Tactus Spring 2022

TACTUS SPRING 2022

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WESTERN REGION AMERICAN CHORAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION

Study with award-winning faculty TACTUS Spring 2022

Engage with professional artists

BM and BA Voice Performance BM Choral Music Education Perform in a world class venue

Sonoma State University Department of Music at the Green Music Center

Ensembles

Symphonic Chorus SonoVoce Concert Choir Opera & Music Theatre Production Opera & Music Theatre Scenes Workshop MUSIC.SONOMA.EDU 2

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

TACTUS Spring 2022

In this issue...

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EDITOR’S LETTER

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

11 Unveiling the Mystery: Arabic Choral Music for the Western Choral Conductor (Part 2) - Dr. Cari Earnhart

16 Composer’s Lens: Five New, Longer-Form Choral Works

- Saunder Choi

26 Making Equity Actionable: Resources & Tools for More Inclusive Choral Practices - Dr. Alyssa Cossey DEI Column, Dr. Jace Saplan

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22 SAY WHAT YOU MEAN, CHARLENE!

Jeffrey Benson talks with Dr. Charlene Archibeque about history, how-tos, and hippies

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Conference Photo Submissions Conference Reflections: Interest Sessions and Honor Choirs - Dr. Emily Mercado and Dr. Willow Manspeaker

THANKS TO OUR CONFERENCE SPONSORS: Orange County Friends of Music

Michael Short, Artistic Director

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EDITOR’S LETTER Dear Western ACDA Members, Thank you for reading this, my final editor's letter.

This edition is a special one for me, as it contains the reflections of our past conference paired with ideas for moving forward. The articles are primarily repertoire-driven: we see the second and final installment of Cari Earnhart's article on Arabic choral music, Saunder's recommendations for new long-form works for choir, and a resource list for choosing repertoire with equity at the forefront.

Readers can also hear from our 2022 Conference Honoree Charlene Archibeque as she shares her insight on repertoire, rehearsal techniques, and career advice.

valid when presented in a certain format, in certain publications, to a readership of a certain few. I hope, if anything, my time as editor continues to challenge this notion, and opens scholarship up to anyone who has a story to tell, an idea to inspire, or a practice to challenge. As I move on from Tactus to editor of NCCO's The Choral Scholar and American Choral Review, I will continue to seek the help of the Western Region in addressing this important topic, and I look forward to more editions on the horizon.

Angelica Dunsavage Editor

I want to take the time to acknowledge the Western Region for truly doing the work of advancing the choral profession. As Alyssa Cossey states in her article, "one only has to look at the January 2022 Choral Journal to see that the conductors and composers featured at the regional conferences across this country do not yet mirror the diversity of our country or our choirs." Arranging the conference pictures for our edition, and setting Lou's letter, I believe more firmly than ever that the Western Region is doing the necessary task of uplifting decades of unheard voices. I am proud to have been a part of that work.

During my time as editor, Tactus has added two columns: Composer's Lens by Saunder Choi and DEI compiled by Jace Saplan. Both of these columns serve the WACDA community by highlighting littleknown works and people, asking questions of us and our practices, and pointing the direction toward innovation. A huge thank you to Saunder and Jace for working on these columns and soliticing others to write in them.

Dr. Angelica Dunsavage is the Director of Choral Activities at Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN, where she conducts the University Choir and TSU Meistersingers, and teaches choral conducting and literature. She has previously resided in the Western As a nerd, and self-identified Ravenclaw, I have Region, where she has served on the AzACDA state board always seen the world through the realm of written as editor of Antiphon. She is in-demand as a presenter, word. The question I continue to ask is: what is clinician, and mezzo-soprano soloist. Her research interests "scholarship," and therefore, what should we do? include German secular music of the Renaissance and For too long has the idea of "scholarship" been held early Baroque eras, and the application of Alexander Technique to conducting and choral pedagogy. in the hands of a certain few, and only deemed as 5

TACTUS Spring 2022

WESTERN REGION LEADERSHIP “LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING!” 2022 CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Cari Earnhart, CA – Conference Chair

Kim Ritzer, NV – Past President

Scot Hanna-Weir, CA – Conference Vice-Chair

Michael Short, CA – President-Elect

Lori Marie Rios, CA – Special Assistant to President

Joe Svendsen, NV – Treasurer

Joan Steinmann, UT – Conference Program Editor Angelina Fitzhugh, CA & Emily Mercado, UT – Interest Sessions Chairs Kristina Nakagawa, CA – Site Liaison (Interest Sessions) Molly Peters, CA & Camille Killpack, UT – Performance Chairs Carolyn Teraoka-Brady, CA – Site Liaison (Performances) Marc McGhee, CA & Willow Manspeaker, CA – Honor Choir Chairs

Lou De La Rosa, CA – President

Ted Gibson – Arizona President Christopher Peterson – California President Jace Saplan – Hawai`i President Michael Polutnik – Nevada President Cherilyn Worthen– Utah President

ADVISORY COMMITTEE Ernest Harrison, CA – Lifelong R&R Coordinator Nicola Bertoni Dedmon, CA – Repertoire Specific R&R Coordinator Nicholle Andrews, CA – Collegiate R&R Coordinator

Tammi Alderman, CA – Reading Session Chair

Christina Swanson Hall, AZ – Youth R&R Coordinator

Dale Trumbore, CA & Nicola Dedmon, CA – Composer Track Chair

Peggy Spool, CA – Children’s & Comm. Youth R&R Chair

Heather Scobie, NV – Hospitality Chair Michael Uchino, CA – Equipment Coordinator Ryan Duff, NV – All Conference Choirs Coordinator Nicholle Andrews, CA – Conducting Master Class Coordinator

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION COMMITTEE Jace Saplan, HI – Coordinator Alyssa Cossey & Nicky Manlove, AZ Ernest Harrison, CA Ryan Duff, NV Emily Mercado, UT

Scott Glysson, CA & Alec Schumacker, HI –College COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE Fair Chair John DiPalo, NV – Registrar & Student Worker Coordinator Jodi Reed, CA – Exhibits & Sponsorship Coordinator

Joan Steinmann, UT – Recording Secretary Anna Caplan, CA – Webmaster Elizabeth Baker, HI – Social Media Angelica Dunsavage, AZ – Tactus Editor

James Halvorson, NV – Conference App Liaison Marc McGhee , CA – Submittable Coordinator

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Cover Image: SSAA HS Honor Choir premiere of "Hear Me Roar," Liv Grace, composer/ Grace Brigham, arranger; Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, conductor Tactus Logo images: Licensed by Adobe Stock

TACTUS Spring 2022

PRESIDENT ’S LETTER This is my last column as president. It has been an incredibly rewarding experience to serve this wonderful organization. I want to thank all the state presidents who have served with me, in particular those with whom I met numerous times in 2020: Aimee Stewart, Arizona; Jeffrey Benson, California; Jace Saplan, Hawai’i; Jim Halvorson, Nevada; Andrew Crane, Utah. They provided guidance, support, and friendship.

Take a look at the list of Board members and Committee members. I’m honored to have worked with such a tremendous team of servant leaders. We had the unique opportunity to serve our community through the nightmare of a pandemic that silenced our voices. It is surreal to see memories pop up in social media to remind us of what we all endured. None of us could have made it through without one another.

In May 2020, Kim Ritzer and I convened an 80-person Task Force for Innovation to provide a wide range of COVID-safe instructional resources for choir directors in every genre. Besides the stated goals, the Task Force served to give us hope; we had a purpose, a mission, and we met a lot to brainstorm, commiserate and support one another. The response report was published in early Summer 2020, in time for directors across the country to prep for Fall. I took a look at it not long ago, and although it all seems fairly obvious now, I recall how innovative it was at the time. That reflects on all those who had a part in it; their names are in the report.

Over the long term, the research for the Task Force provided the basis for the COVID-19 Protocols at the 2022 WACDA Regional Conference in Long Beach. In the short term it served to guide me in selecting Conference Committee members as I experienced the giving spirit of so many tremendously talented colleagues in Western Region, some of whom I had never met.

Among the first people I reached out to when selecting my team were Cari Earnhart and Scot Hanna-Weir, who served as Conference Chair and Vice-Chair respectively. They tackled the details from start to finish and brought to life the vision of the Conference Committee. We met a lot throughout the planning, frequently joined by Lori Marie Rios who served as Special Advisor providing institutional memory and a check on my impatience from our days on the California Board. I cannot imagine organizing this conference without the three of them and will forever be grateful to them for saying “yes.”

Beginning in the summer of 2020 as social justice issues came to the fore, I met with the five other regional presidents via Zoom to discuss our shared, unprecedented situation. We met many times over the next two years as our attention shifted from one of

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reaction to action as we considered structural changes to make our organization and our conferences more inclusive. We created a Regional Consortium Commission that I hope will continue in perpetuity, and were met with support by Presidents Lynne Gackle, André Thomas and Interim Executive Director Hilary Apfelstadt. But our most lasting and profound achievement as members of the National Board, was hiring ACDA’s first woman as permanent executive director, Robyn Hilger. She is exactly the leader to move us forward.

One of the most rewarding experiences of my professional life was leading discussions with a fantastic team to make all of the changes below that culminated in the WACDA 2022 Conference “Lift EVERY Voice & Sing” attended by over 600 choral directors from across the United States: •

With the consensus of the Board, I empowered the first-ever WACDA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee (DEI), led

by Jace Saplan, to begin to address social justice within the context of choral music making.

•

With the consensus of the Board, I authorized the DEI Committee to modify selection committee rubrics (posted on the website) in order to create a more inclusive WACDA Conference. A range of points are given instead of listening merely for the “ideal choral sound.” Take a look at them; they make for more interesting program creation.

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The rubrics dedicate about 80% of the points to solely musical aspects

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The DEI-oriented rubrics are such that most choirs would score points in all topics

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The DEI Committee created a webinar series livestreamed on Facebook Live and archived on our new YouTube Channel and the website, acdawestern.org.

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We restarted Tactus and returned it as a print magazine under Tactus editor Angelica Dunsavage. Please congratulate her as she moves on as editor of The Choral Scholar & American Choral Review for NCCO.

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With the naming of Elizabeth Baker as Social Media & Communications Coordinator, we reached out to you as never before via social media (existing FB groups, a new FB page, a new Instagram account) as well as through email blasts via MailChimp.

Continued...

TACTUS Spring 2022

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My only regret is that the Omicron surge prevented more members from attending to experience their excellent work.

Webmaster Anna Caplan, together with Scot Hanna-Weir and David Topping, revamped our WACDA website which houses a number of resources including: •

Repertoire lists compiled by R&R Coordinators Christina Swanson, Nicola Dedmon and Nicholle Andrews

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Information about Title II Professional Development Funding for each state, compiled by Christina Swanson

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The DEI Accountability Checklist provided to choirs submitting to the Long Beach conference

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Links to DEI webinars housed on the ACDA Western Region YouTube channel

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Links to non-DEI webinars housed on the YouTube channel

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Past issues of Tactus via Issu

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Soon to come: Handouts from the Long Beach Conference, Virtual Reading Sessions from the Long Beach Conference, curated by Tammi Alderman

Many thanks to Past President Kim Ritzer, President-Elect Michael Short and National President-Elect Edie Copley for their many kindnesses and above all their friendship. I plan to return the favor to Michael by working behind the scenes to garner more advertisers for Tactus and sponsors for the next conference. The Long Beach conference lost quite a bit of money thanks to COVID, but this was the ultimate “rainy day” for which we saved. We emerge with a still-healthy reserve, and more sponsors can only help.

Thanks to all who took the time to express your appreciation, whether by email or in passing at the conference. Your words mean more than you can know and almost erased the memory of the many sleepless nights leading up to the conference. Almost.

Finally, I want to encourage young conductors to give back by serving the profession. Wisdom and inspiration are not contingent upon age and experience: some of the best ideas came from the younger members of the leadership team.

All of the people you see listed are volunteers and there are many others who served behind the scenes. It doesn’t have to be a huge commitment; start local. Sticking around to help clean up after a local conference or volunteering to help set up is a way to give back and to become known as a “worker bee,” probably the greatest recommendation for serving on a board.

Through the grapevine I have heard a few complaints that ACDA is becoming political. I could not disagree more. I don’t believe equity and inclusion are political, as I have good friends from all parts of the political spectrum who treat others as they wish to be treated, and who stand up and speak out when they see injustice. The lesson of the social justice movement for us as choral directors is imbedded in our common beliefs: to uplift those underrepresented communities in our midst through respect in our rehearsals, in our programming, and in our performance practices.

Whose choral program wouldn’t be improved by following this pedagogy?

To those members with writing and organizational skills, I encourage you to consider applying to be our next editor of Tactus, starting in July.

I have been a member of ACDA since 1982. I have met most of my dearest friends through ACDA, from college to the present, and I am a better conductor and a better person for having been an active member. Thank you for the opportunity to serve this organization that has given me so much. Go Giants!

In the post-conference survey, some lamented that elementary and middle school choirs were not represented at the conference. Though the application deadline in the depth of the pandemic can be blamed this time, this is a chronic problem. We hope that the inclusiveness seen in Long Beach will encourage elementary and middle school directors to apply to perform in the future. Get your recordings together now and put your best sounding track first!

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 grown daughters, all of whom were raised as die-hard San Francisco Giants fans.

One of my favorite movie lines is spoken by Clint Eastwood in the 1973 movie Magnum Force: “A man’s got to know his limitations.” I know mine, and so I chose people to serve with me who would fill those voids. Each member of the Conference Committee stepped up to the challenge.

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TACTUS Spring 2022

"The lesson of the social justice movement for us as choral directors is imbedded in our common beliefs: to uplift those underrepresented communities in our midst through respect in our rehearsals, in our programming, and in our performance practices. Whose choral program wouldn’t be improved by following this pedagogy?"

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TACTUS Spring 2022

Unveiling the Mystery: Arabic Choral Music for the Western Choral Conductor

Part 2 Arabic Choral Music Music symbolizes a people’s way of life; it represents distillation of cultural style (Slobin, 1992).

The origins of Arabic choral music arrangements vary from traditional Arab folk music to popular contemporary Arab music. Modern composers are also creating original compositions in this genre. As in many cultures, some pieces have been written down, while others have been transmitted orally. The oral transmission of some of these traditional songs account for the variations found in both melodic material and texture.

One example of traditional music is “Lammaa Badaa Yatathanaa” (When He Swayed), a traditional muwashshah piece. A muwashshah is an autonomous genre of Arabian vocal art music that is textually based on the poetic form of the muwashshah. In the Arabian East, the muwashshah tradition is further distinguished by the adherence to the strict rules of Arabian meter.

The strophic muwashshah originated during the Muslim rule of Spain (1492) in Cabra. The song form continues to survive throughout the Arab world in oral tradition. The muwashshah ensemble consists of a solo singer, who usually performs a few lines of the text, and instrumentalists, who usually make up the “choir.” In 2011, Palestinian/Jordanian composer and conductor, Shireen Abu-Khader published her arrangement “Lammaa Badaa Yatathanaa” for an unaccompanied four-part chorus.

The piece’s melody is based upon Maqam Nahawand, which is a parallel equivalent to the Western harmonic minor scale (commonly used as maqam for composition 11

Written by Dr. Cari Earnhart

and improvisation), and presents the traditional rhythmic structure Samai Thaqil, a complex Arab rhythm notated in 10/8 where rhythmic emphasis falls on beats 1, 4, 6, 7, and 8. Abu-Khader transformed the traditional instrumental lines into the rhythmic vocal bass part. The singers create the sound and texture of the instruments through a rhythmic ostinato and the use of “dum” and “tak” outlining the strong and weak beats of the 10/8 meter. Through this simple example, it is evident that even a basic understanding of traditional rhythmic and melodic structures is important for a more informed performance of the Arabic choral music genre.

In my interview with Abu-Khader, when asked about how she breaks down the complex rhythmic structure when conducting “Lammaa Badaa Yatathanaa” she stated: I think of it as being exactly as written. You look at the poetry.

This is why you have all of these crazy rhythms. No one was thinking symmetrically in measure numbers. They were thinking poetry. You have to feel it as 10/8, because the poem that goes on top is a 10/8. You have to shift your thought, thinking words and not thinking rhythm. Just understanding that because the poem was written that way.

Abu-Khader tries to emphasize the importance of poetry and the horizontal line of Arabic music by barely including portions of Western-influenced part writing, such as passing tones and neighboring tones in her works. This horizontal approach allows the voice to sing “naturally” and allows the choir to explore different vocal colors.

TACTUS Spring 2022

For the performance of “Lammaa Badaa Yatathanaa,” Abu Khader suggests that the piece is open to different interpretations by the choir. Some suggestions include having singers improvise using the text and pitches from the maqam above the rhythmic foundation, repeating various sections using the main melodic line and incorporating the bass ostinato at the end, and using a non-pitched drum along with the bass ostinato.

past influence of French culture; however, the mixing of harmonic textures with Arabic melodies is often part of Lebanese music. Torikian uses rhythmic and dynamic momentum throughout the piece to exploit the vocal tessiture for dramatic effect. To further enhance the performance of “Yar Asmar ellon,” the editor suggests adding a simple rhythmic percussion pattern, known as a maqsum to be performed by any un-pitched instrument.

When conducting this piece, I have found it beneficial to outline the rhythm by using a 3/4 pattern + 4/4 pattern + 3/4 pattern. It helps to better clarify for the singers the strong and weak beats of the measure making it a little easier to sing and helping to highlight the text.

Ex: Maqsum rhythmic pattern

Edward Torikian’s arrangement of “Yal Asmar ellon” is a traditional popular song from Aleppo in Northern Syria. Closely related to the muwashshah, the qudad halibīyya is a form of Syrian Arab classical music found in both Arabic poetic form and the secular musical genre. Torikian is able to connect to the traditional Arabic music through the atmosphere of maintaining the use of the maqam hijaz (similar to Western harmonic minor) and the melodic and textual variations found in orally transmitted music.

The piece, with its beautiful melancholic atmosphere, conjures a renewed sense of hope. It originates form the nineteenth century and has been orally transmitted.

An example of an original Arabic choral piece is “Ai’yu” by Egyptian composer, Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah. The composer uses his native knowledge of traditional Egyptian melody and ornamentation as the basis for this new composition.

He mixes Egyptian traditional culture, which inspires the work, including the traditional music from the Egyptian western desert (Badawin), coastal cities (Swahly), south Egypt (Saedi) and the rural neighborhoods in Cairo (Shaaby). The text consists of a single word, “Ai’yu” expressing wonder, surprise and astonishment. Though it appears so at first glance, the maqam is not F-major, but holds more similarities to Phrygian mode with a minor second degree from the tonic; therefore, the piece is written without a key signature. It begins with a traditional mawwal sung by a tenor soloist, whose “call” is answered by the entrance of the four-part mixed choral voices in unison. As the piece progresses, one sees Abdelfattah’s use of lyricism and complex ornamentation, common to traditional Egyptian music. There are two motivic ideas on which the nine sections are built. Both motives are developed throughout and increase in complexity as the piece progresses. In the construction of the piece, Abdelfattah expands the form by the repetition and swapping between the two motivic concepts, gradually building from four to six to eight to nine voice parts including solo sections. Abdelfattah layers as many as seven solo vocal lines at one time.

Ex: Maqam hijaz

The marriage of harmonic textures with traditional Arabic melodies is often a part of the Lebanese culture in which Dr. Torikian lives and works.

“Though the melodies are mostly Levantine in origin, the arrangements are influenced by Western partsongs.” Torikian’s largely homophonic approach tends to operate in the Western harmonic progressions.

Some in the Arab world have argued that this compromises the authenticity of this style. With the

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TACTUS Spring 2022

The opening’s simple melodic cell consists of only four notes (C D E G) moving up and down. He uses sequencing, repetition and inversion of the melodic cell to build the melodies. The repetitive nature exhibited in the bass voice is reminiscent of the instrumental line found in traditional Arabic music pieces.

For a more authentic performance, the composer requests that the solo sections be sung with a “very bright tone color” specifically requesting that it not be sung with operatic techniques, while he suggests the choral parts be sing with a “dark”, melancholy tone generated from the “throat and larynx.”

The technique is related to the traditional style of singing for the people of the Egyptian desert. The piece employs traditional singing techniques and oscillates between unison octaves, heterophony and counterpoint. Through these techniques, Abdelfattah showcases the blending of Arabic and Western musical techniques.

Conclusions Arabic choral music is a little-explored genre that poses many questions for the Western choral conductor, ranging from modal structure to rhythmic complexity to challenges presented by the language to cultural context.

How then are Western conductors to better understand these works? How accessible are these pieces for a Western choir?

Western conductors can deepen their knowledge of this genre through the most modest of research. Just as a conductor must come to terms with the differences between singing a South American samba verses a tango, the conductor should strive to distinguish between dance song, popular or light-music tune, Arabic classical song, etc. According to Edward Torikian, each genre requires a slightly different interpretation. Another important element for Western conductors to consider in their preparation of Arabic choral music is the basic understanding of the maqam and the role it plays in the composition This music

is accessible to all who are willing to embark on the “unknown.” It has been performed by choirs of all levels and backgrounds in the Arab world and beyond.

One of the most important resources made available to modern conductors is the internet. Everyday more and more Western choirs are experimenting with Arabic choral music. Through listening to online recordings, conductors will be able to make even the simplest of distinctions between these genres of Arabic music. Through the help of publishers like earthsongs, choral conductors are being provided with more and more resources such as transliterations, following the Bikdash Arabic Transliteration System (BATR), combined with the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), and performance recordings of the pieces by non-Western choirs and poetic readings of the texts by native speakers. In addition, information regarding cultural context of these works, as well as performance suggestions and commentary, are making their way into the publisher’s editions of Arabic choral music. Various online recordings available of solo performers, choral ensembles and instrumental groups performing these original works are not only valuable resources for acquiring basic knowledge of Arabic rhythms and language, but, also, for making choices about ornamentation and how to incorporate various instruments into a performance. Lastly, I encourage conductors to reach out to native speakers within their own communities. It is one more opportunity to forge relationships within our communities.

I have seen firsthand how this music, in particular, can draw together musicians from across the globe and serve as a catalyst for better understanding of music and cultures. Music that can transcend human differences and unite singers and audience members from various backgrounds – this is the value of crosscultural education.

Resources continued...

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Repertoire List

Publishing Websites

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earthsongs - http://earthsongschoralmusic.com

Adinu, arr. Shireen Abu-Khader & Andre de Quadros, unison, Sufi song, earthsongs, sacred

Al-Fayha Choir of Tripoli - http://www.fayhachoir.org/

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al-Amira wa al-Gharaji, Raman Subaram, SATB w/ piano, Iraq, earthsongs, secular

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Ai'Yu, Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfatah, SSAATTBB w/ tenor solo, Egyptian, earthsongs, secular

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Fōg Elnā Khel, Salim Bali, SATB, Iraq/Syria, earthsongs, secular

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Lammaa Badaa Yatathannaa, arr. Shireen AbuKhader, SATB. Syria traditional mūwashshah, earthsongs, secular

Works Cited

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Entarisi Ala Benziyor, Muammer Sun, SATB, Turkish folk song, earthsongs, secular

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Yal Asmar Ellon, arr. Edward Torikian, SATB, Syria traditional, earthsongs, secular

Abu-Khader, Shireen (arr.). Lammaa Badaa Yatathannaa.

Edited by André de Quadros. Corvallis, Oregon: earthsongs, 2011.

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Zikr, arr. Ethan Sperry, SATB w/ guitar and percussion, Sufi song, earthsongs, sacred

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Ana’w Chadi, arr. Edward Torikian, SATB w/ mezzo solo, Lebanese popular song, Al-Fayha Choir of Tripoli, secular

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Bint’shalabiyya, arr. Edward Torikian, SATB Lebanese folk song, Al-Fayha Choir of Tripoli

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El-Helwa Dii, arr. Edward Torikian, SATB w/ S/T solos, Egpyt, Al-Fayha Choir of Tripoli, secular

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Leylëtna, arr. Edward Torikian, SATB w/ 3 sopranos, Al-Fayha Choir of Tripoli

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Ya Zarata’L-Madain, arr. Edward Torikian, SATB, Al-Fayha Choir of Tripoli

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Lao Rahal Soti, arr. Shireen Abu Khader, SATB w/ alto solo, Dozan wa Awtar publishing

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Hanin, arr. Shireen Abu Khader, SATB w/ solo and Tar, Lebanese, Dozan wa Awtar publishing

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Lamooni Elli Gharoo Menni, arr. John Perkins, SATB w/ solo, Dozan wa Awtar publishing

Dozan wa Awtar publishing - http://dozanwaawtar. com/online-store

Abdelfattah, Mohammed Abdelwahab. Ai’yu. Edited by André de Quadros. Corvalis, OR: earthsongs, 2008.

Earnhart, Cari L. “Cross-Cultural Choral Music Education: Issues for Western Choral Conductors related to the Performance of Arabic Choral Music.” DMA diss., University of North Texas, 2015.

O’Brien, James P. Music in World Cultures: Understanding Multiculturalism Through the Arts. Dubuque: Kendall/ Hunt Publishing Co., 1994.

Slobin, Mark and Jeff Todd Titon. “The Music-Culture as a World of Music.” In Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World’s Peoples. 1-14. New York: Schirmer Books, 1992.

Torikian, Edward (arr.). Yal Asmar Ellon. Edited by André de Quadros. Corvallis, Oregon: earthsongs, 2013.

Dr. Cari Earnhart serves as the Director of Choral Activities at California State University, Fresno, where she conducts the Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, Masterworks Chorus, and teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting.

In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she is in high demand as an adjudicator, clinician, guest conductor and presenter. Prior to her appointment at Fresno State, she served as DCA at the American University of Sharjah in the UAE. She holds BM and MM degrees in Vocal Performance/Pedagogy from Oklahoma State University and a DMA in Choral Conducting with related field studies in Vocal Pedagogy from the University of North Texas.

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Apply online LA YOUTH PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Summer Music Festival at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Honor Choir Audition High School SATB Summer Honor Choir 4th-8th Grade SSA/SATB Summer Honor Choir Adult SATB Summer Honor Choir

For audition information Visit https://layouthphilharmonic.com/

TACTUS Spring 2022

COMPOSER’S LENS: 5 NEW, LONGER FORM CHORAL WORKS Written by Saunder Choi The Talk: Instructions for Black Children When They Interact with the Police - Damien Geter

A cantata is defined as a medium-length narrative piece of music, often consisting of multiple movements, for voices and accompaniment, and can be a powerful way of storytelling through music. Conductors who program pieces around a theme inherently curate their own cantata or song cycle by combining smaller works by a handful of composers to tell a larger narrative. With the economics of commissioning being what it is in the choral world, choral composers rarely receive the opportunity to create longer form choral narratives. Personally, my last few commissions have all been 5-7 minute octavo pieces.

That being said, once in a while, these longer form pieces do come to life. Of course, the terminology used to define these are a bit fuzzy nowadays. Is it a cantata? An oratorio? A song-cycle? Maybe a mix? Regardless, here are 5 longer form works for you to discover.

For SATB Choir, Mezzo soloist, and Narrator (published

by Hal Leonard) - approx 11 minutes. Consisting of 4 movements, the work highlights the talk that Black parents often need to have with their children – instructions on what to do when interacting with police.

The piece is an important commentary on the relentless systemic injustice, brutality, and often fatal harm that Black people face from law enforcement agencies.

Sections include: (1) Pull over. Don’t Run. Keep Calm (2) Keep Your Hands Where they Can See Them (3) Be Polite. Save Your Rage (4) Get Home Safely. https://www.damiengetermusic.com/the-talk Verum Corpus - Saunder Choi

Those Moments - TJ Cole For SATB Choir, mixed chamber ensemble, pre-recorded audio (version for SATB + piano is also available; self-published by the composer) - approx. 36 minutes.

The composer drew inspiration from the members of Nashville in Harmony, leading them to share their thoughts around the broader topic of gender and identity – collecting over 8 hours of recorded footage of members sharing their personal stories, memories, experiences, thoughts, and opinions. The footage became the core inspiration for ‘Those Moments’, which sits at the intersection of memories, emotions, and gender. TJ Cole then worked with Aiv Rubino on a libretto that broke up the piece into the categories/movements: Remembering, Expressing, Questioning, Belonging, Sheltering, and Overcoming. Each movement starts with clips of audio taken of the choir sharing their stories, followed by a short piece of music relating to the audio. https://www.tjcolemusic.com/copy-of-chamber

For SATB Choir and string quartet (self-published by the composer) - approx. 15 minutes. A work that sets the text of trans, two-spirit, queer, femme poet Amir Rabiyah on the story of transformation, completion, and attainment of the true body. The text is inspired by the story of Caeneus, a mythological hero from Ovid’s Metamorphosis who was born a woman (Caenis), and transformed into a man. Many of the characters experience trauma in Ovid’s Metamorphosis. Amir wanted this to be a poem that addressed that, drawing parallels to the experience of queer and transgender survivors of abuse and marginalization. More importantly, Amir wanted this to also be about how our chosen families love us, and how love can lead us to loving ourselves, and finding freedom. The text of Ave Verum Corpus was incorporated into the narrative, weaving the Eucharistic text into a poignant reclamation of the trans narrative and a recontextualization of the words “Hail, true body, whose pierced side flowed with water and blood” -- offering a different commentary on these seemingly parallel narratives. http://www.saunderchoi.com/project/verum-corpus/

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Quarantine Madrigals - Reena Esmail

American DREAMers - Melissa Dunphy

Flexible instrumentation - anywhere from a single voice to a full choir (self-published by the composer) - approx.

16 minutes. Written as a response to the pandemic, the composer thought about the isolation that many choral artists felt when everything was closed off – especially when the choral community is used to the communal act of singing together. The piece consists of 7 short madrigals, plus a postlude, that traces the arc of what we experienced during the pandemic – the world shutting down, the isolation, and the eventual return to singing together. Consequently, the vocal orchestration mirrors this narrative, as each madrigal slowly loses one voice at a time until the middle, and then gains a voice back until the end. The work is a collaboration with Amy Fogerson, a singer and educator with the Los Angeles Master Chorale for many years.

For SATB choir and soloists (published by Mormolyke Press) - approx. 25 minutes. American DREAMers sets the text from five young Americans – Dreamers who were brought to the country as children – Marlene Rangel, Javier Zamora, Janine Joseph, Julia Montejo, and Claudia Hernandez. The work honors the stories of immigrants in response to the anti-immigrant rhetoric that was brought about by the 2016 election, during the Trump administration and beyond. The final movement of the set is an inspiring hymn #UnitedWeDream, where the whole chorus proclaims “This is where you belong, Dreamer!”

https://www.reenaesmail.com/catalog-item/quarantinemadrigals/

https://www.melissadunphy.com/composition.php?id=72

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

TACTUS Spring 2022

MAKING EQUITY ACTIONABLE: RESOURCES & TOOLS FOR MORE INCLUSIVE CHORAL PRACTICE Written by Dr. Alyssa Cossey Introduction As an educator I long for the connection between theory and practice—especially in the realm of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We do well in holding spaces for these conversations around DEI, but I often wonder how these conversations interrogate our practice. As we look forward to what lies ahead after the conference, I am fueled with the brilliance and wisdom of our colleagues who helped bridge the gap between equity as a philosophy to equity as a practice towards structural change. This quarter, in actualizing our DEI work towards practice, Dr. Alyssa Cossey offers insights to a crucial part of our artform, repertoire selection. Enjoy!

- Dr. Jace Kaholokula Saplan Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Chair Article What a joy it was to be back in-person for our recent Western ACDA Regional Conference! As an introvert, I have (in many ways) enjoyed and appreciated the flexibility and quiet that comes with attending a virtual conference from one's living room, but even I was thrilled to be back in-person and watching packed interest sessions, attending live concerts, and running into old friends between events. I also was happy to see that, while many of the things we all love about conferences had returned, this conference was different.

From the inclusion of a land acknowledgement statement to open the conference, to the varied and informative DEI-focused interest sessions, and the thoughtful selection of guest choirs and conductors, it was clear that the last two years have changed our work and our profession for the better. But, better does not mean done.

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One of the main goals of any conference is to bring some of what we heard and saw back to our own choirs.

However, one only has to look at the January 2022 Choral Journal to see that the conductors and composers featured at the regional conferences across this country do not yet mirror the diversity of our country or our choirs, and not every piece we heard on stage or found in reading packets should be repeated. As we return to our classrooms and rehearsal spaces, we each must continue this work, learning more about the materials and music that was presented and expanding the canon for each of our ensembles.

To aid in this work, I have included several resources below that might help you get started (or re-engage you in this work). The first is what I call a “Repertoire Accountability Checklist,” and it is just that: a list of questions I have been honing and updating over the years that I ask myself before I finalize any program.

Additionally, you will find links to five online repertoire resources to help you discover and identify choral works by historically excluded composers (and one link with information about repertoire that we should remove).

You may be familiar with some of these sites but haven’t used them in a while, or, hopefully, they will be brand new resources for you to explore. All of the resources below are free, and most contain direct links to free and downloadable scores you can use with your choirs.

Hopefully, if we all continue to engage in this work and explore these and other useful tools, our next regional conference will better reflect and represent our diverse region and truly lift every voice.

"...better does not mean done."

TACTUS Spring 2022

Repertoire Accountability Checklist

Online Resources

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A Modern Reveal: www.amodernreveal.com - (from the website) “A Modern Reveal: Songs and Stories of Women Composers is an online resource dedicated to promoting the vocal works and stories of historical female composers who have been overlooked for centuries. This project grew out of our passion to explore the lives of fascinating and talented female composers and give them voices today by offering unique insights into the successes and challenges they faced during their careers.” The website not only includes biographical information about composers and a list of works and recordings, but many of the works are hyper-linked directly to scores for both solo voice and choral works.

Is this the only arrangement/version of this piece?

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Is this piece representative of a non-eurocentric country/region/culture?

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If so, what experience and research has the composer/arranger done to make them an expert?

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If not, could it be replaced by something that is?

Whose perspective is presented via the text?

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For example - is the poetry written by a person who identifies as a womxn but set by a maleidentifying composer?

Can you feature a work that centers womxn’s lived experiences over men’s narration of womxn’s experiences? (This should apply to all cultures and historically excluded populations, as well.)

Does this piece contain problematic text?

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Can the text be omitted or altered?

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If not, can you find a different piece?

Is the text translated into English from another language?

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If so - who wrote the translation?

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Is it accurate?

When examining your concert program overall, who is represented and who is not?

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If not, is this the best representation of a particular genre, style, or perspective?

Can any of the pieces that represent the majority be replaced with piece(s) that represent historically excluded populations?

Who benefits financially from the purchase of this music?

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Can you use your purchasing power to support historically excluded composers/arrangers?

ÆPEX Working List of Composers: https:// aepexcontemporary.org/working-list-of-composers - Another great resource, ÆPEX Contemporary Performance, was originally created by composer, Garrett Schumann, and conductor, Kevin Fitzgerald, who noticed the music they wanted to hear wasn’t being programmed. Out of this passion to center different contemporary musical styles came additional resources that call attention to the disparity in music texts and programming. The above link will take you directly to a working list of composers (organized by time period) that includes a list of historically excluded composers from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, most of which are hyperlinked to scores on CPDL and/or IMSLP. Beyond Elijah Rock: Non-Idiomatic Choral Music of Black Composers: https://www.mlagmusic.com/ research/beyond-elijah-rock - Marques Garrett’s incredible research on Non-Idiomatic Choral Music of Black Composers is another essential resource for choral conductors. The link provided will take you directly to a searchable database of hundreds of titles for all voicings. The database also includes instrumentation and genre information to help you focus your search.

Resources continued...

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Composer Diversity Database: https://www. composerdiversity.com/choral-diversity-database - If you are engaged in DEI work, you already know that composer diversity and representation is not about checking a box, and historically excluded composers should be included on every program…BUT, if you do need help finding those composers and scores, this site can literally help you check that box. The Institute for Composer Diversity has a searchable database that allows you to filter based on voicing, genre, and level of difficulty, but it also includes filters for composer-specific information, like gender, demographic information, and location.

Repertoire to be removed - The final resource is a Google Document created by Kelsey Gamza in 2020. It is a comprehensive resource linked to articles and research on the history of minstrelsy in music education. It includes an extensive (though not exhaustive) list of published works to be “reconsidered or removed,” as well as contact information for many major music publishers. In addition to the list of repertoire to be removed from publisher catalogs or our own music libraries, there is a list of repertoire databases to help music educators diversify their repertoire provided in the appendix.

Dr. Alyssa J. Cossey serves as Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Arizona. She is the Arizona ACDA Collegiate Repertoire and Resources Coordinator, a member of the Western Region American Choral Directors Association Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee, and a founding member of the professional women’s choir, mirabai. For additional DEI and classroom resources, please visit www.alyssacossey.com.

CPDL Musica Colonial Archive: https://www.cpdl. org/wiki/index.php/Category:M%C3%BAsica_colonial_ scores - I came across this resource via a compiled list of resources created by Ahmed Anzaldúa. This particular repertoire list includes over 100 public domain pieces from Latin American colonial composers, most of which have been transcribed from the Cathedral of Guatemala Archive. Many of the featured works include instrumental accompaniments, as well as Spanish to English translations.

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.

PERFORMING BACH WITH HULA UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI’I CHAMBER CHOIR WACDA CONFERENCE PERFORMANCE

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Choirs at Snow College Bachelor of Music With an emphasis in commercial music Career Opportunities Include: Music Education Professional performance Commercial arranging & composition Film, TV, or game scoring Music recording and production Music copyist Live event production Music management, business, or law Music online or retail sales

Join a music program that focuses on entrepreneurship and job preparation as well as vital musicianship and performance skill.

www.snow.edu/music

TACTUS Spring 2022

SAY WHAT YOU MEAN, CHARLENE!

Jeffrey Benson talks with Dr. Charlene Archibeque about history, how-tos, and hippies Written by Dr. Jeffrey Benson The following article was originally published in the Winter 2017 issue of Cantate, the magazine of the California Choral Directors' Association.

Dr. Charlene Archibeque was the 2022 ACDA Western Region Conference Honoree.

For thirty-five years, Dr. Archibeque served as Professor of Choral Music at San Jose State University, where she conducted both the Concert Choir and the renowned SJSU Choraliers in hundreds of concerts, preparing and conducting over 160 major works with orchestra. Her choirs were selected to perform at twenty-five regional, state, and national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, and MENC, precursor of the National Association for Music Education.

Jeffrey Benson: In the 1960s you left a good paying full-time teaching job to go back to school for your DMA in Choral Conducting. What made you decide to make that change and drastically alter your professional career?

Charlene Archibeque: It was quite interesting. I had been teaching for seven years in the junior high, three years at the high school level, and then a year at Mesa Junior College all in San Diego. I had attended numerous conferences where people like William Hall would hold up the Liber Usualis and say, “If you don’t know what’s in this book, you have no business teaching Renaissance music!”

And then Howard Swan would say, “If you don’t know the difference between Palestrina and di Lasso, then you have no business doing Renaissance music!” And I thought, “I’ve just got to go out and find out what I don’t know.” It became a burning ambition. In addition, I was attending a convention with Rudy Saltzer, who later taught at Cal State Hayward, and he leaned over to me and said, “Charlene, you should go get a doctorate.” And I said, “What?! Me? Why?” But he planted that seed, and it grew and grew.

The SJSU Choraliers under Dr. Archibeque recorded seven professional CDs and completed sixteen concert tours to Europe, Mexico and Australia. Winners of seven of the most prestigious competitions in Europe, they were named "Choir of the World" in 1991 at the Wales Eisteddfod, winner of the famed Grand Prix in Tallin, Estonia 1994, and winner in the Spittal, Austria festival.

In 1996 Dr. Archibeque won the coveted Best Conductor award at the Concorso Internazionale di Canto Corale in Gorizia, Italy, along with six other trophies including first place in the Folk Music Category.

Named one of the top ten honor choir clinicians in America in a 1988 ACDA survey, Charlene loves conducting honor choirs and has conducted All-State and festival choirs in forty-six American states and six Canadian provinces—more than any other woman.

Jeffrey Benson: So, off you went to University of Colorado, Boulder to start your doctorate. What was it like making that shift and becoming the first woman to earn the DMA in Choral Conducting?

Charlene Archibeque: Well, I completed all of my coursework in two summers and one academic year, and then returned to San Diego where I was teaching at Mesa College. That fall I did my final doctoral dissertation project, which was a concert on early music where I explored how the tactus in Renaissance music worked.

My advisor, Dr. Lynn Whitten, flew out from Boulder and approved my concert, and then I finished my degree in the fall of 1969. At the time, I didn’t realize that I was the first woman to actually receive a DMA in choral conducting.

Among the over thirty awards in her illustrious career, Dr. Archibeque was the recipient of the Howard Swan Award in 2008, the highest honor presented by the California Choral Directors Association for lifetime achievement.

She received Honorary Life Membership in the National Collegiate Choral Association (NCCO) at the Portland conference in 2015.

She is Editor of the Charlene Archibeque Choral Series with Santa Barbara Music Publishers. Her DVD “How to Make a Good Choir Sound Great” is published by GIA. 22

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I didn’t think about being a woman; I just thought about wanting the information and getting the degree. I didn’t even find out until one of my students decided to write his doctoral dissertation on my career. He called me and said, “What other women got doctorates in choral conducting at the time you did?” and I started thinking about it. I talked to all my friends and we agreed that there were no other women. Some had degrees in music education or the Ph.D., but none in choral conducting.

So I’m pretty sure that I was the first.

We all need advocates!

When I got the job, there were six choirs and I was directing them all. I was completely overworked, but I walked into a terrific choral program where I was the Director of Choral Activities. As far as I know, I was the only woman this side of the Mississippi to be in this position. Most women who were getting college jobs in those days were the assistant to a man.

JB: If you could go back to 1970—that first year at San Jose State—what do you wish you had known walking in? What advice would you give to new teachers and conductors?

JB: Did you face any resistance from colleagues, either in the doctoral program or in your early years as a conductor?

CA: I would like to have had a mentor. I didn’t have anybody to help me. I had to discover everything the hard way. Some of the women were very kind to me, and some of the men not so kind. I think if I were to give anybody advice, it’s to talk less and listen more, and really try to get the lay of the land before you are too outspoken with your beliefs.

CA: I didn’t even think about the fact that the other students were all men, actually. I wouldn’t say I faced resistance, but I also worked as hard, if not harder, than all of the others. I suspect they resented the fact that I was always extremely prepared for every class. I would make it a point to try to learn more than Dr. Whitten knew about a particular assignment. I would stay up until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning researching. I remember reading Moser’s entire book about Schutz (which is probably 800 pages). Luckily I was a speed reader, so I did a lot of reading. I quickly learned that the other doctoral students complained a lot about the workload.

I just thought it was all interesting and I didn’t question the assignments. These were obviously topics that Dr. Whitten felt we should know. So I worked around the clock because I wanted to get through the program quickly. I had a daughter and a husband at the time, and I did not want to stay three years in Boulder, Colorado.

JB: What, in that first few years of teaching, was your biggest inspiration? What helped you be successful?

CA: Well, as far as being successful, I had already trained fine choirs at the junior high, high school, and junior college level, so I knew how to train a choir. Of course, with my doctorate in hand, I really knew choral literature, and I thought my conducting was perfect (I found out later it wasn’t!). I had a lot of confidence, luckily, and the students were very talented. It was the time of the Korean conflict, so I had a lot of great male singers avoiding the draft. I had huge choirs that were serious about their music. It was kind of the hippie days.

Everybody really dressed down, and we would find marijuana in the practice rooms and brownies on tour. It was an interesting time to begin teaching! But I loved the students.

JB: Tell us about your first few years at San Jose State, which was your first college/university job. What were the surprises and the exciting aspects of those early years?

CA: When SJSU asked me to audition for the position, I of course, was the only woman. I brought my Mesa College Chamber Singers up to perform at an ACDA Convention at San Francisco State. The committee came and watched me and then interviewed me. Afterward, some of the people on the committee said to the chair of the committee, “We don’t think a woman can handle this job. It’s too demanding.” The department chair immediately supported me saying, “Let’s leave sex out of this. She’s the right person for the job and we’re going to hire her.” So I had his support, because he had heard my choirs perform at conventions and knew my work.

I had a lot of models of how I wanted my choral program to be, including the great choirs that Bill Hall had at Chapman University, Howard Swan at Occidental, and Charles Hirt at USC, to say nothing of University of Illinois with Harold Decker. I had been an early member of ACDA, and I was familiar with all of the fine choirs in America, and those were my models. I wanted my choir to be right up there at the top with all the other fine college choirs.

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JB: You work with a lot of young conductors and teachers who are just starting out. Is there anything you see in them that tells you right away that they are going to be tremendously successful or that they’re not going to be successful?

To quote one of my dear friends, “there’s nothing more precious than rehearsal time except California real estate.”

CA: Probably three things: 1) their desire for excellence; 2) their personality and ability to get along with people; and 3) their innate musicality. You can’t go very far if you don’t have strong musical skills. We used to say, “First come skills, second comes artistry,” and I think that’s often the case. You really have to have a good ear and you have to know how music is supposed to sound in order to be successful. You also really have to be a strong leader. You have to understand people and what motivates them and drives them—you have to be a salesperson. You not only have to sell the music that you pick, you have to sell your concerts to the public.

There’s so much salesmanship involved. I was lucky there because my father was a Ford dealer. He was a super salesman, so I think I grew up watching him.

JB: Many of our readers know that you are incredibly passionate about the rehearsal process engaging your singers. You’ve done recent presentations on brain-friendly rehearsals. What are the most important axioms for your rehearsal? What does a rehearsal need to look like?

CA: My goal has always been to have every singer totally mentally, physically, and emotionally involved in the rehearsal process. I cannot bear to waste people’s time, so when I have a choir of 200, I don’t want a hundred of them sitting there while I work with the other hundred.

Even before all the brain research came out, I would always try to find ways to keep my students mentally involved in every second of the choral rehearsal. I wanted everybody really focused the entire time, so I quickly learned to use section leaders. If a section was having trouble, I’d send them outside the room to work on their music while I worked with the rest of the choir.

When you have 90 squirrely junior high kids sitting in a general music class, you learn how to keep them involved, whether it’s making instruments or creating ostinatos. The whole idea is total, constant involvement.

I don’t like to waste my time and I don’t want to be accused of wasting anybody else’s time, so I think that has really helped me to take advantage of every minute of rehearsal time.

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JB: How do you teach young teachers and conductors to be more efficient with their time and their time management in those rehearsals?

CA: Number one: planning. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” That’s always been my motto. You must plan every minute of your rehearsal and always have more to do than you think you need. I could always run a 90-minute rehearsal even if I only had an hour because I was so well planned. Even after I had taught for 35 years, I would still plan my lessons and send my lesson plans out by e-mail to all my college students a week or a month in advance, so they knew which music we were going to work on and what parts of the music we were going to concentrate on so they and I were on the same page. I would wake up in the morning thinking about the rehearsal and what warm-ups I was going to use that day so we didn’t get bored with the same old ones. It’s imperative to record rehearsals and ask, “How many seconds or minutes were you talking?” “How much of the time were they singing?” “What could you have done to make the rehearsal go faster?” “What could you have done to make that time more efficient?” Constant evaluation of every rehearsal...I’m very self-critical. As I tell people, there are no bad choirs, just bad conductors.

It’s never the choir’s fault if something isn’t going right.

It’s always the conductor. So if you have a problem and things aren’t going well or you’re not getting the music learned, you can analyze what needs to be done, but you don’t accept failure and you don’t accept less than the standards you’ve set for yourself and your choir. In high school at the beginning of the year I would say, “This year, we are going to the festival in March, and we are going to win a superior rating.” From the very first day, I always set the standards high.

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

TACTUS Spring 2022

JB: You’re very passionate about gesture as well as the rehearsal process, and you’ve taught conducting for many years. What are some of your “Dos and Don’ts” for beginning and/or intermediate conducting students?

CA: I feel very strongly that the better your conducting skills are, the more effective your rehearsals are. You don’t have to stop and talk, because my goal is not to waste time with words, but instead to have my singers singing 90-95% of the rehearsal. I find that with good conducting skills you can show things and you don’t have to stop and talk. As soon as you stop and talk, half of the choir turns their brain off, so I try to let them sing. I’ve really worked hard to make my gesture show what it needs to show. This really started when I was conducting high school honor choirs in Europe. We would give a concert in Italy, hop on the train and be in Switzerland the next day in time for another concert. A lot of things would need fixing, and you had no time.

So I would think about how I could show that in my conducting. I was aware early on of how important it was to use conducting to fix problems. And then, of course, I learned the importance of improving the quality of the tone through conducting, because everything the conductor does affects the sound of the choir. Number one, I want my choir to sound rich and beautiful. If the choir doesn’t sound beautiful, who wants to listen to it?

There are so many obvious “dos,” but “don’t” mouth the words. Studies have shown that if you mouth the words, the attacks and releases are not together, the phrasing suffers, and the tone quality suffers; and yet, some of our finest conductors still keep mouthing the words all the time. People think that mouthing helps the choir remember the words, but the choir either knows the words or they don’t. It is detrimental to their ability to concentrate on your hands and on your face. Sometimes in a passionate performance, I often find that I don’t even look at my singers. I just close my eyes and concentrate totally on the music, because I don’t want to get in the way of their emotions and their understanding of the text and what they’re feeling at that moment. I think conductors often get in the way of their singers.

IMAGE: DR. CHARLENE ARCHIBEQUE, WACDA 2022 CONFERENCE HONOREE

Continued...

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JB: You’re known for your choirs’ exquisite tone and the beauty with which your singers sang. What are some techniques, in addition to gesture, that helped shape and mold your choirs’ sound?

CA: I have Weston Noble to thank for the voice matching idea. In 1986, my choir was singing for Western Division ACDA here in San Jose, and Weston did a session on voice matching. I was so impressed with him that I have been voice matching ever since. I always try to find my ideal model singer for different tones. For example, when I’m doing a spiritual, I want my students to think of Marian Anderson, who sang with this deep, rich, wonderful, dark tone. That’s the way I want my altos to sound. Depending upon the music and the period, I have different sopranos as my model. I’ll use an English soprano, for example, and play recordings of them and say, “This is what I want the sopranos to sound like in this English piece.” So I have different models for different voices in my head, and I actually play recordings. Howard Swan always said, “You have to have a model of the sound you want in your own head.”

For the basses, I want a rich, warm, forward production so that it’s not lost in the back of their throat. My sound model is built on the pyramid, so plenty of bass! In order to hear the overtones, I build the harmonic structure of the music by having a lot of altos and basses, and fewer sopranos and tenors.

give a concert, so you understand the acoustical needs of that particular venue.

JB: How do you craft a concert? You obviously think about how to make each piece better for the audience to hear it. But how about crafting the whole performance for the audience?

CA: I am a nut about selection of literature. I think it’s terribly important that as you plan a concert program, or even three pieces for a competition or a festival, the choice of literature is the first and most important element. I usually want a theme for my concerts, and I choose music that will fit into that theme so that there is a unifying factor. I remember, as a sophomore at the University of Michigan, the teacher said, “There must always be unity in variety, and variety in unity.” That axiom has stuck with me through all these years. There has to be something that ties everything together, but within that unity, you have to have variety. It drives me crazy when people begin a concert with three slow Renaissance pieces. I adore Renaissance music, but that’s not how you open a concert, unless you want this concert to be a meditative or memorial concert where you want people to be calm and quiet and contemplative.

If you want them to be excited and to love your concert, then you want to start with something upbeat and exciting that gets everybody to say, “Wow, I’m glad I’m here tonight.” Every aspect has to be considered carefully: concert openers and closers, final pieces before intermission, first pieces to get everyone back in their seats. There is so much to consider: the key relationships from one piece to the next are important, the mood of the piece, the language of the text, how you want your audience to come with you. In my case, since I was at the university level where education was my primary goal, I wanted to be sure that all of my students learned the great “nuggets” of choral literature, and that they learned music from every musical period. Generally, I tried to do music from all six style periods every semester, because sometimes kids are only in and out of choir for a semester. If you’re in competition, of course, every piece has to be so carefully chosen and you have to understand what the judges are looking for. In Europe these days, they want very difficult, intricate music and they want new things. For years, in Europe, they never wanted secular music. They thought it was not deep choral music, so they always wanted sacred music.

It’s also important to think about singer placement with thought to the way they hear and the way the audience hears their voices. I’m able to manipulate the sound radically just by changing singer positions. If a tenor section has the melody, then I’ll put the tenors across the front row so the audience hears the melody. I try to bring out the intent of the music by clever placing of the singers so the audience can understand how the music is put together. If I’m doing Renaissance music, then I put them in parts so that the audience can hear the interplay of the voices, one against the other and the entrances as they imitate one another. If it’s homogenous music, then I like “scrambled” or mixed formation. It all depends on the acoustics, the voices that you have, and each piece. Every piece, if you look at it, will suggest to you a formation that is more effective than others. And, through trial and error, you figure out the best formation for each piece and for each new acoustic. That’s why it’s so important to be able to warm up in a place before you 26

JB: Has that changed?

CA: I don’t think so. They really want demanding literature and something new and different. I would be very careful about ever programming, in any festival or competition, a piece that everybody knows, because the judges are going to compare it with every other performance they’ve ever heard. If you’re going to choose a well-known piece, then it jolly well better be better than everybody else’s performance of it.

Programming is a study in and of itself.

JB: What do you most miss about being a full-time choral director now that you are retired?

CA: What I miss most is making music with young people, because although I can sit down and play the piano, it’s not the same thrill you get when you’ve got all these people working together under your direction.

There’s no feeling like being a conductor, shaping the music with your hands and with your brain. At the same time, I wouldn’t want a full-time choir again because it’s all consuming.

It dominated my life, so I could never think about anything else except the next choir rehearsal and the next concert. It’s relaxing not to have that hanging over your head all the time. It’s all the organizational details that I don’t miss. But standing in front of a choir and making music, I would do it any time anybody asked.

Jeffrey Benson is the Director of Choral Activities at San Jose State University in San Jose, California and is the Vice-President of the California Choral Directors Association. In 2016, Dr. Benson made his international conducting debut with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the SJSU Choraliers in Limerick, Ireland, and he made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in 2015 with the SJSU Choirs and the New York Festival Orchestra. Choirs under his direction have been invited to perform with the Rolling Stones, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, the Los Angeles Festival Orchestra and the Skywalker Orchestra. Dr. Benson is a published composer and arranger with Colla Voce Music and Santa Barbara Music Publishing, under the Charlene Archibeque Choral Series. He is also the Artistic Director of Peninsula Cantare, a community chorus based in Palo Alto.

TACTUS Spring 2022

(LEFT TO RIGHT) ACDA NATIONAL PRESIDENT-ELECT EDITH COPLEY WACDA PRESIDENT LOU DE LA ROSA WACDA PRESIDENT-ELECT DESIGNATE JULIE DANA WACDA PRESIDENT-ELECT MICHAEL SHORT

GRACE BRIGHAM, ARRANGER AND LIV GRACE, COMPOSER OF NATIONAL CONCERTS COMMISSION FOR SSAA HONOR CHOIR, “HEAR ME ROAR”

SELFIE AFTER WELCOME ADDRESS, CONCERT SESSION 1

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TACTUS Spring 2022

YOUTH HONOR CHOIR DR. MARCELA MOLINA, CONDUCTOR

FIRST-EVER WACDA GOSPEL HONOR CHOIR, DR. ROSEPHANYE POWELL, CONDUCTOR JONTÉ MOORE, COLLABORATIVE PIANIST DARRYL WHITLOW, DRUMMER ZACH RUDULPH, BASSIST

SPIRIT CHORALE LA BYRON J. SMITH, CONDUCTOR

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TACTUS Spring 2022

PACIFIC STANDARD TIME (1ST JAZZ ENSEMBLE TO OPEN AN ACDA CONFERENCE ON MAINSTAGE) CHRISTINE GUTER, CONDUCTOR, CSU LONG BEACH

TONALITY, DIRECTED BY ANDREW LLOYD BLAKE

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TACTUS Spring 2022

CONFERENCE REFLECTIONS WACDA 2022 Honor Choir Reflections

Gospel

Written by Dr. Willow Manspeaker

I’ve never seen anything like this in an honor choir setting. It’s hard to adequately articulate in writing the full-body-chill sensation of being in the room during the first rehearsal with the choir and the full rhythm section.

Dr. Rosephayne Powell is an absolute force, devoted and committed at the highest level, and she pulled such a powerful performance out of the singers. Jonté Moore completely embodied his role as collaborative pianist and shared his knowledge and time gently and freely with anyone who needed advice. One of my own students who participated continues to share how life changing the experience was for her, and I would imagine that she was not the only one.

There is always a bit of trepidation in the minutes leading up to any first honor choir rehearsal. For the singers, it’s “Am I prepared enough? I don’t know anyone here, will I meet new people?” For the conductors and collaborating musicians, it’s “How will this choir sound? How will I lead them to find their unique sound as an ensemble?”

But this particular year, there were the added concerns of health, safety, and singing through a mask. I’m here to tell you from my observations in those first few rehearsals, all concerns dissipated and were replaced with that satisfying joyful feeling that comes from making beautiful music with others.

Overview of Interest Sessions

Youth

Written by Dr. Emily Mercado

The energy in these rehearsals was something special.

Of course the singers were energetic, but Dr. Marcela Molina gave those kids a run for their money! Her attention to musical detail was, of course, top notch, but I particularly enjoyed observing the way in which she facilitated conversations about the meaning and historical context of the songs. One highlight was a Zoom call with the composer Lisa Young who connected from Australia in the midst of an historic storm. The dramatic nature of that Zoom call, and the opportunity to speak to and ask questions of a living composer helped to bolster the connection between these fine young singers and the music.

The sessions at this year’s conference were rooted within the values diversity, equity, inclusion, and access. For example, Dr. Alyssa Cossey presented on amplifying women’s voices, Dr. Jason Bowers presented on implementing a multicultural framework, and Drs. Josh Palkki and Jace Saplan presented on intersections of race and gender in the choral rehearsal. In these sessions, among many others, attendees sang together, engaged in meaningful discussions, and left with new perspectives and resources for their choral classrooms.

Drs. Edith Copley, Charlene Archibeque, and Jo-Michael Scheibe engaged attendees in conducting master classes and led the all-conference sing. These valuable hands-on experiences with experts in our field allowed attendees to refine their conducting techniques and pedagogical approaches towards promoting a healthy vocal technique.

HS SSAA What struck me most in my observations of this group was the general calm in the room. Tesfa Wondemagegnehu brought strength and poise into the rehearsals, which transferred directly onto the singers. The song selections brought empowerment and relevance to the singers’ experiences. Hearing young composer Liv Grace describe what motivated her to write “Hear Me Roar,” and observing the rehearsal and world premiere performance of it was truly inspiring.

This was the first research and best practice poster session to take place at a Western ACDA conference.

Eleven presenters shared their research on topics such as culturally relevant pedagogy in the choral classroom, the masses of Marianna Martines, and Alexander Technique.

The poster session took place during the social hour where attendees shared food, drink, visited the exhibits, and connected with friends and colleagues.

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TACTUS Spring 2022

FROM LEFT - CARI EARNHART, CHARLENE ARCHIBEQUE, CONDUCTING MASTER CLASS STUDENT CHERRI HARDCASTLE

DANIEL HUGHES (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE CHORAL PROJECT), ACCOMPANIST FOR DR. ARCHIBEQUE

AZACDA PRESIDENTS... FROM LEFT KATIE GERRICH, TED GIBSON, AIMEE STEWART, RYAN HOLDER PHOTO CREDIT: AIMEE STEWART

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TACTUS Spring 2022

USC PRESENTERS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: STEVIE HIRNER(USA, INTEREST SESSION), YU HANG TAN(MALAYSIA, INTEREST SESSION), YEN-HSIANG NIEH(TAIWAN, READING SESSION) PHOTO CREDIT: HYEJIN JUNG

ALL-CONFERENCE SING, LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING, ARR. ZANAIDA ROBLES (HL 00139863) ZANAIDA ROBLES, SOPRANO

CALL FOR SCORES WINNERS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: THOMAS GOEDECKE, OSCAR LUNA II, JOSHUA TAN, YEN-HSIANG NIEH, COOPER BALDWIN, JENNIFER LUCY COOK, BRITTNEY BENTON, DALE TRUMBORE PHOTO CREDIT: HUNG-HAN LIN THE CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY (TAIWAN)

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2022 ACDA Western Region Conference Long Beach, CA March 2-5, 2022  SOUNDWAVES RECORDING 4708 Surfside Drive Huron, Ohio 44839 ~ Phone 419-433-4918 Fax:0419-433-4918 Email: mail@soundwaves.org Website: soundwaves.org

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   Name __________________________________________ Address _________________________________________ City ____________________________________________ State ______________________ Zip __________________

 

   

6-15   

16-29  

30 plus

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 Card # __________-___________-____________-___________ Exp. Date _________ / __________ 3 or 4 digit security code on card___________ Name on Card (Please Print) _____________________________

 

Signature ____________________________________________

Artistic and Academic Excellence School of Music BACHELOR OF ARTS BACHELOR OF MUSIC MASTER OF MUSIC ARTIST DIPLOMA

Graduate Degrees Music scholarships & graduate assistantships available → Composition → Conducting → Pedagogy

→ Performance → Vocal Chamber Music

Choral Faculty → Nicholle Andrews

→ Christopher Gabbitas

Voice Faculty → Melissa Tosh → Cynthia Snyder

→ Patricia Gee → Donald Brinegar

WWW.REDLANDS.EDU/MUSIC

ACDA Western Region 6439 El Paseo Drive San Jose, CA 95120

Choral and Voice Studies Degrees MM and DMA in Choral Conducting MM and DMA in Vocal Performance • • • • •

BM in Vocal Performance BA in Music

Teaching Assistantships and Fellowships available Choral graduate students enjoy ample podium and workshop experiences, with innovative rehearsal techniques, conducting pedagogy, repertoire exploration, performance practice, and skill-building for 21st century musicians Fully-staged opera productions and/or opera scenes each year with all Voice Area students Ensembles: Chamber Choir (SATB), Lumina (SSAA), Singing Gauchos (TTBB), and Conducting Lab Choir Study with world-renowned faculty including Dr. Nicole Lamartine (Sorensen Director of Choral Music), Dr. Isabel Bayrakdarian (Voice), Professor Benjamin Brecher (Voice), and Dr. John Ballerino (Voice) UCSB Choirs: Empowering Innovative Excellence through Exploration, Intention, and Connection.

For more information, contact Dr. Lamartine at lamartine@ucsb.edu or visit music.ucsb.edu.

Dr. Nicole Lamartine Sorensen Director of Choral Music