This page is dedicated to driving a conversation for choral musicians with the PHILOSOPHY of Choral Music at the heart of every post and podcast episode. Topics will be wide ranging from the technical aspects of our jobs and careers all the way to the artistic interpretations and values that make us who we are as artists. Join me in this conversation in which I hope we can learn from each other.
Episode 191: Rise Up and Sing with Shanan Estreicher
Mar 20, 2024
Show notes
Queens is one of the most diverse places in the world. How can music serve as a “common language” for diverse students?
This week, I am joined by Shanan Estreicher, a middle and elementary music teacher in Queens, New York. Shanan is also a composer, and songwriter who has found a magic formula to reach the students of a Title 1 school with a constantly in flux student population. The formula includes general music, chorus, songwriting and more to bridge cultural, language and prior knowledge gaps.
In this discussion, Mr. Estreicher and I discuss the challenges as well as the life enriching benefits of teaching at-risk students, as well as the mindset he developed as he began his teaching career hoping for that “dream gig” and discovering that he had the power to build the dream in Queens. Many teachers “burn out” in Title 1 schools, but Shanan provides an inspiring story of how a teacher can make a difference in the lives of kids that desperately need a reason to come to school.
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
www.sightreadingfactory.com is the best literacy tool on the market today. Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get 10% off memberships for you AND your students!
Shanan Estreicher is a composer and songwriter living in New York City. He studied music at the Manhattan School of Music and Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College.
He has composed orchestral, choral, and chamber music, art songs, and music for theater, TV, and film. His compositions have been performed at Carnegie Hall, featured on NBC, Lifetime, and Fox, and can be heard on Composer Concordance Records (Naxos). As a songwriter, he released five albums as a solo artist and with the alt-country group The Brown Trousers. Shanan has collaborated extensively with Grammy Award-winning producer Brian Forbes and received grants from New Music USA and Queens Council on the Arts.
Enter Choralosophy at Checkout for a 5% discount when you shop for folders, robes and other gear for your choir program! www.mymusicfolders.com and www.mychoirrobes.com
Recent premieres include “A Concordance of Leaves”, a new cantata for choir and baritone soloist with poetry by Philip Metres (Copper Canyon Publishing) by choral director James John, the Queens College Vocal Ensemble, and baritone soloist Andrew Wannigman, “I Laughed So Hard I Cried” by the Overlook Quartet, “All You Shining Stars” by the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra featuring multi-genre trumpeter Itamar Borochov, “Songs of Emily Dickinson” by Sarah Shafer (Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera) and the Chamber Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall, and various commissions for Composers Concordance and Access Contemporary Music.
As a founding board member of the Chamber Orchestra of New York, Shanan has helped lead the ensemble to international success and acclaim. He served as Co-Artistic Producer for the orchestra’s Naxos recordings of Respighi’s “The Birds”, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s “The Lark Ascending”, Respighi’s “Ancient Airs and Dances”, and Salvatore Di Vittorio’s Symphonies 3 and 4. Shanan has also designed and launched an educational outreach program called Maestro Juniors for the orchestra which brings live classical music performances to title-one schools in New York City.
One of Shanan’s greatest joys is sharing his passion for music with children. For over seventeen years he has taught music at a public school in Queens, NY. The documentary “Rise Up and Sing—The Movie” chronicles his work with the P.S./I.S. 127 Chorus. He is also the founder and director of the Queens County Choral Festival for elementary and middle school students.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Episode 190: Girls Voices Change Too! With Dr. Bridget Sweet
Mar 13, 2024
Show notes
Dr. Bridget Sweet is the first scholar to examine adolescent female voice change through systematic research protocols
This week, we fill in a major gap in programming on the Choralosophy podcast. This is the FIRST episode on the feed diving into research and teaching practice of the female changing voice in adolescence. There will be more to come! But, for this episode I am joined be one of our pre-eminent experts, Dr. Bridget Sweet. “The Larynx is not a vagina.” Bridget advocates that we spend more time teaching kids about the physiology. The kids may giggle when you show a picture of a larynx, but they will get over it.
In this episode we talk about the issues created by the gap in choral music education about this topic and related research, as well as strategies for teachers to address the changes in girls voices and to normalize the experience in the same way we should for boys. We also discuss the realities that teachers face that cause us to focus more on the voice changes of the boys. It gets more of our attention, so often, the girls needs go unaddressed. Part of this occurs with the overly common practice of voice part labels applied to girls at way too early an age. This episode is helpful, challenging and so important!
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
www.sightreadingfactory.com is the best literacy tool on the market today. Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get 10% off memberships for you AND your students!
Enter Choralosophy at Checkout for a 5% discount when you shop for folders, robes and other gear for your choir program! www.mymusicfolders.com and www.mychoirrobes.com
Bridget Sweet is Associate Professor of Music Education at University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. After completing her Bachelors Degree in Music Education at Western Michigan University, Dr. Sweet enjoyed a successful tenure as a middle school choir teacher for nearly ten years. Her interests in adolescent music education intensified during her Masters and Doctoral programs in Music Education at Michigan State University, which contributed to her research focused on characteristics of effective and exemplary middle-level music teachers. Prior to her work at the University of Illinois, Dr. Sweet was Assistant Professor of Music Education at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA. At the University of Illinois, Dr. Sweet teaches secondary music education pedagogy, including choral methods and literature, graduate courses in music education, as well as a course focused on the development of healthy practices for all musicians. She is a Licensed Body Mapping Educator through the Association for Body Mapping Education.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Dr. Sweet continues to work extensively with adolescent singers as a teacher, clinician, and conductor; she has been invited to conduct middle and high school All-State Choirs and Honors Choirs in many states. Dr. Sweet wrote the books Growing Musicians: Teaching Music in Middle School and Beyond (2016, Oxford University Press) and Thinking Outside the Voice Box: Adolescent Voice Change in Music Education (2020, Oxford University Press). Dr. Sweet’s research interests include middle level choral music education, [assigned at birth] female and male adolescent voice change, musician health and wellness, intersections of LGBTQ+ topics and the music classroom, as well as intersections of motherhood and academia.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Her research has appeared in publications of Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Choral Journal, International Journal of Music Education: Research, Journal of Research in Music Education and Update: Applications of Research in Music Education. She has authored chapters within The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research in American Music Education (2014) and The Oxford Handbook of Care in Music Education. Dr. Sweet was initiated as a Friend of the Arts to the Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity (2021). She is a member of the Editorial Committee of the Bulletin of the Council of Research in Music Education, International Journal of Research in Choral Music, Journal of Research in Music Education, and Qualitative Research in Music Education.
Episode 189: Can We Meet Kids Where They Are Without Lowering Standards? With Jonathan Talberg
Mar 06, 2024
Show notes
Is “Tough Love” outdated? Or is it the tool of caring parents and educators?
Recently, a “Facebook post dialogue” of sorts went viral amongst music educators between Juilliard professor Geoffrey Keezer and James Falzone. Professor Keezer made a relatively short post related to the problems he is seeing in his teaching position related to reliability and accountability for students. It resonated with thousands of people as it got shared and discussed. But, it kind of had a “kids these days” feeling to it, so not everyone responded sympathetically. Enter, James Falzone. He crafted an essay in response encouraging a much more introspective approach to the very real issue that Professor Keezer was speaking to.
That’s where this episode comes in. I was clued in to this discourse when I saw it shared by this week’s guest, Dr. Jonathan Talberg. Jonathan has decades of experience teaching at the post-secondary level, so I asked him to join me to parse out some nuance in this discussion. We wrestle with questions about “tough love” and “holding students accountable.” How do these ideas mesh with this generation of students and their changing needs, values and sensibilities? And maybe most importantly, how do we navigate all of this while NOT lowering our academic standards?
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
www.sightreadingfactory.com is the best literacy tool on the market today. Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get 10% off memberships for you AND your students!
Enter Choralosophy at Checkout for a 5% discount when you shop for folders, robes and other gear for your choir program! www.mymusicfolders.com and www.mychoirrobes.com
Recipient of the President’s Award from the California Music Educators Association honoring “extraordinary accomplishments in music education,” Dr. Jonathan Talberg serves as Director of Choral Activities at the Bob Cole Conservatory, where he is conductor of the international award-winning Bob Cole Conservatory Chamber Choir and the CSULB University Choir. Recent career highlights include leading the Chamber Choir to first place at the Austrian Spittal International Choir Festival and the “Choir of the World” competition in Wales. Additionally, he and the choir have performed with groups as diverse as the Kronos Quartet, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Pacific Symphony and the Rolling Stones.
A passionate advocate for choral music education, Dr. Talberg is regularly engaged to conduct honor choirs across the US, including numerous all-state choruses, and National Association for Music Education conference choirs. His choirs from Long Beach State have performed in venues throughout Europe and Asia, including the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Great Hall of the People in China.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
His professional experience includes appointments as Director of Music at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Bach Festival. He also served as Conducting Assistant to the Cincinnati Symphony and the Aspen Music Festival and as principal choral conductor at Arrowbear Music Camp in Southern California. A past-president of the California Choral Directors Association, he serves as an editor at Pavane Music Publishing, where a choral series dedicated to outstanding quality, collegiate-level music is published under his name. He taught high school choral music and drama for five years before moving into higher education.
Of the many hats he wears each day, the one he is most proud of is mentor to the next generation of choral musicians. Alumni of the Bob Cole Conservatory Choral Studies program are teaching at elementary, middle and high schools, churches, community colleges and four-year universities throughout the country. Scores of alumni are professional singers—in opera, musical theater, choirs, church music, jazz and pop.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Bob Cole Conservatory choral studies graduates are currently earning—or have finished—their doctorates at some of the finest institutions in the country, including the University of Michigan, the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, Indiana University, the University of Kentucky, the University of Iowa, the University of Houston, the University of Southern California and UCLA.
Dr. Talberg received his BM in Choral Conducting from Chapman University, where he received the Outstanding Alumnus in the Arts award in 2014. He earned his MM and DMA in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and completed a post-doctoral fellowship with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Pops, and the May Festival Chorus. His conducting teachers include Roger Wagner, William Hall, Earl Rivers, John Leman and Elmer Thomas.
Episode 188: Why Don’t Boys Want to Sing? With Martin Ashley
Feb 28, 2024
Show notes
Professor and researcher Martin Ashley from the UK is back to talk about more recent research related to the boys changing voice from both a biological and empirical view, as well as a qualitative experiential one. We discuss his latest compilation of crucial information, which he has made available for FREE. The eBook is called “Dead Composers and Living Boys.” It is a treasure trove of data, anecdote and advice for teachers of adolescent male singers.
“The word “boy” is more of a social term than a biological or medical one. It is not uncommon in choral work for the words “boy” and “treble” to be used interchangeably, but this is not helpful. A young male who sings a soprano or perhaps alto line could be either a child or an adolescent… Boys, it is often said, do not want to “sound like girls”, but until adolescence, boys’ and girls’ voices are physically the same. Any perceived differences in children’s voices will be learned cultural ones, not biological ones. Adolescence is when voices diverge and the male singing adventure really begins.” -an excerpt from Martin’s book.
In this episode, Martin and I discuss common misunderstandings and mythology around the boys changing voice, and some of the most vital pieces of information all teachers of adolescent boys need to know in order to address the biggest demographic access gap in choral music education. Boys aren’t singing.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
www.sightreadingfactory.com is the best literacy tool on the market today. Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get 10% off memberships for you AND your students!
Enter Choralosophy at Checkout for a 5% discount when you shop for folders, robes and other gear for your choir program! www.mymusicfolders.com and www.mychoirrobes.com
Professor Martin Ashley PhD is editor-in-chief of ABCD Choral Singing Research, the peer-reviewed research journal of the Association of British Choral Directors, having retired from his position as Head of Research in the Faculty of Education at Edge Hill University in 2013. After working in sound recording for the BBC he trained as a middle school music teacher. He worked in a variety of school settings teaching both music and his other specialism of environmental science before moving into university work. Whilst at the University of the West of England in Bristol he designed and led a 3+1 route of degree + PGCE in primary education for teachers wishing to specialise in music and the performing arts. A post-doctoral fellowship awarded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council allowed him to develop a longstanding interest in the impact of boys’ understanding of voice on their musical learning.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Since writing the book How High Should Boys Sing? he has published widely on the topic of male singing during early adolescence, collaborating with the late Don Collins of the Cambiata Vocal Institute of America. He has subsequently worked in collaboration with a paediatric specialist and phoniatrician on the timing of puberty and voice change and remains as consultant editor for OUP’s Emerging Voices series of cambiata vocal arrangements. His most recent book was Singing in the Lower Secondary School in the OUP music education series.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Immediately prior to the Covid-19 pandemic he was working on the consequences of earlier voice change and boys’ musical maturity in mixed gender settings and had published work on historical trends in puberty, Tudor pitch and the sixteenth century mean voice.In response to the covid pandemic, he assembled a small team of virologists and public health professionals to produce a rapid response review for ABCD and is currently working on studies of boys choirs responding to the covid pandemic around the world, and a UK study of community choirs and shared rehearsal spaces.
Episode 187: Five Years of Changing and Expanding the Conversation and
Feb 21, 2024
Show notes
In the digital realm where voices meet ideas, there’s a podcast that’s become a community hub for Choral Music: The Choralosophy Podcast started in February 2019. It was just a small gathering of a few hundred colleagues, sharing their love for choral music.
Then, the unexpected happened. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, episode 33 of the podcast seemed to strike a chord with thousands. Suddenly, it wasn’t just about music anymore – it sparked conversations among over 15,000 people and even caught the eye of the New York Times. That was the turning point. All the while, we have staid true to our mission of provided robust, well researched, and thoroughly presented professional development resources for FREE to educators on demand. Topics like Music Literacy, Vocal Pedagogy, Classroom Management and Grading procedures are regular features on the show.
What makes the Choralosophy Podcast special is its willingness to tackle the tough stuff. The guests and I dive into everything from music education to psychology, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and even broader topics like politics and education systems. As a result, the show has had its fair share of controversy. Generating buzz both positive and negative, but always having an impact on the conversation and expanding the Overton Window in Choral Music. Some think the show is “conservative,” some think it’s “too woke.” Some have called me the “Joe Rogan” of choir podcasts, or a “pusher of dangerous ideologies,” while still others thank me for speaking up for a lot of people who don’t feel safe to speak up themselves.
We’ve hosted some big names, sure, like Eric Whitacre, John Rutter, and Andre Thomas. But what really sets this podcast apart is its diverse range of voices. From educators to thought leaders in various fields, everyone brings something valuable to the table.
Now, five years later, the Choralosophy Podcast isn’t just a podcast – it’s a global community and multi-media platform. Thousands of listeners tune in regularly, not just for the professional resources, but for the conversations that challenge and inspire us all to learn and grow.
In a world where connection is more important than ever, the Choralosophy Podcast wants reminds us that our voices matter – and that together, we can create something truly beautiful. Tune in to this short episode as we look back, AND look forward to the next five years!
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
www.sightreadingfactory.com is the best literacy tool on the market today. Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get 10% off memberships for you AND your students!
Enter Choralosophy at Checkout for a 5% discount when you shop for folders, robes and other gear for your choir program! www.mymusicfolders.com and www.mychoirrobes.comRyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Episode 186: It’s Time for Anti-Racism with Love, with Chloé Valdary
Feb 14, 2024
Show notes
Activist, author Chloé Valdary is a diversity and anti-racism trainer with a refreshingly loving approach. This week, on Valentine’s Day, I am encouraging us to approach our ensembles, our classes, our colleagues and our neighbors with Agape.
In music education, we have a very popular, and important euphemism: “I want my students to see themselves in the music, or in the ensembles I have them watch” based on the finding people who look like them. And this representation does matter! But what I don’t hear enough is, “I want my students to learn to see themselves in everyone, and in ALL of the music we learn.” This introspective approach is echoed in Chloé’s fascinating brand of Anti-Racism.
“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”
James Baldwin
One of the core premises that Chloé likes to communicate is that if you can’t apply the principle James Baldwin describes here to YOURSELF, then it will not have any value in healing the rifts between us. If you see it only as a principle that applies to others, we will never enter important conversations as equals. She trains, teaches and advocates for a type of conversation about diversity in schools, groups and organizations that starts with introspection and search for our common humanity.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
www.sightreadingfactory.com is the best literacy tool on the market today. Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get 10% off memberships for you AND your students!
Enter Choralosophy at Checkout for a 5% discount when you shop for folders, robes and other gear for your choir program! www.mymusicfolders.com and www.mychoirrobes.com
From Theory of Enchantment: One particular day, in a religious studies class, my professor, an agnostic, shows us a documentary called Jesus Camp. It follows a group of evangelical Christians at their summer camp for kids. The subjects are not portrayed in a positive light.
Suddenly, a student in our class starts to rail against the Christians in the movie, and I peg my agnostic professor as a person who won’t mind. How wrong I am. It becomes a shouting match between her and the student. My professor vigorously defends the Christians in the documentary, saying we all gravitate toward things that give us a feeling of meaning and significance, belonging, and community. Then she says,
She defies the agnostic box I placed her in. The frameworks that I am using to find meaning in the world are no longer sufficient. I am desperate for one that is. Slowly but surely, I realize I am outgrowing my religion.
I grew up in New Orleans with four sisters. We were an extremely atypical Christian family, and my parents deeply inculcated a strict religious philosophy. We didn’t observe Christian holidays, we observed Jewish holidays. Church was on Saturday instead of Sunday, and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were celebrated instead of Christmas and Easter.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
From my mother, a homemaker, I absorbed a deep inquisitiveness about human beings. From my dad, a banker, I gained a reverence for the numinous and the transcendent. But I also came out of childhood dogmatic in certain ways.
I went to a performing arts high school then to the University of New Orleans, where I became an activist.
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Episode 185: Bringing the Wisdom of Hebrew Texts into the Choral Canon with Nicholas Weininger
Feb 07, 2024
Show notes
Nicholas Weininger, software engineer and composer, joins me this week to discuss the power of the Hebrew language in choral settings. Both in terms of its sonority and aspects of diction, but also in the contributions many ancient Hebrew texts can make to our philosophical discourses to this day.
We discuss the difficulties finding choral music with rich Hebrew text, we also analyze a passage from Ecclesiastes that is the basis of a new Cantata that Nicholas composed after the pandemic. The discussion then moves to the coincidence of the new cantata’s birth into the world during a time of surging anti-Semitism and post pandemic searches for accountability and reflection. This was a very thought provoking discussion, and we hope you will join us!
Be sure to weigh in on the Choralosophers facebook page, on Substack or any posts related to this episode!
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
www.sightreadingfactory.com is the best literacy tool on the market today. Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get 10% off memberships for you AND your students!
Enter Choralosophy at Checkout for a 5% discount when you shop for folders, robes and other gear for your choir program! www.mymusicfolders.com and www.mychoirrobes.com
Nicholas Weininger (b. 1978) is a composer, singer, software engineering manager, and leadership coach. Nick’s works have been performed by the International Orange Chorale of San Francisco, Sacred and Profane, Choral Chameleon, Empire City Men’s Chorus, Coro Mundi, West Genesee High School Chorale, and the Germantown Friends School Concert Choir, among others. In March 2023, the Empire City Men’s Chorus premiered Nick’s cantata Hakol Hevel (All is Mere Breath) for TTBB chorus, orchestra, and soloists; the album of the same name, from Navona Records, is available on all major streaming services. Nick’s works are published through Personage Press and ArrangeMe.
Nick has sung with the International Orange Chorale of San Francisco (IOCSF) since 2007. He began composing for IOCSF in 2011 and in 2015-2016 served as IOCSF’s inaugural Composer-in-Residence; the ensemble has performed eleven of his works in all and recorded four on the albums The Unknown Region and Hope in Times of Disquiet. Nick’s 2016 setting of “As kingfishers catch fire”, commissioned by IOCSF, was awarded second prize in the Ithaca College Choral Composition Competition and was a finalist for the 2020 American Prize. Nick’s singing experience also includes stints with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Festival Napa Valley Volti Chorale, and Coro Mundi.
In Nick’s non-musical life, he has spent most of his career managing teams of software engineers and mentoring software engineering leaders, notably at Google from 2005 to 2020. He received a PhD in pure mathematics from Rutgers University in 2005. Initially an autodidact composer, Nick took up private composition study with Joseph Stillwell in 2014 and now studies with Vince Peterson. Nick lives in San Francisco with his wife and son.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Episode 184: Should We Stop Assessing Sight Reading at All State Choir? With Drs. Marshaun Hymon and Chantae Pittman
Jan 31, 2024
Show notes
This podcast has become the place to go for Music Literacy pedagogical training tools for teachers over the last five years. As a result, I have never received as much correspondence about content NOT created by me, than Dr. Marshaun Hymon’s February 2024 Choral Journal Article called “A Skills First Approach to the All-State Choir Selection Process.” Let’s just say, this piece has made a splash!
We center the conversation around the ideas presented in the article including whether or not learning to read music is analogous to having to learn to read and write “standard English” vs. African American vernacular, whether “music literacy” can be a useful term when NOT referencing the reading/writing of music, a dissection of how different states assess sight singing, and possible improvements to current systems of assessment. And, of course, we dissect the usefulness of the idea that “a primary focus on music reading does center whiteness.”
Be sure to weigh in on the Choralosophers facebook page, on Substack or any posts related to this episode!
Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
www.sightreadingfactory.com is the best literacy tool on the market today. Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get 10% off memberships for you AND your students!
Enter Choralosophy at Checkout for a 5% discount when you shop for folders, robes and other gear for your choir program! www.mymusicfolders.com and www.mychoirrobes.com
Dr. Marshaun R. Hymon is the Co-Founder & Managing Partner of True Change Alliance, LLC. He most recently finished a consulting contract with the Getty Museum & Trust where he develop equity-focused programming for their summer internship programs. Aside from various training commitments, he is now on contract with One Workplace supporting in developing organizational DEI strategy. Dr. Hymon is an Assistant Professor and he teaches college, career and employment readiness courses.
Dr. Chantae D. Pittman is the proud director of 3 choral ensembles at Campbell High School. She is in her 14th year of teaching and her 5th at CHS.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Dr. Pittman has been involved in various forms of Fine Arts since she was a small child. Growing up she participated in choirs, band, dance groups, as well as participating in the drama club. She was highly active in her high school Performing Arts program graduating from Lovejoy High School in 2006 with a Fine Arts Seal of Distinction.
She then went on to pursue her Bachelor’s degree at Tennessee State University where she graduated Cum Laude in 2010, and then her Master’s Degree in 2013 from VanderCook College of Music. Dr. Pittman most recently completed her Doctoral degree in Music Education from the University of Georgia on May 2021. GO DAWGS!!
Receive 10% Discount on your orders at http://www.graphitepublishing.com where you will find the works of Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, Timothy C. Takach, Paul Rudoi and MANY more.
Dr. Pittman continues to perform at the professional level through various solo efforts as well as with the Atlanta Women’s Chorus as well as the Atlanta Symphony Chorus where she has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
Episode 183: At a Crossroads in Higher Ed with Lynn Atkins
Jan 24, 2024
Show notes
Are there core skills that MUST be acquired in order to teach music? Should there be? This week, I welcome Lynn Atkins to discuss the current challenges we face getting young teachers ready to teach music in an era when our current students and recent graduates had a pretty serious interruption in their education. In addition to this, we have debates raging about whether or not music degree recipients should even be required to be proficiently literate in notation. Throw in a rapidly increasing cost of tuition, AND a rapidly increasing pressure on collegiate faculties to recruit and retain tuition paying students, and we may have a boiling pot on our hands.
Tune in as Lynn shares his experience teaching at a college in California. We share thoughts about the need for different types of music ed training programs with different barriers to entry, the right of students to be taught be highly competent teachers, and the aspirational goals of an excellent teacher training program.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
www.sightreadingfactory.com is the best literacy tool on the market today. Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get 10% off memberships for you AND your students!
Enter Choralosophy at Checkout for a 5% discount when you shop for folders, robes and other gear for your choir program! www.mymusicfolders.com and www.mychoirrobes.com
A passionate educator and musician, Lynn Gary Atkins, Jr. promotes honoring the world of his musicians in every choral rehearsal. From 2013-2019, he served as the Artistic Director of One Voice Chorus Richmond, who’s mission is to promote racial reconciliation in the City of Richmond through choral music. An 18 year veteran of teaching choir in schools in Virginia and New Jersey, Lynn is in his second year as Assistant Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities, and Voice Area Coordinator at California State University Dominguez Hills. He is also Director of Music Ministries at Faith United Methodist Church in Torrance, CA; and Artistic Director of LA Bronze Handbell Ensemble.
RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!
Episode 182: Getting off on the Right Foot with a Young Teacher Panel
Jan 17, 2024
Show notes
We are doing something different and fun this week! Just me, and three young colleagues about half my age. Over the last few months, I have gotten several requests to do an episode dedicated to the issues and concerns faced by the next generation of educators. What better way to do that than host a panel?!
In this lively discussion with Amenah Ghani, Madelyn Merrell and Victoria Devine, we compare notes on life as a music major in the post-pandemic era and the late 1990’s when I was in undergrad. We also talk about ways young teachers should approach that first job search, and how our educational philosophies evolve over time from that first paper we write about it Junior year. Finally, the guests and I dig in to some keys to success and mindset for young educators.
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Madelyn Merrell is a singer, pianist, and educator that strives to make music learning responsive to students’ needs and interests. She received her Bachelor of Music Education degree in voice with honors from Jacobs School of Music, with minors in Conducting and General Music Education. She is presently pursuing a Master of Music Education Degree from Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.
Madelyn has performed with Indiana University’s Singing Hoosiers, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. Besides her classical training, she has experience with musical theatre, contemporary music, and jazz.
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She currently works in Chicago Public Schools at Westinghouse College Preparatory High School, where she serves as the choir and piano teacher, as well as the music director for musicals and sponsor of Glee Club and Piano Club. Outside of her this, Madelyn teaches private voice and piano lessons at Pilsen Music Studio. She is dedicated to sharing the joy of music with students of all ages and backgrounds! Her “Teachergram”: @MsMerrellMusic
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Amenah Ghani (she/her) is currently a sophomore general/choral Music Education major at the University of Delaware. From a young age, Amenah displayed an extraordinary affinity for music which was fostered through high level music making with the Princeton Girlchoir from ages 9-18 under the direction of Dr. Lynnel Joy Jenkins.
So far during her time at the University of Delaware, Amenah has been involved in community service organizations and her school of music student council. In addition, she serves as the treasurer of the UD ACDA chapter and the president of the UD NAfME chapter. Through the UD Community Music School, Amenah has taught early childhood music classes, ukulele, and middle school choir. Learning to embrace her solo voice, Amenah is involved with the UD Lyric Theatre and has the immense pleasure of studying voice under Dr. Noël Archambeault.
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She has a deep rooted passion for social justice and advocacy work. With patience and creativity, she hopes to instill not just technical expertise but also a deep appreciation for the language of music in her students.
Victoria Devine is in her second year of teaching at Manorhaven Elementary School in Port Washington, NY, as the General Music and Chorus Teacher. She also works as the music director for the Spring Musical at Valley Stream South High School. She received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Ithaca College, and will be starting her Masters in Music Education this summer.
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