able to participate in the trip.”

For Lane, an important aspect of the choir in general is getting everyone to feel like family, and that comes in handy when making sure every student gets a chance to travel. “If you create that environment, students don’t want to leave anyone in the ‘family’ behind. It spills over into the parents and other significant adults in the student’s lives. Before you know it, everyone has had a way made for them to go on the trip, which for many is a once in a lifetime experience.”

Conversely, Beeken notes the sensitive nature of fundraising and cautions that it must be approached properly. “Sometimes fundraisers can cause resentment and more financial strain, especially dealing with tax inurement issues and people raising funds that have to be distributed equally across the group, he says.

“On the other hand it helps parents and students feel like you are making efforts to lower the cost of the trip. Unless you are making a lot of money on a fundraiser, I find that we are making a negligible impact on the cost of the trip. I find community targeted fundraisers are the most beneficial overall.”

Finally, Bertilson notes that circumstances in her home state ease the financial burden of travel. “In Arizona, we have extracurricular tax credits that students can use toward trips. This alleviates a lot of fundraising for us.” Perhaps our next trip should include one-way tickets to Phoenix!

Stan Scott, Choral Director Central High School Grand Junction, Colo.

Beverly Laney, Choral Director South Pointe High School Rock Hill, S.C.

Joyce Bertilson, Director of Choral Activities, North Canyon High School Phoenix, Ariz.

Adam Beeken Lexington Catholic High School Lexington, Ky.

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Guest Editorial

Sound Advice from

By Kenneth Wayne Thompson

the Pitch

I

f you follow soccer, or football as it’s known around the world, the title of this article is not only a play on words, but rather is intended as a serious commentary on what we might learn

about teaching music from a seemingly unlikely source. Growing up performing in bands, orchestras, and choirs, and later becoming a professional conductor, I assumed my first child would study music without complaint. Surely he would be tenor or a cellist, the instrument I would play if I had it to do all over again, or he would play the piano, or maybe even the oboe.

“If we want to begin to develop great musicians, we need to cultivate great technique and allow students the freedom to apply the technique to all situations.”

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Choral Director • March 2012

As usual in situations like this, I was wrong. He doesn’t play the cello, piano, oboe, or even the banjo – my six-year-old son is a “footballer,” and he’s pretty good.

He plays with a grace and agility that mirrors what I try to achieve on the podium.

I played soccer as a child, but because of my son, after many years away from the game, I have begun to play again. Unfortunately, what I realize every time I walk onto the field is that my son is much better than I am at this game.

As much as I enjoy watching him play, I most enjoy watching his academy training sessions. I am grateful to have rediscovered the game as an adult, as the sound advice from the pitch has been quite a personal and professional revelation. I find the relationship between soccer training and some inherent problems I find in music teaching in this country to be insightful. We are very fortunate to have brilliant soccer teachers in my son’s academy, and the academy philosophy of “fall in love with the game” is evident in every training session.

Numerous times, we hear there are relationships between music and athletics. I agree with this statement, primarily because we should first and foremost consider learning to master techniques of singing a physical endeavor, not an artistic one. The development of technique, no matter if it involves learning F# or dribbling a ball, is training the body to physically replicate a specific act. Artistry is the application of technique - perhaps singing that F# with slightly more emphasis because it is a suspension that will resolve, or dribbling a ball with the outside of the foot in order to set up a pass or shot. These

are both applications of physical skill for a specific purpose.

In American sports, there is an emphasis on winning games. This can, and often does come at the expense of actually developing more proficient technical skill, and importantly, usually comes at the expense of learning to appreciate and love the sport. The parallel to this is readily seen in many ensemble classrooms across the country. There is an emphasis on performing, which unfortunately comes at the expense of learning to develop better technique, and definitely at the expense of falling in love with music as an art.

How many programs simply go through vocal warm-ups as quickly as possible in order to get to the “important” things - preparing for the first holiday concert? It starts a vicious cycle, because after the performance when you might want to focus on specific technical aspects of vocal sound production and technical development, unfortunately it’s time to prep for the winter concert, and then the spring concert, and on and on…we continuously try and get our ensembles orga-

nized to present performances. We have texts to learn, melodies to perfect and harmonies to tune – thrown in with trying to just make sure 8th grade boys can make it through the performance! In soccer we see the same thing as coaches get their teams organized to win games. Organization without individual skill is useless.

The soccer equivalent to a concert preparation model is having kids play lots of games and practicing a in a very tactical, or organizational manner – as a team – in order to win games. This happens in excess with young players and the outcome is that the tactical model does win games at early stages of development, just as the young musicians likely have no trouble pulling together to play simple tunes in three or four parts. At some point, however, children must possess individual technique, and it is at this point we really begin to see deviations between various instructional models. The emphasis on winning, or concertizing, has catastrophic consequences for youth development.

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Not many, because the emphasis on winning at an early age reduces an emphasis on technical development. When placed in difficult situations, technique matters above all else. Our bodies need to be able to react quickly and with purpose.

Without individual technique, everything we know becomes specific to a situation. Ask a small child on the soccer field why they are standing in a certain spot and you might receive different answers depending on how they were trained. The young tactical development approach will yield a response similar to “because my coach told me to.” In the ensemble, asking the student why they placed an emphasis on the middle of a particular phrase might result in “because my teacher told me to.”

Is that really learning? Is the child really developing anything other than a reliance on someone else to tell her what to do? I think this is why if you see a youth soccer game, you will often hear the coach screaming at the players about where to go, what to do, and when to do it – and that sounds shockingly similar to some ensemble rehearsals we might have expe-

Choral Director • March 2012

27

rienced. Neither seems like a method for talent development to me because there is no opportunity for transfer. The screaming coach/instructor is teaching children to react to instructions, not react to situations.

If we want to begin to develop great musicians, we need to cultivate great technique and allow students the freedom to apply the technique to all situations. This means they are going to make lots of musical mistakes, but they will be learning how to make individual decisions independently. If I am thinking about my technique – e.g., connecting two notes separated by a interval of a perfect 5th, then I must be told by my teacher to emphasize a the note leading toward a cadence. If my technique allows the connection of intervals to be an automatic reaction to seeing the printed notes, I can actually listen to what is happening around me in the ensemble and hear that it is a suspension resolving, so I know, without help from my teacher, that the note needs emphasis. This may sound complex, but even young musicians can achieve this when

28

Choral Director • March 2012

the teaching intentionally leads students to these situations.

My son will run into open space during a game, and if I ask him why, his response will indicate he is reacting to play as it unfolds. “The ball came from the left through the center so I needed to go out wide right” is a far cry different from a “because my coach told me to go wide” scenario. There is no wasted energy thinking about technique, the energy is devoted to playing the game.

In the ensemble, we need to cultivate technique so there is no energy of thought devoted to technique, either. All of the thought needs to go toward playing in tune, playing a phrase, or any other musical element. Spending more time on carefully planned warm-ups, those that intend to specifically improve voice production and efficient technique will actually allow musicians to become more independent – thus allowing music to be prepared in less time and at a higher level.

Soccer is a player’s sport, and the art of music is a performer’s realization of sound. When trained with intentionality,

in a way that places an emphasis on player development for a higher purpose – one that is directly related to group effort while still founded in individual skill – we will have many more successful musicians in our schools. These musicians will have developed a thoughtful means to solve their own problems, and apply the solutions to creating great music. That recipe yields life-long learners that will have a greater chance of continuing with music beyond their school years, and truly develop a passion for our art.

And we might even win a World Cup. Dr. Ken Thompson serves on the faculty in the College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Additionally, he serves on the conducting staff of both the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where he directs the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Civic Wind Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, where he serves as artistic director of the Toledo Symphony Youth Orchestras and conductor of the TYO Philharmonic.

Repertoire Forum: American Choral Music

American Choral Music: 1940-1960

By John C. Hughes

T

he United States enjoyed a very prosperous period after the second World War. The strong economy and increased college enroll-

ment (due to the GI Bill) fostered public support for and appreciation of music. Below, I have selected a number of choral compositions by iconic American composers: Thompson, Persichetti, Barber, Copland, Rorem, Dello Joio, Bernstein, and Pinkham. Many of these pieces also feature American poets. Consider programming these examples of the rich and neverdull American choral repertory.

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Composed in 1948 as part of “Two Cummings Choruses,” “sam was a man” is one of Persichetti’s first settings of e.e. cummings poetry. Throughout his career, Persichetti set many of cummings’s poems. Written for flexible performing forces (either male voices, female voices, or mixed voices), Persichetti enables all ensembles to be able to perform these works. If performing “sam was a man” with a young ensemble, it can serve as a good introduction into music outside of traditional functional harmony.

Choirs will enjoy its quirky nature and dramatic shifts.

For more information about Persichetti’s choral settings of cummings, consult Justin S. Smith’s article in the April 2011 Choral Journal.

Velvet Shoes Randall Thompson, E.C. Schirmer Easy Randall Thompson’s setting of Elinor Wylie’s poem is a standard within choral literature. This secular winter poem describes walking through pure, white snow, which serves as a larger metaphor for a bride meeting her husband. There are many opportunities to discuss poetic meaning and literary devices in a classroom setting. Except for three measures at the very end, Velvet Shoes is entirely in unison. The piano part, which is reminiscent of those found in “Frostiana,” reinforces and supports the melody. Singing this unison melody will help choirs come together as an ensemble on issues such as lyricism, phrasing, and intonation. www.jwpepper.com/345603.item

TWO-PART sam was a man Vincent Persichetti, G. Schirmer Medium

www.jwpepper.com/418053.item

dominic has a doll Vincent Persichetti Theodore Presser Company Medium “dominic has a doll” is the first piece in Persichetti’s suite, “Four Cummings Choruses” (1964). This piece stands out because of its fast tempo, sudden shifts, and Choral Director • March 2012

29

dramatic piano part. Persichetti intended these works to be interesting, yet accessible, and they can be sung by male voices, female voices, or a mixed ensemble. Not a typical two-part piece, ensembles of all skill levels will enjoy “dominic has a doll.” Consider introducing students to the great American composer Vincent Persichetti while at the same time introducing them to e.e. cummings.

derpinning and contributes to a wonderful climax. Barber’s setting of “Sure On This Shining Night” is a wonderful piece to teach about texture and phrasing. www.jwpepper.com/3299557.item

Zion’s Walls Aaron Copland Boosey & Hawkes Medium

“Zion’s Walls” is an excellent example of Copland’s style. The sturdy folk melody and jaunty rhythms portray a quintessential sense of Americana. The time signatures switch between 6/8 and 9/8, which provide a good opportunity to discuss the dotted-eighth note as the beat. Some duplets also exist, which might be new for some students.

“Zion’s Walls” is a wonderful closer for any concert.

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Alleluia Randall Thompson E.C. Schirmer Medium Advanced Randall Thompson’s “Alleluia” has been an American choral classic for half a century – and for good reason.

Thompson explores all the emotions within the single word “Alleluia.” The mood of the music moves through trepidation, reverence, and unbounded joy. Thompson’s understanding of voice leading and dramatic build-up are obvious. While students should al-

Sure On This Shining Night Samuel Barber G. Schirmer Medium Samuel Barber’s choral output is somewhat small; however, every piece has tremendous artistic merit. Barber’s setting of James Agee’s poem was first a solo art song, which the composer later adapted for choir. Barber’s manipulations of textures demonstrates his compositional mastery. The simple piano part supports the harmonic un-

30

Choral Director • March 2012

ways be exposed to new and exciting music, they should never be deprived of pieces like “Alleluia.” www.jwpepper.com/337147.item

“From an Unknown Past” Ned Rorem Peer Music Medium Advanced “From an Unknown Past “is a set of seven short pieces by Ned Rorem. The title of the set comes from the fact that all the poems are either anonymous or the author is uncertain. Anonymous poetry can be very poignant because one can only infer meaning from the poem itself (without the distraction of biographical details). The seven pieces are all very short and can be performed as a set or excerpts can be drawn. The harmonic language and rhythms are advanced; however, choirs will enjoy the texts’ themes of love and youth. www.jwpepper.com/6062731.item

A Jubilant Song Norman Dello Joio G. Schirmer Advanced Norman Dello Joio’s “A Jubilant Song” is a fantastic way to end a concert. Its bright harmonic language, effervescent rhythms, and uplifting text (Walt Whitman) will send the audience home very satisfied. The piece is in three parts: a joyful opening, a majestic middle section, and frolicking ending complete with “la-las.” A fantastic piano part incorporates jazz and boogiewoogie elements but is extremely difficult. This piece is well worth the extra time and effort.

Or, consider performing the piece with piano accompaniment. The piece is in three movements and lasts roughly 18 minutes. The Hebrew language may be a stumbling block for some; however, Ethan Nash and Joshua Jacobson’s Translations and Annotations, Volume Four: Hebrew Texts (Earthsongs) gives significant guidance to the language and includes an audio CD of a speaker reading the texts. www.jwpepper.com/9566436.item

Wedding Cantata Daniel Pinkham Edition Peters Advanced

Many choir conductors are familiar with Pinkham’s “Christmas Cantata.”

However, fewer know of his “Wedding Cantata.” Lasting about ten minutes and divided into four movements, this piece would fit nicely into many choral programs. Pinkham draws all the texts from the “Song of Songs.” Pinkham’s “Wedding Cantata” will stretch choirs’ sense of intonation and independence of voice parts, but it is worth investing time and energy. www.jwpepper.com/984526.item

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EXTENDED WORKS Chichester Psalms Leonard Bernstein Boosey & Hawkes Advanced Choirs can enjoy Bernstein’s iconic style without having to mount a fullscale production of West Side Story.

“Chichester Psalms” combines his characteristic tonal language, rhythmic vitality, and musical sensitivity. While a full orchestral instrumentation is available, a reduced version for organ, harp, and percussion is also available.

Choral Director • March 2012

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Choir recordings available at http://capital.bncollege.com Choral Director • March 2012

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Liz Beiersdorfer Oldenburg Academy Oldenburg, Ind. Submit your PLAYING TIP online at www.sbomagazine.com or e-mail your Vocal Tip by an e-mail to editor it toSubmit editor Eliahu Sussman at sending esussman@symphonypublishing.com.

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Choral Director • March 2012

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