Tactus Spring/Summer 2023

AMERICAN CHORAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION

WESTERN REGION NEWSLETTER

SPRING - SUMMER 2023

Western Region Leadership

Western ACDA Board Executive Committee

Michael Short, President

Lou De La Rosa, Past President

Julie Dana, President-Elect

David Sonnichsen, Treasurer

Lori Marie Rios, Special Advisor to the President

Joan Steinmann, Recording Secretary

State Presidents

Ted Gibson, Arizona President

Katie Gerrich, Arizona President-Elect

Chris Peterson, California President

Arlie Langager, California President-Elect

Justin Ka'upu – Hawai'i President

Chris Serrano – Hawai'i President-Elect

Michael Polutnik, Nevada President

Jennifer Lowry, Nevada President-Elect

Cheryl Worthen, Utah President

Emily Mercado, Utah President-Elect

Western ACDA 2024 Conference Committee

Cari Earnhart, Conference Committee Chair

Scot Hanna-Weir, Conference Committee Vice Chair

Lori Marie Rios, Special Advisor to President

John Tebay, WACDA Membership Co-Chair

Shawna Stewart, WACDA Membership Co-Chair

Kim Ritzer, Registration Chair

Ryan Duff, Registration Committee

Joan Steinmann, Recording Secretary

Angelina Fitzhugh & Emily Mercado, Interest Session

Co-Chairs

Corie Brown & Kristina Nakagawa, Interest Session

Liaisons

Carolyn Teraoka-Brady, Site Liaison (Performance)

Molly Peters, Camille Killpack, & Jennifer Heder, Performance Co-Chairs

Marc McGhee & Vivian Santos, Honor Choir CoChairs

Tammi Alderman & Jennifer Tibbens, Reading Session

Co-Chairs

Lou De La Rosa & Jennifer Lucy Cook, Composer Track Coordinators

Western ACDA 2024 Conference Committee con't

Tim Westerhaus, Conducting Master Class

David Hensley, All-Conference Sing Coordinator

Heather Scobie, Hospitality Chair

Jodi Reed & Ryan Holder, Exhibits Co-Coordinators

Scott Glysson & Alec Schumacker, College Fair CoChairs

Western ACDA Board Advisory Committee

Jennifer Tibbens, Lifelong R&R Coordinator

Alan Petker, Community Chair

Tim Westerhaus, Repertoire R&R Coordinator

Angel Vasquez Ramos, World Musics and Cultures

Chair

Rodger Guerrero, Collegiate R & R Coordinator

Desirée La Vertu, College and University Choirs

Michelle Jensen, Student Activities

Christina Swanson Hall, Youth R & R Coordinator

Aimee Stewart, Community & Children R&R Chair

Athena Mertes, Junior High Middle School Choirs Chair

Dan Jackson, Senior High School Choir Chair

Emily Burkhardt, Elementary School Choir Chair

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee

Jace Saplan, DEI Committee Chair

Kristina Nakagawa

Yu-Feng Huang

Tiffany O'Neill

Ernest Harrison

Emily Mercado

Olivia Arnold

Ryan Duff

Alyssa Cossey

Nicki Manlove

Communications Committee

Elizabeth Baker, Social Media

Anna Caplan, Webmaster

Olivia Arnold, Tactus Editor

Cover photos obtained from the Library of Congress.

Left to right:

Arizona: April 2018, Yucca, a small desert community in Mohave County, Arizona, near the California line and Mojave Desert

California: March 1913, looking into "The Hollow of God's Hand," San Diego, Imperial Valley, Yuma, Coast to Coast Highway

Hawai'i: March 1912, looking across the crater of Kilauea, Hawai'i

Nevada: 1871, Black Canyon, Colorado River

Utah: Pasture and snow-covered Uinta Mountains in spring. (Heber, Utah)

A Letter from the Editor

Dear Readers,

What a busy spring! I hope everyone is nearing a kind of 'finish line' in their work, whether it is adjudication, concerts, community events, festivals, worship services, and so much more.

The spring 2023 issue of Tactus features some familiar columns: awards and grants, DEI article, president's address, and a tribute. Each piece of content demonstrates choral music's ability to connect diverse communities through visions of empowerment, equity, and inclusion. What's new: a composer spotlight, conference recap, and WACDA events! Thank you for all the pictures and reflections you submitted.

Readers, how did I do? Please drop a line and send me some feedback! I am excited to continue being your fearless editor and give a platform to voices and the joyous and meaningful work we do in the Western region. If you would like to contribute to future issues, here are some ideas:

Composer spotlight featuring new works

Your stories of choral connection and collaboration

Community vocal music initiative

Outreach efforts

Choral crossword puzzle (or other puzzle)

Student ACDA chapter news

Readers, I hope that you are inspired by our fantastic colleagues featured in this issue as much as I am. If I might suggest a takeaway from this issue, it would be to encourage readers to express gratitude for one another. We all have a someone to thank: an accompanist, our choirsters, a colleague, maintenance and security personnel, or supportive administrators. By taking some time to acknowledge one another's work, we build stronger, lasting relationships.

Personally, I am grateful for those who lead by example for our students. I admire the positive impact teachers can make on a student's perspective of humanity. Thank you for all you do!

You can email me at tactuseditor@acdawestern.org.

Aloha, Olivia Arnold Tactus Editor

Hawai'i-ACDA R&R Middle School Chair Hawai'i Music Educators Association Secretary

A Message from our President

As I write,

I am teaching my last few weeks of high school choir. I have been teaching for 44 years in Orange Unified School District, 3 years at Portola Junior High School, and at Orange High School for the last 41 ½ years. For those of you just starting in this amazing career, I know that sounds like a long time, but it has flown by!

The relationships and friendships I developed over the years have been uplifting and enlightening.

As a beginning music teacher, my dream was to have the best choirs ever! I knew that I wanted to teach at the Junior High level and that it was my niche (ah, youth!). I had 300 students in my JHS choirs but no program at the HS. In January of 1982, I asked to help with the program. Within the week, I was teaching an “0” period class at Orange High School. I soon started a Chamber choir that met 2 times a week, all while teaching full time at the JHS.

I soon realized that I was alone. There were no other teachers at either school whom I could ask questions that related to music or choirs. A music teacher in the district was a member of both ACDA and SCVA (Southern California Vocal Association) and invited me to a workshop. That is when ACDA and SCVA entered my life, I found my people, and I was changed forever. The choral friends, conferences, workshops, and festivals changed my life.

In my experience, the more I volunteered to help with ACDA and SCVA activities, the more I learned and became a part of the choral community. I believe the best way for us to learn is by doing. I suggest:

Attending ACDA, CCDA, and SCVA conferences. Check out the in state, regional, and national conferences,

Joining a choir to learn from the conductor, Assisting in conferences and workshops, Hosting a festival, Volunteering to help at the 2024 regional conference in Pasadena!

In my experience, to be successful as a choral director in a high school, students need us to be a:

Choral musician, Guidance counselor, Advisor, Businessperson (especially for fundraising!), Travel agent, Constant presence in their lives, Bigger than life, Able to relate on a personal level Much, much more!

Most of all, be a part of what you belong to - invest in your profession. Don’t look to profit monetarily from every experience, but look to prosper with each, concert, choir tour, workshop, and interaction with your colleagues! You are the future of our profession! You are the keepers of the musical flame!

Michael Short is the current president of Western Region ACDA. For the last 43 years Michael has directed choirs from elementary, middle, high school, community college and adult community and church. He is currently the choral director and department chairman at Orange High School, founder/director of the Orange Community Master Chorale, president of the Greater Orange Community Arts Theater Foundation (GOCAT) and director of music for the First United Methodist Church all in the city of Orange, California. Michael has been married to Vicki for 40 years and they have two grown children and three very cute and smart grandchildren.

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LEADERSHIP HAVING SKYLINE CHILI

SING at

FRESNO STATE

DISCOVERY. DIVERSITY. DISTINCTION.

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AUDITIONS FOR FALL 2024 HELD IN SPRING 2024

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON AUDITION REQUIREMENTS:

fresnostate.edu/artshum/music/ students/auditions.html

Scan here:

FACULTY

Director of Choral Activities

Dr. Cari Earnhart

Voice

Dr. Maria Briggs

Dr. Anthony P. Radford

Choral Music Education

Dr. Emily Mason

Dr. Tony Mowrer

FACULTY EMERITUS

Dr. Anna Hamre

Dr. Arthur Huff

Dr. Gary Unruh

Prof. Helene Joseph-Weil

PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES:

CHAMBER SINGERS

CONCERT CHOIR

MASTERWORKS CHORUS

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UNIVERSITY SINGERS

FINANCIAL PACKAGES FOR UNDERGRADUATE AND TRANSFER STUDENTS.

TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIPS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

AVAILABLE FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS. OVER $300,000 IN SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE.

Dr. Cari Earnhart: cearnhart@csufresno.edu https://cah.fresnostate.edu/music/about/ensembles.html

@FS Choirs

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BACHELOR OF MUSIC Music Education

Vocal Performance

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Music as a Liberal Art

MASTER OF ARTS

Choral Conducting Music Education

Vocal Performance

JORDYN DEANDA, AZ

Dr. Edith Copley, Dr. Tim Westerhaus, Dr. Ryan Holder, NAU ACDA Student Chapter, NAU Alumni, and NAU Graduate Students

PAUL GIBSON, CA

ALICIA SCANLAN, HI

Punahou Middle School students and choral directors celebrate after the Middle School National Honor Choir Performance.

Downtown Cincinnati

Valencia H.S.

The Sterling Ensemble

Paul Gibson's table at the composer fair

André Thomas and Julie

UVU Chamber Choir leads the audience in meditation while chanting Criddle’s “Mighty Flame Dharani”

SUBMITTED BY REED CRIDDLE, UT

Utah Valley University Chamber Choir Performance at National ACDA in Cincinnati

SUBMITTED BY REED CRIDDLE, UT

Lemoore HS Honor Choir students and Marc McGhee

SSAA Honor Choir

SATB Honor Choir

WACDA Board

Mike Short presiding

Iris Levine workshop

Study Music in L.A.

At LMU Music, we offer a personalized approach to music education, housed in stateof-the-art facilities in the second-largest U.S. music market. Offering concentrations in Contemporary Styles and Practices, Instrumental Studies, Vocal Studies, Theory/ Composition, Musicology, Ethnomusicology, and Conducting,

Dr. T. J. Harper, Director of Choral Activities

cfa.lmu.edu/music

The Black Diaspora Immersion Choir performedmusicthatreflected,honored,and commented about the Black Diaspora: the involuntary dispersion of Africans and the subsequent culture and traditions that were born into the fabric, lives, and music of Black Americans. The Black Diaspora Immersion ChoirwasconductedbyJ.DonaldDumpson.

Thank you for taking a chance with implementing immersion choir. We neededtosingtogether.

I feel much more equipped to bring music from the black diaspora to my students and to teach it in an authentic and approachable way.

I am so happy I came to the immersion experience. You are a master teacher and it was wonderfultoseeyouinspiresomany!

I’ve waited 22 years to find my place, my tribe, my squad at ACDA. I’ve walked in generally in the minority view. This year, this time I walked in and saw folks who looked like me, that cared about other types of music and with Black Diaspora I was with folks loving and experiencing this wonderful music to take back to their programs. If it stopped there… but J. Donald Dumpson … WHAT the experience, excellence, love and passion. I’ve been inspired, I’ve been to therapy, I feel community, I’ve found mentors. THANK YOU for creating this opportunity.

Mahalo for taking the time to provide this unreal opportunity to us. This immersion experience has been transformative and provided me something I couldNOTgetathome.

Havingtime andspaceto debriefand sharethoughts aboutthe experience wasgreat.

The Indigenous People’s Immersion Choir rehearsedandperformedmusicofindigenous people and traditions including but not limited to areas of North America (Alaska, Canada, the Dakotas, Greenland, Hawai'i). Some of the repertoire was taught by rote and the aural tradition. The Indigenous People’s Immersion Choir was conducted by Jace SaplanatNationalACDA2023.

The Indigenous Peoples’ Immersion Choir has been my highlight of the conference! Jace is an amazing musician, advocate, and storyteller, and I have so loved learning from them.

I appreciate their understanding not only of Hawaiian culture, but also their work to learn about other indigenous cultures. I’ll cherish this experience forever and look forward to applying this knowledge in my futurecareer!

Singing with the Indigenous Peoples’ Immersion Choir has been an absolutely beautiful and meaningful experience. The music is rich, meaningful, relevant, andmoving.I’velovedevery pieceontheprogram... I have never felt more connected to my body, the earth, and to the ideas of ancestry, and lineage and shared humanity ever in a rehearsal.

It’s been a highlight of the conference to make music with leaders in our field and learn so much from their perspectives. I hope this is the first of many of these immersionchoirs!

I felt welcome and encouraged to engage with the indigenous music and culture in a way that felt respectful... What a wonderful opportunity for celebrating this music and making it accessible to thoseoutsideof theculture.

This was such an amazing opportunity. As a queer individual, I have been pretty beat down through my life. So much so that I have becomeveryintrovertedandguarded in my adult life. The amount of community created within 6 hours was astounding. I have felt safe, loved,andincluded.

PEOPLE'S IMMERSION CHOIR

The Latinoamérica Immersion Choir rehearsed and performed music of Latin America (Central America, Caribbean, Mexico, and South America) rich in its vibrant Spanish, Portuguese, and French inspired languages and the myriad of Latin rhythms and instrumental influences. The Latinoamérica Immersion Choir was conducted by María Guinand at National ACDA 2023.

It’s been an amazing experience to have Maria, to learn from her, to see how she approaches music, people, rhythms... Gracias Maria, Cristian y a todos los que hicieron esto posible! Besos a todos

What an engaging, embodied, freeing, creative, and challenging experience Mtra. Maria Guinand hasbroughttous!THANKYOU!

The Latinoamérica Immersion Choir has been wonderful! I really appreciated the time that Cristian (Grases) spent with us who wanted to learn the percussion instruments.

I will treasure this experience and feel emboldened to try more of this music with my students!

I really enjoyed these rehearsals. Having the musicality and the emotion since the very first moment and rehearsalisaperfectway to encourage and motivatesingers.

Everything is amazing. Please keep this forever. I will remember this forever as a Latino.

The Vocal Jazz Immersion Choir honed jazz techniques on specially crafted, instrumentally influenced arrangements that honored this uniquely American art form. The choir was accompanied by a full rhythm section, and members focused on the application of choral techniques in a style that uniquely encourages participants to be stylistically flexible and creative. The Vocal Jazz Immersion Choir was conductedbyMattFalkeratNationalACDA2023.

Such a privilege to immerse in experiential learning. It’s fast and busy in the best of ways.

Because of this opportunity, I feel that I can bring this genre back to my home choir. Thank you.

Thank you for emphasizing the process and bringing us into the spirit and joy and style of this music!

Singing in and listening to these immersion choirs has been the highlight of the conference for me. The opportunity to dive deep into a topic/style allows for real learningandgrowth.

I really enjoyed being a part of a jazzchoirespecially because I’ve never beeninajazzchoir. I’m also happy it was with Matt Falker, because he really taught me a lot about vocal jazz and how to do it properly.

The immersion jazz experience was the most influential part of the national ACDA conference thisyear.DoingsomethingI haveneverdonebefore,with Matt, will change how I approach my students on Monday and the days to come.

Music Degrees

Music, B.A.

Music Education, B.A.

Music & Worship, B.A.

Commercial Music — Production or Performance, B.A.

Music Composition, B.Mus.

Music Performance — Voice, Piano, or Instrumental, B.Mus.

Choral Conductors:

Dr. Dan Jackson, Dr. Keith Pedersen

Voice Professors:

Elda Peralta, Bryan Bolzenthal, Jeong Eun Joo

Voice Coach/Accompanist:

Melva Morrison

When The Storms of Life Are Raging Rehearsal Strategies for Text and Meaning

BY NICKY MANLOVE

I carry a yearning I cannot bear alone in the dark–

What shall I do with all this heartache?...

Imagine what it would be like to dance close together

To drink deep what is undrinkable.

In November 2022,

the University of Arizona Community Chorus (UCC) opened our fall concert with Bernice Johnson Reagon’s Come Unto Me, a lilting call-and-response whose overlapping phrases feel like the embraces of long friends separated for too long. The text comes from Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto me, all you who labor, and I will give you rest,” and later, “... all that are heavy laden.” This phrase is familiar to any who have spent time in Christian religious spaces, but for me in this secular environment, it evoked the question: what pulls us into singing? How do we describe what compels us to show up to rehearsal each week, and what compels our audience to listen? I posed this question to the choir, and their responses became a spoken invocation to our concert, underscored by a hummed refrain of Come Unto Me. Here is some of what we wrote together:

Come,youwhoarebroken Come,youwhoembracejoy Come,youwhoembodyhope Come,youwhodesirepeace

My hope was that the simple exercise of asking why are you here? would create entryways of shared purpose, and organic opportunities for relation. I hoped it would catalyze a spoken or unspoken connection between singers; the prompt for a conversation that could begin, “I think joy is important too!” or, “The world is an absolute disaster right now, but I choose to have hope, somehow.” Perhaps just as important, these bonds from rehearsal became completely unique representations of our community identity in our concert and elevated an already transcendent piece of music to a powerful declaration of what we, together, believe.

mmUCC is an 80-voice SATB ensemble of both registered University of Arizona students and unregistered community members, many with no other formal relation to the University. This means there are many singers who I consider “well-choired”– those who’ve sung in choirs for decades under many conductors, and can create their own access to, for example, Christian sacred texts in Latin, even if they don’t belong to that tradition in their personal spiritual life.

In this land of water and knowledge…

– Joy Harjo

from “Speaking Tree” in Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings

When The Storms of Life Are Raging Rehearsal Strategies for Text and Meaning

There are also singers for whom UCC is their first ever choral experience, which can mean that some parts of the tradition are not immediately accessible due to the preponderance of Christian sacred texts, unfamiliar musical idioms, musical complexity, or other factors. Devising this narration was both a fruitful rehearsal exercise and poignant unfolding of our concert program, and took very little labor or rehearsal time to carry out.

While I do not think it is unique to have this diversity of singing experiences in a community choir like UCC, I do think that this particular mix of humans is both a fruitful challenge and an important opportunity. The challenge is to not take for granted that singers will be able to create their own meaningful experiences from the music we curate to present to them, or that they will even immediately like a piece of music. Likewise, the opportunity is to allow a piece of music to grow roots in the ensemble and develop its own life nurtured by the particular

singers to create their own emotional connection to this piece, and to create a sense of community in the ensemble. At the concert debrief, many singers reported that this simple, brief exercise was the most meaningful part of the rehearsal cycle for them.

With younger ensembles, warmups can create a contained and structured moment to invite singers to bring their emotional lives into the rehearsal space. Singers can be invited to devise texts to simple vocalises based on emotive prompts, such as “what is something that brought you joy today/this week/since the last rehearsal?” or “what is something challenging going on that you could use support with?” Asking students to reflect on and (consensually; always with explicit permission to opt out without consequence or judgment) communicate about their emotional lives is developmentally important, and can be connected to compositional skills such as text stress and phrasing. Other time-constrained ways to engage with texts and activate emotional connection include prompting

contributions of each individual singer. This article suggests some strategies for facilitating textawareness and emotional connection for choral singers. These emotive connections- shown to be developmentally important especially for younger singers- can be transformative for both individuals and for ensemble communities.

In addition to this performed meditation on Come Unto Me, we also performed Moses Hogan’s arrangement of Charles Tindley’s hymn Stand By Me. Tindley’s hymn opens with a supplication, “When the storms of life are raging, stand by me.” The following verses are similar requests for help and comfort: “in the midst of faults and failures…” and “in the midst of persecution…” Several weeks into the rehearsal process, singers were given small pieces of paper and asked to write down a “storm” – some challenging circumstance or event – in their life. On their way to rehearsal break, they left their “storm” in a basket in the center of the room, and on their way back in they picked up someone else’s. Singers were given the opportunity to opt out. This was a simple way to invite

singers to share their favorite line of text from a piece, with the option to briefly justify their choice. For pieces in unfamiliar languages, singers can be invited to paraphrase the translation in their own words. Additionally, over a period of multiple rehearsals, singers can be asked to share a memory or experience from their life that connects to or exemplifies a theme in the text of a piece.

In the week following our exercise with Stand By Me, a singer raised their hand in the beginning of the rehearsal to say, “I was thinking about the storm I picked up all week, because someone wrote down the exact same thing as me.” I was struck by what an unlikely miracle it is to sing in a choir - choral music is a perfect convergence of both skill and a sincere commitment to make something wondrous in community with others. In the scramble of rehearsals and the reality that rehearsal time is always stretched thin, it can be challenging to acknowledge the humanity in our singers and in ourselves. Nonetheless, time spent with text and in meaning-making is fruitful and can be transformative for singers of all ages and skill levels.

...what an unlikely miracle it is to sing in a choir - choral music is a perfect convergence of both skill and a sincere commitment to make something wondrous in community with others.

When The Storms of Life Are Raging Rehearsal Strategies for Text and Meaning

Nicky Manlove (they/them pronouns) is the Community Engagement Director for the Tucson Girls Chorus, where they also serve as associate conductor and accompanist. Nicky is also the founding director of THEM Youth Ensemble an LGBTQ+ and allied performing arts program, and teaches on the

choral conducting faculty at the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music, where the conduct the University Community Chorus.

Nicky is a committed advocate of equitycentered and liberatory choral practice, and supports a number of justice-focused choral

initiatives nationally. They are on the leadership team of The Choral Commons, a media platform that provides a space for singing communities to realize the liberatory potential of the ensemble as a site of radical imagining. Nicky’s research on gender diversity has been featured on The Choral Commons podcasts, as well as at choral and music education conferences around the country. Nicky is the chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Arizona Chapter of ACDA, has served on the ACDA National Diversity Initiative Committee's Task Force for Transgender Justice.

Nicky holds a B.A in Interdisciplinary Arts with an emphasis in Music from Seattle University, and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Arizona.

Past President's Column:

A Tribute to Anne-Marie Katemopoulos & Leanne Weatherly-Rzepiela

BY LOU DE LA ROSA

This time of year is normally filled with a tinge of melancholy as we say goodbye at the closing of school, the end of the concert season, or the pause in church choir until next Fall. Granted, there is also great joy at the prospect of free time during the summer, but there are those people who became a regular part of our lives that we won’t see on a regular basis anymore. Thanks to social media, most of us are able to stay in virtual contact with those whose company we enjoy.

But as we know from our experience in pandemic isolation, it is that in-person connection that feeds our souls. It is what we crave as humans. We tell ourselves that we will get together in person, that we won’t lose contact. But life gets busy; weeks turn to months, and months turn into years, without our having made that one-on-one, face-to-face connection again.

And then one day we learn, all too brutally, that it’s too late.

Leanne herself touched me by writing on AMK’s Facebook wall,

I admire you so much, Anne-Marie. You are so talented and I love your energy and passion for the vocal performing arts. You will be missed by a lot of people.

Those words described Leanne as well.

At this writing, Leanne’s service has been held while Anne-Marie’s public memorial is yet to come. I am pleased to share that the Mountain View Whisman Board of Education honored Leanne’s life by renaming the 485-seat performing venue at Crittenden Middle School as the Leanne Weatherly-Rzepiela Performing Arts Center, indicating the impact that she had upon her students and the community.

On March 27, my colleague and friend of over 30 years, Anne-Marie Katemopoulos, passed away very suddenly at age 56. Then, just a month later, another colleague and friend, Leanne Weatherly-Rzepiela passed away at the age of 47. Both women were wellrespected choral music educators in the San Jose area who had a tremendous impact on their communities. Sadly, both women succumbed to cancer. Leanne fought that miserable disease valiantly over a number of years. She fought not only for herself but for her two young children. She lost her fight on April 26.

Contrary to Leanne’s protracted struggle, AnneMarie was taken from us quickly and without warning. She had just returned with her choir from a trip to Disneyland and had completed a huge concert mere weeks before her passing, completely unaware of the diagnosis to come. To say that this was a shock is an understatement. I was unable to concentrate for days and found myself endlessly scrolling through social media to share my grief with so many others across the country who were profoundly moved by AnneMarie’s life.

Aside from Facebook posts, I hadn’t seen Leanne in a number of years, exacerbated by the pandemic of course. However, I had stayed connected over the years with AMK; not only was she a close colleague (we even co-directed a choir for a year), but she taught all three of my daughters. Moreover, as she was fond of teasing, I was her teacher…at least, for a moment.

Anne-Marie and I attended the same high school in San Jose, and she was a student when I did my initial phase of student teaching at Branham High School. She had a wicked sense of humor that bubbled up when I stood in front of the band for the first time, wide-eyed and very green. It was my first time in front of ANY band. She decided she wanted to see if I was any good, so instead of playing the march, Anne-Marie played “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on her clarinet. I have no idea whether I noticed (I doubt it), but when she told me years later, her Irish heritage showed itself and her eyes sparkled as she laughed her fullbody laugh.

A Tribute to Anne-Marie Katemopoulos & Leanne Weatherly-Rzepiela

Our friendship was forged through the fire of building a program together at Lincoln High School in San Jose and tested during that first year of our partnership when we shared a choir. There were too many times that I stepped on her toes as we figured things out. But over our 13 years teaching together, the trust and fondness between us grew and thrived, even as our relationship shifted when my daughters became her students.

We shared some tears, but many more laughs, perhaps none greater than the April Fool’s Day jokes we would play on our students on our departmental tours. Each time, we devised plausible stories and delivered them to our students gathered at Disneyland. My most favorite involved the bus drivers. At midnight, after a full day at the park, we told the kids that one of our students had trashed their room and tossed the TV in the dumpster, so the hotel revoked our reservation and we had to drive home that night. The bus drivers sold it, the students bought it, and most of them loved watching us laugh with them when we yelled, “April Fools!”

through the beautiful performing arts auditorium that now bears her name. But it would have made my heart gladder to have seen them both live to a ripe, old age.

Anne-Marie and I kept in touch, but I hadn’t seen her since October, when she brought her choir to the festival at my college. Naturally, I regret not keeping that connection real, particularly during the holiday season. So, I have taken a lesson from the passing of both Leanne and Anne-Marie: I have been meeting up with former colleagues and former students I haven’t seen in years for brunches, lunches, and happy hours.

It has been wonderful. I was able over lunch to tell my favorite principal who is now 84 years young exactly why I loved working with her. It has been cathartic and heartwarming reconnecting with people, and I’m not done. Hopefully, I will keep this practice for years to come.

Far too many people in our lives leave without knowing the imprint they have made upon us. It’s true not just for students, but for teachers as well. I saw some of my “kids” every day for up to seven years (having taught at my feeder).

The April Fool’s jokes were Anne-Marie’s idea from the start, though sometimes the directive from her was, “You have to sell this…don’t even look at me or I will lose it!”

Anne-Marie had countless friends from the jazz world, ACDA, CMEA, Rod Eichenberger’s Cannon Beach workshop and much more. Yet during the school year, she gave herself completely to her students without reservation. Quite fortunately, decades of her students understood this and loved her for it. Her love for them was reciprocated many times over. They came out of the woodwork to honor her at a candlelight vigil just days after her passing, and her memorial was almost entirely planned by a team of former students.

It makes my heart glad knowing that neither AnneMarie nor Leanne will be forgotten; that their legacy will live on through their students, and for Leanne

Some were almost as close to me as my own children, so it is a bit of a jolt to see the 18 year-old in my mind’s eye now in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s face-toface. But it has been wonderful picking up where we left off.

I will miss my friend Anne-Marie whom I could text or call to ask, “Hey, what was the name of that kid we had who….” She always knew. Fortunately, she also knew how much we all cherished her spirit. With the outpouring of love that Leanne received during her battle, I am sure that she knew as well.

Why have I shared this? Because we tend to become immersed in our art, dealing with the urgent and deferring the important. Tomorrow is promised to no one. So, keep the connections real with those you cherish, not just virtual.

AUTHORED BY LOU DE LA ROSA

In Remembrance of Dr. Harry Carter

BY GEOFF CARTER

Harry Carter was born on December 30, 1933, in Mayesville, Kentucky. He grew up in Lexington, Kentucky where he attended local schools and graduated with a degree in music from the University of Kentucky. He went to USC on a clarinet scholarship where he got his Master’s Degree in clarinet performance. While at USC, he also studied choral conducting with Dr. Charles Hirt. Following his graduation, he became chair of the choral department at a new high school in Riverside, California. After 3 years he took a leave of absence to teach at the U.S. Army Dependents School in Karlsruhe, Germany. After co-directing the leadership of Dr. Buddy James.

a German-American music festival, he joined the Karlsruhe Kammerchor and participated in EUROPA CANTAT 1 in Passau, Germany. He became an individual member of The European Federation of Young Choirs.

Returning to Riverside for one more year at Ramona, Harry founded the Riverside Chorale which continues to the present day. Moving to Urbana, Illinois, Harry spent three years taking courses to get a Doctor of Music Arts degree. He conducted the Men's Glee Club and organized the University Chamber Choir. Returning to California, he then taught for two years at Chabot Jr. College. The remainder of his teaching career was at California State University, Hayward as head of the Vocal-Choral Studies. His University Singers and Chamber Singers performed with the San Francisco and Oakland Symphony Orchestras and were featured at conventions of the American Choral Directors Association.

In the early 1970s, Seiji Ozawa asked Harry and Joe Liebling to audition and rehearse singers to form the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. Harry then badly injured his back and was unable to continue after the first concert.

Harry had an enduring interest in the international choral movement. In the summer of 1991, he was a guest conductor at the International Singing Week in Lucerne, Switzerland. In July, 1993, he was a guest conductor for the International Singing Week in Tabor, Czech Republic. He was a member of the International Federation of Choral Music and Organizing Chairman of the choral directors International Exchange Programs jointly sponsored by IFCM and ACDA.

Dr. Carter was the founder and musical director of the San Francisco Bay Area Chamber Choir. In addition to regular performances in the Bay Area, the group made ten concert tours with performances in 17 countries. As a special feature of these tours they have participated in six EUROPA CANTAT music festivals, including Lucerne, Switzerland (1979), Namur, Belgium (1982), Strasbourg, France (1985), Pécs, Hungary (1988) Vitoria, Spain (1991), and Herning, Denmark (1994). During the summer of 1992, they participated in the ZIMRIYA festival in Jerusalem. Harry retired from the group in 2015 and the choir continues to perform today under

Harry was the devoted father of two sons, Geoffry and Steven. He encouraged them to be involved in musical activities in school and college. Both boys played and toured with the Oakland Youth Symphony. Our whole family loved to go sailing on the San Francisco Bay. In the winter, we enjoyed skiing together. We rode bicycles. Harry was an accomplished swimmer and he swam several times a week at the Hayward Plunge. From age 70 to 80, he enjoyed scuba diving. Harry and Ellen took long walks at nearby Lake Chabot frequently until Harry’s last illness.

In retirement, Harry and Ellen loved to travel. Their final trip was a cruise on the Aegean Sea. Returning on October 31, Harry went into the hospital for surgery on Nov. 10. He passed away on March 24 after much time in the hospital and more surgeries. His survivors are wife of 66 years, Ellen, his son Geoffry, his son Steven, daughter-in-law Claire, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

A Memorial will be held Saturday, June 24th, 2pm at the Eden United Church of Christ in Hayward. In lieu of flowers, please donate to California State University East Bay Music Department.

AUTHORED BY GEOFF CARTER, SON AND FELLOW CHORAL DIRECTOR

WACDA State Events

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The SDSU Experience

A balance of art and academics , culture and community, exploration and excellence.

Explore the possibilities at SDSU .

Undergraduate: BM Music Education, BM Vocal Performance

Graduate : MM Choral Conducting, MM Vocal Performance, Graduate Artist Diploma

Composer Spotlight

A conversation between Michael and Shantel about Michael BussewitzQuarm

Shantel Sellers

It was through Shantel that I learned Indigenous women are more likely to be abducted, assaulted, and murdered than any other population group. As we talked about the MMIWG (Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls) movement, my first reaction was one of shock; from there, a deep sadness, especially thinking of my own two daughters. I knew we had to shine a light on this crisis. The resulting song, “I’m Not Lost”, is a cry for missing mothers, daughters, sisters, and Two Spirit (LGBTQ) loved ones. It is more than words and melody; it is an expression of longing and grief for those whose voices have been silenced.

Born in tragedy,

“I’m Not Lost” is a testament to the perseverance and strength of Indigenous communities. It began in 2019 when Shantel and I were commissioned by Central Bucks West High School in Pennsylvania to create something for their ACDA Eastern Division Conference performance in Rochester, New York. The theme was giving voice to the plight of marginalized communities.

Since Shantel and her family moved from a nearby town back to Michigan, our collaborations have been mostly virtual but remain very organic. After catching up on each other and our families, we get to work. At times, this will be Shantel sharing a new verse with me, followed by me improvising at the piano with melody and mood. Other times, Shantel will share a single line, on which I will then improvise, followed by the music inspiring Shantel’s next line.

MBQ

How did you choose the Native languages in our piece: Western Abenaki, Odawan, Lakota, and Navajo/Dine?

They are from four different regions of North America. I chose them to illustrate that it happens all over. Ultimately this is a crisis affecting not just North America, but Indigenous communities around the world, including our Kanaka Maoli sisters of Hawai'i.

MBQ

SS

The beginning is Baashk’amaaza is a call. A call for us to gather and raise our voices together.

MBQ

There is a solemnity to the next section that grounds the music into the subject matter. We go from a comforting hum to a cry of mourning. This is the first section that the listener hears what the song is about.

Solemnity, yes; but also confusion, because the women are not lost, they are somewhere. In Native teachings, all people, all life is connected. It is not possible for someone to just not exist anymore. All things are connected and continue to be, whether they are alive in a physical sense or not. The missing women are saying, “We are not lost, we are still here, FIND ME.” We are not allowing our sisters to be forgotten.

SS

Yes! Your music gives it an immediacy that even a non-Native speaking person can hear. It makes something rise up in the soul. With every repetition, one hears a more urgent call to speak out.

SS

MBQ

In the call and response sections, the responses are in English but the calls are in Native languages. Why did you make that choice?

MBQ

What is the most significant section to you?

For me it is “daughter, daughter”. I suppose this is because as I get older, I feel like I am Mother to the whole world! They are all my daughters. But we also highlighted the “sister, sister” section to emphasize that all Indigenous women are sisters. Our bonds transcend tribes, lands, and even continents.

MBQ S

The “call and response” ending represents an agreement and a cry for action. The repetition indicates the enormity of the problem - there are so many people who are missing, so many families who are

MBQ

For me, it is the “two-spirit” section. It’s very meaningful that you included Niizh Manidoowag because of my own identity as a transgender spirit, and because of the dangerous dehumanization of the transgender community in our current climate.

There’s no way I would have left it out. Trans women have always been part of this story.

SS

It is a call to hear, a call to listen, a call to respond to the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. In the last verse, a sister that has disappeared “walks among the stars.” Although she is not among us in the physical world, we are going to hold her in our hearts and in our memories. In this way, she lives on.

SS

For Native people, our language is more than just a part of our culture. It is a connection to our ancestors, to who we are now and who we have always been. Maybe the language is powerful enough to reach the spirit world. Maybe our sisters who have walked on will hear us calling for them and know they are not forgotten.

SS

Our collaboration works in part because of your empathy and compassion; you naturally create a safe space to present any idea, no matter how “out there” it might be. We get a lot of creative momentum from that level of trust. You are always listening, and you always hear the music in my words.

SS

MBQ

Some of the most magical moments in my musical career have come from our collaborations. You have a way of listening to the people whose stories we are sharing and painting them in a way that gives them deep meaning.

Shantel Sellers Michael Bussewitz-Quarm

is a Native American (Anishinaabe-kwe) poet, novelist, and historian. She penned “I’m Not Lost” to bring attention to the plight of murdered and missing Indigenous women. “As I was writing, there were times when the memories of friends and relatives left me frozen. Still this was a healing process. It is my hope that others – my sisters of all Nations - will find courage, healing and hope in it as well.” Shantel often writes of her experiences as a Native daughter, wife, and mother. Her work has appeared in Indian Country Today, Renaissance and History magazines, and other national publications. She recently completed her first novel.

engages singers and audiences through the soulful exploration of social and environmental themes around the world in her award-winning music. Michael is passionate about affecting change through choral music, addressing topics ranging from art in post-civil war Raleigh-Durham, to gun violence, to the global refugee crisis.

A centerpiece of each commissioning consortium is the opportunity to work with Ms. Bussewitz-Quarm virtually and through pre-recorded panel discussions with artists, authors, and thought leaders in the area of focus.

Additionally, tshe toffers tan textensive tcatalog of existing work through self-publication (www.listenafresh.com) and Peermusic Classical. Ms. Bussewitz-Quarm won The American Prize in Composition (major works) in 2021. Michael will make her Carnegie Hall debut in 2023 featuring her work, "Where We Find Ourselves" and a Lincoln Center performance of "The Unarmed Child" is scheduled for March of 2024.

ACDA Grant and Funding Opportunities

Requirements

The Grant has a value of $1,000 and is available to public middle school music teachers in the United States. The Grant Purpose, Guidelines and Conditions may be viewed on the Foundation’s website: www.prmfoundation.org

The composer must be a current Student Member of ACDA ($15 annual dues). Submitted works must not be traditionally published but may have been previously premiered/performed; self-published works are eligible for the Brock Student contest. Composers may submit only one work per competition. Works may be for any voicing (mixed voice, treble, or tenor/bass choirs) and may include divisi. Works under six minutes in length will receive priority consideration due to performance time constraints. Works may be a cappella (keyboard reduction must be included) or may be accompanied by keyboard and/or 1-2 other instrumental players.

The dissertation of a student with a degree earned the prior year can be nominated through June 15 of the following year.

Description

The non-profit Peter R. Marsh Foundation Middle School Music Grant for the 2022/23 school year will be available through the month of January, 2023.

January 31, 2023

Middle School Music Grants Available to U.S. Public Middle School Music Teachers

To further its mission to promote choral music and ensure its future, ACDA established the Raymond W. Brock Memorial Student Composition Competition in 1998. The objectives of the contest are to acknowledge and reward outstanding high school, undergraduate, and graduate student composers, to encourage choral composition of the highest caliber, and to further promote student activity at ACDA conferences.

July 13, 2023 at 11:59pm central time

ACDA’s Brock Prize for Student Composers

The winner will be awarded a $5,000 cash prize and complimentary conference registration at their regional ACDA conference. The winning composition will be performed at all six regional ACDA conferences; the winner is expected to attend the performance at their own region’s conference.

Each year

the Julius Herford Prize Subcommittee of the Research and Publications Committee accepts nominations for the outstanding doctoral terminal research project in choral music. The winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize and a plaque. The committee reserves the right to award two prizes or no prizes in any given year.

See requirements

Julius Herford Dissertation Prize

ACDA Grant and Funding Opportunities

Requirements

The Outstanding State Website Award (formerly Outstanding State Newsletter Award) will be administered by the Coordinator of State and Division Newsletters.

Two awards will be presented: one to a state website with a professional designer; another to a state website with a non-professional designer. State ACDA website entries in the contest will be judged by a panel made up of the division newsletter editors. To insure objectivity, editors will not judge websites within their own divisions

Competing state website editors/webmasters will receive a confidential critique of their website from each judge.

Description

The award process strives to recognize the excellent work of states in their individual ACDA websites, and to promote the continual betterment of such publications to the benefit of state memberships. These awards will be in the form of a plaque, to be presented every other year at the ACDA National Conference.

Critiques by division editors will begin November 20th in the year preceding the national conference. The deadline for submitting application forms to the Coordinator of State and Division Newsletters is November 15th. Contact the Coordinator for the Application Form.

Timetable: Winners will be announced at the biennial National Conference.

tactuseditor@acdawestern.org

Outstanding Website Award

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Do you know of an award or grant that can be added here?

The Rossi Project

BY ELIZABETH SCHAUER

bout the composer Salamone Rossi. It is likely that he was born in Mantua around 1570, and that he was connected through much of his life with the Gonzaga court. Two of his publications were dedicated to Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga and a third to the Marquis of Pallazuolo, also associated with the court. In one of the dedications, Rossi refers to being in “the happy shade of your [Vincenzo’s] service.” Rossi seems to have been favored by Vincenzo since on several occasions he was given dispensation from wearing the yellow or orange badge that other members of the Jewish community had to wear at the time. Rossi also worked as an instrumentalist playing in and composing for Mantuan Jewish theatrical troupes that performed not only in the Jewish ghetto, but also for Christian audiences, including at court. Many consider his greatest and most unique achievement to be his collection of 33 motets in Hebrew published in Venice in 1622. A prolific composer of madrigals, Salamone Rossi released five separate books…Il Primo Libro de Madrigali a Quattro Voce (The First Book of Madrigals for Four Voices) contains 17 madrigals and is his ninth collection, published around 1600. Rossi’s last published work bore a date of 1628 and nothing more is known of his life after this. It is possible he died, along with many others, during the Austrian invasion, the destruction of the ghetto and the onset of the plague, around 1630.”

~Dane Carten

In Spring 2022, the resident graduate choral conductors at the University of Arizona embarked on a studio project to create free, practical and scholarly editions of the four-voice madrigals of Salamone Rossi, works that previously were not available other than in the collection of his complete works, edited by Don Harrán, and found in Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae, published by the American Institute of Musicology. This volume typically is only available to those who have access to a university library and even then only if the library has these volumes in its collection. The project grew out of a complete redesign of the graduate choral literature curriculum at the University of Arizona, for the purpose of including historically excluded populations of composers, both of the past and today.

Despite the fact that this outstanding Jewish composer was active in the same court and at the same time as Claudio Monteverdi, and although he apparently was held in high regard by Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga, his works largely fell into oblivion following his death. This remarkable Jewish composer, who succeeded in spite of hostile circumstances, and his well-crafted madrigals are worthy of a place in our music history and choral literature curricula, as well as in our concert halls. The madrigals are largely accessible and appropriate for college, community and advanced high school mixed ensembles.

To begin this project, the cohort of students listened to the entire book of madrigals, and divided them up, with each student and myself choosing two (or more) madrigals for which to create editions, in order to cover all seventeen pieces. The Harrán edition mentioned above was used as the main source for the editions (although I had access to microfilm

reproductions of some of the original part books as well, which proved very helpful in a number of ways). Issues of editorial policy were considered and discussed, and decisions were made based on practicality and accessibility to encourage performance of the works. Editorial decisions included using modern rhythmic notation and clefs, including a brief biography and translations, transposing some of the works to better accommodate modern choral ranges, and including piano reductions as well as continuo realizations. We commissioned word-forword and idiomatic translations from musicologist Dr. Cory Gavito, currently of Tucson, and his outstanding work is included in each edition. Nicky Manlove (instructor of music at University of Arizona) was commissioned to create continuo realizations, and these are included for each madrigal as well.

Finally, we were incredibly fortunate to have the expertise of renowned Jewish choral music expert Dr. Joshua Jacobson, who lent a keen eye to each edition, catching errors and offering suggestions, especially related to piano reductions, continuo realizations, the biography and musica ficta. Joshua also shared the aforementioned microfilm reproductions of the partbooks, which were invaluable in decisions about accidentals and basso continuo issues.

Throughout the spring semester, the students collaborated in numerous ways: they examined each others’ work, comparing the editions to the Harrán source to find errors and make suggestions. DMA student Fabián Rodríguez Castro provided a great deal of guidance with notation and engraving, MM student Dane Carten crafted a biography for use in each edition, DMA student James Higgs offered suggestions regarding the playability of the piano reductions, and

"Relatively little is known

also worked to upload each edition to CPDL as it was completed and approved. In addition to those listed above, the following students contributed editions: Xuxiang Zou, Mengda Jiang, Deltrina Grimes, and Inho Eom, all of whom are DMA students.

In the process of this collaborative research, we determined that the basso continuo parts included by Rossi are not truly continuo lines even though he indicates them as such (even occasionally including a figure), but basso seguente parts, with the “bass” note often quite high in register. The madrigals can be performed with a single instrument playing the basso seguente line, with instruments doubling voices, with continuo, or with no instruments at all. In the CPDL editions, each madrigal first appears in its entirety with a piano reduction for ease of rehearsal, and then a second time in its entirety with a realized continuo part.

Through this process, the students and I learned a great deal, not only about this outstanding composer and these lovely works, but also about notational systems and editorial policy. Each of the students now has two published editions to include as scholarly activity on their résumés as well. The editions that are the result of this project are currently being added to the composer’s page at the Choral Public Domain

also worked to upload each edition to CPDL as it was c Library (please see the link below in resources), so that they are freely accessible to all. At the time of publication of this article, eight of the madrigals are available, with the rest to follow shortly.

Graduate conductors and choristers at the University of Arizona already have begun to program these delightful works on conducting recitals, and we hope this will be just the beginning of a rebirth of interest in Salamone Rossi and his music.

Resources

Bozolo, Stefano and Ut Musica Poesis Ensemble, Salomone Rossi: Il primo libro de madrigali a 4 voci. Tactus, 2012, CD.

Choral Public Domain Library: Salamone Rossi Page: www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Salamone_Rossi

Fenlon, Iain. “Rossi, Salamone.” Grove Music Online. Edited by Deane Rott. Accessed January 6, 2023.

Harrán, Don. Salamone Rossi: Jewish Musician in Late Renaissance Mantua. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Harrán, Don, ed. Salamone Rossi: Complete Works. Rome: The American Institute of Musicology, 1995.

Dr. Joshua Jacobson

Before retiring in 2018, Dr. Jacobson served 45 years as Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Northeastern University, including nine years as Music Department Chairman and six years as the Bernard Stotsky Professor of Jewish Cultural Studies. He is also Visiting Professor and Senior Consultant in the School of Jewish Music at Hebrew College, as well as the founder and director of the Zamir Chorale of Boston, a world-renowned ensemble specializing in Hebrew music.

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE CONDUCTING STUDIO

ElizabethSchauer(she/hers) serves as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Arizona, where she is recognized for her innovative and inclusive curricular approach. An award-winning educator, Dr. Schauer conducts Symphonic Choir and teaches graduate courses in conducting, literature and methods with a studentcenteredfocustoaninternational population of learners. She is in demand as an adjudicator, clinician, presenter and conductor throughout the United States, including for performances at Carnegie Hall and with numerous allstateandhonorchoirs.

Choirs under her direction have been selected by audition and invited to perform on local, state and regional conferences of American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), College Music Society (CMS) and American Guild of Organists. In addition, her choirs have been featured on the ACDA National YouTube Channel and the Community Concerts Series of KUAT-FM Classical Radio, and are regularly invited to collaborate, notably with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Arizona Symphony Orchestra and the UA Philharmonic Orchestra. Dr. Schauer has presented sessions at the national, regional and state conferences. Former students are active as music educators at public and private schools, churches, colleges and universities throughout the world, and have been accepted into respected graduate schoolsandprogramsforcontinuedstudy.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION COLUMN INCLUSION COLUMN

For this issue we take a closer look at women composers in the Romantic era and explore how the analysis of gender, patriarchy, and feminism can aid as crucial tools in facilitating musically and culturally nuanced, informed, and conscious rehearsals and performance. Colin Cossi does a deep dive into the lives of Amy Beach, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Clara Weick Schumann, and Dame Ethel Smyth, and explains how these women navigated their careers and craft amongst clear structures of oppression, and how we as choral artists can bring their works to life in informed ways. Enjoy!

Jace Kaholokula Saplan, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Chair

Beach, Hensel, Schumann, Smyth– The Successes and Struggles of Four Romantic Era Women Composers

BY COLIN COSSI

The Romantic Era of choral and instrumental music was a time of innovation, societal shift, and struggle. The choral canon of this era has long prioritized the music of men, often mentioning a few women in the terms of wives and sisters. But women composers and performers of the Romantic era stand strong without comparison.

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel was a prolific composer whose social impact rippled across Berlin, Europe, and the globe, shaping the way we view and prioritize music to this day (Dunbar 2011, 110).

Amy Beach influenced choral and instrumental music culture of the east coast United States and left an iconic legacy for the US and beyond (Ammer 2001, 101). Unlike many of her contemporaries, she was given her roses while she could smell them.

Traveling the world, Clara Weick Schumann was a piano prodigy with a compositional output impressive enough to weave a social network with the other major composers of her day, in a time where travel and influence was no small feat (Dunbar 2011, 122).

Dame Ethel Smyth was an openly Queer multihyphenate: composer, writer, activist, and organizer. Her career had many chapters which left a legacy of music that aided women’s suffrage in England. What barriers did the women composers of the Romantic Era face? Did they have shared strategies in breaking those barriers? How can we honor those legacies in a 21st century choral program?

A Brief History of Women and Musical Career

Before one can comprehend their lineage, one should contextualize the lives, struggles, and work of women musicians approaching the Romantic era. Western choral music traces its historical roots to ritual singing for Christian worship, codified by the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church created certain barriers towards women in music for centuries. In 1676, Pope Innocent XI issued a decree to prevent women from having musical careers in all of Chistendom (Drinker 1948, 232). Castrati created a viable alternative to women singers until the genesis of opera necessitated performances by women. As operatic roles became more dramatic and the wide variety of women's vocal colors altered the landscape of audience taste, women became the more sought after performers for Soprano and Alto roles, until castration was finally outlawed under Napoleonic law (Drinker 1948, 233). In Medieval times, proximity to the convent cultivated women composers like Hildegard von Bingen influence and musical lineage. In the Renaissance era, nobility were an access point for an incredibly exclusive group of women to engage with composition and performance, from Maddalena Casulana and Vittoria Alioti, to Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I of England (Ammer 2001, 93). The beginning of a sociopolitical shift in the Baroque era emerged as schools for girls focused on developing their musical skills. Notable examples include Jean Baptiste Lully partnering with King Louis XIV, and the German aristocracy and Vivaldi’s opsidales (Drinker 1948, 236). In the Romantic era, women of privileged families were trained in the art of music.

. B.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

An expansion into the United States influenced conservatories to include women in composition and performance (Ammer 2001, 92).

Society's reliance on women is as old as humanity, as is its need for music. With each era, the voices and musical skills of women in choral music intensified; increased access to music education and high quality music output threatened patriarchal powers. How did these women survive and thrive? Did the music evolve accordingly?

Entrenched Expectations and Nuanced Relationships

Young women living in Romantic era Europe and the United States experienced patriarchal expectations. The role of homemaker and mother were socially accepted aspirations for women. If a woman desired to become an accomplished musician, her family and friends assumed it would be in the role of an entertainer, not as a professional (Dunbar 2011, 110). Post Enlightenment, science was a driving force alongside religion which pushed people towards their goals. Scientific leadership was also controlled by a patriarchal presence that negatively affected women in the pursuit of professional music making.

Scientists and psychologists codified traditional gender roles using new methods and language. These efforts were explained by the psychologist Havelock Ellis in 1894: “Genius is more common among men by virtue of the same general tendency by which idiocy is more common among men. The two facts are but two aspects of a larger zoological fact—the larger variational range of the male… It thus comes about that women… possess less spontaneous originality [than men] in the intellectual sphere. This is an organic tendency which no higher education can eradicate,” (Gates 1992, 61). Facing entrenched gender roles from scientists, religious leaders, music organizations, friends, and family, women composers of the Romantic era had their work cut out for them.

When Fanny Mendelssohn turned 23, her father wrote, “you must become more steady and collected, and prepare more earnestly and eagerly for your real calling, the only calling for a young woman—I mean the state of housewife,” (Dunbar 2011, 112). While he supported Fanny in pursuing music lessons, he supported her brother Felix’s pursuit of a musical career. Her talents were meant to stay in the home.

As young British composer Ethel Smyth found continued success in her music lessons, she dreamed of studying at the Leipzig Conservatorium. Her father attempted to dash her dreams by firing her instructor, but she continued studying nevertheless. When he intended to present her for male suitors, she made her behavior untenable which drove her father to kick her out of the house; coincidentally, this freed Ethel tomove away and pursue her compositional goals in Leipzig (Gates 1992, 147). These are dramatic, damaging examples. There were, however, more nuanced relationships between women composers of the time and the men in their lives that could support and encourage their careers.

While marriage in the Romantic era was often an end to a woman’s career, Fanny Mendellsohn Hensel lived a different reality. Letters from her husband Wilhelm encouraged his wife’s publications and included evidence that he used own artistic social circle to enhance her network and performance opportunities (Dunbar 2011, 113).

Amy Cheney’s marriage to Dr. Henry Harris Aubrey Beach increased her compositional output, using financial resources from his career as a surgeon and network of affluent supporters in the greater Boston area (Ammer 2001, 97).

Clara Weik’s father encouraged her musical prodigy from a young age and her life goals beyond domestic life. With resources and encouragement, her father’s support transcended traditional gender roles and contributed to Clara having an international performance career by age 12 (Dunbar 2011, 121).

These positive impacts are not to be mistaken for hero worship. Although Fanny Hensel’s husband supported her compositional career, Fanny’s music could only be published under her brother Felix’s name. This has caused confusion about compositional ownership between the siblings. To the detriment of her success, Felix performed and published her works as his own and would only admit his sister’s compositional ownership if inquired. On the other hand, Felix revered his sister’s work as superior to his own and made it known to critics, publishers, and the musical elite in his sphere of influence (Dunbar 2011, 112).

Although Amy Beach’s husband supported her compositional craft, she only revived her performance career after his death. She solidified her name in the US and Europe as a leading composer of the Romantic era (Ammer 2001, 101).

Clara Weik’s father’s intentions were documented in forms and letters to be greedy, focused on helping his daughter profit for his own benefit and at the expense of

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

his other children (Dunbar 2011, 121). While engaged to Robert Schumann, Clara Weick’s father ruthlessly attempted to end their relationship and severed most communication with her after the marriage (Dunbar 2011, 122).

Clara’s natural musicianship skills were superior to Robert’s. Robert’s sense of self, purpose, and masculinity, wavered as he struggled with the dynamic difference in their abilities.Clara covered their public relations and business as his mental health declined. After his death, she persevered for the sake of their children and her own musical prowess, continuing on to compose, publish, and tour the world.

Relationships between women composers of the Romantic era and the men in their lives were complex, but common themes included: having grit to pursue music before the beginning of a relationship, and commitment to continue no matter the state or ending of those relationships. Romantic era actress Edith Wynne Mathison said it well: ”Nobody pays me for my art. That I give to the best of my ability. What I am paid for is what I must put up with in trying to give the world my art,” (Drinker 1948, 235). These composers experienced substantial setback by men in their personal lives; however, they persevered to make beautiful music, boldly claiming their place in history.

Along the way, these composers' relationships with other women served as a lifesource, sustaining careers through friendship, patronage, and romance. In the later half of her career, Amy Beach traveled Europe to perform and indulge in artistry. The First World War prompted her return to the east coast where she turned her attention towards teaching (Thomas, n.d.). She mentored girls and women in piano and composition and her legacy became well known and appreciated. ‘Amy Beach Clubs’ spread throughout the United State which honored her piano skills, compositional craft, and feminist spirit.

Dame Ethel Smyth lived her life as an openly Queer woman, composer, writer, and activist. Of her four largest donors and supporters, three were women, including her sister Mary Hunter, the Empress Eugénie, and Mary Dodge. Her relationship with the Empress went beyond patronage, with a deep friendship and public romance (Brooklyn Museum, n.d.). Her most high profile relationship was one of intimacy and mutual reverence with the author

Virginia Woolfe. Woolfe wrote about their first meeting and commented that Smyth had “descended upon me like a wolf on the fold in purple and gold, terrifically strident and enthusiastic—I like her—she is as shabby as a washerwoman and shouts and sings… As a writer she is astonishingly efficient—takes every fence,” (Gates 1992, 164). In a time where patriarchal expectations created firm, imposing barriers for women, these composers drew on their relationships with women as a source of love, connection, patronage, intimacy, friendship, and fervor. These women supported women, and supported by them too.

Double Standards, Struggles, and Movements

Breaking out of imposed gender roles and navigating complex relationships of all kinds, Romantic era women composers were grappling with the music industry’s blatant sexism. To be known as a composer in the 19th and 20th centuries, one needed to bridge the gap from an excellent education to publication.

At the beginning of her career, Fanny Hensel wrote to Felix that she had to “shove [her music] down Schlesinger’s throat.” Schlesinger, initially a gatekeeper of her publication, would one day become her biggest advocate (Dunbar 2011, 112). Once Fanny and her contemporaries could break into publication, the next step was securing performances of their works. Amy Beach showed a prolific talent for having her work programmed in the greater Boston area, especially in the realm of orchestral and symphonic works. Her performance debut at Boston Music Hall in 1883 featured the Moscheles G Minor Concerto, but not until the end of the decade were her compositions performed in those same halls. Initially, local reviews read that her music was “dainty yet sufficiently passionate” and “a fine piece of bravura work and an excellent study piece, but as a cadenza it violated good taste,” (Ammer 2001, 97).

Of Clara Schumann’s early work, a local review said, “One has to marvel approvingly at the masculinity of the spirit that pervades and the technical difficulties leave absolutely no doubt about the widely admired virtuosity of the composer,” (Dunbar 2011, 124).

At the height of her compositional career, Ethel Smyth booked her opera TheWreckers at Queen’s Hall in London. Many reviews were patronizing, claiming the work was a ‘remarkable achievement for a woman,’ but one local journalist challenged these reviews, writing “Indeed! Why, no one in this country, man or woman, has written anything to compare with it for the last fifteen years,” (Gates 1992, 158).

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The women composers of the Romantic era would always contend with the public eye as just that–women composers. After funding, publishing, and booking, the critics' words filtered through patriarchal frameworks. The assumption was always that composition was a masculine art form. Sometimes women’s works were too dainty to be considered good music; however, the pieces that packed a punch were labeled too masculine to have been written by a woman in good taste. If women composers wrote art songs or parlor music, these works were not considered seriously. If they wrote orchestral or symphonic works, the compositions were considered inappropriate for their sex. The ever moving target of the music industry was a product of the times and played into the larger struggles for women's rights across the US and Europe. Women of the 19th and 20th centuries began to shape public opinion and policy, and women composers were no exception.

Today, music schools and opera houses prioritize celebrating the choral, symphonic, and orchestral canon of J. S. Bach, but rarely do they acknowledge why. Using her status and sphere of influence, Fanny Hensel helped to create the Bach Revival of 19th century Germany salon social scene. This solidified a collection of Bach’s musical works which is used today (Dunbar 2011, 110). Historians have often attributed the novel programmatic piano genre of the Romantic era to Felix Mendelssohn, but contemporary critics acknowledged Fanny Hensel as a trendsetter, partially due to her influence on her brother’s work.

In the US and Europe, the women’s right to vote came to the forefront of public taste and policy in the Romantic era. In the US, Amy Beach became a symbol for suffragists. From her public responses to sexist music critics to her wildly successful career, her music and name was inspirational to American women fighting for the right to vote. Most iconic was Dame Ethel Smyth. As her career thrived, she lost her only male lover and patron, Henry Brewster. In this shift, she took to the UK suffrage movement by advocating, composing, and marching. As an openly Queer composer, writer, and organizer, her life and music became a symbol of the movement, with three notable pieces living on to represent this time in history–Laggard Dawn, 1910, and most frequently sung at rallies, MarchoftheWomen (Gates 1992, 160-161).

Additionally, her friendships and romances with notable women artists of the Romantic era catalyzed her to become a Queer icon around the world (Brooklyn Museum, n.d.).

Honoring their Legacies in Choral Classrooms

Beach, Hensel, Schumann, and Smyth lived in different places and at different times throughout the Romantic era. The women composers of this era were not monolithic. Their stories shared common threads and vast differences and deserve to be told. Their music lives and breathes in the canon. How can choral directors ensure their repertoire and stories continue in our classrooms?

At the elementary level, listening and moving is a powerful tool for musical development. Consider an activity with Ethel Smyth’s The Boatswain's Mate, Overture for students to personify different characters at sea, different styles of movement related to the expressive tools of the orchestra, and the different emotional characters of the six minute work. Pair with a story about her being kicked out of her home for pursuing her dreams, only to one day be recognized by the English Royal Family for her music.

For a middle school choral program, unison music can engage students quickly, develop unified tone and expression, and offer an incredible vehicle for storytelling. Programming Clara Schumann’s Die Lorelei would surprise an audience and captivate singers with the drive of the piano’s left hand and the sinister melodies over minor harmonies. The entire piece sits well in the middle of the voice, although alternatives (or a transposition) would be recommended for the two G5s towards the end.

In my time teaching high school choir, my students and I often struggled to find meaningful duet pieces that hadn’t been overdone. For singers looking for a challenge, consider handing them Amy Beach’s Give Me Not Love, Op.61 to explore rich melodies, accessible harmonies, and contrasting expressions. Pair this with an assignment to discover the poet, Florence Coates, looking for similarities and differences in the composer and poet's legacies.

For a tenor-bass chorus, consider Amy Beach’s Sea Fever; for a treble chorus, Ethel Smyth’s The March of the Women. Both pieces are powerful and evoke sentiments of specific time and place for each composer. This which would tie into incredible history lessons of travel, longing, struggle, and suffrage. For a mixed chorus ready to sing a cappella works, Clara Schumann’s Abendfeier in Venedig is lush in harmony and shockingly accessible considering her typical

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Svirtuosity. For a director looking to empower students to select repertoire, Hildegard Publishing offers several collections of Fanny Hensel’s choral works. Paired with the storied history of her life and compositions, students could take time listening and comparing the pieces before voting on one to perform.

Incorporating Romantic Era women composers into the choral curriculum is not a checklist; rather, it is an opportunity. The works listed above are just a small sample of the vast output of these incredible composers. Tying these works with their origin stories and the histories of their composers is appropriate at all levels of choral music education. When we seek repertoire that is a best fit for our students and use creative pedagogy, we have the chance to honor these composers, their music, and give them new life in the 21st century choral classroom.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ammer, Christine. Unsung : a History of Women in American Music. Century ed., 2nd ed. Portland, Or: Amadeus Press, 2001.

Brooklyn Museum. n.d. “Ethel Smyth.” Accessed April 18, 2023. https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/ethel_smyth.

Drinker, Sophie Hutchinson. Music and Women; the Story of Women in Their Relation to Music. New York: Coward-McCann, 1948.

Dunbar, Julie C. Women, Music, Culture : an Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2011.

Gates, Eugene Murray. “The Woman Composer Question: Four Case Studies from the Romantic Era”. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1992.

Thomas, Steve. “75. Four go to the Beach Club! Amy Beach – String Quartet.” Podcast by Steve Thomas. Cacophony, February 27, 2021. Podcast Audio, 7:18. Accessed April 18, 2023. https://www.cacophonyonline.com/2021/02/27/75beachqt/.

Colin Cossi isachoraland vocalartistbasedinPhoenix, Arizona,withacareerbuiltin thePacificNorthwest,and rootsinMinneapolis.He earnedaBMinMusic EducationfromtheUniversity ofOregonin2016andtaught K-5elementarymusicand6-12 choralmusicinWashington Statefrom2016-2022.Since beginninghisMMinChoral ConductingatASUin2022,he hastaughtBeginningChoral Conducting, co-taught Choral Methods, supervised student teachers, conducted the Sol Singers, assistant-conducted the Concert Choir, and served as co-chorus master to the ASU opera chorus. Additionally, he serves as Graduate Assistant Conductor for the Phoenix Boys Choir. With community, inclusion, justice, and storytelling as a lens for music making, he approaches the vocal arts as a multifaceted practitioner and pedagogue. His skills in singing, educating, conducting, composing, and writing serve to bring people across all sorts of difference together throughmusic.