The Chorister
Winter Issue 2014
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. The Chorister: Cover Page 2. Weber: Building the Membership 3. Photo Flash: Concert Photos 4. Saylor: Philosophy Matters 7. Stevenson: Have a Blue Christmas 8. Miller: The Performance Mindset 10. Strommen Campbell: Church Choir
12. 14. 17. 18. 19. 20. 22. 23.
Holdhusen: Positive Impatience Archuleta: Working Through Change Redfearn: To Sing at Sight Bronfman: Conference Corner Conference Headliners Beehler: Student Teaching Survey Gerszewski: Cartoon Corner Photo Flash: Concert Photos
Bulding the Membership Michael Weber, NDACDA President Congratulations North Dakota! Because of your dedication to ACDA and your advocacy for our organization, we increased our membership by 22% during the Sing Up membership drive. Our efforts gained us the honor of having the third best increase throughout the county. The top five states in order of increased percentage are: Idaho (30%), Connecticut (23%), NORTH DAKOTA (22%), South Carolina (18%) and New Mexico (16%). Our name will be included on a plaque that will hang in the museum at ACDA headquarters in Oklahoma City. A big thank you and congratulations to Rebecca Raber for spearheading our successful recruiting for new and returning members. I would like to welcome the people who joined ACDA through the Refer a Friend Campaign. Our new and returning members are: Shana Klee, Laurae Dykema, Connie Stordalen, Jonathan Wharton, Rebecca Holler and Christian Boechler. Others joining us through the Seeding New Memberships program are Andrea Greenawalt, Misty Sipma, Kelli Dahl, Claire Hoselton, Elise Naber, Susan Morken, Amber Olson and Cynthia Hoselton. The biggest category of new members was seen through the Student Membership Initiative. We welcome Ashley Gayton, Grace Maiers, Rylan Dilly, Heidi Hartman, John Bisbee, Chandler Hertz, Ashley Boe, Amelia Brown, Bradyn Good, Bernae Hertz, Sammi Hintz, Jacqueline Lee, Tyler Manske, Tanner Monilaws, Courtney Pederson, Analicia Reinig, Jennifer Riemann, Joe Wright, Andrew Wickenheiser,
Graham Swenson, Adler Scheer, Bethany Oakland, Aaron Landrie, Nia Coley, Kat Kirschmann, Jennifer Klinger, Danielle Stotz, Mitch Huisman, Emma Youngquist, Chris Loeffler, Kaleb Quast, Richard Schrom, Ian Sherwood, Lindsey Gress, Christopher Bales, Michael Petyo, Maxwell Boyd, Jacob Dixon, April Maertens, Bernard Van Moer, Myles Lyra, Alyssa Impullitti, Tylen Bultema, Chelsey Schmitz, Joseph Brauer and Samantha Pyle. Our state membership has grown to 160 members strong! This is fantastic news for our state. The increase in membership will not only have positive financial benefits, but in addition, all of our new members will contribute different ideas and bring an energy to our state organization that will help us to continue to promote excellence in choral performance, and to provide opportunities for our students to experience the benefits of being in a choir. As an organization, we sponsor many events throughout the year that will help us all discover many innovative rehearsal techniques and new pieces of quality literature that will empower us to create new experiences with our students. I invite all of our membership to attend our State Conference that will be held in Grand Forks at Grand Forks Central High School on January 31 and February 1. I know Josh Bronfman has been diligently working to create a conference that will inspire us all. Look for
m o r e information in this edition of th e Ch or iste r and on our webpage (www.ndacda.com). I would also like to invite you all to our North Central Division Conference that will be held in Des Moines, Iowa on March 20 – 22. The theme for the conference is Celebrate Choral Diversity. The conference is designed to give us a more global perspective of choral music throughout different cultures and countries. Choirs from Mexico, Canada, South Korea and the United States will be featured in the Headliner Concerts. Congratulations to Josh Bronfman and the Grand Forks Master Chorale who will be representing North Dakota as one of the performing choirs. I feel strongly that conferences at any level – State, Division or National – give us an opportunity to grow as musicians through inspiring concerts and interest sessions. I hope you will take advantage of our State and Division conference this year to regenerate your passion for choral music. I look forward to seeing many of you in Grand Forks for our State Conference and I hope to meet all of our new members and welcome them to our energized organization!
Concert Photos
North Dakota State University
Red River High School
The University of North Dakota
Philosophy Matters Brian Saylor, Show Choirs R & S A recent experience in my High School Jazz Choir took me back in time to when I was an elementary music teacher. I began to reminisce about trying to inspire creative musical thinking in the elementary setting and again in the middle school. While thinking about this, I realized something that I thought was quite profound and decided to share it with you.
to ensuring the sustainability of the piece. I believe that music professionals have a responsibility to work diligently to push students into works that they themselves never would have selected. Exposing them to emotions and feelings they never thought possible from anything other than “their music.”
While teaching elementary school I went to the University of Kentucky to receive my OrffSchulwerk Certification. This process taught me a great deal about facilitating and valuing student creative abilities. This helped me formulate a philosophy that currently guides and shaped my daily work with middle school students for 5 years, and currently with High School students. My personal philosophy has 3 major points. They are:
Value Music Literacy and Fundamental Musical Principles The next item of value is music literacy. I have had many conversations with other choir directors regarding how to teach the fundamentals of music in a choral classroom. I think each of us finds this to be an area of great difficulty. Creating a classroom that values the student’s own ability to be independently musically literate is essential to pushing choirs forward. I believe this is accomplished through focusing on the fundamental musical principals that students need to know. This will help ensure that their ability to make music will not end when they leave our classroom. It will encourage them to be musical for the rest of their lives.
1. Value literature of the highest quality for all students, groups, ensembles, and choirs that I work with. 2. Value music literacy and fundamental musical principles. 3. Value the student’s individual musical creativity. Value Literature of the Highest Quality I will begin with literature. As you can imagine, the literature at the elementary school looked quite different than the literature of the Bismarck High School Concert Choir. It may seem that there would be nothing in common between the two, however this would be an untrue assumption. I have found, at every level, there is literature of high quality. This is the music that in itself is rewarding. I believe with everything in me that quality music stands regardless of the personal taste of the individual. When selecting music for performance or for classroom use I believe that a concentration on the key musical and emotional attributes is key
In a recent conversation with a friend who is a coach he was talking to me about the importance of basic fundamentals. He was sharing with me the importance of teaching young athletes the basics of the “game” so they can make the simple plays happen when they need to. This started my thinking about music. This is true for us as music teachers. If our choirs cannot read music well, it slows the process of rehearsal. If our students have not been taught the basics skills of good vocal production, the sound of the ensemble suffers. This is all included in the fundamentals of music. We must ensure that our students are given the opportunity to experience and grasp music through their own literacy. This is a gift that we can give them that will sustain through their whole life. I have never met an adult that regrets learning to read music. I have, however, met many adults that regret not learning how to read music.
Value Student Creativity The last item is the most rewarding, but can also be the most difficult because it is dependent upon getting the first 2 principles right. Once high quality literature is selected, and students have a basic level of fundamental music literacy, this opens the door for creativity. I believe that music is an inherent trait that each of us is born with. I remember fondly as a young father watching my son, who was barely walking at the time, pulling out containers, pots, bowls and wooden spoons to make music happen in our kitchen. This is musical expression at its earliest. Carl Orff said it this way: “One should not lead the child to music, but rather music should arise out of the child. The important thing is that the child should be allowed to play naturally, bringing outward what is within, and that this activity should be protected from external distractions.” I think it is not our job to “teach” music as much as it is to find the music that is already a part of the student. We all experience music in different ways. Students need to feel a sense of freedom of expression through the music they perform. This will ultimately make every piece they perform come alive and be a living, breathing experience for them. As young people, they have already been exposed to a myriad of musical ideas, sounds, and other information that can be used in performance. As teachers we can guide them into a method of organizing these thoughts into something that expresses their intent. I use these three basic principles to guide the structure of my classroom. I have often expressed to my choirs that learning the notes and rhythms is step 1 of 1,000. This is to illustrate the importance of turning the music into an experience for the audience and the performer, rather than just singing a work. This experience transcends the notes on the page and becomes a communication between singer and spectator. I believe this is key in developing young singers. Teaching them to express rather than sing. Singing is the vehicle for creativity.
Oh, and if you are curious the experience with my Jazz Choir went like this. We decided to do a current top 40 song for a pep rally. My co-teacher Natascha Bach and I created a framework of how the song would go, then we divided the group by section to go and “create” a part from what they heard. After 10 minutes of working in groups, they came back to the room and performed the entire song. We have a bit of cleanup work to do, but it is easily the fastest process so far this year. It confirmed that when you allow students to be creative, to take ownership, and work as a team the music comes naturally from within! I would highly encourage you to develop your own philosophy of music education. Write it down and reflect upon it often. This will assist you in making decisions, choosing literature, and in working with your groups. If something does not fit my personal philosophy, I have no guilt in letting it go. That doesn’t mean it is bad, just bad for me. Quotes: “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” –Scott Adams “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if you only try!” -Dr. Seuss “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.” Steve Jobs “We all do ‘do, re, mi’ but you have got to find the other notes yourself.” -Loius Armstrong “I stole everything I ever heard, but mostly I stole from the horns.” -Ella Fitzgerald “Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.” -Ludwig van Beethoven “I haven’t understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it.” –Igor Stravinsky “You compose because you want to somehow summarize in some permanent form you most basic feelings about being alive to set down……some sort of permanent statement about the way it feels to live now, today.” Aaron Copland.
Have a Blue Christmas Michael Stevenson, Music in Worship Guest Column Since the inception of the Christian Church, elements of other religions have been assimilated. The date for Christmas derived from Roman Saturnalia, and Scandinavian Yule. The date for Easter connected with Jewish Passover and position of the full moon i n connection with the s p r i n g equinox. These are only two of many examples. This assimilation continues today. Many churches have begun to add a service on December 21, or very near that date. This service, called a Longest Night Service, or Blue Christmas Service, is not to acknowledge that the winter solstice sun has r i se n t h r ou g h t h e ce ntr a l sarsen Trilithon stones at Stonehenge, but to provide a service of meditation and healing for those who are suffering with pain, isolation, and grief during the Advent and Christmas season. The service fits in very well with traditional Advent services, as it celebrates a light coming into the darkness
that may physically or mentally surround us. My senior choir has taken an integral part in this service since our church began presenting it, about 5 years ago. We have done several different services, s o m e original a n d others gleaned from the internet. G o o g l i n g Longest night service, or Blue Christmas service, will produce many interpretations. The service that we use most frequently at St. John Lutheran ELCA, is based on the Finnish advent hymn, “Yön aikana kadonnut”, “Lost in the Night”. In working with that service I try to find anthems that are reflective and that musically try to emulate
the hope that exists through the promise of the coming light. I have used the “Lost in the Night”, arranged by F. Melius Christiansen , the same tune arranged by Hal H. Hopson, “Night of the Father’s Love”, by Pepper Choplin, and “On a Peaceful Winter’s Night” by John Purifoy. This last tune was found at a Fall reading session for J. W. Pepper. John Purifoy was the clinician. After singing that song, I mentioned to him that it would go very well with a Blue Christmas Service. He looked at me in a very puzzled way, and I realized, he thought I was trying to somehow pair the song with Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas.” After an explanation, he agreed with me. It is a long ways from Christmas 2014, but now is the time to start finding works to fit with your own service, and add a moving part of church choir’s advent experience.
“Sorrowing brother, in darkness yet dwelling, Dawned hath the day of a radiance excelling, Death’s dreaded darkness forever dispelling: Christ is coming soon! Christ is coming soon!” Finnish Song,1929, Tr. Olav Lee
The Performance Mindset... Andrew Miller, Youth & Student Activities ...Empowering our Choirs to Perform at Their Peak It’s concert time. You’re on the podium in front of a group of young people who, in the scope of a lifetime, are still in the introductory phase of this “choir” thing. You’ve introduced several concepts to them in your rehearsals, and they’ve shown you they can focus and deliver, but they’re human, and they’re young, so they’re more susceptible to distraction and nerves. The performance medium is a psychological gamechanger. The adrenaline valve is opened, and excitement and nerves mix to produce all sorts of interesting results. On the positive side, performance hype can evoke more passion and emotion from our singers. On the negative side, it can debilitate a choir’s focus on the music, on their technique, and on the conductor. Within a single moment of a performance, a choir can go from performing very well, to a complete regression of progress. This most often and most severely manifests in rushed tempi, but can also cause singers to neglect/forget their diction, tone quality, and breath support. We have all experienced that moment in the performance when we realize we are no longer in control. The roles have reversed, and we are now being directed by our choir. We might try to make our pattern smaller, give them a look, point at our own eyes or our pattern, or mouthing the words (which all only sometimes work), but at this point, the choir is a horse unbridled, on auto pilot, headed straight to the finish line with no stops for musical nuance along the way. Articulating this phenomenon always gives me a good chuckle! The question is, what can we do as directors to ensure that our choirs are focused solely on the music during performance? Awareness of any problem is the greatest tool in combating it and finding a solution. The first step is talking with our choirs about the e m o t i o n a l / physiological effects of the performance medium. They need to understand that rehearsals do not guarantee a quality performance. It’s important they know that although things like wearing formal concert attire, standing on risers, and having family and friends in the audience are all very exciting, these
things can also (and often) be major distractions. Another thought on this is to provide a moment of ‘centering’ before each piece in the concert. From one song to another, a choir is barraged with stimuli from the audience’s applause, making eye contact with people they know, feeling positive or negative about the performance they just gave, and feeling the rush of elation and relief from performing an entire piece through from start to finish. If any singer young or old, amateur or professional, is going to immerse their mind, body and spirit into the next piece after absorbing the stimuli from the last, they’re going to need at least a moment to collect themselves and re-focus their energy. This moment will vary from piece to piece, concert to concert, group to group. Generally allow between five and fifteen seconds. You’ll know when they’ve found their center, and you yours! A final thought harkens back to technique, and to tempi being the first thing that’s lost in all the excitement: I think it’s important to the development of a choral singer that they spend a little time in every rehearsal specifically on the skill of following their conductor. This may imply that we as conductors need to re-examine and hone our technique so we are more clear and easy to follow. Another part of the process may be that our choir needs some explanation on what specific gestures in our conducting mean, or simply when the beat begins (usually on the rebound up). Inviting our choir into the realm of conducting can be a fun and enlightening journey that creates lasting improvement on the quality of their performances. There are surely many more ways to approach the performance mindset with our choirs. On a final note, I will say that as long as the choir feels prepared musically (they don’t foresee completely falling apart on any one piece of music), then there is innate excitement surrounding the performance. By identifying with our choirs what elements of a concert can be destructive to the quality of their performance (excitement about family and friends in attendance, standing on risers, wearing formal attire, and the simple fact that this is a CONCERT!) we are not taking their fun away as some might think, but rather we are empowering them on a great scale to perform at their peak. Focus is like a cylinder from our selves pointed to the subject (in this case, pointing to the music and the conductor). Everything else is a distraction. When a choir learns to live this concept, they perform at their best and reap the greatest rewards.
The Joy of Church Choir Jon Strommen Campbell, Music in Worship Guest Column The Joy of Church Choir: Beyond the “Music Grinder”
Let’s be clear, if you are a church musician in any capacity--either full or part-time--it can be difficult work. It is not easy to meet both the musical and fellowship needs of a church choir. Lack of rehearsal time, lacking choir members, and staff tensions can all suck the joy out of directing. I have met few church choir directors who tell me how “fun” and “relaxing” their jobs are. Add meager pay to this pot and you have a recipe for burn-out, or what one of my teachers called “music grinders.” A “music grinder” is a tired musician who quite literally plows through every week. Their first-fruits are sacrificed in favor of just “getting by.” Whether you are an organist, band leader, or choir director, the exhaustion and frustration that can lead to “music grinding” is important to avoid. “Grinding” is the disease--so let’s talk about prevention! If you feel some grind in your church music post, here are some pointers (I will write a future article on each one of these): 1. The world does not rest on your shoulders. As a choir director, you can only do so much; you must expect the very best from your choir, but realize their best may not equal your best. In other words, are your expectations realistic? 2. Carefully consider your repertoire choices: are your anthems too hard? Too easy? Are you choosing a diversity of
material and styles (tempos, difficulty, time periods, cultures, etc.), or are you recycling the same songs every year? 3. What have you done to recruit new choir members? Don’t laugh! It can be done. 4. Does your choir laugh in rehearsal? Do you make coming to choir a joyful experience for yourself and your choir? Do you host at least one or two choir fellowship events every year? Does everyone in your choir know each other’s names? How do you prepare for rehearsals? (or DO you?) 5.
Have you participated in any continuing education for c h u r c h music? There a r e
s e v e r a l excellent organizations which provide print material, w o r k s h o p s , repertoire lists, and other resources which are an enormous help. Such events and organizations also greatly help to connect you with other church musicians. 6. How is your choir engaged in the liturgy? Do they just sing an anthem or motet every Sunday? Do they ever help lead worship via liturgy? Does the choir reflect their role as an extension of the greater choir (the congregation)?
Does the choir combine with other ensembles within your congregation such as hand bells or children’s choirs? Do you vary the use of instruments with your choir? 7. Lastly, do you honor your choir enough to demand the very best from them? We might all scoff at this question, but when my own cynicism and defensiveness is peeled away, I can honestly say I often fail at this. The most difficult part of being a church choir director is finding the balance between pastoral fellowship and musical excellence. We welcome most anyone to church choir, but some times !fail to make choir members feel pride, joy, and confidence in their music making. It is difficult to find the balance between fellowship and music. This balancing act is a unique challenge for every church choir. In the coming months I look forward to fleshing these points out. I hope that these articles may be of service and help.
Jon Strommen Campbell received his B.A. from Luther College, Decorah, IA. in 1998, with a music major. In 2002, Jon completed a Master of Sacred Music degree from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN where he studied choral conducting with Anton Armstrong and church music with Paul Westermeyer. Jon conducted the Honors Choirs of S.E. MN. Chorale for eight years, and served at several Lutheran churches as music director. Jon has published choral compositions with Augsburg Fortress, Concordia Publishing, G.I.A and Morningstar Music. In 2012 Jon began studying for a D.M.A. in choral conducting with Dr. Jo Ann Miller at North Dakota State University. He currently serves as choir director at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Moorhead, MN.
Educating the next generation of outstanding musicians. Christmas at Mary Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 pm Sunday, Dec. 8 at 3:00 pm
Check us out on Youtube “Prairie Storm” by Dr. Tom Porter University of Mary Concert Choir
Dr. Tom Porter Director of Choral Activities Katherine Henjum Associate Professor of Music, Voice Contact the U-Mary Music Department to learn more: music@umary.edu www.umary.edu/music 800-288-6279, ext. 8301
The University of Mary Music Department is defined by a commitment to excellence. Vocal music students have the opportunity to study Concert Choir, Vocal Jazz, Vocal Arts Ensemble, Chamber Choir, Musical Theater, and Private and Class Voice Lessons. Scholarships are available for music majors as well as students majoring in other areas who participate in music ensembles. Audition dates for 2013–2014 are December 7, February 1, and February 17. Students may contact the music department to arrange a campus visit and scholarship audition on a different date. Students living more than 250 miles from campus may send a recorded audition.
Positive Impatience... Dr. David Holdhusen, University of South Dakota ...An Efficient and Engaging Approach to the Choral Rehearsal It is every conductor’s goal to achieve a stellar performance with their choir. Achieving this high performance level involves the efficient use of rehearsal time over an extended period building in quality as the concert draws near. “Positive Impatience” is an approach to rehearsal which combines high energy and quick pacing with detailed instruction in musical elements and allows the ensemble to practice the music through performance. To gain a better understanding of this rather academic explanation, the phrase can be broken into its two root parts. Webster’s Dictionary defines the word positive as, “Indicating, relating to, or characterized by affirmation, addition, inclusion, or presence rather than negation, withholding, or absence.” The term impatient is defined as, “Not patient: restless or short of temper especially under irritation, delay, or opposition.” At first glance, this phrase seems to contradict itself, but by considering positive as the approach and impatient as the pacing, the rehearsal can proceed in a manner that is quick in tempo and provides
the choir with encouraging yet constructive critiques. When employing positive impatience into the rehearsal, there are several elements that are key to making the process successful. First, the conductor must do a complete and thorough analysis of the
score. Without a comprehensive understanding of the music being performed, the instructor will have difficulty transitioning and reacting to the choir’s performance. This will slow the pace of rehearsal and make instructions less effective. Next, the conductor must bring an energy, posture, and speech pattern that is engaging to the singers. Any lack of vitality can result in the choral musicians mirroring what they see from the leader, causing a lack of effectiveness. Clear concise directions must be presented that are proactive and provide
strategies for success. All efforts should be made to limit explanations to seven words or less while also avoiding “verbal ticks” such as “Good” or giving feedback that does not provide any direct instruction, such as “Sopranos, that needs to be better.” These types of comments are not productive and can lead to confusion and wasting of valuable time. Instead, the conductor must provide detail to what was done well or provide specific information about how the sopranos can improve. Finally, during the rehearsal process, the conductor should attempt to make quick and seamless transitions from singing to speaking and back to singing while using logical, but unpredictable, movement between groups of singers or sections in order to build momentum throughout the rehearsal. By falling into patterns, providing long winded descriptions, or giving too much time between activities, the singers in the choir will begin to anticipate moments where their concentration is unnecessary and thus begin to turn their attention away from the rehearsal and toward more off task activities making it harder to efficiently educate the group.
While energy and preparedness are essential elements to positive impatience, it is the specific techniques employed that can ensure this concept is effective with the rehearsal. One procedure that lends itself well to this theory is thematic identification. In this technique, the conductor would identify those major themes that are passed from part to part and rehearse the group in unison on one part focusing on all music elements through repetition. When applying this idea, each repetition must add another level of information, for example phrase shape or articulation. This gives the entire choir the opportunity to learn pitches and rhythms, as well as musicality that they can then transfer to their own line. Another valuable tool is layering. There are two types that can be employed. The
first focuses on the individual line by teaching small sections
and then adding more of the line gradually until the entire phrase is learned. This is particularly successful in dealing with melismatic sections. The other form of layering is strategically s t a c k i n g additional parts to a phrase until the entire choir is singing the music on the page. This should be done in short burst and utilize all parts in an unpredictable order. It is during this technique that a conductor can fall into patterns, so varying the layer order is important. Isolation is another method that can be utilized. In this procedure, short intervallic or rhythmic difficulties are identified and worked on independently before being added to the overall phrase. T h i s allows t h e choir to sing the o n l y those problem spots, instead of an e n t i r e section to correct one troublesome interval or rhythm. Perhaps the most
effective technique that can be used to within positive impatience is modeling. The conductor should use their voice to demonstrate the concept being taught. This is much more efficient than trying to explain each detail and leaving it to the choir members to interpret. Allowing the singers to hear directly the conductor’s aural image is faster and leaves less doubt as to what is being requested.
If you ar e not cu r r e ntl y utilizing the ideas of positive impatience, you may ask how you can implement these techniques into your rehearsals. To borrow from a popular Nike campaign, “Just Do It.� The choir will adjust to you. It may be bumpy at the start as they are slow to respond, but in time they will feel the momentum and become more consistently engaged. Maintaining a controlled energy focused on positive direction and engaging activities is a good way to ensure an efficient rehearsal.
Working Through Change Mary Pat Archuleta, West Representative Working Through Change in our Schools Change, as the saying goes, is inevitable. This year, the Bismarck Public School system and its music department have experienced that adage first hand. As our city has grown, every department at BPS has found itself short of space and the citizens of Bismarck and Lincoln have responded by overwhelmingly voting to build two new elementary schools and a high school to meet the needs of our burgeoning student population. Liberty Elementary is under construction on the northwest corner of Bismarck and is set to open next fall. Lincoln Elementary in Lincoln (immediately south of Bismarck but part of the BPS District) will be ready for students after Christmas. Our new high school, Liberty HS, is being built in Bismarck. Doors will open there in the fall of 2015. Our three middle schools have been transformed, as well. Bismarck is the last of North Dakota’s largest school districts to configure their middle schools to include grades 6 through 8. All freshman joined the sophomores, juniors and seniors in our high schools in August. Big changes to say the least. It got me thinking: Many music programs in ND’s schools are not impacted by this kind of change! Classes, staff, ideas, furniture, pianos (ugh) often remain unchanged for as many as ten, twenty, or thirty years in many districts. All this change caused me to reflect on my career as a music educator. I began teaching elementary music, then having elementary music AND junior high choir. A few years later, I taught a combination of Junior High Choir and High School Choir (commuting during my 30 minute lunch ‘hour.’ For the past 18 years I have been the Director of Choral Activities at Century High School. Across the continuum of my career, I have experienced some sort of change in my teaching on a regular basis, whether it be grade levels or new buildings, new colleagues or new administrators. I have certainly seen changes in the way students learn and interact in the last thirty years. They are
more socially connected than ever, are more involved in a variety of school and extracurricular activities, and generally lead busier lives than those who preceded them. Our challenge as educators is to reach them where they live and to communicate with them in a way that makes a connection between quality choral music and their lives. My great aunt Margaret, though considerably older than my sisters and I, always wanted to know the newest trends in music, fashion and what has come to be called the “pop culture.” My sisters and I appreciated the fact that she honestly wanted to know what was going on and we enthusiastically strived to bring her up to date. My students kindly put up with my attempts to learn from them. And they appreciate the effort, too. Currently at my high school, we have 25% more students than last year which has resulted in - among other things - one very busy choir room, two full time choral directors and plenty of additional work. These changes have compelled me to evaluate how I do things— rehearsing ensembles, scheduling choirs, planning individual tutorials, meeting with students to discuss the needs and musical interests of students at four high school grade levels. It’s true that change can be challenging but change happens and when it is managed successfully, change can reinvigorate a teacher as well as a music department. As a young teacher, I recorded students singing scales and solos on cassette tapes on a very low quality, portable cassette recorder. I’ll bet many of you reading this right now did the very same thing! I thought it was amazing at the time. Now, I record on a hand-held digital recorder, transfer it to an mp3 file and send it through the ‘air’ and I still think it’s amazing. We can consume massive streams of music, receive free on-line training and performances from YouTube, pool ideas and exchange thoughts with professionals all over the world with email, Skype, Twitter, and any number of interestingly named programs. It’s true. There’s an app for that. Instead of making a cassette tape or CD to assist a student in learning their part, I can play or sing it into their smartphone, or I can send a rehearsal file in the form of an email.
One of my students recently shared a story with me. One evening, her Mom asked, “Who were you singing with a little bit ago?” The student said, “Oh, that’s my teacher’s voice. She’s helping me learn my solo.” Most of the time, if I want to stay current with new technology, I find one of my “techy-ist” students and get a “how-to” lesson from them. They love to be the one teaching me, and I don’t want to be left in the dust while new things develop. These new ways of doing things have made it easier to access, record, write, share and perform the music we love. I never thought I’d consider using my iPad during a concert! Teaching Music is alive with change and I love it. I love the exuberance of my freshman, the quirkiness of my sophomores and the steadfastness of my veteran singers who want our school’s traditions to thrive. Together, we are incorporating the new with the proven and creating a music department that will encourage our
students to push themselves out of their comfort zones and toward greater musical accomplishment. Many of you that are reading this are new to the profession of teaching, though seasoned in your musical ability. Some of you are mid-career teachers and some of you are, like me, seasoned (not old!) choir room veterans. Regardless, we all share a love of teaching, a love of choral music, and a love of the students we teach. This love defines us as professionals and, more importantly, as people. We are responsible for placing the beauty of music into the hearts of our students and into the lives of our communities. No one can do well what we do every day. Our work makes our society more humane, helps our children to express themselves and brings beauty to where it may not exist. Thank you for what you do, day in and day out, to make our state a more beautiful place to work and live. And thank you for inspiring so many kids to make music a permanent part of their lives.
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Faculty Members Accomplished Performers, Experienced Teachers Christopher Redfearn Choirs, Voice D.A. Choral Conducting: University of Northern Colorado M.M. Choral Conducting: Michigan State University B.M. Music Education: Brigham Young University
Valkyries Concert Band Athletic Pep Band Woodwind Trio Garage Band Saxophone Quartet
new Music Scholarships for 2013–14 Multiple Four-Year Full-Tuition Awards Available
Robin allebach Voice DePaul University M.M. Vocal Performance: Northwestern University B.S. Music Education: Bemidji State University
ContaCt: Dr. Beth Klingenstein Chair, Department of Music VCSU beth.klingenstein@vcsu.edu 701-845-7269 music.vcsu.edu
Teaching Students to Sing at Sight Christopher Redfearn, Collegiate & University Choirs R & S This past year I had the privilege of serving as one of the adjudicators for the North Dakota All-State Choir auditions. As I am new to the state, it was a great opportunity to meet some of my fellow choir directors and hear some truly fantastic singing. It was my task to grade singers in three categories: a prepared solo, a sight-singing exercise, and a prepared etude. I found that of the three, singers were the most apprehensive of the sight-singing exercise. I also found that the score on the sight-singing exercise was often the deciding factor into which students were chosen for the All-State Choir and which students were not. The teaching of sight-reading can seem like a daunting task. Many of us (myself included) were not systematically taught to sing music at sight until we were undergraduate music majors. My own high school teacher, who was a marvelous director and had us singing high-quality literature, did not teach us to sing at sight. We may be loathe to dedicate precious rehearsal time to teaching sight-singing, especially if we have an administrator that expects a performance of a certain length and we feel crunched for time. Singers who are n o t taught to sight-sing employ certain techniques to survive a rehearsal and give the appearance of being high-functioning musicians. The most common that I have found is a slight delay in committing to a pitch. If your choir is consistently behind the beat, then this might be the cause. In essence, they are waiting to sing the note until they hear someone or something else produce it first. These students often have fantastic musical hearing, because they rely on it to sing. Singers such as this will often ask to “hear the line just once” at the piano. Because their musical hearing is so well developed, once is usually all that they need. Instead of working on musicality, you may find yourself playing notes at the piano most of the rehearsal. Requiring your students to sing precisely on the beat will help them to develop an internal sense of pitch, rather than waiting to sing what they hear from their neighbor or the piano. Music education researchers have looked into the phenomenon of sight-singing for over four decades, and they have identified traits that differentiate successful sightsingers from underperforming sight-singers. The best introduction into the science and art of teaching sightsinging is Steven Demorest’s book, Building Choral
Excellence: Teaching Sight-Singing in the Choral Rehearsal. In this book, published in 2001, Demorest presents the history of sight-singing along with guidance on methods, integrating sight-singing into the choral rehearsal, and assessment. Researchers have continued to study sight-singing since the publishing of Demorest’s book. For example, Killian and Henry (2005) found that successful sight-singers exhibit certain practice skills that help them to succeed, such as vocally establishing the key of the piece being read, using Curwen hand signs while sight-singing, committing to their internal pitch by singing out loud, keeping the beat kinesthetically while singing, and by completing exercises within the allotted time. Successful students also used their allotted practice time efficiently by isolating trouble spots, skipping over parts that were “easy” for them, and sticking to a steady tempo. Underperforming students demonstrated a different set of behaviors, such as the inability to keep a steady beat, slowing down or stopping during the singing, taking their eyes off the music, and generally being unengaged in the process. A recent study by Henry (2011) also discovered that rhythmic success was a predictor of pitch success. Henry hypothesized that the old adage that “singers can’t count” was more likely a choice by singers to prioritize the accuracy of pitch over the accuracy of rhythm. As Dr. Henry put it, “singers don’t care when to sing until they know what to sing.” So, how does a choir director implement sight-singing into their curriculum? First, directors should not be afraid to start the regular teaching of sight-singing to their students. Do not be discouraged if your students cannot read at the same level at which they perform. Such is true of young children learning to read English. Their spoken vocabulary is usually much larger than their reading vocabulary at first. With practice and time, the gap between the two narrows, both in spoken language as well as in music. Second, realize that the research shows that the specific method used in sight-singing is not as important as simply using one and sticking with it. Whether you use numbers, movable Do with Solfege, fixed Do with Solfege, or some other system, just pick one and begin. This is also true of any of the multitude of exercises and reading literature sources that are available. Find one that fits your budget and your teaching philosophy and go for it. Finally, educate yourself and what researchers have discovered about the acquisition of tonal language and sight-singing ability. Teach the skills of success in daily practice. Use your knowledge to help your students understand how to better themselves and prepare for that upcoming All-State Choir audition. They will thank you for it.
Conference Corner Joshua Bronfman, NDACDA President Elect Winter break is over. As always, I have mixed feelings about coming back to work. The lead-up to break is always very hectic, so the respite is always welcome and often necessary. But, I think I have had my fill of sitting around the house feeling bloated and lethargic, with too many people crammed into this tiny house. I think I need a break from my break.
5:30 Dinner 7:30 Showcase Concert ✦ Treble 7-9 Honor Choir directed by Pamela Burns ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
So, we are back. The next big event for ND-ACDA is our annual convention. This year it will be held in the brand new facilities at Central High School in Grand Forks. We have a lot planned, and I think you will find a lot of interesting and educational opportunities this year. Below are some of the details of the 2014 convention. Please note that specifics of the schedule and a few other things are still changing. See the website ndacda.com for more detailed information as we get closer. WHERE: Central High School in downtown Grand Forks. Our site hosts are Paul Barta and Geoff Mercer. REGISTRATION: $35 for ACDA members. There will be an optional meal plan addition of around $15 if you chose to eat with the honor choir students. Student ACDA members are admitted for free. Non-member students are encouraged to attend, though they will need to purchase music packets for $10. SCHEDULE: As stated previously, the schedule is still changing, but there are a few details we know for sure. They are listed below. January 31 11:30am Registration 12:30 Honor Choir Rehearsals Begin 1:00 Member Presentations Begin
Mixed 7-9 Honor Choir directed by Carrie Loney Women’s Honor Choir directed by Sigrid Johnson Surround The State In Song Honor Choir directed by Peggy Bartunek NDSU Cantemus directed by Charlotte Moe
February 1 8:30am Honor Choir Rehearsals and Presentations 12:00pm Lunch 1:00 Honor Choir Dress Rehearsals 3:00 Honor Choir Concert (Treble, Mixed, Women)
HONOR CHOIRS: We will have three honor choirs this year, as in past years. The 7-9 Treble Honor Choir will be conducted by Pamela Burns from Fargo, the 7-9 Mixed Honor Choir will be conducted by Carrie Loney from River Falls, WI, and the Women’s Honor Choir will be directed by Sigrid Johnson from St. Olaf College. PRESENTATIONS: This year we’ve tried our best to find some “out of the box” presentations for our members. There will, of course, be the usual presentations on vocal technique and recommended repertoire. We have also arranged for sessions on advanced principles of classroom management, the art of negotiation, and an introduction to music therapy in the choral classroom. We hope that these sessions will expand our understanding of teaching music and leading our choirs. We’ve also tried to include a focus on elementary music, with a presentation by Ruth Ann Tuseth, Melanie Popejoy, and Cheryl McIntyre. I am excited about this year’s presentations. I think you will find them interesting and quite valuable. Check the website regularly for more information. See you in Grand Forks!
Sigrid Johnson has been a member of the voice and choral faculty at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, since 1983. During her 24-year tenure as conductor of Manitou Singers, the 100-voice chorus for first-year women at St. Olaf, Johnson has inspired more than 2,000 young women. As a guest clinician at choral workshops and all-state music festivals in 30 states she has enriched and deepened the musical experience of countless singers of all ages across the country. Johnson is known for her skill at blending voices, perfecting tone and assisting with vocal production -- both psychologically and physiologically. Johnson earned her bachelor's of music degree in vocal performance from St. Cloud State University and a master's of music in voice performance from the University of Michigan. She has taught voice at the University of Minnesota and Gustavus Adolphus College, was a member and associate conductor of the Dale Warland Singers and music director of the Dale Warland Symphonic Chorus. In 2008 she was a presenter at the World Choral Symposium in Copenhagen, Denmark. Johnson has prepared symphonic choruses for internationally known conductors such as Neemi Jarvi, Sir Neville Mariner, David Zinman, Stanislaw Skrowaczewsky, Gerard Swartz, Edo de Waart and Leonard Slatkin. In 2006 Johnson received the F. Melius Christiansen Award from the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota (ACDA-MN). The lifetime achievement award -- the highest honor from the association -- is presented annually to a Minnesota conductor whose career has provided outstanding contributions and distinguished service to choral music in Minnesota. Currently, Johnson is associate conductor and director of special events for Philip Brunelle's VocalEssence and is active as a clinician specializing in women's literature.
Pamela Burns joined the staff of the Lake Agassiz Girls Choir in Fargo in 2003 and continues to serve as Artistic Director and Director of the advanced choir, Cantare. Under her direction, Cantare has performed in San Diego, Chicago, New York City, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Charleston, SC, and Orlando. Mrs. Burns holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Music and in Elementary Education. She is an experienced music educator and has conducted choirs of all ages. In addition to her position with LAGC, Mrs. Burns maintains a private voice studio, is a guest conductor for honor choirs and workshops, and enjoys serving as the vocal director for area musical theater productions. She directs a children’s choir at First Presbyterian Church in Fargo, and formerly directed choirs for Fargo Public Schools, the Red River Boy Choir, and the Fargo Catholic School Network. Pamela has served as a consultant, composer and performer for Playground Publishing and its performing arm, Penny and Pals. She is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, currently serving as the North Central Region Repertoire and Standards Chair for Children’s and Youth Choirs. Mrs. Burns is also a member of Music Educator’s National Conference, Chorister’s Guild, and Sigma Alpha Iota, a professional music fraternity for women. Mrs. Burns is married and has four grown children and four adorable grandchildren!
Carolyn Loney is a graduate of St. Thomas (MME) and UW-Eau Claire (B-ME), and holds a National Boards Teaching License in Adolescent Music Education. As a choral director, she is passionate about collaborating with teens to create musical memories. Her places of employment include Osceola (1994-2001) and River Falls, WI (2001-present) where she has worked with both curricular and extra-curricular choirs. She is active in music at the State Level, serving in the past as a clinician twice for Singing in Wisconsin, two years as a State Honors Section Coach, and now as the Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) State Honors High School Mixed Choir Coordinator. In addition to serving as an educator and as a clinician, Ms. Loney also is a church choir director, a solo/ensemble adjudicator, and performs as a member and occasional soloist with the Phipps Festival Chorus. She is most thankful for her husband Dean and her daughter Megan, and to all with whom she has shared music, knowing the richness that they have all brought to her life. Charlette Moe joined the NDSU Music faculty in the fall of 2008. She serves as a coordinator for the Masters of Music in Music Education degree, teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in music and choral education and supervises student teachers. Dr. Moe is also the conductor of Cantemus, the NDSU women's choir, and University Chamber Singers. Dr. Moe received a Bachelor of Music degree in music education magna cum laude from Concordia College, a Master of Science degree in music education from Minnesota State University Moorhead and a Doctorate of Music in conducting from North Dakota State University. She holds a Kodály Mastery Certificate from St. Thomas and in 2012 she was a faculty member at the Kodály Institute at Minnesota State University. Previous to her appointment at NDSU, she was adjunct faculty at Concordia College and Minnesota State University Moorhead. As a choral teacher and classroom music teacher for over 15 years in the Minnesota Public School System, Dr. Moe has had experience teaching all grade levels. She was nominated for Minnesota Teacher of the Year in 1999 and 2004. Dr. Moe’s past guest conducting engagements were with the Fargo-Moorhead Chamber Chorale, International Music Camp, and at high school, elementary and middle-level choral festivals in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. She has presented at music conventions in North Dakota and Minnesota. Dr. Moe has served as a section-coach for the Minnesota All-State Choir, a judge for vocal solo/ensemble contests, adjudicator for North Dakota All-State, a member of the planning committe for the 2008 ACDA North Central Convention and is a member of ACDA and OAKE. Presently, she is past-president for the Northern Plains Kodály Chapter and R&S chair for women's literature for NDACDA. Dr. Moe, her husband Gordon, and two boys live in Hawley, MN.
Student Teacher Survey Jace Beehler, NDSU Music Education Student Describe your student teaching assignment/ placement: I started student teaching the semester of Fall 2013 at Fargo South High School with Mrs. Sara Lichtblau. During my time at Fargo South I had the opportunity to work with grades 9,10,11 and 12 in a variety of settings. The choirs which I worked with included the Concert Choir, the Chamber Choir and Belle Orso Voci. I also had the opportunity to work with the Women’s Choir and director, Mr. James Wolter. I then moved to elementary at Lewis and Clark with Mrs. Gretchen Byer in Fargo. I had the privilege of working with general music classes, grades 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and Kindergarten. I also had the opportunity to work with the 5th Grade Chimes Choir and 4th and 5th Grade Choir. At Lewis and Clark I also spent time working with and learning from Mr. Josh Dahl. How did you prepare for your placement prior to starting school? To prepare for my placement, I started by learning what I could about the schools and their directors. After learning as much as I could about each location, I made sure to contact my supervising teachers and introduce myself as well as set up a time to observe their class. I made sure to do this far in advance of me starting my student teaching. What was your biggest surprise upon starting your assignment? I am almost certain that this will be a cliché statement but the biggest surprise for me was the amount of time during elementary needed to simply manage the classroom. Rarely was I able to finish my entire
planned lesson but as time went on, it became much easier to finish what I had planned. During my time at high school I was surprised by the many different personalities that would be so apparent to me. I knew, almost instantaneously, which students would want to learn from me and about me and which students would question my knowledge about music and the classroom. What was your first feeling of success? I wish I could say my very first feeling of success was a “light bulb going off moment,” where the student understood a concept they had been struggling with but if I did that, I wouldn’t be telling the truth. My very first feeling of success was when the entire class laughed at one of my jokes. My only thought at the time was “thank you Lord, they think I’m funny!” But throughout my time at both Fargo South and Lewis and Clark I had many moments of feeling success but it was because of the success of the students, not my own. What did you struggle with? My largest struggle was not necessarily classroom management but following through with the discipline built within the classroom management. I remember constantly thinking, “The student who is causing problems deserves just one more chance.” When in reality I maybe should have moved forward with the discipline much sooner. How did you overcome any feelings of struggle? Repetition! The only way that I found to truly overcome struggles was to put myself in the very situations which caused those feelings. The more I was put into those situations, the easier it became to handle them.
Were there any humorous moments in your classroom? There were many humorous moments throughout my time at Fargo South and Lewis and Clark but there is one that stands out. At Lewis and Clark our music room is in a portable and it causes some very interesting situations, which can be challenging to deal with while slightly away from the school. This particular day we had a student, shall we say, “relieve” t h e m s e l v e s accidently in t h e classroom and no more than an hour later a stray cat c a m e running into t h e classroom and as you can imagine this caused the kindergarten and first graders to go into overdrive. Only an hour or two after the cat incident, we had two students collide while going back into the school, causing a black eye. Now, none of these situations were very humorous but when telling others about my day, I could not help but laugh that all of this only happened in a matter of hours.
covered. But even when I mixed them up, I would never have to fear because the students were very eager to correct me. Of course this was only because they wanted to help or at least that was how I reassured myself.
Describe having to coach different ages and ability levels in the same teaching day. What is difficult about that? At first, the transitions between differing grade levels was very difficult but soon become much easier. I found I had to constantly remind myself which grade I was teaching and which concepts needed to be
Name: Jace Beehler
What is the most rewarding aspect of teaching music? Watching students feel success. This could range from singing the correct words of “Frog in the Meadow” to performing an outstanding concert of difficult choral repertoire. Nothing needed to be said because I could simply see it in their faces. And for some of these students, they may not see success in any other part of their academic career, which makes teaching music all the more special. What are your plans for the future? I would like to teach music somewhere in the area. As of right now, I do not have a preference on elementary, middle school or high school but I am sure time will tell. I hope to someday go back to continue my personal education in hope of earning a Masters degree.
Hometown: Grand Forks, ND School: North Dakota State University
Cody Gerszewski is an amateur cartoonist from Fargo, North Dakota. After graduating from Red River High School in Grand Forks and singing in choirs for Tom Young and Brad Sherwood, Cody joined the “Thundering Herd” and is currently attending North Dakota State University where he is pursuing a degree in Theatre Arts with a minor in Music, and has been a member of the school’s Concert Choir for four years under the direction of Dr. Jo Ann Miller.
Concert Photos
St. Alphonsus, Elementary LAngdon
St. Mary’s High School
Ramstad 8th Grade Choir