AMERICAN CHORAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION
WESTERN REGION NEWSLETTER
SPRING / SUMMER 2025
Western Region Leadership
Executive Committee
Julie Dana, President
Aimee Stewart, President-elect
Michael Short, Past-president
David Sonnichsen, Treasurer
Nicky Manlove, DEI Initiatives Chair
Naomi Gamez Penciu, Recording Secretary
State Presidents
Katie Gerrich, Arizona President
Arlie Langager, California President
Chris Serrano, Hawai‘i President
Jennifer Lowry, Nevada President
Emily Mercado, Utah President
Communications Committee
Elizabeth Baker, Marketing & Communications
Anna Caplan, Webmaster
Olivia Arnold, Tactus Editor
Advisory Committee
Marcela Molina, Youth R & R Coordinator
Laura Ramirez, Senior High School Chair
Joanna Habermann & Jennifer Lowry, Jr. High/Middle School Co-Chairs
Cynthia Salomonson, Elementary Choir
Stephanie Council, College and University Coordinator
Aaron Humble, 4 Year College Chair
Michael Huff, 2 Year College Chair
Rachel Samet, Youth & Student Activities
Ryan Holder, Repertoire Specific Coordinator
Tina Paulson, SSAA Chair
Andrew Howden, TTBB Chair
Ángel Vásquez Ramos, World Musics & Cultures Chair
John Knutson, Vocal Jazz
MaryAnne Muglia, Contemporary Acappella
Lifelong Learning
Allan Petker, Community Choirs R&R
Greg Hebert, Music and Worship R&R
Nicky Manlove, DEI Initiatives Committee Chair
Miguel Chicas
Juan Jose Garcia
Yu-Feng Huang
Josh Palkki, Advisor
Conference Team
Cari Earnhart, Conference Chair
Aimee Stewart, Conference Vice-Chair
Marc McGhee & Vivian Santos, Honor Choir Co-Chairs
Michael Huff, Conference App
Marcela Molina, Conducting Masterclass Chair
Christina Hall & Cynthia Salomonson, Toolbox Session Co-Chairs
Molly Peters & Tina Paulson, Performing Choirs Co-Chairs
Ryan Holder & Stephanie Council, Interest Session Co-Chairs
Jennifer Lucy Cook, Andrew Howden, and Lou De La Rosa, Composer Track Chairs
Michael Short & Steve Bock, Exhibits Co-Chairs
Jason Gallardo, Site Liaison & Coordinator
Heather Scobie, Hospitality
Alec Schumacker & Scott Glysson, College Fair Co-Chairs
Front page images sourced from the Library of Congress
Arizona: Grand Canyon National Park, 2018, South Rim view
California: Mono County, 2012, June Lake
Hawai‘i: Hana Belt Road, 2005, Sea cliffs on the island of Maui
Nevada: Death Valley National Park, 2012, Palm trees with view of Grapevine Mountains
Utah: Zion National Park, 2022
A Letter from the Editor
Dear Readers,
I hope this issue finds you outside sipping a tall glass of water – bring on the warmer months! I am excited for this issue and its varied contents; from stories of collaboration to combating imposter syndrome, and collages to a new choral canon. You will also find a step-by-step guide for recording your ensemble, repertoire resources, and thoughtful articles that challenge the way we perceive fairness, both historically and modern-day. Please continue to check for conference updates as we move closer to spring 2026.
Readers, I hope that the following pages might give you some advice, inspire you with a story, or teach you something you didn’t already know. If I might suggest a takeaway from this issue, it would be to embrace patience. Several articles in these following pages highlight the value of prioritizing methodical, thoughtful approaches to our musical craft and balancing our personal lives. Count the wins along the way, learn from mistakes, and know that your efforts continue to help shape your personal growth and your ensemble’s musical growth.
As always, I would love to chat about your thoughts and article ideas! I am open to helping you brainstorm a topic, reading over a draft, or even just giving you some words of encouragement if you would like! Please contact me at: tactuseditor@acdawestern.org.
All the best,
Olivia Arnold Tactus Editor
A Message from the President
Happy summer months to all of you hard working choral enthusiasts! As I write this article at the end of my first year of serving you as Western Region president, I am still “flying high” after spending two days in Nevada with their all-state honor choirs, directors, and the Nevada ACDA board. My heart was filled with so much JOY from watching these 400+ middle and high school singers grow through the guidance of their conductors; seeing their teachers working cooperatively and brainstorming solutions to issues; witnessing colleagues sharing with one another in inservice sessions; and participating in their beautiful choral community… it was just wonderful.
What a beautiful ride this past year has been! I completed a region state tour and saw different approaches to teaching and the hard work of the five state leadership boards! Each gathering was fashioned around the needs of the community. In Utah, sessions were led by local leaders and guest Nicole Lamartine, followed by a luncheon together and a performance by the Amavi Chorale and “Rootbeer Choir”! In Arizona, a collegiate honor choir and “Bumblebees” (K-1 singers) from the Tucson Girls Chorus performed. What a great representation of choral singing for all ages! I attended a session on the uses of AI and beer choir in the evening. The Hawai‘i ACDA Fall workshop was held at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and included presentations and interest sessions. Wanda Gereben held a “talk circle” where we shared our plans for the upcoming year and beyond. A heartwarming moment for me was hearing “Hawai‘i Aloha” sung at the conclusion of the day by all participants. In the summer, California will hold its annual ECCO Conference in the beautiful mountainside setting just outside of Yosemite. The conference includes sessions offered by our colleagues and headliner Andrea Ramsey. CCDA colleagues sing and play, offer attendees conducting and voice classes, and enjoy a lovely Vespers service and the themed dinner party.
In the midst of concert and festival preparation at the high school, I left for an inspiring and joy filled time in Dallas. Western’s own Edie Copley, along with her incredible conference team, planned a wonderful conference. There were many activities, interest sessions, performances, and chances to socialize with friends. Dr. Charlene Archibeque received the Robert Shaw Award, and we thank her for trailblazing a path
for women in this profession!
After attending ACDA sponsored events in our five states, I am so impressed with the work of the state boards led by Katie Gerrich, Arlie Langager, Chris Serrano, Jennifer Lowry and Emily Mercado. I have marveled at the young conductors I have met as they presented sessions, inspired their singers and inspired me with their offerings. Four of our Western states will be passing the torch to their president-elects on July 1, 2025. We are very excited to be welcoming the new 25-27 western region state presidents to our board and happy to have one continue their term. Welcome Ryan, Kristina, Chris, Jennie and Roger! We look forward to having your voice and vision join our board!
As I turn my sights toward the western region conference, I am excited to share that 2026 will mark forty years since the last time the regional conference was held in San Jose! I appreciate how so many of you sent in session proposals and performance applications. This year, we will add a community conference choir which will give community choir singers an opportunity to work with a master conductor and perform! Our western board and conference team are building a wonderful event for you to enjoy in San Jose. I hope you will join us and encourage colleagues to come!
We are also excited to have the San Jose Symphony concert available for ticket purchase on Saturday evening after the honor choirs concert. They have built a special program knowing the choral community will be in town. Keep an eye out for details about all of this in the coming months! We hope you all “Know the Way to San Jose”, and we shall see you there March 4-7, 2026! Keep an eye out for more information in the fall!
I am humbled by this opportunity to serve you. This year has flown by, as I know the next will as well. Thank you for changing lives in your communities, thank you for inspiring your singers, and thank you to those of you who blazed the trail before us and opened up our opportunities. Wishing you all a restful and excellent summer.
BY JULIE DANA
WACDA Honor Choir Information
BY CARI EARNHART
Western Region ACDA is set to host its 2026 Conference A Tapestry of Voices in San Jose, California, from March 4–7, 2026. A highlight will be the performances by the Honor Choirs, featuring talented singers from across our five states.
2026 WACDA Honor Choirs and Conductors
The 2026 Honor Choirs will showcase a diverse array of ensembles, each led by esteemed conductors:
Youth Unchanged Voices Honor Choir (Grades 4–8): Liana Salinas, Artistic Director of the Miami Children’s Chorus and the CEO and Founder of My Music Match.
SATB Honor Choir (Grades 7–9): Judith Herrington, Founder and Artistic Director of Tacoma Youth Chorus and retired conductor from the Charles Wright Academy.
SATB Honor Choir (Grades 10–12): Dr. Jason Max Ferdinand, Director of Choral Activities at the University of Maryland, College Park, and founding artistic director of The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers.
SSAA Honor Choir (Grades 9-12): Dr. Lynnel Joy Jenkins, Artistic Director of the Westrick Music Academy, music director of Princeton Girlchoir, and a choral teacher in the Hopewell Valley Regional School District, New Jersey.
These ensembles will gather for rehearsals culminating in performances at the California Theatre that highlight the region’s choral excellence.
Honor Choir Timeline:
June 2025: Audition procedures and protocols will be released.
September 2 – October 23, 2025: Applications open
November 3 – 19, 2025: Adjudication period
November 21, 2025: Sponsors and applicants notified of acceptance
November 21–December 12, 2025: Medical liability forms and payment due.
December 17, 2025: Music and rehearsal tracks distributed.
March 5–7, 2026: Honor Choir rehearsals and performance in San Jose, CA
For more information about the conference and honor choirs, visit the ACDA Western Region website.
Youth Repertoire & Resources Team Updates
The Repertoire and Resources team has been meeting regularly to explore how we can remain relevant and offer deeper support to our committees. The survey sent out a few months ago provided valuable insight and helped guide our focus, inspiring us to pursue new and creative initiatives. We are actively gathering the kinds of resources our community values and are eager to continue learning about the challenges we face, strategies for overcoming them, and the successes worth celebrating. We’d love to hear from you—please share any ideas or suggestions for how we can best support your work!
The results of the survey inspired us to dig deeper into identifying and curating resources—including repertoire—specifically geared toward elementary and middle school ages, with accessible and flexible voicing. We’re currently working on building and organizing repertoire lists to share with you soon.
DR MARCELA MOLINA DIRECTOR
TUCSON GIRLS CHORUS
TUCSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHORUS
MMOLINA @ TUCSONGIRLSCHORUS ORG
O‘ahu Choral Society: Expanding the Canon and Reaching Out Across the Islands
BY JOSHUA HABERMANN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR , O ʻ AHU CHORAL SOCIETY
The O‘ahu Choral Society (OCS) is a communitybased choral organization based in Honolulu that features both a symphonic choir of 85 singers, and a chamber choir of 24 voices. In the spring of 2024, OCS undertook collaborative projects with partners on our home island of O‘ahu and across the state to create some of the largest choral events to take place in Hawai‘i.
The first partnership dates back to the spring of 2023, when I was sitting in the office of Jeff Boeckman, director of the University of Hawai‘i Wind Ensemble, talking through our favorite composers. We learned that we had a shared love of Britten, and lamented that there wasn’t music written for band and choir that we could perform together. Then Jeff had a creative spark - what if he were to arrange Britten’s beloved cantata Rejoice in the Lamb for winds and voices? The vocal parts could be performed as Britten wrote them, but the organ part would have to be reimagined for a large wind ensemble. This was no small task! Jeff was up for it, and when we received permission from the Britten estate to make the arrangement, he got to work.
Several months and many drafts later, the arrangement was done, and each ensemble prepared its part in preparation for the concert. In addition to the Britten, arrangements of Hawaiian mele (songs) were commissioned from Hawai‘i composers Michael Foumai and Jon Magnussen.
The resulting performance, which involved not only O‘ahu Choral Society and the University of Hawai‘i Wind Ensemble, but also the University of Hawai‘i Chamber Choir and the Hawai‘i Pacific University International Vocal Ensemble, took place under the direction of Jeff Boeckman, Alec Schumacker and Nola Nāhulu in February 2024. The Britten Estate is currently reviewing the recording, and if they give permission, the new arrangement can be published to expand the repertoire available to choirs and wind ensembles.
Just a few months later, in May 2024, OCS teamed up with the Kona Choral Society (Susie Duprey, director) from the Big Island of Hawai‘i for a program of Mozart’s Vesperae Solemnes de Confessore and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. Together, the two choirs created the state’s largest symphonic choir, and were joined by the Kamuela Philharmonic Orchestra for concerts on each choir’s home island, first in Kona (Hawai‘i Island) and then on O‘ahu at historic Kawaiaha‘o Church in Honolulu. The choir members enjoyed visiting each other’s islands, and friendships were formed as singers hosted each other in their homes in this collaboration.
Choral music is the ultimate team sport, and we singers know that the harmonies we create can only exist with and through others. The 2024-2025 OCS season has included collaborations with our regular partner the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra, as well as BYU Hawai‘i (Erica Glenn, director), and the Mount San Antonio Chamber Singers (Matthew Hazzard, director). OCS will continue to seek out partnerships across our island communities, and we extend a warm welcome to both local and mainland groups interested in collaborating with us. Please find us here: https://www.oahuchoral.org and let’s get together to make great music!
JOSHUA HABERMANN is in his fourth season as Artistic Director of the O‘ahu Choral Society. Under his leadership, the OCS Symphonic and Chamber Choirs have partnered with orchestras, chamber musicians, dancers, and local and traveling choirs to produce concerts ranging from intimate renaissance pieces to choralorchestral masterworks across the Hawaiian islands. Habermann is in his seventeenth season as Artistic Director of the Sante Fe Desert Chorale, one of the nation’s premier professional chamber choirs. He was director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus from 2011 to 2022, and previously taught on the faculties of the University of Miami and San Francisco State University. He is a frequent guest with symphonic and professional choirs, and has led honor choirs and choral festivals in North and Latin America, Europe and Asia.
KAWAIAHA ʻ O AND OCS WITH KONA CHORAL SOCIETY
Taking the Leap: Why It’s Time to Stop Letting Imposter Syndrome Hold You Back from Becoming a Clinician
BY TARYN GERVAIS
“If there isn’t a selfie on a stage with a choir behind you… did it really happen?”
That’s the question I’ve been asking myself lately. It’s a little tongue-in-cheek, but honestly, it’s hard to ignore the impact social media has had on how we, as choral directors, promote ourselves and our work. The truth is, I’ve spent a lot of time wondering whether my professional accomplishments really count if I didn’t capture them for Instagram. (Spoiler: They do.)
Now, here's the kicker—it works. The proof is in the selfie, and while it’s easy to dismiss this trend as vanity or ridiculousness, there’s a reason it’s so widely practiced. Posting a picture of yourself on stage with a choir behind you might seem silly, but it’s your ticket to getting noticed. You’re not just another name on a list of clinicians anymore; you’re a real person, in action, with the perfect angle that makes it look like you’ve got your life together (even if you really just threw your hair in a bun five minutes before the performance).
But here’s another thing—no one enjoys promoting themselves. At least, I haven’t met a single colleague who loves it. If I did, I’d probably start questioning their sanity. And what if you don’t have any “footage” to post for your Choir Selfie Promo? In the very beginnings of my Self Promotion Clinician Quest, I had my “Ah-Ha!” moment when my kindergartner brought home a flyer for her school fundraiser. She was buzzing with excitement about the prizes she could win for selling a ton of stuff. And, of course, the flyer suggested she start her sales with family and friends. Genius. What family or friend is going to say no to that cute face?
So, I figured, why not start there, too? I reached out to my friends. Maybe my face isn’t as cute as my kindergartner’s, but my friends have seen me teach, they know my philosophy, and they’re the perfect advocates if they happen to be in that room where it happens—you know, the one where Choral Excellence is sitting around planning the next round of clinician invites. If you haven’t had the ‘clinician talk’ with your friends yet, maybe it’s time to start. That selfie can happen in a much lowerstakes setting. My first "Look at me, I coached this choir and everyone’s so excited and it was amazing!" selfie was actually in a friend’s choir room - an unpaid clinic just for fun. (Thanks, Harry Hamblin!)
But, I’ll be honest, there was another reason I didn’t seek out clinician gigs for so long. Enter Imposter Syndrome. When I thought about being a clinician, I couldn’t shake the image of some big-name expert in front of a room of students, looking polished and perfectly poised. I thought that was what being a clinician meant—being an untouchable, flawless authority figure. But then, I started seeing something that made me reconsider: the lack of relatability in some clinicians.
In my years of working with students, especially those who had been through the honor choir experience, I noticed something really telling. The students always got the most out of clinics led by current K-12 educators. It wasn’t necessarily the big names that made the most impact—it was the clinician who was in the trenches, day in and day out, who really understood the audience. These directors knew their students—they knew their energy, their attention spans, their personalities. They knew what would click with them, and they could connect in a way that felt real and relevant.
JAZZ EDUCATION NETWORK CONFERENCE PERFORMANCE WITH WORLD PREMIERE OF < HUMANIZE US =, WRITTEN BY MY STUDENT SAADIA AND SET TO MUSIC BY AMANDA TAYLOR
That’s when I realized: maybe I don’t need to be the perfect, untouchable expert. Maybe I just need to be me —a current educator with a genuine passion for teaching. I get these kids, I know what they need, and I know how to meet them where they’re at. Sure, it’s nice to see a clinician who has tons of experience, but let’s be real—when I’m working with students, they want someone who gets it. And that’s exactly what I can offer.
That moment of clarity was the push I needed to step up and embrace the clinician role, despite my lingering doubts. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there’s no “perfect” time to get started. Imposter Syndrome doesn’t wait for a convenient moment to show up. It’s always there, lurking in the background, ready to tell you you’re not qualified, not experienced enough, or not whatever enough. But the truth is, if you’re teaching K-12 students every day, you have so much to offer. You understand how to engage, how to inspire, how to challenge them. That’s what makes you a valuable clinician, not some arbitrary checklist of credentials.
And here’s where that selfie comes in again: selfpromotion can feel silly, but it works. It’s not just about showing off; it’s about showing up. Post your picture. Put yourself out there. And watch as opportunities start to open up. After a recent Shameless Plug Post in a few choir nerd groups on social media, I received a variety of inquiries (one of which turned into this article request!). But there was one inquiry I didn’t expect— another choral educator reaching out to ask me to consider hiring them for a gig. Wait, what?! People actually do that? They just reach out directly to organization leaders and promote themselves? What a concept! Honestly, it never even crossed my mind, since I’ve been immensely held back by my own Imposter Syndrome.
Being on the receiving end of this, though? It was a game-changer. All the scripts I’ve been running in my head about my own self-promotion just didn’t hold up in that moment. Instead of thinking, “Who is this
person and who do they think they are, promoting themselves like that?”, I was genuinely excited to hear from them. In fact, they’re now on my ‘list.’ And that, right there, was a real eye-opener. Goodness, Imposter Syndrome is a funny thing.
As a former selfie skeptic, I’ve come to recognize its power—not just the 'Look at me' kind, but the way it connects us in this wild, social-media-driven world. And really, that’s what we’re all about as choral educators— building meaningful connections. So go ahead, take that shot, and make your presence known. Because at the end of the day, it’s those connections that matter most.
Taryn Gervais is a dedicated music educator based in the Kansas City area, where she teaches high school chorus in Overland Park and serves as a professor of Voice and Cello at Kansas City Kansas Community College. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Washburn University and a Master's degree in Jazz Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Missouri.
Passionate about bringing relevancy to the choir classroom, Taryn incorporates student songwriting, arranging, improvisation, and collaborative projects to engage students in meaningful, creative ways. She is also the owner of GervaisCreative, a business that promotes creative music outlets for all ages, and resources for music educators. Additionally, Taryn serves as the Contemporary Reference and Resource Chair for the Kansas Choral Directors Association (KCDA) where she started the state’s first All-State Jazz Choir, and previously held the role of Chairperson for the Southwestern Division of the American Choral Directors Association (SWACDA), where she delivered the first-ever "Jazz Immersion" day session for choral educators.
Outside of her professional work, Taryn lives in Olathe with her husband Ben, also a music educator, their three children, and their delightfully stinky dog Basie.
KC METRO MIDDLE LEVEL HONOR CHOIR PRE - CONCERT WARM UP
IN HOUSE CLINIC SELFIE OF THE ODESSA HIGH SCHOOL CHOIR UNDER THE DIRECTION OF HARRY HAMBLIN
Meaningful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Choral Programming
BY AARON HUMBLE
There are countless reasons to love choral music. Selecting repertoire, fine tuning a vowel to create a beautiful blend, and of course, the chance to build community. Recent studies show increasingly isolated populations in our communities and young people are among those feeling the most isolated. What can we do to welcome these young people into our ensembles and give them a place to belong. In a time when DEI is being demonized and distorted, I’m reminded that these three words can also describe a well-constructed choral program. A diversity of languages, style periods, and composer identities; an equitable approach to including things from the canon while also challenging and expanding the canon to include historically excluded voices; and including musical and text choices that amplify the voices of our students while also giving them experiences beyond their journey.
In our current social and political climate, there are a variety of challenges facing our students; specifically, students of color and LGBTQIA+ feel scared and unwelcome in many places. While we as choral directors cannot make or change government policy, we can ensure that these students feel welcomed and represented in our ensembles. One of my constant goals as a conductor is ensuring that my programming represents my singers. Beyond using nongendered language in a rehearsal, learning to properly pronounce student names in languages we do not speak, and ensuring students feel welcomed to share their preferred names and pronouns, we must commit to programming music where students can see themselves. Whether that is the language, subject matter, and/or the identities of the composer and poet, all these efforts allow our students to see themselves in the art they are making.
Choosing repertoire that represents the identities of the people in the room is a great and authentic way to start, but in reality, we must also choose repertoire that introduces our singers to the musical traditions and identities outside their experience as well. When we do so, we can move beyond the mindset or completing some sort of unwritten checklist, dig in, and enjoy the opportunity to learn with our singers.
Everybody is busy, but this spring, let’s commit to looking beyond online searches of the most accessible music distribution sites. Here are some resources that may be helpful in your quest for taking a deeper dive into the music of historically excluded composers.
Beyond Elijah Rock: The NonIdiomatic Choral Music of Black Composers
https://www.mlagmusic.com/research/beyon d-elijah-rock
Conductor and composer Dr. Marques L.A. Garrett has put together a database of concert music written by black composers that fall outside of the canon commonly associated with Black composers (spirituals, gospel, jazz, hip-hop, and rap, etc). You will also fine a link to Dr. Garrett’s fantastic anthology published via Oxford University Press.
University of Hartford: Latino/a Resource List
https://libguides.hartford.edu/diversityclassical-music/latinoa
This collection of resources includes both vocal/choral and instrumental music resources, but the links to the databases are very well done. There are also links to wonderful print resources as well.
Institute for Composer Diversity
https://www.composerdiversity.com/compose r-database
This incredible resource allows the user to search with a variety of filters including demographic information, gender identity/romantic orientation, genre, and much more. I would encourage conductors to use this database with an idiomatic and nonidiomatic music lens as well. There are certainly many composers who infuse their artistic work with elements of their identity, but that is certainly not the case for all of their output. However, if you’re trying to thoughtfully share an experience other than your own, please use music written by members of that community and seek guidance and consultation from members of that community as well. Whenever possible, it’s also vital that we remember to compensate folks for their time when we are asking them to share their expertise with us or our ensembles.
I hope that these resources open up some musical doors and help create opportunities for more musical understanding and sharing. In times when we see the music and text of LGBTQIA+ composers being removed
from concert programs out of fear of retribution, we must all recommit to sharing music and experiences that are far beyond our own experiences. We must amplify the voices of those being silenced and shed light on music new and old written by those who historically have been and are sadly still excluded.
Dr. Aaron Humble serves as an Assistant Professor of Music in Vocal and Choral Music California State University San Marcos, conducts the Chancel Choir at Foothills United Methodist Church in La Mesa, CA, and leads the Zimriyah Chorale at Congregation Beth Israel. A graduate of Millikin University, Aaron holds a Doctor of Music degree in Vocal Performance and Literature with additional foci in Musicology and Choral Conducting from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
Aaron has enjoyed solo appearances with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Columbus Philharmonic, the Mankato Symphony, and the Boston Pops and chamber music appearances at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, The Library of Congress, Wolf Trap, and The Chautauqua Institute. During his tenure with Cantus, Aaron sang nearly 1000 concerts and recorded 10 albums with one of the nation’s premier vocal ensembles.
Aaron has recently sung as a soloist and ensemble singer with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Bach Collegium San Diego, Tucson’s Grammy-nominated True Concord, and The Grammy-Nominated South Dakota Chorale while also remaining active regionally and nationally as a soloist in recital and oratorio. Aaron maintains his work as a clinician in a variety of vocal and choral settings. An avid gardener and home improvement devotee, Aaron and his husband Xu, make their home in San Diego and New York with their two cats, Chopstick and Toothpick.
The New Canon Project: Bringing New Voices to the Canon
BY ROBYN HILGER , NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR THE AMERICAN CHORAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION
This was a project developed on a napkin while sitting on a patio. Lynn Tuttle, the Director of the American String Teachers Association, and I found ourselves at a conference together more than two years ago. While we did not know each other before this meeting, we quickly found kindred spirits in each other. Through conversation, we recognized that each of our organizations had a similar need…more works for developing ensembles written by composers of the global majority. At the same time, the Sphinx Organization had a call for proposals open for ideas that supported artists of Black and Latinx backgrounds with a focus in classical music. We knew we had matching ideas and the potential for funding!
Unfortunately, we didn’t save the napkin but we do have the results of that work in our project known as The New Canon Project. Launched two years ago and coming to full fruition this spring, ACDA, in partnership with the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), Rising Tide Music Press (RTMP) and with generous support from the Sphinx Venture Fund launched the New Canon Project—a groundbreaking initiative designed to build a vibrant new body of repertoire by commissioning works from Black and Latinx composers specifically for school-based choral and string ensembles.
As choral educators, we understand the power of music to shape identity, build community, and reflect the world around us. Yet when we look at the repertoire most commonly found in our school music classrooms, it can tell a narrow story—one that fails to fully reflect the diversity of voices in our communities, or the richness of musical expression that exists beyond the traditional canon.
This project is not just about creating new music. It’s about shifting systems.
Why Now?
There’s growing awareness in our profession about the need to diversify the music we teach and perform. But simply wanting to program more inclusive repertoire is not enough—we need to create the conditions in which that repertoire is created, supported, and sustained. The New Canon Project addresses these needs head-on by specifically supporting composers from the commission, through professional development, workshopping, and all the way through publication and distribution. We have created a pipeline for composers and their works.
Composing for school ensembles, especially developing ones, requires a specific skill set. Composers must understand voicing, ensemble size, technical abilities, and performance contexts. Yet many brilliant Black and Latinx composers have not had the opportunity to learn how to write effectively for these ensembles. Without that training and a pathway to publication, their music remains out of reach for teachers and students.
The New Canon Project was created to begin to purposefully close that gap. Now 21 composers (10 choral and 11 strings) over two years with experienced mentors and school ensemble partners have written 21 new works that will all be available this spring.
A Network of Collaboration
At the heart of this project is collaboration—between composers and mentors, teachers and students, national organizations and publishing partners. ACDA and ASTA were joined by Rising Tide Music Press (RTMP), Hal Leonard Publishing, and the Sphinx Venture Fund to bring this vision to life.
The project began with a call for composers. Selected composers were divided into Year 1 and Year 2 cohorts. Each cohort met together monthly for inspiration, guidance and support. Through workshops, mentoring and school-based collaborations, the composers worked to bring their compositions to life.
Unique to this project, each composer had a composition mentor and worked closely with educators and student ensembles in real classrooms, getting handson feedback and the rare opportunity to workshop their drafts with actual performers. These interactions not only strengthened the final compositions but also allowed students to engage with the creative process in a meaningful way.
The first cohort works were completed and published through RTMP and distributed by Hal Leonard’s ArrangeMe. The pieces can be purchased directly through RTMP but also through Hal Leonard. This ensures the music reaches a wide audience of educators and becomes part of the living repertoire we all have access to. Composers retain the rights to their works and receive sales income from both RTMP and Hal Leonard, creating sustainable career support beyond the scope of the initial commission. You can view the works at risingtidearts.org under Rising Tide Music Press or by looking for the titles on ArrangeMe.com. We expect the Cohort #2 works to be available in the late spring 2025. Please check back often for the newest works.
Centering Equity Through Structure
Importantly, the project is intentionally designed to address systemic inequities in how music is created and shared in our profession. Too often, commissioning and publication processes privilege programs with the most resources, visibility, or skill. In contrast, the New Canon Project lifts up developing school programs—those that may not have historically been selected for participation but have students and educators deeply deserving of this kind of engagement.
By inviting smaller, developing, or less-resourced programs into the commissioning process, we’re not just diversifying who writes music—we’re also expanding who gets to be part of shaping it.
What to Expect and How to Engage
We want to celebrate our ACDA composers in the project. They are:
Jorge Andrés Ballesteros
Evan Blaché
Juan-Carlos Mackay
Hugo Madera Brian Harris, Jr.
Marina Quintanilla Taleya Jordan
David Saldana Cristian Larios
Khyle B. Wooten
We hope our ACDA members will explore these new pieces with open ears and hearts. These works are not “add-ons” or side projects—they are powerful, pedagogically sound additions to your repertoire library. They are written with care, tailored to the realities of school ensembles, and infused with the creative voices of composers who reflect the students in our classrooms.
We also invite you to be part of the broader movement to reimagine our repertoire. Programming these new works, offering your feedback, and advocating for structural change in your local and state networks helps carry the momentum of this initiative into the future.
Looking Ahead
In five to seven years, we envision a choral landscape where diverse, high-quality works by Black and Latinx composers are not rare gems, but standard options in our festival lists, state contest libraries, and daily classroom use. We hope more publishers will invest in this kind of intentional, equity-focused work, and that more composers from underrepresented backgrounds will find both a home and a livelihood in school music spaces.
And most of all, we hope our students—those sitting in choir rooms across the country—will see themselves reflected in the music they sing. That they will understand that their stories, voices, and creative spirits belong in the canon too.
Let’s build that canon together.
A seasoned non-profit executive, Robyn Hilger brings a wealth of experience in administration, fundraising, grant writing and strategic innovation to her work. She graduated with high honors from Oklahoma City University with a bachelor’s degree in Instrumental Music Education. Robyn has a master’s degree in School Administration from the University of Central Oklahoma. She is a National BoardCertified Teacher and was named the Teacher of the Year for the State of Oklahoma in 2007. She teaches Advocacy and Policy, as well as Nonprofit Finance, as an adjunct professor in the Masters of Arts in Nonprofit Leadership program at Oklahoma City University. Robyn began her career as an instrumental music teacher. In 2007, she joined the staff of the Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools as the Chief Programs Officer. In 2014, she was named Executive Director of El Sistema Oklahoma. El Sistema Oklahoma facilitates the development of empowered youth who use music to make strong positive change in their lives, their communities, and the world. Before joining ACDA, Robyn served as the Director of Community Engagement for ReMerge of Oklahoma County ReMerge is a leader in developing solutions in criminal justice reform specifically focused on women facing felony offenses who are mothers. Robyn joined the American Choral Directors Association, the largest association for choral professionals in the world, as the National Executive Director in September 2021.
Benefits of Honor Choir Participation – Utah Honor Choir Reflections
BY ANDREW HOWDEN
Throughout the school year, students have many opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities, both within and outside of their school music programs. Encouraging students to take part in an honor choir can help them recognize the unique benefits of these experiences and inspire more participation. This past January in Utah, we held our Soprano/Alto and Tenor/Bass Honor Choirs, where students had the opportunity to sing with others who shared their voice type. While mixed-voice choirs are often the standard, students may not always realize the distinct advantages of singing in a choir that focuses solely on their vocal range.
One of the most significant benefits of singing in a choir focused on a single voice type is the vocal development it fosters. At my school, which serves grades 10 through 12, I have all incoming sophomores participate in non-mixed ensembles. This approach allows us to dedicate more time to refining their vocal technique, including tone quality, blend, intonation, and balance. While these skills are also addressed in mixed choirs, they become more complex due to the wider range of voice types. Leah Tarrant, Utah AllState/Honor Choir coordinator and choral director at Taylorsville High School, also emphasized this benefit, stating:
Students/singers need to do hard things. Singing is so personal and the more they can get out of their bubble and put themselves out there, the better they will be. Selfishly this is what I want. I want them to be better and better. I want to push them so they can be lifelong singers and pass it on to their families. When they are with their own parts, they are able to relax more. Mixing parts can sometimes be intimidating and cause singers to back off because they don’t want to be judged. Tenors and basses don’t want to have a voice crack, and sopranos and altos are afraid of sounding shrill or too airy.
By providing a space where students can sing freely without fear of judgment, voice-specific honor choirs help them develop confidence and refine their vocal abilities in a focused and supportive environment. Another major benefit of honor choir participation is the opportunity for students to work with experienced and highly regarded choral directors. The 2024 Utah Honor Choirs were directed by Dr. Emily Mercado from the University of Utah and Canyons School District Fine Arts Coordinator J.P. Kentros. One of the ways I
encourage my students to participate is by highlighting the expertise of these directors and the valuable lessons they can learn from them. Even when I don’t personally know an honor choir director, I make an effort to research their background and share their qualifications with my students. These directors are often selected for their impressive experience and ability to inspire young singers, making them a valuable resource for any student looking to grow as a musician. Tarrant echoed the importance of students learning from different educators, stating, “I feel students need to hear from other educators! It gives them an experience to learn from selected clinicians outside of their own classroom. I also feel it makes them feel special to be part of such an incredible program where they learn high-quality literature and get to sing in amazing venues.” Sometimes, a student may struggle to grasp a vocal concept in their regular choir but suddenly understand it when explained differently by another educator. The fresh perspective that honor choir clinicians bring can be transformative for young singers.
Honor choirs also introduce students to an expanded and more challenging repertoire, which they might not otherwise have the opportunity to sing. These ensembles often perform pieces written specifically for SSAA (Soprano 1, Soprano 2, Alto 1, Alto 2) or TTBB (Tenor 1, Tenor 2, Bass 1, Bass 2) choirs, exposing students to a broader range of musical styles and technical challenges. Many historical choral works were composed for samevoice ensembles before SATB arrangements became the norm. Honor choirs allow students to experience this literature, along with contemporary compositions that showcase their vocal range in ways mixed choirs cannot.
At my school, we have voice-specific choirs, but they are much smaller than honor choir ensembles. My students frequently tell me how much they enjoy singing in a larger group of similarly voiced singers, as it provides a different and enriching musical experience. After this year’s Utah Honor Choir, my students shared that learning and performing the repertoire was one of their favorite parts of the experience. For example, the 2024 Utah Honor Choir sopranos and altos performed a classical piece by Clara Schumann in German, as well as a commissioned piece where they had the rare opportunity to meet and learn from a living composer. In an SSA/SSAA setting, sopranos often take on more exposed melodic lines, while altos sing more independent harmonies. Similarly, TTBB music allows tenors to develop agility and upper-range strength, while basses
refine their lower register and ensemble blend. These experiences push students’ musicianship and technical abilities further than they might be challenged in their regular choir settings.
One of the most valuable takeaways from honor choir participation is the leadership and confidence students develop. By learning their music independently and working alongside other dedicated singers, they improve their musicianship and ability to hold their own in an ensemble. At my school, I encourage students to use practice tracks and prepare their music largely on their own, with some guidance from me. In Utah, students typically have one to two months to learn their music before attending two area rehearsals, where they receive feedback before working with the honor choir directors. I have noticed that students who go through this process become quicker and more efficient learners, making them stronger leaders in their school ensembles.
The benefits of honor choir participation extend beyond students—they also enhance directors’ professional development. Observing experienced conductors work with an honor choir provides fresh teaching ideas, new rehearsal techniques, and insights into effective conducting styles. Leah Tarrant also spoke about how these events strengthen her program and provide her with valuable professional connections and said, “I also love the relationships I have with so many of my colleagues when I get to interact with them at these events. It fills my bucket! Talking and being with my ‘people’ lifts me up. We are all in the same situations and it is nice to be able to speak about our struggles and successes and be understood.” Many high school choral programs in our region have only one director per school, which can sometimes feel isolating. Attending honor choir events allows directors to connect with colleagues, exchange ideas, and find support within the choral community.
Participating in an honor choir—especially one focused on a specific voice type—offers invaluable benefits for students and educators alike. It strengthens vocal development, exposes students to advanced repertoire, provides the opportunity to learn from expert clinicians, and builds leadership and confidence. Furthermore, it fosters a sense of community among directors, enriching both individual choral programs and the broader music education field. By encouraging students to engage in these experiences, we help them grow as musicians and individuals, ensuring they develop skills that will serve them far beyond their time in high school choir. Honor choir participation is more than just an opportunity—it is an investment in the future of choral music and in the lifelong love of singing.
Andrew Howden grew up in Payson, Utah and gained a love for choral music under the direction of Melodie Henderson at Payson High School. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Choral Music Education from Brigham Young University in December 2015, as well as a double minor in French Teaching and Business Management. During his time at BYU, he studied under Jean Applonie, Rosalind Hall, Paul Broomhead, and Ronald Staheli. In May 2024, he graduated with his Master's in Music Education from the University of Utah where he had the opportunity to work with Emily Mercado and Barlow Bradford. Andrew began his teaching career at the Utah International Charter School in South Salt Lake in 2016 where he taught choir and general music to students grades 7 to 12. He then began teaching choral music at Herriman High School in 2017 and still currently teaches there. He teaches six various choirs, Music 1010, and serves as the Performing Arts Department Chair. He also co-teaches the Music, Dance, Theatre class with Kaycee DeYoung and acts as the Music Director for all of the musicals at the school.
Andrew has sung in multiple choirs throughout his high school and college years including the BYU Men’s Chorus, BYU Concert Choir, Salt Lake Men’s Choir, and Salt Lake Vocal Artists. He currently sings in Cantorum under the direction of Steve Durtschi. He has also been an active member of ACDA and NAFME/UMEA since 2011 and seeks to build up the choral community in any way he can. In his free time, Andrew enjoys spending time with his family and friends, playing board games, going hiking, and being outdoors.
WACDA State Event Highlights
Central & Coastal Region Honor Choir
Fresno and Berkeley, CA - November 6-8, 2025
Auditions: September 20 & 27
Central Conductors: Dr. Anna Hamre (SSAA); Dr. Matthew Hazzard (SATB); Dr. Arian Khaefi (TTBB)
Coastal Conductors: Dr. Wei Cheng (SSAA); Bruce Rogers (SATB); Dr. Lynn Atkins (TTBB)
CASMEC/All-State Honor Choirs/Choral Leadership Academy
Sacramento, CA - January 14-18, 2026
High School Auditions take place at the Region Level (Central/Coastal/SCVA)
Jr. High/9th Grade Auditions are submitted online in Fall 2025
Applications for CLA are due in early December 2025
WACDA State Event Highlights
Join Arizona’s ACDA chapter at our 2025 Summer Conference, “The Power of Many” at Phoenix Bible Church in Phoenix, AZ from June 25th-27th. Get ready for the upcoming school year or season, and reinvigorate your love of choral music with us!
ACDA Members save on Registration! Current ACDA members receive a $50 discount on Summer Conference registration from the non-member rate.
Choral/Vocal Students and Retirees wishing to attend the Conference are also welcome to participate in the Collegiate and Retiree Honor Choir under the direction of Bruce Rogers! Rehearsal will begin in the afternoon on Tuesday, June 24th (dinner included) and the group will perform in the conference concert on the 25th. Students are also welcome to participate in the New and Emerging Professionals track being offered again at this year’s conference.
Social events! We will be hosting three evening social events this year, including Trivia Night on Wednesday and Beer Choir on Thursday (locations TBD). Diamondbacks Night at Chase Field will be Friday night. All conference attendees who participate in the singing of the StarSpangled Banner on the field will receive one or two free tickets to the game against the Miami Marlins.
WACDA State Event Highlights
Join us for our fall conference at Viewmont High School, September 2627! Please use the QR codes to complete honor choir, performance, and interest session applications. We can’t wait to see you there!
Our 4th Nevada ACDA All-State Conference is scheduled for April 23-24, 2026 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).
HI-ACDA Professional Development Day will be Sunday, August 31st, from 12:30-6pm at UH Mānoa.
A Guide for Audio Recording your Choral Ensemble
BY MICAH BLAND
In recent decades, knowledge of audio recording equipment has become an advantageous skill in the music education classroom. Adjudicated events, such as conference performance and all-state auditions, require the submission of recorded materials. In addition, classroom recording studios provide students with the opportunity to record original compositions, evaluate performance technique, and engage in music production related activities and projects. Despite these educational opportunities, choral educators are hesitant to utilize audio recording equipment due to a lack of operational knowledge. Considering the current technological trends and general lack of operational knowledge, this article seeks to provide choral educators with limited audio experience an instructional guide for the set-up, recording, and mixing of a musical performance.
Required Equipment
Since the late twentieth century, recording a performance with a basic stereo microphone set-up has significantly changed. Equipment that was previously necessary is now obsolete or processed through a computer. Table 1 identifies the equipment required to produce a quality audio recording, approximate cost, and specific brand/model recommendations.
Table 1, Required Equipment and Approximate Cost
When purchasing recording equipment, educators should begin by selecting high-quality microphones as they play a significant role in the overall sound quality of a recording. Educators do not need to purchase professional caliber microphones. However, inexpensive lower quality microphones are ill advised. Microphones in the $200 to $300 range are adequate for providing the 3
educator with a quality recording.
For the stereo recording set-up that will be discussed in this article, small diaphragm condenser microphones with a cardioid pickup pattern are preferred (Figure 1). Large diaphragm condenser microphones may also be utilized in the spaced pair configuration (see Stereo Configuration discussion). Two microphones of the same brand and model should always be used when recording a live performance to maintain consistency in the quality of sound. 4
At least one fourteen-foot telescoping microphone stand is required to adequately capture a large ensemble. The exact number of stands is dependent upon the stereo microphone configuration utilized, with two stands required for the spaced pair approach (see Stereo Configuration discussion). If utilizing only one microphone stand, a stereo microphone adapter is required (Figure 1). Stereo microphone adapters allow two microphone clips to be attached to a single microphone stand.
Two fifty-foot XLR cables (commonly referred to as microphone cables) are needed to transfer the audio signal from the microphone to the audio interface. Two to four XLR cables are suggested as more than fifty feet may, at times, be required. Best practice also suggests maintaining replacement cables as they are the item most prone to fail.
For the computer to interpret the analog signal from the microphones, an audio interface is required. Audio interfaces come in various sizes with differing number of inputs. One input is required for each microphone used during recording. For the recording approach discussed in this article, an audio interface with at least two inputs is required. It should also be noted here that interfaces connect to a computer via USB-A, USB-C, and occasionally Firewire. Educators should ensure their computer supports the interface connection type prior to purchase.
A digital audio workstation (DAW) is required to manipulate audio on a computer. Through a DAW, educators can record, edit, and mix audio. DAWs vary significantly in cost, operational capability, and ease of use ranging from free (GarageBand, Audacity, Pro Tools First) to the industry standard Pro Tools. DAWs can be purchased as a monthly subscription or perpetual license, with many of the major platforms offering educator discounts.
1 Emily Schwartz, “A Classroom Recording Studio,” Music Educators Journal 97, no. 1 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432110376042.
2 Matthew Clauhs, Brian Franco, and Radio Cremata, “Mixing It Up: Sound Recording and Music Production in School Music Programs,” Music Educators Journal 106, no. 1 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432119856085.
3 Mark Frankel, “Digital Audio for Music Educators: Part 1,” in Spotlight on Technology in the Music Classroom (Reston, VA: MENC, the National Association for Music Education, 2003).
4 For more information on microphone pickup patterns see Ronald E. Kearns, Recording Tips for Music Educators (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017). For more information on types of microphones see Bruce Bartlett and Jenny Bartlett, Recording Music on Location: Capturing the Live Performance, 2nd ed. (Burlington, Mass: Focal Press, 2014).
DAW preference varies significantly among individuals. For educators with no audio experience, a free DAW such as GarageBand is a great starting point. It should be noted that when utilizing only two tracks to record a live performance a high-priced DAW is not required. The fundamentals that will be addressed in this article can all be accomplished with a free DAW. However, to further enhance recordings beyond the fundamentals, a purchased DAW is required.
In addition to the equipment identified in Table 1, additional supplemental items may be required. Gaffer’s tape is necessary when securing cables that pass through areas where musicians or patrons walk. Sandbags may also be utilized to secure microphone stands to prevent potential damage or injury. Finally, power supply items such as extension cords and power strips should be readily accessible.
Stereo Configuration and Placement
5
During the recording process, one of the most important steps is determining optimal microphone placement and stereo configuration. As recording engineer Bobby Owsinski posits, it’s not the equipment you’re using, “but how you’re using it.” The placement of a stereo microphone set-up can significantly alter the overall recorded sound. More importantly, once recorded, issues caused by improper microphone placement cannot typically be corrected in postproduction.
6
7
There are several possible stereo configurations, but the easiest for educators to implement include the spaced pair, coincident pair, and near-coincident pair (Figure 1). In the spaced pair configuration, stereo audio is captured through two microphones placed approximately ten feet apart and pointed directly at the ensemble (perpendicular with the front of the stage). Due to the spacing between the microphones, two stands are required for this configuration, which slightly increases the cost. In addition, this method may be visually distracting for an audience due to the incorporation of a second microphone stand.
The coincident and near-coincident pairs capture stereo audio from one central location with both microphones placed on a single stand. Although highly similar, the primary difference between these two configurations can be observed in the angle of the microphones. In the coincident pair (also called XY) the microphone diaphragms meet in the center, with one slightly above the other. Alternatively, microphones in the near-coincident pair are directed away from each other at an angle of approximately 110°.8
Each stereo configuration has its own advantages and disadvantages which is beyond the scope of this article. However, educators may prefer the coincident or near-coincident pairs for live concert performances as they only require one microphone stand. In addition, if the aesthetic of a tall microphone stand is not preferred, microphones may be permanently dropped from the ceiling.
In conjunction with stereo configuration, the placement of microphones in relation to the ensemble can significantly influence the overall sound of a recording. Most recording engineers agree that microphones should be placed approximately ten to twenty feet from the front row of the ensemble and raised to a height of fourteen feet (approximately one foot above the heads of the singers in the back row). Due to the height, microphones in all previously discussed stereo configurations should be angled slightly downward towards the ensemble.
9
Identifying the ideal distance for microphone placement can be challenging due to variable acoustical environments. According to Owsinski, in general, “The more reflective the room, the closer you want to get the mics to the ensemble. The drier the room, the further you want them to be from the ensemble.” Bruce and Jenny Bartlett expand on this concept suggesting microphones be placed twelve feet from the front row of 10
5 Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA], “Wiring methods, components, and equipment for general use,” (29 CFR 1926.405) https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.405.
6 Bobby Owsinski, “How to Record Your Ensemble with Excellent Results, Every Time,” School Band and Orchestra 22, no. 12 (2019): 42.
7 For more information about stereo microphone configurations see Kearns, Ibid.
8 Bartlett, Recording Music on Location, Ibid.
9. David W. Berkus, “The Music Educator as Recording Engineer,” Music Educators Journal 56, no. 7 (1970) https://doi.org/10.2307/3392747; Bruce Bartlett, “How to Record Your Performing Group,” Music Educators Journal 72, no. 4 (1985) https://doi.org/10.2307/3400518; Bartlett, Recording Music on Location, Ibid. 10 Owsinski, Ibid., 42.
Figure 1, Stereo Microphone Configurations
the ensemble, repositioning these microphones based on what the educator hears. According to the Bartletts,
If the instruments sound too close, too edgy, or too detailed, or if the recording lacks hall ambience, the mics are too close to the ensemble. Move the mic stand a foot or two farther from the orchestra and listen again. If the orchestra sounds too distant, muddy, or reverberant, the mics are too far from the ensemble. Move the mic stand a little closer to the musicians and listen again.11
Locating the ideal microphone placement is a balance between ensemble clarity and room ambience, and is variable based on preference.
The Recording Process
Prior to each performance, the educator must assemble and configure the recording equipment. For choral directors with limited recording experience this process may be overwhelming and challenging. The following is an instructional guide to support directors with the set-up of recording equipment prior to a performance. The author acknowledges that there are varying approaches to recording, but assumes the director is utilizing the previously discussed equipment and two condenser microphones.
Step 1, Place Equipment – Place all equipment (microphone stand(s), microphones, computer, and interface) in their desired location. Due to the limited length of XLR cables, it’s easiest to place the computer and interface near the microphone stand. However, these items can be placed far to the side if considered physically or visually obtrusive.
Step 2, Connect Equipment – Connect the interface to the computer and power on both devices. Connect microphones to the interface using two XLR cables. The microphone facing the left side of the stage (from the audience perspective) should be plugged into input one on the interface, with the right microphone plugged into input two. Note, the interface may utilize a combination input that allows for the connection of both XLR and ¼ inch TRS cables in a single input. This input may look unusual compared to the traditional XLR connection. However, this is very common in modern interfaces as it provides additional versatility.
Step 3, Phantom Power and Levels – Turn on phantom power and set microphone levels on the interface. Phantom power is located on the front or back of the interface and indicated by a button or toggle labeled 48v. Phantom power is a crucial step as it supplies power to the condenser microphones. In addition, set the input volume knob (possibly labeled “gain”) on the
interface for microphone channels one and two to roughly 50%. This level serves as a starting point and will be adjusted in step 10. At this stage, if your interface has an LED volume meter display there should be a visual indication that the microphones are picking up sound (i.e., light indicators are flashing). If there is no visual indication that the microphones are working properly, stop and double check steps two and three.
Step 4, Connect Headphones – Connect headphones to the back of the interface to monitor audio levels (do not connect headphones to the computer). Note that headphones must have a ¼ inch TRS connection or adapter. Adjust the headphone volume knob on the front of the interface to an appropriate level.
Step 5, Open DAW – Open your preferred DAW. During start-up you may be prompted to select a file location, sample rate, and bit depth. Select the folder where you would like to save the recording project. For the sample rate and bit depth select 48kHz and 24 respectively. After the DAW opens, ensure that your interface is selected as the hardware input device. Depending on the DAW, this option may be located in the toolbar under the heading, hardware, preferences, setup, or playback engine. If the interface is not selected, the DAW may be attempting to utilize the computer’s built-in microphone as the recording device. This can be a serious issue as the microphones will appear to be functioning properly in future steps, but the sound is being incorrectly captured by the computer’s microphone. 12
Step 6, Configure DAW – In the DAW create two mono tracks. This can usually be completed by selecting a toolbar icon labeled tracks (Figure 2-A). Within the toolbar drop down menu select new track. A new track will appear in the DAWs window (Figure 2-B). On the track created, select a microphone input from your interface. This option is typically completed through a dropdown menu labeled input (I/O is the abbreviation for input/output) located directly below or next to each track (Figure 2-C). For the first track created select input one. On the second track, select input two. Selecting inputs on each track is a necessary step as the educator must assign each input on the interface to a track in the DAW. If neglected, the DAW will not recognize any audio from the microphones.
Step 7, Record Enable Tracks – In most DAWs a red circular icon is located next to each track (Figure 2-B) Activate this icon on both tracks created in step 6 to record enable each track. This step informs the DAW which tracks are ready to be recorded but does not begin
the actual recording process. Note, tracks must be record enabled for any sound to be captured. Once selected, this icon will typically remain active until deselected.
Step 8, Test the System – Begin recording sample audio by selecting the record button, typically located towards the top of the window (Figure 2-D). Note, some DAWs will auto pause after the record button is activated requiring the educator to hit the play button to begin recording. At this point horizontal lines of recorded audio should begin to appear in the window moving across the screen form left to right. Clap a few times to see if audio peaks appear. Speak into the left and right microphones separately to see if they are both receiving audio (Figure 2-E). Stop and listen back to the recording to confirm that the equipment is functioning properly. If a distinct difference is not heard between the left and right microphone, double check steps 5 and 6 for correct hardware and input selection.
Step 9, Dress Cables – Raise microphones to their desired height and tape down exposed cables per OSHA guidelines. If needed, use sandbags to secure the base of the microphone stand. 13
Step 10, Test Microphone Levels with the Ensemble –During the pre-concert warm-up, have the ensemble sing their loudest and softest sections of music. Ensure that the loudest section is not peaking the levels on the interface or in the DAW. According to Owsinski, the loudest moment in the performance should reach -10dB on the audio interface LED display. Adjust the input gain by turning the volume knob on the audio interface. Note that the volume knobs for both inputs should be set to the same level. 14
Step 11, Record Performance – Begin the recording process by selecting the red circular record button as described in step 8. Allow the recording to run for the entirety of the performance without stoppage or adjustment to the levels. The recording equipment does not necessarily have to be monitored during the performance. However, ensure that the computer is not disrupted by concert patrons or idle in power saving mode.
Troubleshooting – DAWs are similar, but each have unique operational differences. When encountering difficulties, search for instructional videos on YouTube using the name of your DAW followed by the specific issue. Suggested search terms include, selecting hardware, connecting an interface, creating tracks, selecting microphone input, and record enable tracks.
Postproduction:
Mixing, Editing, and Finalizing your Recording
Mixing and editing techniques vary significantly between inexperienced and professional recording engineers. The postproduction techniques discussed here demonstrate the basic elements required to produce an acceptable product. Advanced techniques are unfortunately beyond the scope of this article but can be learned and developed through additional study.16
Postproduction is ideally completed with high quality studio speakers; however, it may be completed with studio quality headphones or external computer speakers. Built in laptop speakers are the least desirable option and not recommended. As each DAW is slightly different, an educator having difficulty with any of the following postproduction steps should search the name of their DAW followed by the postproduction element for additional support.
Step 1, Pan Tracks – When using two mono tracks, as described in this article, pan track 1 far left and track 2 far right (Figure 2-F). In a DAW, pan may appear as either a knob or horizontal slider.
Step 2, Delete Unwanted Audio – Delete any unwanted audio between musical selections (Figure 2-G). However, it is advisable to keep the audio intact if the recording will be synched with a video of the performance, as this may allow for easier video alignment.
Step 3, Add Fades – If removing audio between selections, fade audio in and out at the beginning and end of each song. Quickly fade in audio at the start of a selection, while gradually fading out during applause (Figure 2-H). Fades are necessary to avoid any unwanted pops or clicks in places where the audio clip has been edited.
Step 4, Add Equalization (EQ) – Adjust EQ on both tracks (Figure 2-I). EQ allows the educator to increase or decrease the volume of select frequencies, and as a result, shape the color and tone of the recorded audio. Unfortunately, there is no standard EQ setting that works for every live performance recording. Instead, the educator must use their ears to adjust the EQ to discover the optimal setting. In general, if quality microphones are utilized and appropriately placed, only a minimal amount of EQ correction is necessary.
Step 5, Bounce Tracks – Having edited and mixed the audio, the recording is ready to be bounced/exported. Through this process the DAW creates a single audio file of the completed mix. DAWs perform this function in various ways and may require the user to select audio they
wish to bounce or create markers. Research your specific DAW for more information on this process.
Copyright Considerations
When recording a musical performance choral educators should be mindful of potential copyright infringement. Recorded music, like printed music, is subject to copyright limitations. For copyrighted material, a single copy of a recorded performance may be produced for study and archival purposes. Any distribution of a recording beyond this original requires a license from the copyright holder. Reference NAfME’s website, “United States Copyright Law: A Guide for Music Educators,” for more information.17
Conclusions
Throughout the past decade, technological advancements have significantly expanded an individual’s ability to record and disseminate musical content. In this ever-expanding technological era, expertise in the field of audio recording will likely prove advantageous for educators and their ensembles.
While this article serves as an introduction to the fundamental techniques of audio recording, this skill, like any musical endeavor, requires practice. As choral educators continue to develop this skill, the process of audio recording will become easier, and soon lead to the production of high-quality recordings that their ensembles can enjoy.
17 National Association for Music Education, “United States Copyright Law: A Guide for Music Educators,” last modified, 2003, https://nafme.org/my-classroom/united-states-copyright-law-a-guide-for-music-educators/.
Figure 2, Elements of a DAW (Pro Tools)
A- Track title bar selection
B- Record Enable and Track
C- Input/Output
D- Record
E- Captured Audio
F- Pan
G- Deleted Audio
H- Fade
I- Equalization (EQ)
Celebrating 150 years of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)
BY BRANDON BROWN
The year 2025 marks the 150th anniversary of English composer, conductor, and professor, Samuel ColeridgeTaylor’s birth. He used his status as the first well-known Black musician to achieve fame in his home country and the United States to increase the stature of Black musicians at a time when their works were rarely programmed.
Coleridge-Taylor was born on August 15, 1875 in Holborn, London. His father was Dr. Daniel Hughes Taylor, a native of Sierra Leone, and his mother was Alice Hare, a white Englishwoman. Dr. Taylor moved back to Africa due to the racial prejudice he experienced while practicing medicine in Holborn, London without knowing that Alice was pregnant. Samuel was named after the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Young Coleridge-Taylor was a talented violinist, pianist, and boy soprano. He studied with Charles Villiers Stanford at the Royal College of Music beginning at age fifteen. Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, John Ireland, and Frank Bridge were other pupils of Stanford at the Royal College of Music. Coleridge-Taylor received numerous commissions and was appointed to several teaching posts, including at Trinity College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music. In addition, he served as conductor of the Handel Society of London and presided at the Westmoreland Festival.
As Coleridge-Taylor came to prominence in Britain, African Americans were suffering from one of the worst periods of political, social, cultural and economic repression they had experienced since the Civil War. In this context, the success of a black composer across the Atlantic captured the imagination of many. Coleridge-Taylor was celebrated as an example of what could be possible for black people – he became a symbol of hope.3
Although Coleridge-Taylor did not suffer the same level of racial prejudice that Black people encountered in the United States, he “saw it as his mission in life to help establish the dignity of African Americans.” He was
strongly influenced by Paul Laurence Dunbar, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, W.E.B. Du Bois, Frederick Douglass, and Booker T. Washington. He toured frequently, conducting his own compositions and also performing with African American singer, Harry T. Burleigh. His compositions inspired a group of African American singers to form the Coleridge-Taylor Choral Society in 1902 in Washington, DC. The ensemble was dedicated to the performance of his works. He conducted them on several of his trips to the United States, including in 1904 when they performed together with the US Marine Band. During this, his first trip to the US in 1904, he found himself a major celebrity: he was such a well-regarded artist that he was invited to visit President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House. He was the first person of color to give a concert in Mendelssohn Hall in Washington, DC, and also at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. In 1910, during Gustav Mahler’s tenure as Music Director, Coleridge-Taylor conducted the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and the musicians were very impressed, holding him in the same high regard as Mahler.
2
Coleridge-Taylor composed operas, incidental music, ballets, a melodrama, orchestral works, songs, instrumental music and keyboard music, as well as transcriptions and arrangements. His choral output includes twelve cantatas and odes, a Morning and Evening Service, a Te Deum, eight anthems, and twenty-six-part songs. The majority of his early choral music was sacred, written for mixed chorus and organ during his time as a student at the Royal College of Music. His later choral works were mostly secular. Partsongs make up the largest portion of his choral music with approximately thirty-two total accompanied and unaccompanied works (see Table 1).
The most well-known of his choral/orchestral compositions are the three cantatas published together as Scenes from The Song of Hiawatha, op. 30, based on the poetry of American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Op. 30 was the first composition that earned him high acclaim. The success of the work was immediate and international. Sir Hubert Parry described the premiere as “one of the most remarkable events in modern English musical history.”
1. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, 1905, photograph, The National Archives, Richmond, UK. https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/stories/samuel-coleridgetaylor/#h2.photograph.
2. Dennis Shrock, “Samuel Coleridge-Taylor,” Choral Repertoire, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2023), 544-545.
3. Anna Maria Barry, “Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and the Musical Fight for Civil Rights,” Google Arts & Culture, accessed April 10, 2025, https://artsandculture.google.com/story/9gXhtwiLW6SGIw.
4. Stephen Banfield, Jeremy Dibble, and Anya Laurence. "Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel," in Grove Music Online, ed. Deane Root (Oxford University Press, 2013), https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2248993.
5. “Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Born August 15, 1875. Died September 1, 1912,” The Musical Times 53, no. 836 (1912): 637–39, http://www.jstor.org/stable/906769.
The work is a showcase of Colerdidge-Taylor’s command of musical form, texture, harmony, and orchestration. The story of Native Americans set to music was ahead of its time and African-Americans could connect to it because of their own experiences in the post-Reconstruction era in the US. The magnitude of this composition and what it did for his career cannot be ignored.
treble voices, with four for SA and six for SSA (two of the latter are with piano. There also is a set of four partsongs for TTBB voices.
“Summer is Gone” is perhaps his best known partsong. It is based on a text by Christina Rossetti. Coleridge-Taylor sets the two four-line stanzas strophically, and adds a short coda. It is for SATB voices with some divisi, including for the basses. His rich harmonic approach fittingly captures the passing seasons described in the text. His final partsong, composed in the year of his death, is “Song of Proserpine,” a setting of a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley. In this poem, Proserpine asks Mother Earth to bless her as she does all other growing things on earth. This work
His partsongs are well-regarded, beautifully crafted and accessible and can provide a good introduction to Coleridge-Taylor’s works for advanced high school, college and community choirs. Of the thirty-two, eighteen are scored for SATB: eleven are unaccompanied, two are for chorus with piano, and five are for chorus with orchestra or piano. Ten are for 6.
William Tortolano, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Anglo-Black Composer, 1875-1912, 2nd ed. (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2002), 105-124.
Table 1. Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s Choral Music6
features advanced and lush harmonic writing for SSAATTBB voices in a prayer-like setting. The two sixline stanzas of text are set strophically. “Viking Song” is scored for SATB voices and piano, and is a fun and lively setting of a text by David McKee Wright. The accented melody represents Vikings as they build steel ships. The chorus repeats the word “clang” throughout, representing the sound of the hammering on anvils. Each of the four stanzas of the poem is set with different textures to create a varied and exciting work.
Unfortunately, following his early death, ColeridgeTaylor’s music decreased in popularity. This year, the 150th anniversary of his birth, is a great time to reintroduce his outstanding music to today’s concert audiences. More than a century after his death, Black musicians are still inspired by the triumphs and successes of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. He remains a beacon of hope because of what he was able to accomplish as a Black man during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Although he lived in London, his travels and compositions expanded his reputation and resulted in international fame, which allowed him to accomplish his mission of helping to establish the dignity of African Americans at a time when it was badly needed. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor is remembered this year on the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of his birth and hopefully for many years to come.
Bibliography
Banfield, Stephen, Jeremy Dibble, and Anya Laurence. "Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel." In Grove Music Online, edited by Deane Root. Oxford University Press, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2248993
Carr, Catherine. “The Music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912): A Critical and Analytical Study.” Ph.D. Thesis, University of Durham, 2005. Durham E-Theses Online. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2964/.
Carter, Nathan M. “Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: His Life and Works.” DMA diss., Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, 1984. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/samuel-coleridge-taylor-his-life-worksengland/docview/303314353/se-2.
Church Terrell, Mary. "Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, the Anglo-African Composer." The Independent ...Devoted to the Consideration of Politics, Social and Economic Tendencies, History, Literature, and the Arts (1848-1921), Nov 24, 1904. https://www.proquest.com/magazines/samuel-coleridge-taylor-anglo-africancomposer/docview/90536671/se-2.
Green, Jeffrey. “‘The Foremost Musician of His Race’: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor of England, 1875-1912.” Black Music Research Journal 10, no. 2. (1990): 233–52. https://doi.org/10.2307/779387.
Robles, Zanaida Noelle. "The Sacred Choral Works of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor." DMA diss., University of Southern California, 2014. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/sacred-choral-works-samuel-coleridgetaylor/docview/2066762619/se-2.
Self, Geoffrey. The Hiawatha Man: The Life and Work of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Aldershot, England: Scolar Press, 1995.
Shrock, Dennis. “Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.” In Choral Repertoire. 2nd ed., 544-545. New York: Oxford University Press, 2023.
Thompson, Jewel Taylor. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: The Development of His Compositional Style. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1994.
Tortolano, William. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Anglo-Black Composer, 1875-1912. 2nd ed. Lanham, MD; Scarecrow Press, 2002.
Brandon Brown has a passion for music that shines throughout his performances. He has been featured soloist and conductor with the Celestial Evangel Choir in Kumasi and Accra, Ghana, and Prague. In addition to opera roles, Mr. Brown has performed the baritone solos in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and Mass in C Major, Parker’s A Sermon from the Mountain, Verdi’s Requiem, Brahms’ Requiem, Dubois’ Seven Last Words, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Linda Twine’s Changed My Name, Fauré’s Requiem, and Mechem’s Songs of the Slave. Brandon has performed with the Beloit Janesville Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project, College of DuPage, the South Shore Opera Company of Chicago, American Chamber Opera, Main Street Opera, Katydid Opera Productions, and chorusmaster for Show-Me Opera. He served as the Music Director and Project Manager of the Chicago Community Chorus, Minister of Music at Church of the Good Shepherd, Music Coordinator at Columbia United Church of Christ, and Interim Choir Director at Christ Church of Oak Brook.
Brandon is currently Artistic Director of the Green Valley Community Chorus, Music Director at the United Methodist Church of Green Valley, President of the Chicago Music Association, Br. No. 1 of the National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM), and Assistant Director of NANM Central Region. Brandon has studied and coached with Betsy Schauer, R. Paul Crabb, Brandon Boyd, Keith Hampton, Jonita Lattimore, David Holloway, Scott Gilmore, Dana Brown, and Giulio Favario. Brandon is pursuing a DMA in Choral Conducting at University of Arizona. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Eastern Illinois University, a Master’s in Voice Performance from CCPA at Roosevelt University, and a Master’s in Choral Conducting from the University of Missouri. He is also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
Standing on their Shoulders: Words from the Wise
BY KATIE GERRICH
In this continuing section of Tactus, the voices of our retired/long-time colleagues are featured. Dr. J Edmund Hughes was interviewed by Arizona ACDA State President, Katie Gerrich, for this article.
EH: Thank you for the opportunity to share some of my thoughts and experiences with you. I have enjoyed 50+ years teaching which began in February, 1971. My first directing position was with a church choir when I was a junior in college, 1968. After all those years of teaching, I really don’t consider myself to be an expert at much of anything. But, I’m just a colleague looking forward to sharing some things that I have either learned along the way through formal training or the more informal training from the U of HK – University of Hard Knocks. Since we are all different, you may agree or disagree with what I have to present. Please know that none of these thoughts are rules or “edicts” but suggestions and/or possibilities. What I do hope is that you 1) gain some things to think about, 2) find some added tools for your “tool box” and finally, 3) won’t make some of the same mistakes I did.
How long have you been a member of ACDA?
I am embarrassed to say that I needed to contact ACDA Membership for clarification but their records don’t go back that far. I think it was 1972 and I was a Music Education Major in choral music.
Who or what inspired you to become a choral director?
I grew up in a musical family as my father was a Minister of Music, and my mother played piano. One of my early job descriptions as “son” was singing in my father’s church choirs – from my cherubic years through the end of high school. As for making music a career, I think music chose me. In my sophomore year of high school, I sang in a massed church choir festival directed by Paul Salamunovich. At the time, I was in church choir, band, but not choir at school. That experience with Paul piqued my interest and further directed me to get more involved in choral music. I auditioned for choir at the end of the school year, made it and from the first day of school the following year, it immediately felt like home. Singing in All State the next two years was another boost of confidence and direction, the year Charles Hirt conducted. During and prior to this time of my life, it seemed like everyone I met in choral music was genuine, dedicated, friendly, and passionate.
What was one moment of magic that you experienced as it relates to your life as a choral director?
For me, this moment was the Troubadours of Tucson’s (Tucson HS) performance at the 1978 Western Division convention. It was Duruflé’s “Ubi caritas” that gave me chills. It was probably the first time in my career that I felt that close to a choir, their musicality, sensitivity and responsiveness. As one of my students said the following Monday while we were reflecting on our performance, “Even though we never met many of the directors in the audience, it was like we knew and had a personal connection with everyone.” And at the end, a beautiful silence was followed by a long, enthusiastic response from the audience.
Do you have any advice for choral directors that are beginning their careers?
Keep learning. If you’re a teacher, you’re a learner. Realize and demonstrate that music is about possibilities, not necessarily right or wrong. This is especially applicable in musical interpretations. Have more than one mentor –many teachers have many answers, but I doubt if any one of them has all the answers.
Be yourself. The person you are trying to imitate has already been taken. We always learn from those around us but be sure to incorporate what works for you. Believe in yourself but be aware of your limitations.
“In choral music, there are no emergencies”. Take things in perspective and be careful not to “over react” to mistakes/situations...often times our reaction is worse than the initial incident. Sometimes the issues that keep us awake at night for hours will be forgotten by next week. Be patient with yourself and your students. Avoid the common mistake of over-programming (less is more) and/or choosing repertoire you loved to sing in college. Many times, neither your students nor you are “ready” for that challenge. In those “rough times” remember 1) why you went into teaching, and 2) that you are human...we are not perfect and we all make mistakes.
Choose your friends wisely. Many times your friends are your future. Surround yourselves with positive, sincere, supportive, and trustworthy people. Good things happen when you distance yourself from negativity. Have colleagues/friends who tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. Our various choral communities of current teachers and retirees tend to be very supportive and are wonderful resources. Reach out to them if needed.
Do you have any words of wisdom for our western region membership reading this interview?
As you well know, our lives as educators can be divided into two distinct areas, our personal lives and our professional lives. Many times they can conflict with each other. Here are some ideas for both “lives”.
Personal
1.YOU are the most important person in the classroom. Take care of yourself first! Schedule “me time” every day for hobbies, meditating, reading, exercise, etc.
2.Stay in good physical, mental and spiritual health. Everyday tasks, including teaching, are much easier when you do. Feel your best so you can give your best.
3.Be an example of what you teach - outside the classroom. (ex. Contrast, balance (home and school), energy, communication, empathy, caring, openness, teamwork, listen, positive attitude, etc.)
4.Choose your friends wisely. Many times, your friends are your future. Surround yourself with positive, sincere, supportive people. Distance yourself from negativity. Have colleagues/friends who will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.
5.Make every day your masterpiece. Do something for someone without expecting anything in return.
6.Don’t allow the competitive spirit with other choirs or directors into your classroom. Your only competition is with yourself. Assess where you in relation to where you want to be.
7.Retirement??? It comes faster than you think. With your first paycheck…$tart $aving. (I wish I did.)
Dr. J. Edmund Hughes [b. 1947] was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Puget Sound (WA), where he directed the Chorale. He retired in 2021 after a 50-year teaching career. His prior position was at ChandlerGilbert Community College (AZ).
While at CGCC, he taught choir, music theory, aural perception, conducting, and organized two on-campus choral festivals per year. From 19902011, he was the Director of Music at Velda Rose United Methodist Church in Mesa. Earlier teaching positions were at Phoenix College, Tucson Unified School District and California State University-Fresno.
His choirs from Tucson High School, St. Paul's United Methodist Church (Tucson), Phoenix College
In Class
1. Establish a positive, open, nurturing, affirming, inclusive atmosphere. Create/maintain a “safe place to sing” and the music is allowed to happen. Understand the power of human connection. Immediately connect with students as they enter the room. Create a two-way window of communication and empathy. Students are constantly “telling you” how they are and what they need. Find positive ways to correct/assess. “Focus on the problem, not the manifestation of the problem.” Rod Eichenberger This can totally eliminate negative comments in the classroom.
2.Choose appropriate music for each ensemble – within their capabilities, and time constraints. Be careful of over programing which may lead to extra rehearsals.
3.There are many reasons why people are drawn to choir. One of the main reasons that keep people in choir – the rehearsals. Reasons they may drop choirnegativity and extra rehearsals. Usually, added rehearsals are hastily called because the teacher has either over-programmed or not did a thorough job of preparing the choir. Respect your students’ time and yours.
4.In conducting, do not to send “conflicting signals”. Your verbal instructions should be reinforced by your gestures and vice versa.
5.Be prepared. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
6.We all have bad days – don’t allow that to lose your perspective on why you became a teacher, and don’t let negative situations undermine the positive energy you strive to create in the classroom.
7.Respect your students, love them where they are, and remember that they are some of your best teachers. Respect the secretaries, custodians, cafeteria staff and colleagues.
and Chandler-Gilbert Community College have had the distinction of performing at ACDA, MENC and AMEA conventions at the state and regional levels.
Ed is a past President of Arizona ACDA (serving 3 separate terms) and has served AMEA in numerous capacities. He frequently adjudicates choral festivals and directs honor choirs throughout the West. He received his Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate Degrees from the University of Arizona which included doctoral studies at the University of Southern California.
He currently lives in Eugene, OR with his wife, Carole and dog, Bailey. He has 3 children, step-daughter and 12 grandchildren. His hobbies are jogging, weightlifting, biking and in 2010 he completed his 6th half marathon.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION COLUMN INCLUSION COLUMN
Reframing and Reimagining Choir Festival Repertoire: Thoughts going beyond traditional adjudicated performances
BY DARLENE MACHACON
In my first year of teaching at my current high school, a few senior students inquired if we might participate in a local regional festival. I looked up at our wall with years of plaques, ranging from excellent to superior ratings. I decided not to participate in adjudicated festivals for the first two years at my school, not because I didn’t think the group could obtain such a rating; the rating itself was an expectation and tradition for the sake of having another plaque. I had to ask myself, “If students are in choir to win an award, it’s time to re-evaluate.”
At the beginning of my teaching career, I did not understand why I found festivals to be quite intimidating. Now, I hear teachers refer to them as learning opportunities or ways to showcase their choir’s “musical excellence.” This leads me to question whose definition of excellence they are referring to and to what extent that standard is based on Eurocentric classical practices and conductor-led performances.
While I am doing everything I can to recruit and retain students in the choir program, I am also working towards what feels like the “pinnacle” of our music learning for the entire school year - our festival set. That's when I understood why festivals felt so intimidating before: the choir festival set appears to be the ultimate goal of a choir's musical education for the school year. How do these few pieces become an unspoken reflection of our entire choir program?
When I attend high school choir festivals, I often notice that the programs strive for a specific kind of diversity. It’s the kind of diversity that still fits neatly within traditional choir norms. A set might include Palestrina alongside a Russian folk song, or a gospel arrangement mixed in with choral staples.
These festival programs sometimes feel disjointed because they read more like a checklist of diverse selections rather than a thoughtfully curated musical experience. As music educators, choral conductors, and facilitators, we have the opportunity to do more than just teach high-quality music; we can shape meaningful, intentional programs that reflect a broader range of voices and experiences.
I ask myself these questions when choosing festival repertoire:
Whose music am I featuring?
Am I including composers and arrangers from historically marginalized communities?
If a piece is in another language, is the composer or arranger from that culture? Who receives royalties for this work?
What stories and lessons can this repertoire bring to my students?
After repertoire selection I also consider:
How can students be involved in preparing music? Is the learning process entirely conductor-centered, or do students have a say in musical decisions?
Does the chosen repertoire create opportunities for student creativity and input?
What if we approached programming from a more intentional, intersectional, student-centered perspective— one that amplifies underrepresented voices and empowers student agency? It’s about curating repertoire that tells a meaningful, cohesive story—one that challenges, engages, and truly resonates with both student performers and student/teacher audiences. Storytelling with messages such as:
Nostalgia through the eyes of Gen Z
Reclaiming identities through traditional and cultural folk songs
As a fellow secondary choir director, we prioritize the following elements when selecting festival repertoire for the year: voicing, musical variety, style, difficulty level..maybe even its “wow” factor. All of these are important and valid considerations—but I challenge us to take it a step further. In addition to those factors, we could consider:
Cultural connections to our students
Music’s emotional impact through storytelling
A diverse range of composer and arranger voices
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION DIVERSITY, EQUITY
At the start of the school year, I lay the foundations of vocal technique, music theory, and ensemble skills. I also gradually empower my students to take ownership of their own musical learning. Last year’s festival set was centered on identity and community. The singers began with the world premiere of a Vietnamese piece composed by Julianne Nguyen called, “Về Nghe Mẹ Ru” (published through F-flat Books), based on traditional lullabies passed down orally for generations. Since many of my students identify as Vietnamese or Vietnamese-American, I saw their eyes glisten with excitement when I shared that we would be learning this piece. Emergent bilingual students helped their nonVietnamese-speaking peers with the nuances of southern and northern dialect pronunciation, and a few students took the initiative to create choreography involving traditional fans and bamboo hats, connecting to the song’s historical and cultural context.
We closed our set with “Kruhay” by Beny F. Castillon, a Kinaray-a piece from the Visayan islands in the Philippines. This piece tells the story of a folktale of the Bornean people who escaped the dicatorship and forged a barter agrement with the indigenous Ati group of Panay Island. My students held discussions on our unique stories and the importance of expressing empathy to ensure that all people find a sense of belonging. They also took ownership of crafting movements to represent elements of the story—from the balangays (boats) to the sparkle of the kulintas (necklace). As a Filipina-American, I was able to share how this story exemplifies bayanihan (the spirit of unity and cooperation), and the students saw the connection to how we foster a sense of community within our choir.
The themes of identity and community were present in our preparation, progress, and performance. Festival programming has the potential to reflect the core values of our choral program. I believe festival themes can go beyond a one-time musical experience—they can serve as reflections of our singers’ character.
I will admit, it takes careful research and planning to ensure authenticity and to provide enough time for students to truly engage with and reflect on the music. I believe it is worth it. When students invest their emotional energy and connection into music, it is heard in their performance. I always tell my students, “If your audience doesn’t understand the heart of our music, then we haven’t accomplished our purpose as musical storytellers. A festival rating doesn’t matter if we aren’t
reaching peoples’ hearts.” Questions to help reframe how we, as conductors, plan festival music include:
How are our values evident at the start of the school year? For classroom teachers, how are these values displayed on our walls and whiteboards? Do our walls celebrate plaques more than people? Are our first two weeks of lessons intentional in reflecting those values? How do the community-building activities we choose align with our goals? How do we model those values in our scaffolding, instructional strategies, and in training of student leaders?
How do we understand social issues that matter to our students? How can we use programming to inspire them to develop their own themes? How do we partner with other clubs and curricular activities on campus to foster community, rather than existing as an isolated performing arts class?
How much of our music selection is shaped by our own personal nostalgia and preferences, influenced by our Eurocentric classical training? How often are we the center of attention, the primary sculptors of sound? How do we train our singers to be conductorless? How do we empower our students to take on leadership roles as conductors of one another?
If festival sets can shift to emphasize community, the purpose of music-making, I also wonder if the festivals themselves can reconsider their approach—rethinking their rubrics and ratings. Instead of simply presenting back-to-back performances from each school, what if we allowed students to introduce their chosen festival theme, provide an overview of the pieces, and explain what those pieces mean to them personally? Imagine how much more engaged and invested the audience would be in the storytelling of our music if we took the time to prepare and share those deeper connections.
Now, let’s talk about rubrics. While many festivals still focus on the standard categories like diction, musicianship, and tone, I believe there is room for a broader, more reflective approach. What if festivals included categories like:
Theme/Purpose: How well is the theme or purpose of the set uniquely and clearly expressed through the repertoire? Is student understanding of the theme evident in the performance?
Musical Variety: Does the set showcase a diverse range of genres, not limited to Euroclassical styles? This could include pop a cappella, Broadway, rock, R&B, or other contemporary styles. Is there a demonstrated authenticity in each musical approach?
What about variety in adjudicators? There is so much to be learned from the perspectives of singersongwriters who work as session singers or background vocalists, or from musical theater soloists who understand the craft of performing on a big stage. What if we could hear them perform as well? While clinics offer a chance to work directly with adjudicators, I believe students can form a deeper musical connection when they hear the music-making from the very person giving them feedback.
Traditional festivals often emphasize one type of choral singing and performance, overlooking a wide range of music that students enjoy beyond our classroom walls. Let’s celebrate the diverse ways singing is done throughout our communities rather than compartmentalizing into outdated categories. By embracing a broader perspective, we can create festivals that not only reflect the true diversity of musical expression, but also honor the rich experiences and identities of the students involved. Let’s make our festivals a platform for growth, understanding, and authentic musical exchange—where every voice, style, and story has the safe space to be heard and affirmed.
This year, I decided to send my students to the same regional choral festival those senior students asked about years ago. We received a plaque and added it to the wall which now also reads “Community >
Darlene Machacon (she/her) is a Filipina-American music educator and content creator based in Orange County, CA. She currently teaches high school choir, piano, and AP Music Theory. Darlene holds a Master’s in Music Education from VanderCook College of Music, two Bachelor’s degrees in Music Education and Piano Performance from Biola University, and is pursuing her doctorate at William Carey University. She teaches Culturally Responsive SEL at VanderCook’s MECA program and presents nationally on SEL, equity, and culturally responsive teaching. She contributes her expertise to organizations such as ACDA, NAMM Foundation, and F-Flat Books. A 2022 CMA Foundation Music Teacher of Excellence, Darlene is also the 2025 California Choral Directors Association Choral Equity Scholarship recipient and a 2026 Grammy Music Educator Award quarterfinalist. As the creator behind @TheDarlingMusicTeacher on TikTok and Instagram, she engages thousands with content that promotes inclusive, student-centered music education. When not immersed in the world of music education, Darlene enjoys living life with her husband, Josh, and their Siberian husky, Kobe.
