Tactus - Spring 2021

TACTUS SPRING 2021

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WESTERN REGION AMERICAN CHORAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION

TACTUS SPRING 2021

In this issue...

08 Experiences of a Beginning Junior High School Educator - Dr. Ginger Covert Colla

11 Trauma-Informed Pedagogy in the Choral Classroom - Dr. Jace Saplan with Sarah Young

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17 Composer’s Lens: The Art of Persistence

- Saunder Choi

19 Regional Conference Overview

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EDITOR’S LETTER

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PRESIDENT’S LETTER

ADVERTISERS

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS

SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY 3

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EDITOR’S LETTER

HELLO & WELCOME

Dear Western ACDA Members, My name is Angelica Dunsavage, and I am happy to serve the Western region and my resident state of Arizona as your new Tactus editor. I am excited to continue the development of Tactus’s style and content and collaborate with all of you in the Western region. I look forward to sharing your ideas and innovations with the choral community as we move forward together in a new era of choral music.

I also want to express my personal gratitude to Aimee Stewart, AzACDA president, for recommending me for this position.

WACDA would like to feature more news and announcements of choral events occurring in our region and feature your scholarship and creative activity. We invite you to share ideas for articles, photos, videos and sound clips: you can send them to tactuseditor@acdawestern.org. Let us know what you’re doing with your ensembles, and how we can better serve you and your communities. Thank you all for your contributions to choral music.

Angelica Dunsavage Editor

This unprecedented time has taught us that musicmaking is essential: it helps us to communicate, process, and heal in times of uncertainty and doubt.

Through music, we are able to create change in our classrooms and rehearsal spaces – yes, even on Zoom!

– that can ripple into changes in the world. This relaunch issue of Tactus addresses the difficulties of this time, and gives us resources for moving forward. Ginger Covert Colla shares the challenges and joys she’s faced as a middle school teacher. Dr. Jace Saplan and Sarah Young share resources for trauma-informed pedagogy as we embrace our singers’ social-emotional needs as well as our own. In a “Composer’s Lens” column, Saunder Choi shares new works that address a need to move forward in hope while acknowledging the difficulties still ahead.

We are happy to share some update on our 2022 WACDA conference. In the news section, we announce our honor choir clinicians, and provide a call for interest sessions, and new performance options that allow for greater representation. We hope that our upcoming conference will be our greatest yet!

Dr. Angelica Dunsavage has been serving Arizona ACDA for the past two years as the editor of AzACDA’s Antiphon.

She is a resident of Tucson, AZ, where she directs the Tucson Masterworks Chorale and is a Lecturer of Choral Music Education and Voice at Washington State University, aided by her two virtual teaching assistants, her dogs.

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WESTERN REGION LEADERSHIP EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Lou De La Rosa, CA – President

Ernest Harrison, CA – Lifelong R&R Coordinator

Kim Ritzer, NA – Past President

Nicola Bertoni Dedmon, CA – Repertoire Specific R&R Coordinator

Michael Short, CA – President-Elect Aimee Stewart – Arizona President Jeffrey Benson – California President Jace Saplan – Hawai`i President Jim Halvorson – Nevada President Andrew Crane – Utah President Joe Svendsen – Treasurer

“LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING!” 2022 CONFERENCE COMMITTEE Cari Earnhart, CA – Organizing Chair Scot Hanna-Weir, CA – Organizing Vice-Chair

Christina Swanson, AZ – Youth R&R Coordinator Nicholle Andrews, CA – Collegiate R&R Coordinator

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION COMMITTEE Jace Saplan, HI – Coordinator Alyssa Cossey & Nicky Manlove, AZ Josh Palkki & Zanaida Robles, CA Megann Sala & Jace Saplan, HI Ryan Duff, NV Emily Mercado & Yuen Tseh, UT

Lori Marie Rios, CA – Special Assistant to President

COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE

Joan Steinmann, UT – Conference Program Editor

Anna Caplan, CA – Webmaster

Angelina Fitzhugh, CA & Emily Mercado, UT – Interest Sessions Chair

Angelica Dunsavage, AZ – Tactus Editor

Joan Steinmann, UT – Recording Secretary Elizabeth Baker, HI – Social Media

Kristina Nakagawa, CA – Site Liaison (Interest Sessions) Molly Peters, CA & Camille Killpack, UT – Performance Chair Carolyn Teraoka-Brady, CA – Site Liaison (Performances) Marc McGhee, CA & Willow Manspeaker, CA – Honor Choir Chair Tammi Alderman, CA – Reading Session Chair Dale Trumbore, CA – Composer Track Chair Heather Scobie, NV – Hospitality Chair

Cover Art: Hūnānāniho in Waimānalo, Hawaiʻi.

Submitted by Jace Saplan Above Image: Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau Tactus Logo images: Licensed by Adobe Stock

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The University of Arizona graduate choral program embodies its commitment to and value of diversity and equity through an innovative curriculum, intentional programming, and recruitment, support and inclusion of a diverse population in each conducting cohort. · · · · · ·

MM and DMA degrees Regular podium time and private lessons for all students Opportunities to safely sing together Graduate teaching assistantships and scholarships Professional choral leadership opportunities in the Greater Tucson area A successful track record of job placement For more information, please go to choral.music.arizona.edu or contact Dr. Elizabeth Schauer at erschaue@arizona.edu 6

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PRESIDENT ’S LETTER I am very pleased to welcome you to the new print version of Tactus under the editorship of Angelica Dunsavage. I hope that you will find this to be a source of information and inspiration. To that end, I want to share some changes instituted to increase our relevance to you as well as to prospective members.

Thanks to the constitutional change in the terms of office for regional presidents, I will have served as president for twenty months prior to the 2022 conference. All previous presidents have had a mere eight months, which meant that their attention went entirely toward conference planning. This additional year of lead time has provided the flexibility to imagine more ways to serve you.

Despite COVID-19 which created a paradigm shift in priorities, Western ACDA leadership has expanded member outreach in a number of ways, including:

• The creation of a DEI Webinar Series broadcast on Facebook Live and curated on the YouTube channel • A new set of criteria for performance auditions and interest sessions at our March 2022 conference that recognize the limitations that the pandemic has placed on the creation of audition recordings.

One of the benefits of the pandemic has been the discovery of communication tools such as Zoom. This has served to increase communication among WACDA state and regional leaders starting with the Task Force meetings over the summer and continuing with regular committee meetings and discussions. The familiarity created through much more frequent meetings has forged bonds that allow us to better serve you, our members. We welcome your input, and look forward to seeing you at the 2022 Conference in Long Beach.

• The Task Force on Innovation to address the myriad of questions regarding choral singing during the pandemic. Our report, Choral Music in the Time of COVID-19, was published in July and can be found on our website, www.acdawestern.org. There is a wealth of still-relevant information, particularly as more schools are planning to reopen.

• An updated website with links to many resources, acdawestern.org, initially coordinated by Scot Hanna-Weir and just passed off to new webmaster, Anna Caplan of California • A new Social Media Coordinator, Elizabeth Baker of Hawai’i • A new Facebook page, ACDA Western, integrated with the existing Facebook groups

Lou De La Rosa is the current president of Western Region ACDA. He served as president of California ACDA and was instrumental in creating the California Choral Directors Association.

Over the past 38 years, Lou has directed choirs in middle school, high school, community college and church. He is presently chair of the Department of Music & Dance in the Cilker School of Art & Design at West Valley College in Saratoga, CA. He is the happily married father of three daughters with two soon-to-be sons-in-law, and is a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan.

• A new Instagram account, @ACDAWestern • A new YouTube channel, ACDA Western Region, with recordings of webinars, interviews, panel discussions, and inspirational talks • A new Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee with representation from all five states, chaired by Hawai’i President Jace Kaholokula Saplan

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EXPERIENCES OF A BEGINNING JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATOR Written by Dr. Ginger Covert Colla Western Region Past President Introduction: The inspiration for this essay was the story, Mrs. Thompson and Teddy Stoddard. To summarize, Teddy was a little guy in Mrs. Thompson’s fifth grade class that she just didn’t like very much. He was unpleasant, messy, and earned bad grades. She discovered in his past records that Teddy’s mother had died when he was in the third grade and that his life had deteriorated after that. She began treating him differently and he later praised her for making a such a difference in his life, a difference that helped him get through high school, college, and medical school and become a doctor. He also asked her to take his deceased mom’s place at his wedding. This story is widely circulated as true. However, the story was written by Elizabeth Silance Ballard (Now Elizabeth Ungar) and published in Home Life magazine in 1976.

It was not represented as being a true story but rather as a piece of fiction. It was later republished in the magazine in 1976 with the notation that it was one of the most requested stories in the magazine’s history.

My essay: I’ve read this story several times on Facebook and I still get a lump in my throat. It reminds me of my first teaching job the spring of 1960 at an intercity junior high school in Oakland, CA. The average IQ was below 100 according to the administration. There were predominantly students of color. Many were low in their academic achievement, but some were excellent students. I decided to review the children’s records. Most of those who were struggling were from broken homes and many had moved often in their young lives. I found those who were excelling were from longtime Oakland residents and stable families. I decided then and there that an IQ score was really only the floor of their intelligence, not the ceiling of their potential. I had taken the place of a 8

teacher mid-term whose grades were based solely upon the results of written tests. Many had failed repeatedly.

I thought as a new teacher I should probably do what she did to assess their knowledge. I was teaching 5 general music classes of about 40 kids each and one of them had 20 Specials Education students. I gave the first written test, and a few didn’t even bother to take it and a lot received low grades. Most of the children seemed to really like music and readily joined in on singing and other activities. I decided that things had to change.

The next unit was on instruments of the orchestra and band. I told them they had a choice. They could choose to take the test, write an essay on an instrument, draw or make an instrument or demonstrate an instrument. I assured them if they completed the assignment, they would all receive a passing grade.

Well, the day came when their projects were due.

Not one child chose the test. A few wrote an essay, but by far they chose a creative solution. Everyone participated in their chosen way. Many Special Education kids drew beautiful pictures. Many of the students made an instrument like a drum or shaker.

I’m not a pianist, so I accompanied singing in classes with a ukulele. One especially gifted student carved a miniature ukulele out of wood with thread for strings!

The school had a fine instrumental teacher and quite a few students decided to play and demonstrate their instrument. They all did their best and all received an A. We displayed everything for back-to-school night and had a big turnout of parents.

So many of the kids had never been featured in a backto-school night before. The joy and pride shown on the faces of students and parents alike was striking.

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I had learned a huge lesson. I realized how important it was to understand and appreciate the individual learning styles of students. According to educational theory those modes of learning are auditory, visual and kinesthetic plus those of students who exhibit a preference for reading and writing. Most students are some combination of these. As an educator it is crucial to acknowledge that students have different approaches to how they process information, and it is important to incorporate the various learning modes into daily activities, curriculum and assessments.

became my magical disciplinary tool. The students were challenged to behave, or they couldn’t go on the trip to the festival. They all behaved! Our uniform was a simple red vest worn over white shirts and black pants. They were so proud that they had earned an Excellent rating! They were also thrilled to have seen the city and they had performed on the stage at the San Francisco State University auditorium. They also had learned to listen respectively and discriminately to other choirs as members of an audience. I learned that having a challenging goal and believing in them was an incredibly powerful motivator.

Later on, I also resonated with the 1983 seminal book by Howard Gardner, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. His philosophy challenged the idea that IQ tests are based upon educational curricula which only recognize reading, writing and mathmatics. Gardner recognized the big three but expanded upon them. He included Verbal/Linguistic, Logical/Mathematical, Visual/Spatial, Musical, Bodily/Kinesthetic, Interpersonal and Intrapersonal.

He has expanded upon the theory in other editions.

If you haven’t read Gardner’s theory, I strongly recommend it, not only for teachers but for parents and all who deal with inspiring others to maximize their potential.

"I realized how important it was to understand and appreciate the individual learning styles of students."

My year and a half of teaching junior high at a challenging intercity school also taught me that fairness, empathy and humor were important tools to succeed there. I had some difficult discipline problems at first and I had to get creative to manage some of them. I mentioned above playing the ukulele. This allowed me to walk around the room as we sang together. If a student was acting up, I would stroll over and firmly plant my foot on that of the offending student and just keep on smiling and singing. It worked every time.

Dr. Colla has enjoyed a multifaceted career spanning more than 60 years as a conductor, music educator, church musician, singer and participant in professional organizations for all ages and stages: preschool, elementary, junior high school, high school, community college, university, church and community organizations.

She is an ACDA Western Division Past-President and was honored with the Howard Swan Award in 2004.

The following year at Havenscourt I was assigned the choral classes. I determined to take the 9th grade chorus to a California Music Educators Association Choral Festival in San Francisco. The majority of them had never even been to San Francisco just a few miles and a bridge away from Oakland. The trip

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TRAUMA-INFORMED PEDAGOGY IN THE CHORAL REHEARSAL Written by Dr. Jace Saplan

President of ACDA Hawaiʻi with Sarah Young Elementary R&R Chair, ACDA Hawaiʻi

Responding To This Moment

According to the psychiatrist Dr. Kolk who specializes in post-traumatic stress, we know that when the brain undergoes significant trauma it places itself in survival mode and conserves energy. The limbic system of the brain which houses our emotional responses then takes over the cerebral cortex which is responsible for reason and logic. Learning or rehearsing, which requires a significant amount of energy and output from the cerebral cortex becomes significantly less of a priority to our brain (Kolk, 1994), making the components of choral singing incredibly difficult.

Let us consider the trials surrounding our choral craft these past nine months: COVID-19, a national reckoning on race, online learning, hybrid learning, in-person learning with an onslaught of risk mitigation procedures, communal isolation, and zoom fatigue... just to name a few.

It is without a doubt that these past nine months have created a fracture of personal and collective trauma within our lives that in turn directly impacted how we ideate our choral craft and connect with our singers.

A survey from the mental health charity Young Minds reports that 83% of respondents feel that the pandemic made their conditions worse (Lee, 2020). A Gallup poll found that 29% of parents say that their children are experiencing a tremendous amount of mental harm (Calderon, 2020), and 20% of college students state that their mental health has worsened since the start of the pandemic, with most of the respondents identifying as BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+ (Lee, 2020).

Regardless, even in the middle of a pandemic or within spaces of trauma, singers/students can continue to learn and make music as long as we change the ways we understand learning and fundamentally change how we teach and rehearse. We must understand how to recognize and mitigate stress, anxiety, and trauma within our rehearsals and move towards a traumainformed approach as a radical response of resilience not only as an immediate response to COVID-19 and our national reckoning on race, but for building a resilient and inclusive future of our craft.

Considering the data, trauma, or a “response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope, causes feelings of helplessness, diminishes their sense of self and their ability to feel a full range of emotions and experiences” (Calderon, 2020), is at the center of our online, hybrid, and in-person rehearsals, and perhaps one of the most important aspects for us to consider in our current artistic and pedagogical circumstances.

In this article, I frame the value of trauma informed pedagogy and connect the overarching literature to our choral craft so that we may in turn be prepared to meet these circumstances with empathy and understanding. I also invite our ACDA Hawaiʻiʻs Elementary Repertoire and Resources Chair, Sarah Young to share her philosophy of Trauma Informed Pedagogy and trauma informed strategies that she uses in her classroom.

Therefore, as conductor-educators, we must consider the following questions:

Continued...

• What does this pandemic mean for singers’ ability to learn and create?

• How can we reach those carrying trauma within our choral spaces?

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Unpacking Trauma Informed Pedagogy

repetition of the word ‘Sanctus’ in his Te Deum K 141.

I ask students constantly to relate their experiences to the repertoire and share their stories as informal assessments of application throughout the rehearsal, showing mastery through connection.

Neuroscientist and pathophysiology professor Dr. Mays Imad defines Trauma Informed Pedagogy as “having an awareness of our students’ past and present experiences and the effects of those experiences on students’ well-being and their ability to engage with the materials and learn.” Dr. Imad then goes further to state that— “We must be able to recognize trauma in ourselves and our students. We need to be intentional to promote safe environments that cultivate connectedness, empowerment, and recovery” (Imad, 2020).

Secondly, I normalize mistakes. This time has called on us to fail often and fail publicly, especially as we learn new technologies and balance models of hybrid instruction, in-person instruction, online instruction, and the pivots throughout the year. Consequently, I have taken this opportunity to practice modeling failure. I fail. I acknowledge my shortcomings, share with the ensemble what I learned, and embrace the opportunity to try again. This process is a codified practice in our ensembles and has resulted in a reverent practice in personal and communal resilience. Our singers at the University of Hawaiʻi have a process they fondly call “Embracing Imperfections” that leads the singers to share their mistakes collectively, see if the mistakes are shared, connect to solutions introduced in the rehearsal, and come up with a practice plan and assessment at the next class meeting within their sections. A choral music education major shared with me that through this exercise, they realized that “perhaps the choral practice is not about a quest for excellence, but a vulnerable sharing of imperfections that result in a consistent commitment to show up and show out for each other.” By honoring our student's stories and embracing their imperfections, we honor their lives and let them know through direct and indirect ways that they are held in safety.

After considering the existing literature on Trauma Informed Pedagogy, and similar phenomena such as Trauma Informed Teaching, and Trauma Informed Care, there are clear themes of application that we can regularly apply within our choral practice, such as: ensuring safety and fostering connection, facilitate peer to peer community building and shared decision making, and empowering the learner. I unpack these themes and tie them to practical strategies below.

Ensuring Safety and Fostering Connection When our singers do not feel safe or comfortable within our rehearsal spaces, learning becomes difficult as the brain cannot prioritize learning once threatened. According to social work scholar Dr. Brene Brown, one of the most significant ways to impart safety within our learning environments is to model vulnerability (Brown, 2017). Through this philosophy, educator-conductors can impart vulnerable parts of their own lives within the choral rehearsal process, such as inviting stories of their own experiences to connect to the warm-up or addressing vocal faults. I have shared stories about my experiences dancing a style of hula called ʻai haʻa as a toddler and how my grandmother would tell me to keep my spine as upright and elegant as a hala tree when teaching alignment in the rehearsal. I have also shared stories about my fascination of watching the movement of jellyfish at the Waikīkī aquarium with my mother, likening their effortless movement to the perfect embodiment of a rococo inspired messa di voce phrase when teaching the importance of word stress within Mozart’s 12

Facilitate Peer to Peer Community Building and Shared Decision Making I believe that the building of a choral community is one of the most radical acts of resilience during the era of COVID-19. We used to rely on the passing interactions with our singers/students, and, at times, planned in-person activities outside of the rehearsal to create community with each other. However, in the era of social-distancing and technological platforms of rehearsing, radical community building is still possible but must be met with much more intention. One can consider encouraging our singers/ students to check up on each other within a choral framework. Veteran and more junior members could pair up to do choral peer reviews, where singers/students could multitask by singing assigned components of the repertoire to their partners, provide feedback to each other, and check-in with each other using assigned prompts that evoke connection, for example— How are you holding up? What are you needing in our community this week? What is one thing that brought you joy this week? This practice could be embedded within a rehearsal and serve both the further repertoire goals through peer assessment and peer to peer community building, positioning the singer as a learner, a teacher, and a crucial component to the community.

Throughout the rehearsal, I also ask students to write down issues that they have been dealing with regarding the repertoire or their own lives on post-it notes or in the zoom chat. At the end of rehearsal, I will pick a couple to share and seek responses or solutions from the group.

For example, a freshman soprano experienced an issue with vowel modification in Josu Elberdin’s Segalariak and sought advice on singing in Basque while being mindful of tessitura when the piece reaches its climax. One of our graduate students swooped in and shared a vocalise and a transfer that worked for her. These two students now have a weekly check-in and have built a friendship through zoom. By positioning our singers/students as learners, as teachers, and as integral members of the community, they come to the musicking process with proactive and empathetic spirits.

Empowering the Learner

Dr. Imad states that when we are situated in spaces that affirm who we are, our brains are primed for learning (Imad, 2020). So, considering that we live in a time when so many of our singers/students are experiencing a loss of agency and control, we must consider practices that empower our learners. As pedagogues of the breath, our work in teaching inhalation, suspension, and exhalation is

a relevant platform for being more trauma-informed. Our Hawaiʻi ACDA elementary repertoire and resource chair, Sarah Young, shares the following: One of the most important tools we can give our singers is the ability to recognize the effect trauma has on their body and state of mind.

Calling attention to the breath makes singers actively aware of the location tension is housed in their body and gives them a space to safely consider why. While breathing at rest requires no conscious thought, breathing while singing requires full understanding of the Breath Cycle: preparation, inhalation, exhalation, and release (Westerfield, 2018). The Farinelli Exercise involves inhaling, suspending, and exhaling for equal amounts of time. Using a steady beat, this process is then repeated with lengthening amounts of time in each cycle (Westerfield, 2018). Starting rehearsal with this exercise (or something similar) allows our singers with an overactive limbic system to refocus their energy and release tension that has built up in their body. A trauma-informed approach to this exercise, including all four stages of the breath, can look like directing your ensemble to: • “Take up 360° space with your body both laterally and vertically.”

• “Trace your flow of air as it enters your body past a relaxed jaw & tongue, past a neutral neck & shoulders, and into the expansion of your rib cage.”

• “As you exhale, exercise control over your torso to avoid collapse.

Focus on the feeling of expansion you identified in your inhalation and maintain it.”

• “Complete tracing your air back out of your body. With it, release all tension that may have gathered in your jaw, neck, shoulders, torso, knees, or feet.”

While the above may look and sound like more attention than we feel a simple breathing exercise deserves, guiding our singers through sensations one muscle group at a time provides them with a sense of control and ownership over their physical and mental state. This proves that the choral breath with intention is a trauma-informed one.

With this in mind, breathing exercises are not only a way to improve vocal technique, but an opportunity to reach our singers through Trauma-Informed Pedagogy. As Kolk (2014) states, “deliberately tak[ing] a few slow, deep breaths [puts a] parasympathetic brake on... hyperarousal” breaking the cycle of fight-or-flight responses our singers may be going through (p. 209).

"I believe that the building of a choral community is one of the most radical acts of resilience during the era of COVID-19. "

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One of the most effective ways that we can accomplish learner affirmation is through consistent inquiry and reflection. For example, as we near moments of transition and closure within the rehearsal, we can ask our learners the following questions:

should be scaffolded to ease our singers into a safe space to both sing and share. Prompts can include:

• “How did this exercise or section of rehearsal honor your strengths? Weaknesses?”

• “What specific section of our repertoire gives you the most anxiety and what would help to mitigate it?”

• “How could this be tailored to honor your experiences or current situation?”

• “What reminded you of our ensemble outside of rehearsal this week?”

Students can respond via private message in the chat, via post-it, or share out loud, providing meaningful feedback for our own practice and positioning our singers/students as advocates for their own learning. Sarah contributes practical application in the choral rehearsal here:

• “Which pieces in our repertoire mean the most to you today?

Why?”

• “What are you going to be mindful of in measure 26?”

• “What are you most excited to demonstrate in rehearsal today?”

• “Who is your singing dedicated to today?”

Dr. Jeffrey Gray, a psychologist who specialized in the theory of consciousness, studied the ramifications of serotonin levels on the brain’s response to stimuli. He put forth that the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for processing fear and perceiving threats, was hyperreactive in animals with low serotonin levels. In animals with heightened serotonin levels, fear responses were less severe. Serotonin is the hormone responsible for stabilizing mood and is associated with happiness levels; therefore an essential part of a traumatized person’s recovery (Gray & McNaughton, 1996). Because singing in a choir is proven to raise serotonin levels, singing is the most effective tool we have to mitigate anxiety due to trauma (Saunders, 2017, p. 38).

But, if students are unable to be vulnerable in rehearsal, they may also be unable to take advantage of the most powerful tool we have as choral conductors. “Trauma...makes it difficult to engage in intimate relationships” (Kolk, 2014, p. 13). By providing a safe space for singers to face the intimacy inherent in a choral rehearsal, conductors can create an emotionally intelligent community with healthy coping mechanisms for dealing with trauma.

Kolk (2014) suggests a free writing exercise that facilitates safe vulnerability within our ensembles. It involves writing uninterrupted for a set period of time in order to “connect your self-observing and narrative part of your brain without worrying about the type of reception you’ll get” (p. 240) as a result. He proposes that, without stopping, rereading, or editing, students may feel safe enough to write about anxieties and feelings they had previously been unwilling or unable to explore. This exercise can be done both virtually and faceto-face, making it appropriate for all models of learning, and can be used in the choral rehearsal as a bell ringer, transition, or closer. Free writing or discussion in small groups keeps our singers’ brains actively engaged and keeps rehearsal momentum going, even when we are not singing. Reflection prompts can vary in complexity and depth and 14

A trauma-informed approach takes advantage of every minute we have with our ensembles. With reflections like the above, we can ensure that our rehearsals are restorative spaces of learning whether performing breathing exercises, repertoire, or transitioning between the two. “Hiding your core feelings takes an enormous amount of energy, it saps your motivation to pursue worthwhile goals, and it leaves you feeling bored and shut down...As functioning members of society, we’re supposed to be ‘cool’ in our day-to-day interactions and subordinate our feelings to the task at hand” (p. 240). A traumainformed rehearsal, however, returns our singers’ motivation to them, demonstrating that a “functioning member of society” is truly one that can understand and cope with their personal traumas.

Closing I end with a ‘Ōlelo No’eau, a Hawaiian proverb, passed down from my jellyfish loving mother who states, e kuahui like i ka hana. The work requires all of us.

In a moment of vulnerability, I have made it a practice to share this proverb with all of my courses these past nine months. Learning, teaching, music-making, and leading will take every single person in the room code-switching between these actions to ensure a trauma informed future. There will be days when we have the energy to share and are called to lead boldly. There will also be days when we are tapped out and will need the safety of the community to build us up. In the trauma informed rehearsal, we do not hide from this truth. We embrace all of our complexities, including our imperfections. We meet this moment together, and through all of the communal and individual trauma, we find the opportunity to learn, expand, and cultivate resilient spaces of music-making.

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While it is my recommendation that Trauma Informed Pedagogy is a beacon that we employ that can empathetically respond to this very moment, I believe that this practice should remain in our pedagogical toolbox, as trauma is not a concept to combat, but rather a consistent phenomena to form right relationships with. Our bodies are connected to the trauma endured by our ancestors as well as the trauma that we experience within our everyday lives.

Therefore, if we consider the perspective that our choral spaces hold infinite potential in connecting trauma towards healing through meaningful music-making, our work can be a catalyst in building resilient, radical, equitable, and inclusive futures for our communities.

"if we consider the perspective that our choral spaces hold infinite potential in connecting trauma towards healing through meaningful musicmaking, our work can be a catalyst in building resilient, radical, equitable, and inclusive futures for our communities."

References Brown, B. (2013). DARING GREATLY: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead.

London, England: Portfolio Penguin.

Calderon, V. (2021, January 20). U.S. parents say COVID-19 Harming child's mental health. Retrieved February 03, 2021, from https://news.gallup.com/poll/312605/parents-say-covidharming-child-mental-health.aspx Gray, J. A., & McNaughton, N. (1996). The neuropsychology of anxiety: Reprise. In D. A. Hope (Ed.), Current theory and research in motivation, Vol. 43. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 1995: Perspectives on anxiety, panic, and fear (p.

61–134). University of Nebraska Press.

Imad, M. (2020). Leveraging the Neuroscience of Now. Retrieved February 03, 2021, from https://www.insidehighered.com/ advice/2020/06/03/seven-recommendations-helping-studentsthrive-times-trauma Joyce, L. (2020). Mental Health Effects of School Closures During Covid-19. Retrieved February 03, 2021, from https://pubmed. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32302537/ Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Saunders, L. I. (2017) Your Brain on Music: The Cognitive Effects of Music Education on the Brain. Coppell, TX: Higher Purpose Publishing.

Westerfield, J. The Basics: The Singer’s Breath. (2018, September, 25). Westerfield Academy of Music. Retrieved February 03, 2021, from https://www.westerfieldacademyofmusic.com/the-basicsthe-singers-breath/

Dr. Jace Saplan is the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Hawaiʻi, Assistant Professor of Music, and Artistic Director of Nā Wai Chamber Choir. Their research focuses on decoloniality and indigeneity within choral musicking, approaches of cultural sustaining intersectionality in choral pedagogy, and the positionality of wellness for BIPOC and LGTBQIA+ singers within choral communities.

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Sonoma State University Department of Music at the Green Music Center

Aud Mater ition i Febru als Due ary March 27th 31st

Ensembles

Symphonic Chorus SonoVoce Concert Choir Opera & Music Theatre Production Opera & Music Theatre Scenes Workshop

Summer Program P Chanticleer in Sonoma

Dr. Jenny Bent Director of Choral Activities Choral Director, Santa Rosa Symphony bentje@sonoma.edu

TACTUS SPRING 2021

COMPOSER’S LENS: THE ART OF PERSISTENCE

Written by Saunder Choi

Last fall, my friend and colleague, composer Ily Matthew Maniano, wrote a gorgeous new piece for choir and harp. It had all the makings of a stellar choir piece: a soaring melodic line, lush harmonies, interesting choral textures, underscored by a contrapuntal, flowing, arpeggiated harp part. He wrote it for Sonos - a group comprised of professional choristers from different parts of the world. According to Ily, the pandemic allowed him to form this group.

I suppose it is one of the silver linings of being locked down at home -- increased virtual mobility, opening up the possibility of collaborating with people from thousands of miles away to create something special.

Yes, this technology isn’t new and we were able to do this all along, but perhaps being locked down at home forced us to engage with this technology on a more personal and intimate level. What resulted is a magical melding of voices from various cultures, different parts of the world, showing us that we are more similar than different and asseverating the importance of a united world in the midst of strife. The piece that he wrote, a response to this pandemic, is called Padayón, which means “to continue” in the Visayan language of the Philippines.

invented solely to accommodate the physiology of singing. Sure, it’s tiring, but people found ways to keep singing together. The choral art form has persisted and survived for centuries; a pandemic is not going to kill itnot now, hopefully not ever (cue in the cyborg choir).

Persistence, however, doesn’t always affect positive change. Racial inequality in America not only persisted - it evolved, clothing itself in various reincarnations - from slavery, to Jim Crow and mass incarceration, to the continued murder of our Black and Brown siblings by law enforcement. Cloaked in nationalism, we saw the rise of far-right and conspiracy groups that propagated and prioritized disinformation. They veiled hatred with “conservatism”, and shrouded white supremacy with “patriotism.” Despite all the protests and the chanting of Black Lives Matter, discussions and book clubs on how to be an anti-racist, instagram infographics explaining white privilege, outlining how to be an ally, etc., dangerous racist ideologies still persisted. It persisted simply because it was allowed to do so. So here we are - broken and battered, with unprecedented division.

So, after a year in lockdown, with a glimmer of hope and the end in sight, where do we go from here? How do we continue?

In a way, Padayón is a synonym for persistence continuing on despite opposition. The pandemic affirmed the persistence of the human spirit - for better or worse. Our persistence led to many innovations amidst a backdrop of death, isolation, and social unrest. As we learned about sourdough starters and attempted to bake our own boules at home, many of us also learned about DAWs, click tracks, and video editing softwares. Suddenly, virtual choirs are not just Eric Whitacre projects that are produced once in a while; some of us had to produce two to three of these for church every week! Many of us experimented on ways to keep singing together, whether it be car choirs or low latency softwares, or masked and distanced, in-person singing. There are even masks that were

Continued...

Saunder Choi is a Los Angeles-based Filipino composer and choral artist. He wears several hats as the Director of Music at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica, a composer-teaching artist for the Los Angeles Master Chorale, a lecturer at Cal Poly Pomona, and a composer, arranger, and orchestrator. He regularly sings with the L.A. Choral Lab, Tonality, and Pacific Chorale. His works are accessible through saunderchoi.com 17

TACTUS SPRING 2021

Britten’s War Requiem and Penderecki’s Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima were written as a response to the Second World War. Perhaps one way we can continue is by singing about the stories of our time, regardless of how bitter or political they may be. Many composers, for example, have attempted to write pieces that could be performed on Zoom (such as Dai Fujikura’s Longing From Afar and Dale Trumbore’s I Hope You’re Doing Well + A Way to Be With You). And as much as I love Elgar’s As Torrents in Summer, it doesn’t really say much about what is happening around us today. Which begs the question: does it really fit in any choral program nowadays? Longfellow’s words are, to a certain extent, “universal,” but I doubt that he had any idea of what the world will be like in 2020. (More of these thoughts in a future article).

One of the most impactful choral pieces I had the chance to record (with Tonality) last year was Joel Thompson’s America Will Be, a setting of Emma Lazarus’ “New Colossus” and Langston Hughes’ “Let America Be America Again.” The words “America was never America to me - yet I swear, America will be” meant multitudes as I sang it - as an immigrant, I took it to heart. “America is not yet, but America will be.”

It is a sentiment shared among many immigrant and BIPOC communities who continue to question what the American identity is. Although this country has journeyed far, it still has a lot of work to do to reach its full potential - a place where everyone has equal access, and our freedoms are informed by truth and justice.

As we Padayón, may we continue to choose love over hate and create a better community for all.

EMMA LAZARUS

New pieces mentioned in this article: Joel Thompson: America Will Be (published by Galaxy Music Corp.)

LANGSTON HUGHES

Ily Matthew Maniano: Padayón (available through muziksea.com) Dale Trumbore: I Hope You’re Doing Well + A Way to Be With You (daletrumbore.com) Dai Fujikura: Longing from Afar (daifujikura.com) 18

TACTUS SPRING 2021

2022 REGIONAL CONFERENCE OVERVIEW

Written by Lou De La Rosa with Angelica Dunsavage

The last time many of us saw one another face to face was at the March 2020 Western Region Conference in Salt Lake City. Past President Kim Ritzer and her team planned and executed a wonderful experience for us that ended just days before the nation shut down.

Rest assured that we will continue to monitor the situation and adjust protocols to address necessary health requirements.

Performance Audition Modifications Because the pandemic has so drastically affected the ability to create high quality recordings for most choirs, we are making adjustments to the audition requirements. These changes include: • consideration of applications from nonACDA members (membership required upon acceptance) • the option to provide a video file, including a virtual performance (anonymity required) • expanding the range of recordings to demonstrate continuity from three years to the past four

We are pleased to announce that the next Western Region conference will be held in Long Beach, California. Our theme is “Lift EVERY Voice and Sing!” The performances, interest sessions, honor choir rehearsals and performances, and even receptions will be held in or around the beautiful Long Beach Convention Center. No need to drive or take a shuttle anywhere.

Our performance venues will include the 3,000seat Terrace Theater and the 800-seat Beverly O’Neill Theater, with interest sessions and exhibitions held in the Promenade and Grand Ballroom at the convention center, directly across the street from the conference hotels.

Cari Earnhart is serving as the Conference Committee Chair, along with Scot Hanna-Weir as Vice Chair. Together with the co-chairs of the various Conference subcommittees, we have met numerous times to brainstorm ideas and devise new protocols to provide a safe and inspirational conference experience for choirs, clinicians and attendees.

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• providing the option to submit two recordings from the same year • providing a narrative to tell the story of your choir, while still maintaining anonymity, in order to foster diversity and inclusivity.

We seek submissions from choirs that reflect the diversity of our region, while still maintaining the core value of excellence which exists not only in performance, but in the mission of a choir and the instruction that happens in the rehearsal. See Submittable application for more information, https://acdawestern.submittable.com/submit.

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW CONTINUED...

Stories from the Pandemic In the face of extreme adversity, we have continued to create artistic expressions in the form of virtual performances. Some among us have created truly meaningful works of art. To that end, we intend to provide a retrospective within our concert sessions to showcase excellent examples of inspiring videos and provide additional avenues of inclusion. See Submittable application for more information, https://acdawestern.submittable.com/submit.

Call for Interest Session Proposals We welcome submissions for innovative, applicable and inspiring interest sessions and encourage submissions that address the conference theme "Lift EVERY Voice and Sing," the diversity of our membership. All topics will receive consideration and will be evaluated for scholarly content, variety, innovation, value, pedagogical strength, and relativity to current trends in the choral profession.

Special consideration will be given to sessions that facilitate connections between conductors and living composers.

Western ACDA also invites submissions of poster presentations. Presenters will also have the option to participate in a private, small group mentoring session one hour before the poster session. If presenters are unable to attend the conference in person, we are also offering the opportunity to present virtual posters.

You do not need to be a member of ACDA to apply to this conference.

Membership will be addressed upon acceptance.

Composer Track Building upon the Chat with a Composer events at the past three conferences, and with guidance from composer Dale Trumbore, we invite sessions

focusing on the connections between composers and conductors.

College & Young Conductor Track We seek to create a track of interest sessions and activities geared toward choral music education majors and young conductors. This includes a research poster session for upper division and graduate music educators.

College Fair - Building upon the success of this event at the 2020 conference, we will offer opportunities for prospective students and professors to connect in a number of ways. More to follow.

Conference Singing We all love to sing, and we rarely get to sing with friends. Using the SWACDA model, we will divide all conference attendees into choirs to briefly rehearse with a choral luminary from Western Region. These choirs will then perform for one another in a plenary session so as to “Lift EVERY Voice and Sing!”

Reading Sessions All but one of the reading sessions will be offered online asynchronously after the conference.

This will enable attendees to be able to hear all of the music chosen by your State R&R Chairs, while opening the schedule to provide more time to network.

The sole on-site reading session, open to all, will be integrated into the College & Young Conductor Track, and will focus on appropriate literature for first-year programs. This reading session, curated by Tammi Alderman, is designed to address the challenge of programming literature for an inexperienced choir.

TACTUS SPRING 2021

2022 WACDA HONOR CHOIR CONDUCTORS For the first time ever, an honor choir will be open to ACDA members who wish to audition. The Gospel SATB choir will be open to high school and college students as well as ACDA members who are interested in rehearsing and performing. The size and rehearsal schedules of the honor choirs will be determined in Fall 2021, based on science and in conjunction with health guidelines from the CDC and Los Angeles County Health officials.

The conference committee is happy to announce the following clinicians for our 2022 conference: Dr. Marcela Molina, Youth Treble, Grades 5-8 Dr. Molina has been affiliated with the Tucson Girls Chorus since 2006, first serving as Artistic Director and taking the helm as Executive Director in 2011. Under Dr. Molina’s guidance, the Tucson Girls Chorus has grown significantly in both programming and community engagement. With her leadership, the TGC has transformed into a collaborative organization that creates access to inclusive programming for youth, and provides resources to music educators and support to their classroom all year-round.

Born in Bogotá, Colombia Dr. Marcela Molina holds degrees from Westminster Choir College and the University of Arizona. Dr. Molina serves on the boards of the Arizona Choral Directors Association and Chorus America. She also serves as part of the advisory group to The Choral Commons.

Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, High School SSAA Tesfa Wondemagegnehu serves as the conductor of the Viking Chorus and the Chapel Choir at St. Olaf College. He also served as the guest artistic director of one of North America's Largest LGBTQ+ choirs, Minnesota's One Voice Mixed Chorus. Tesfa maintains an active voice studio and teaches Music & Social Justice with the goal of helping bridge the gap of social injustice through music, dialogue, and inspiring participants to take action in their communities.

Wondemagegnehu previously served as the Director of Choral Ministries at Westminster Presbyterian Church of Minneapolis, where he co-founded the Justice Choir movement with noted composer Abbie Betinis.

Tesfa has conducted and given masterclasses, workshops, and clinics both nationally and internationally. Tesfa holds a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting and Vocal Performance from the Florida State University and a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performing from the University of Memphis. While teaching high school, Tesfa was named Orange County Public School Teacher of the Year and received the Macy’s National Magic of Teaching Award.

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TACTUS SPRING 2021

Dr. Rosephanye Powell, Gospel SATB Open to High School, College & interested ACDA members Dr. Rosephanye Dunn Powell has been hailed as one of America’s premier women composers of choral music. She has an impressive catalogue of works published by Hal Leonard Corporation, the Fred Bock Music Company/Gentry Publications, Oxford University Press, Alliance Music Publications, and Shawnee. Dr. Powell is commissioned yearly to compose for university choruses, professional, community and church choirs, as well as secondary school choruses.

Dr. Powell serves as Professor of Voice at Auburn University. She holds degrees from The Florida State University (D.M. in vocal performance, University Fellow), Westminster Choir College (M.M. in vocal performance and pedagogy, with distinction), and Alabama State University (B.M.E., summa cum laude). Dr. Powell’s research focuses on the art of the African-American spiritual and voice care concerns for voice professionals (specifically, music educators, choral directors, and choral singers). Dr. Powell has received numerous awards including the “Living Legend Award” presented by California State University African Diaspora Sacred Music Festival in Los Angeles. She was listed in the first edition of the international publication Who Is Who in Choral Music. And, she has been included in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and Outstanding Young Women in America in recent years.

Dr. Jason Max Ferdinand, College & University SATB Dr. Jason Max Ferdinand is a Full Professor, Chair of the Music Department, and Director of Choral Activities at Oakwood University where he conducts the Aeolians of Oakwood University. A native of Trinidad & Tobago, Ferdinand received his Bachelor of Arts degree in piano from the Oakwood College (now Oakwood University), the Master of Arts in Choral Conducting from Morgan State University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Maryland.

Under Dr. Ferdinand’s baton, the Aeolians of Oakwood University have graced stages the world over. Their repertoire of choral music which ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century has been sought after and performed at venues throughout the USA and worldwide. In 20112012, they made their inaugural entrance at the 7th World Choir Games held in Cincinnati, USA, resulting in the choir earning gold medals in all three categories of entrance and the overall championship for the Spiritual category. In 2018 his choir won three gold medals in the 10th World Choir Games held in South Africa.

Ferdinand maintains an active schedule as a presenter, adjudicator and guest conductor for high schools, collegiate, and church choirs throughout North America, Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean.

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TACTUS SPRING 2021

CALL FOR TACTUS SUBMISSIONS Want to publish your work in Tactus? We want to hear from you! Submissions are open to anyone in the Western region, and can be research articles, opinion pieces, reviews, or anything you feel would be valuable to our membership. We’d also love to see photos of your choirs, links to videos, or anything you or your singers would like to showcase. Reach out to Angelica Dunsavage at tactuseditor@acdawestern.org if you have an idea you’d like to submit.

Submission deadlines for our next edition are July 1 for release in August!

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