Choral Director Magazine November 2012

NOVEMBER 2012$5.00

NOVEMBER 2012$5.00

12 Choral Director • November 2012

Singin’ in the Rain capitalizes on the transition from silent films to talkies in the late 1920s. Warner Brothers Studios produced its first talkie film, “The Jazz Singer,” in 1927, creating a strong impetus for similar films by all of the other major film studios. Singin’ in the Rain features songs written by Arthur Freed, head of the Freed unit at Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios that produced numerous film musi-cals between 1939 and 1970. The screenplay was written by the legendary team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green and was directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Do-nen. Kelly also choreographed the film, assisted by Carol Haney. The film starred

Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, and Mil-lard Mitchell, and featured Rita Moreno and Cyd Charisse.

History of Film & Its Creators

While many musicals are written especially for the stage, the film version of Singin’ in the Rain actually preceded the stage version. The film version began production on June 18, 1951 and finished on November 21, 1951. The stage adaptation of the film was first performed in London at the London Pal-ladium, opening on June 30,

Singin’ in the Rain is one of the most quintessential film musicals

ever produced. With 2012 marking the 60th anniversary of

its 1952 premiere, this article profiles the creative team re-

sponsible for producing the film, and outlines activities that focus on

concepts and music that can be utilized with both music and dance

Commentary: Singin’ in the Rain

By Keith Mason

Sixty Years of Singin’ in the Rain

What a Glorious Feeling!

1983, and ran for 894 performances. A Broadway staging at the Gershwin Theatre came two years later, opening on July 2, 1985, running for 367 per-formances. The stage version has been presented at numerous local theatres throughout the globe.

The main storyline of Singin’ in the Rain features a popular silent film star, Don Lockwood, who had performed as a singer, dancer, and stunt man earlier in his career. Although the press links him romantically to leading lady Lina Lamont, Lockwood can barely toler-ate her. When Lockwood jumps into the car of aspiring stage actress Kathy Selden to escape from overenthusias-tic fans, Selden criticizes film actors as mere “shadows on film.” Kathy Selden later gets work at the fictitious Monu-mental Pictures, the same studio that produces the Lockwood/Lamont films. The head of the studio, R. F. Simpson, wants to change the next film, The Du-eling Cavaliers, into a musical entitled The Dancing Cavalier. Unfortunately, Lina’s grating and irritating high-pitched speaking voice and inability to sing creates a problem. Lockwood’s piano-playing friend, Cosmo Brown, comes up with the idea that Kathy Selden can dub Lina’s dialog and sing-ing voice. The film is a great success, but Selden is upset about being forced to continue as Lina Lamont’s voice

Gene Kelly during his famous Singin’ in the Rain dance number.All photos from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Donald O’Connor (Cosmo Brown), Debbie Reynolds (Kathy Selden) and Gene Kelly (Don Lockwood).

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ContentsFeatures

Columns

10 Commentary: Singin’ in the RainKeith Mason takes a look at the landmark film musical, Singin’ in the Rain, on the movie’s 60th anniversary, and proposes several relevant classroom activities.

14 UpClose: David MoellenkampChoral Director catches up with the director of California’s Los Alamitos High School choir, a current national show choir champion, to discuss recruitment, retention, and maintaining quality even while the student population is in flux.

20 Roundtable: AdjudicationFive accomplished adjudicators share insight into what judges really look for at choral festivals, along with tips for improving performance and ratings.

24 Survey: AccompanimentReaders weigh in on the latest trends in choral accompaniment and associated instruments.

28 Technology: Professional DevelopmentCD columnist John Kuzmich and Joe Pisano of TI:ME take a look at some of the latest online professional development resources for music educators.

32 Repertoire Forum: SpiritualsJohn C. Hughes recommends spirituals arranged for school choirs.

4 Opening Notes

6 Headlines

35 New Products

38 Vocal Tip

39 Classifieds

40 Ad Index

Choral Director • November 2012 2120 Choral Director • November 2012

Roundtable: Adjudication

What are the most important quali-ties for middle or high school choral groups to display at a choral festival?

Alyson Shirk: Intonation, diction, and dynamics are the most important demon-strable qualities for choral groups to display at festival. Intonation can be fixed in part by uniform and spacious vowel formation. Crisp beginning and ending consonants are within the grasp of every choral group. Don’t wait until the final rehearsals to add crisp conso-nants; start them right away! Layer in dynam-ics right away as well. Terracing dynamics on repeats and paying attention to crescendos and decrescendos adds an impressive level of musical professionalism to a performance.

Tom Shelton: Choral tone is the most important quality. I listen for a beautiful sup-ported tone with unified vowels that is ener-getic and has rhythmic vitality. I also listen for phrasing and singing in a musical line. All adjudicators listen for superior musicianship, but I can be forgiving with other areas of scor-ing if the tone is supported and beautiful.

Debbie Glaze: The most important qualities are an understanding of beautiful and healthy tone production and a sense of the text that they are expressing. For high school groups, every piece should not sound the same. What are the stylistic and cultural factors that guide the interpretation?

Harry Musselwhite: I look for a healthy full sung tone: breath-oriented and vibrant singing. I feel most choral singing I hear nowadays is undersung in the service of some sort of perfect accuracy. This leaves me cold. I also look for an attention to the phras-

Behindthe Adjudicator Table:Improving Festival Performance and Ratings

When preparing for an adjudicated choral festival per-

formance, the fundamentals of musical execution –

pitch, balance, timing, and so on – are the first pri-

ority for every choral director. While that may seem obvious, there

are also many other perhaps-more-subtle elements that will impact

the performance, the audience response, and the ratings from the

judges. For a closer look at what adjudicators themselves look for

from school choral groups, CD went straight to the source, asking a

panel of accomplished and esteemed directors and adjudicators for

insight into this particular domain.

ing of the vocal line: moving air and a sensitivity to the line as indicated by the composer. Absence of vocal energy turns me decidedly off.

Tom Wine: After pitches and rhythms, the most important thing is that the group has a defined concept of choral tone. This is presented by the way groups focus breath (technique), match vowels (diction), and address intonation.

When adjudicating school choral groups, what are the most common errors that you see?

Tom Wine: Some directors approach contest as an entirely academic exercise. They assume that singing the correct notes at the right time will constitute a superior (I) rating. As a judge, this is only the starting point for a top rating. More important is how the director has made musical decisions regarding the performance. Is there nuance in phrasing? Have diphthongs been adequately addressed?

Alyson Shirk: Aside from easily taught uniform vowel structures, the most common error I encounter is, shockingly, director repertoire se-lection. Too many directors choose from repertoire that is beyond the per-formance capability of their students. As a result, chords are badly tuned and many musically nuanced elements are missed. Choose repertoire that your students can read in part by sight. Never choose music for festival that you must teach entirely by rote. A group that can perform a less-dif-ficult piece with beauty and musicality will always score higher than the group that poorly performs a song that is too hard for them. While uni-form vowel formation drastically helps intonation, nothing is a substitute for basic music literacy. Whether using fixed or moveable do, numbers, or other syllable systems, if students can sing intervals in tune by sight and by ear, they will apply such skill to reading repertoire.

Tom Shelton: I see difficulty unifying the vowel sounds and having the singers really listen to each other to create one beautiful sound.

Another common problem area is singing the line of the phrase. Notes and pitches are normally accurate, but I have experienced a lot of “notes” at festivals that could have easily been put into a beautiful phrase.

Particularly with middle school choirs, repertoire selection can be problematic for some conductors. Is the vocal range appropriate for the baritones/tenors/basses? Is the selected repertoire accessible to the choir? To quote Jean Ashworth Bartle, “Simple things sung exquisitely are far better than difficult things done badly.”

Debbie Glaze: The most common error that I see is programming music that is too difficult for the singers, either given the time they have to prepare or the level of proficiency that the singers possess. A difficult piece performed poorly is always disappointing to listen to and, most often, difficult to perform under adjudication pressure. A choral director should always strive to set his or her students up for success and keep teaching until he or she can successfully achieve more difficult literature.

If singers are struggling just to get through a piece, there is no joy on their faces, in their sound, or textual expression.

Harry Musselwhite: I often see undersinging. Also precious per-fection that takes the emotional content away from choral performance, and a lack of attention to musical detail.

Do you have any simple or not-so-obvious recommenda-tions for educators on how they can improve their group’s festival ratings?

Tom Wine: Judges tend to listen for different things. Where one judge will focus on diction and energized consonants, another judge might focus on balance and matched voices. My personal “pet

Dr. Alyson Shirk is the director of Music for the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore and the artis-tic director for the Children’s Chorus of Maryland. A lyric soprano, Alyson has a healthy respect for the pedagogy of both choral and solo vocal tech-nique. She is a frequent choral clinician, adjudica-tor, and master class teacher.

Tom Wine is professor of Music Education and director of Choral Activities at Wichita State University. Wine was the recipient of the 2009 WSU President’s Distinguished Service Award as well as the 2009 Burton Pell Award from the Wichita Arts Council. This is his 19th year of col-lege teaching following 10 years of public school

teaching. Wine is editor of the book, Composers on Composing for Choir, published by GIA Press in March, 2007. Wine is also past-president of Kansas ACDA and currently serves as the Youth and Activities R&S board member for KCDA.

Debbie Glaze serves as the coordinator of the Music Education Program at Portland State University, where she teaches courses in Choral Methods, Elementary General Music, and Intro-duction to Music Education, while also supervis-ing student teachers. Debbie has also been a high school choral director for 17 years and is the as-

sistant and interim director of the Portland Symphonic Choir. She has served as the president of the Oregon Music Educator’s Association, a board member of the Oregon American Choral Director’s Association, and as a state certified choral adjudicator. She is active as a clinician and an adjudicator in the choral arena, an active member of both ACDA and MENC, and is currently president of the Northwest Division of MENC.

Tom Shelton is assistant professor of Sacred Music at Westminster Choir College where he teaches classes in Sacred Music, Conducting, and Music Education. Prior to teaching at Westmin-ster, he was a middle school choral director for 18 years in Winston-Salem, NC, and served as as-sociate director of Music for Children and Youth

at First Presbyterian Church, Greensboro, NC. Mr. Shelton has conducted elementary, middle and high school choral festivals in 14 states, and has served as a choral adjudicator for Paramount Carowinds Theme Park Choral Festivals, NCMEA Regional Middle School Choral Festivals, NC Elementary Honors Cho-rus Auditions, NC Governors School Auditions, National ACDA Performing Choirs Listening Committee, National ACDA Middle School Honor Choir, and the Southern Division ACDA Perform-ing Choirs Listening Committee. He has compositions published by Colla Voce, Heritage Music Press, Hinshaw Music, and Santa Barbara Music.

Harry Musselwhite is senior lecturer in Mu-sic and director of Choral Activities at Berry Col-lege in Rome, Georgia. As a soloist, his basso voice has been heard throughout the United States and Europe, and he has led his choral groups throught England and Europe. He is an award-winning filmmaker and recently released, with Hal Leon-

ard, his first children’s book, Martin the Guitar.

Choral Director • November 2012 25

This recent Choral Director survey asks readers to share their accompa-niment experiences – the instruments they use, how their ensembles collabo-rate with instrumental groups, and the latest relevant trends among school choral groups.

Which instrument do you typically use to accompany your school choirs?

“I use a Yamaha Arius YDP-V240. It has a very good digitally sampled pia-no sound. It, unlike acoustic pianos in our dry climate, is always in tune. I can also record accompaniments for use in rehearsal.”

Deanna AmendLa Cueva High School

Albuquerque, N.M.

“I try to plan music to give oppor-tunities to students in my choirs who play flute, violin/viola or any other in-struments that I might be able to work in.”

Camille BlackburnHillcrest High School

Ammon, Idaho

“I perform a lot of songs that use percussion instruments.”

Marie DewarAmbridge Area High School

Ambridge, Pa.

“I generally use the ‘canned’ accom-paniments available.”

Carl BeckNew Road School/Schoenly

SchoolParlin/Spotswood, N.J.

Does your school choral pro-gram have a full time accompa-nist?

“I encourage my students who play piano to accompany one song each for the performances. This has worked out well and they all enjoy the experience.”

Susan SaposnikMt. Olive Middle School

Budd Lake, N.J.

With the prevalence and ac-cessibility of electronic instru-ments, have you noticed a trend towards non-traditional choral accompaniment instruments?

“My students are craving digital accompaniment – either CDs or key-board.”

Kim LevanDunkirk Middle School

Dunkirk, N.Y.

“While I think that is true in many districts, it is not the norm in our district. We fortunately still use predominantly acoustic rather than recorded or elec-tronic instrumental accompaniment.”

Marie MillerCheston Elementary School

Easton, Pa.

“What would a choral performance be without percussion! All kidding aside, there is an abundance of good choral music with percussion, espe-cially multicultural selections. We’re lucky that our school has a percussion ensemble! We also combine one choir and our jazz band from time to time.”

Margaret Anne ButterfieldWilmington Friends School

Wilmington, Del.

“While we know it is out there, we are very traditional for the 2/3 of the year and then we end the year with full-blown pop productions.”

David HendersonEdina High School

Edina, Minn.

Does your vocal music program collaborate with instrumental ensembles in your music depart-ment?

Survey: Accompaniment Instruments

Choral Accompaniment:

Piano

77%

12%Keyboard

3%Guitar

8% Other

Yes, frequently

60%

Yes,occasionally

19%No

21%

Yes

12%

88%No

Yes

43%57%

No

29%

18%

16%

13%

9%

7%

6%

2%

Humor

Computers/YouTube/the Internet

Festivals/competitions/honors choirs

My own experience/creativity

Guest clinicians

A Projector/Smart Board

Piano/Accompanist

SmartMusic/Finale

53%

24%

18%

4%

1%

Nearby colleagues

Friends & family

Music ed associations – ACDA, NAfME, etc.

A mentor

I’m all alone – help!


While most vocal music groups perform at least some material without accompaniment, hav-

ing an instrumental reference is often a key part of instilling the building blocks of choral

performance. As every chorister knows, the piano is the typical accompaniment of choice.

Yet with changing technology, budget restrictions – pianos are quite expensive, after all – and an influx

of musical influence from cultures that have their own unique instrumentation, it might be worthwhile

to re-examine some long-held assumptions about choral instrumentation.

Trends in the

Backing Track

Piano

77%

12%Keyboard

3%Guitar

8% Other

Yes, frequently

60%

Yes,occasionally

19%No

21%

Yes

12%

88%No

Yes

43%57%

No

29%

18%

16%

13%

9%

7%

6%

2%

Humor




Guest clinicians


Piano/Accompanist

SmartMusic/Finale

53%

24%

18%

4%

1%

Nearby colleagues

Friends & family


A mentor


Piano

77%

12%Keyboard

3%Guitar

8% Other

Yes, frequently

60%

Yes,occasionally

19%No

21%

Yes

12%

88%No

Yes

43%57%

No

29%

18%

16%

13%

9%

7%

6%

2%

Humor




Guest clinicians


Piano/Accompanist

SmartMusic/Finale

53%

24%

18%

4%

1%

Nearby colleagues

Friends & family


A mentor


Piano

77%

12%Keyboard

3%Guitar

8% Other

Yes, frequently

60%

Yes,occasionally

19%No

21%

Yes

12%

88%No

Yes

43%57%

No

29%

18%

16%

13%

9%

7%

6%

2%

Humor




Guest clinicians


Piano/Accompanist

SmartMusic/Finale

53%

24%

18%

4%

1%

Nearby colleagues

Friends & family


A mentor


20

24

November 2012

Cover Photo by Sara Press, Los Angeles, Calif.

20 David Moellenkamp

“I wanted the campus to know how great these kids were and I think getting more kids involved certainly helps with that. I wanted to be their champion. I wanted them to be really proud of being in choir.

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November 2012 • Volume 9, Number 6

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Opening Notes

The Many Hats of the School Choral Director

The editorial content in this publication is intended to address the many challenges facing vo-cal music educators. To achieve that aim, it can be helpful to look with greater detail at some of the roles played by the school choral director. Those can include music teacher, coach, artistic director, accompanist, and recruiter, among others, and that is in addition to serving as director of

the choir. How these responsibilities are balanced is unique to each school situation.

The educational component is always a considerable por-tion of any job that involves working with children. The vocal music educator must often introduce not just basic musical ideas like scales and harmony, but also work to impart life skills on impressionable young minds. An enhanced under-standing of the value of discipline, focus, and teamwork are among the many rewards that follow a successful choral per-formance.

Meanwhile, it’s also critical to keep in mind that beyond the mechanical elements of singing (breath control, intona-tion, pitch, timbre, and so on), the larger aim involves more than getting it right or performing perfectly. The goal of a choir is to create music, to present auditory art – ideas and emotions, thematic concepts that can transport the singers, the director, and the audience to another time and place. Rep-ertoire selection plays a large part of this – finding music that will challenge singers to grow creatively and musically, but still allow them to showcase their abilities with confidence. Be sure to follow this publication’s “Repertoire Forum” for recommended pieces for an array of common voicings – this issue’s edition of that column focuses on choral arrangements of spirituals.

Then again, there are also the practicalities and limitations – realities, if you will – so common in public schools. In a reader survey found on page 24, 92 percent of responding choral directors indicated that they did not have a fulltime accompanist in their school program. Many also commented on the challenges of simultaneously playing piano and giving the attention that the choir both needs and deserves during rehearsals. Some directors work around this by relying upon students as accompanists, a move that provides a wonderful op-portunity for young musicians while also freeing up the director to focus more energy and attention on his or her primary role with the choir. Of course, that option is limited by students’ instrumental talents, which can prove to be a major hindrance to that effort. Other directors work around this dilemma by employing technological tools. The possibilities of virtual accompaniment are consid-erable and expanding rapidly, and they can now include innovations like tempo and pitch adjust-ment. On the other hand, the prospect of depending upon “canned music” is abhorrent to many.

And even before one can worry about such problems as accompaniment, vocal technique, or the life lessons found in the choir room, one must create a place where students want to be. This issue’s cover story features David Moellenkamp from Los Alamitos High School in Orange County, California, who has built a vocal music program that includes almost four hundred students. “The moment you stop recruiting is the moment that your numbers start to drop,” says Moellenkamp.

Please take a moment to visit Choral Director online (www.choraldirectormag.com) and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/choraldirectormagazine) to comment and share the ideas and con-tent provided herein. Also, if you have suggestions for other areas of coverage in Choral Director, don’t hesitate to drop us a line…

“Beyond the mechanical elements of singing

(breath control, intonation, pitch, timbre,

and so on), the larger goal involves more

than getting it right or performing perfectly.”

®

Eliahu SussmanEditor • [email protected]

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Headlines

In a celebration of its 25th anniversary season, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City is expanding its award-winning music education program to even more of the city’s schoolchildren through the launch of its first after-school community chorus, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City in Washington Heights (YPCWH).

YPCWH, the first community chorus in a new YPC initiative, is located at P.S. 366 (Washington Heights Academy) and was established in partnership with Washington Heights Academy principal Renzo Martinez. Weekly after-school rehearsals began in early November.

Taught by YPC-trained conductors and accompanied by professional pianists, this YPC curriculum, based on the methods of former Choral Director magazine cover sub-ject Francisco Núñez, provides children with a comprehensive music education that exceeds national standards, as well as a path to higher education and a haven where schoolchildren throughout the community can meet and bond.www.ypc.org

Choral Icon Warland Inducted into Classical Hall of Fame

Among 2012’s class of eight new inductees to the Clas-sical Music Hall of Fame was longtime choral artistic director Dale Warland. War-land led the renowned Dale Warland Sing-ers for over 30 years, establishing a bold repertoire consisting primarily of twenti-eth-century compos-ers like Arvo Part,

Samuel Barber, Charles Ives, Joseph Ott, and more. The group won awards from the American Society of Composers, the Grammys, ASCAP, and more for its work with a large variety of music, and its 2005 album Harvest Home reached number 11 on the Billboard Top Classi-cal Albums.

Warland retired from the Singers in 2004 and has continued a busy career composing music for choir and guest conducting prominent ensembles, as well as editing choral publications and teaching.www.americanclassicalmusic.org �

�

YPC Launches After-School Chorus in NYC

The NAMM Foundation kicked off the highly regarded Best Communities for Music Edu-cation survey during their SupportMusic teleconference and webinar in early November. The Best Communities program recognizes and honors schools and districts across the U.S. for their commitment and support of music education as part of the core curriculum. www.nammfoundation.org

NAMM Foundation Launches 2013 Best Communities Survey

The YPC at La Sociedad Coral Latinoamericana.

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ArtistWorks, an interac-tive online music education provider, has launched a new interactive vocal school from vocal coach Jeannie Deva, of-fering one-on-one singing les-sons online using ArtistWorks Video Exchange Accelerated Learning Platform. This is the 23rd online music school from ArtistWorks.

This new online offerings in-clude a comprehensive library of Ms. Deva’s entire vocal method, which has been combined into a cohesive series of streaming video lessons. Students get unlimited access the singing lessons and can work through them online at their own pace. Through the ArtistWorks model, whenever students have questions or desire

feedback on their singing, they can submit videos for teacher review. The instructor then records a video response detailing the student’s strengths and providing additional exercises to correct weak points. These vid-eo interactions are paired together with the lessons and made available for all students to see and learn from, creating an evolving vocal lesson library.

Ms. Deva’s vocal method is designed to help singers of all levels understand and strengthen their vocal mechanics, result-ing in effortless control and development of their natural voice regardless of the style they sing.www.ArtistWorks.com

LettersAfter our September cover story ran on the chal-

lenges facing Ohio’s Little Miami High School choirs and the successes that school has had in spite of them, director Sarah Baker wrote to clarify the situ-ation regarding the school’s difficulties in applying for need-based grants:

Dear Choral Director Staff,

Students qualify for free and reduced lunch (and breakfast) based on household income. We have a good number of students who take ad-vantage of the program, However, according to poverty reports, Warren County is shown to be one of the most affluent counties in Ohio. Many grant applications will ask for the percentage of students in the program, basing some of the need for funds on that information. Our district is unique in the fact that we have an older population base, but the last 15 years or so, the housing boom created a vast increase of population and demographic change. With the economic crisis, building stopped, and foreclosures were appearing everywhere. The failure of eight tax levies placed the school district into fiscal emergency, and ultimately, state control.

Sarah BakerLittle Miami High School

Morrow, Ohio

L.A. Master Chorale Receives $1M Gift

The Los Angeles Master Chorale (LAMC) has received a $1 million gift from Los Angeles attorneys Kiki and Da-vid Gindler in support of the Chorale’s visionary artistic leadership, it was an-nounced by LAMC President and CEO Terry Knowles. This gift establishes the Chorale’s “Music Director’s Circle,” creating an opportunity for donors of $50,000 or more who share a passion for the musical experiences of the Los Angeles Master Chorale under the artis-tic vision of music director Grant Ger-shon.www.lamc.org

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Singin’ in the Rain capitalizes on the transition from silent films to talkies in the late 1920s. Warner Brothers Studios produced its first talkie film, “The Jazz Singer,” in 1927, creating a strong impetus for similar films by all of the other major film studios. Singin’ in the Rain features songs written by Arthur Freed, head of the Freed unit at Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios that produced numerous film musi-cals between 1939 and 1970. The screenplay was written by the legendary team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green and was directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Do-nen. Kelly also choreographed the film, assisted by Carol Haney. The film starred

Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, and Mil-lard Mitchell, and featured Rita Moreno and Cyd Charisse.

History of Film & Its Creators

While many musicals are written especially for the stage, the film version of Singin’ in the Rain actually preceded the stage version. The film version began production on June 18, 1951 and finished on November 21, 1951. The stage adaptation of the film was first performed in London at the London Pal-ladium, opening on June 30,

Singin’ in the Rain is one of the most quintessential film musicals

ever produced. With 2012 marking the 60th anniversary of its

1952 premiere, this article profiles the creative team responsible

for producing the film, and outlines activities that focus on concepts

and music that can be utilized with both music and dance students.

Commentary: Singin’ in the Rain

By Keith Mason

Sixty Years of Singin’ in the Rain

What a Glorious Feeling!

1983, and ran for 894 performances. A Broadway staging at the Gershwin Theatre came two years later, opening on July 2, 1985, running for 367 per-formances. The stage version has been presented at numerous local theatres throughout the globe.

The main storyline of Singin’ in the Rain features a popular silent film star, Don Lockwood, who had performed as a singer, dancer, and stunt man earlier in his career. Although the press links him romantically to leading lady Lina Lamont, Lockwood can barely toler-ate her. When Lockwood jumps into the car of aspiring stage actress Kathy Selden to escape from overenthusias-tic fans, Selden criticizes film actors as mere “shadows on film.” Kathy Selden later gets work at the fictitious Monu-mental Pictures, the same studio that produces the Lockwood/Lamont films. The head of the studio, R. F. Simpson, wants to change the next film, The Du-eling Cavaliers, into a musical entitled The Dancing Cavalier. Unfortunately, Lina’s grating and irritating high-pitched speaking voice and inability to sing creates a problem. Lockwood’s piano-playing friend, Cosmo Brown, comes up with the idea that Kathy Selden can dub Lina’s dialog and sing-ing voice. The film is a great success, but Selden is upset about being forced to continue as Lina Lamont’s voice

Gene Kelly during his famous Singin’ in the Rain dance number.

Donald O’Connor (Cosmo Brown), Debbie Reynolds (Kathy Selden) and Gene Kelly (Don Lockwood).

All photos from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Commentary.indd 10 11/14/12 4:03 PM


double. While Lina is “performing” the song “Singin’ in the Rain” to the audience after a screening of The Danc-ing Cavalier, Kathy Selden is actually behind a curtain with a microphone, singing for Lamont. Cosmo, Don Lock-wood, and R.F. expose Lina by raising the curtain; Lina runs off in embarrass-ment. After Kathy storms off, Don asks audience members to stop Kathy and announces to them that Kathy is the true star of the picture. The film ends with the characters of Lockwood and Selden standing in front of a billboard for their new movie, Singin’ in the Rain.

In his book entitled Singin’ in the Rain, Wollen (1992, p. 9) observed that “The single most memorable dance number on film is Gene Kelly’s solo dance ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ in the film of the same name, which he co-direct-ed in 1951, with Stanley Donen, for the Freed Unit at MGM.” Kelly did the number as if he were a child playing and splashing in the puddles, making it famous throughout the globe. While MGM’s An American in Paris swept the Oscars, Singin’ in the Rain was nonethe-less enormously popular and a box of-fice hit.

The characters in Singin’ in the Rain are based on real-life film stars: Cosmo Brown was based on actor Oscar Le-vant, Lina Lamont was based on silent picture star Norma Talmadge, who did poorly going from silent movies to talkies, Zelda Zanders is based on “it girl” Clara Bow, and radio show host Dora Bailey, played by Madge Blake, is supposedly based on famous gossip columnist Louella Parsons.

Betty Comden (1917-2006) and Adolph Green (1914-2002) were hired by Freed to work on a screenplay us-ing his catalog of songs. They were told the work would be entitled Singin’ in the Rain, after Freed’s song with Na-cio Herb Brown. Comden and Green thought that the late 1920s, when si-lent films went to talkies, would be the ideal time period for the project be-cause this period aligned with the be-ginning of the Freed and Brown song collaborations.

Comden and Green wrote Broad-way musicals and Hollywood musicals over a six-decade span. On the Town was the pair’s first Broadway endeavor

Stage and Film Works of Betty Comden and Adolph Green

ApplauseThe Band WagonBells Are RingingBillion Dollar Baby”Do Re MiA Doll’s LifeFade Out-Fade InHallelujah, Baby!It’s Always Fair Weather

On the TownOn the Twentieth CenturyA Party with Betty Comden and Adolph GreenPeter PanSingin’ in the RainSubways Are For SleepingTwo On the AisleWill Rogers FolliesWonderful Town

with music by legendary composer Leonard Bernstein. They also played key roles in the musical. See the side-bar for a list of Comden and Green’s stage and film works, which garnered a number of awards including Tony

Awards for Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Composer, and Lyricist. Comden and Green received Kennedy Center Honors in 1991.

One of the key issues behind the transition to talkies was the inability

Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood.



of some actors to deliver dialog with a pleasant-sounding voice or to sing on key. The character of Lina Lamont is a prime example in Singin’ in the Rain, whereby Kathy Selden is commissioned to perform both her dialog and her singing voice. Dubbing became a regu-lar practice, especially in film musicals. One of the most famous dubbers, Marni Nixon, sang for a variety of different non-singing actresses including Debo-rah Kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. Nixon did in real life what fictional Kathy Selden is depicted doing in Singin’ in the Rain.

Arthur Freed (1894-1973) began his entertainment career as a song-plugger and pianist in Chicago. He then met the Marx Brother’s mother, Minnie, and became a singer as part of the Marx Brother’s vaudeville act. He wrote material for them and then went on to write song lyrics; he was hired by MGM. Freed wrote song lyrics for numerous MGM musicals, many with music by Nacio Herb Brown. In 1939, after serving as an un-credited associate producer of The Wizard of Oz, Freed was promoted to head of his own unit at MGM. He helped make the studio the leading creator of film musicals. His first mu-sical was Rodgers and Hart’s, Babes in Arms (1939), starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. The suc-cess of this film invited a long series of “let’s put on a show” or “backyard musical” films, all of which starred Rooney and Garland. Two of Freed’s MGM films won the Academy Award for Best Picture: An American in Paris (1951) and Gigi (1958). Ironically, his most highly regarded film, Singin’ in the Rain, won no Oscars.

Legendary dancer Gene Kelly (1912-1996) had immense contribu-tions to Singin’ in the Rain, co-direct-ing, choreographing, and starring in the film. Kelly was an actor, singer, and producer as well. He originally wanted to be a baseball player, but

his mother encouraged him to be a dancer. Kelly appeared in a number of MGM musicals, mainly from the mid 1940s until the late 1950s. He was particularly famous for making ballet dancing commercially acceptable to movie audiences. Kelly also blended solo dancing, mass movement, offbeat camera angles, and vibrant colors to tell a story in purely visual terms. Be-sides Singin’ in the Rain, Kelly also ap-peared in An American in Paris, For Me and My Gal, Cover Girl, Anchors Away, and The Pirate. In addition, he directed The Tunnel of Love, Gigot, A Guide for the Married Man, Hello, Dolly! and The Cheyenne Social Club.

Dream ballets first became fa-mous and popular when Rodgers and Hammerstein included one in their 1943 Broadway musical, Oklahoma! It became common for musicals to feature such a ballet as in Carousel and Flower Drum Song. Kelly built a ballet around two of Freed and Brown’s songs: “Broadway

Songs from Singin’ in the Rain First Film Appearance

“Fit as a Fiddle (and Ready for Love)” College Coach (1933)“Temptation” (instrumental only) Going Hollywood (1933)“All I Do Is Dream of You” Sadie McKee (1934)“Singin’ in the Rain” Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)“Make ‘Em Laugh” Original“Beautiful Girl Montage” “I Got a Feeling You’re Foolin’” from Broadway Melody of 1936” (1935), “The Wedding of the Painted Doll” from The Broadway Melody (1929), and “Should I?” from Lord Byron of Broadway (1930)“Beautiful Girl” Going Hollywood (1933) or Stage Mother (1933)“You Were Meant for Me” The Broadway Melody (1929)“You Are My Lucky Star” Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)“Moses Supposes” Singin’ in the Rain (1952)“Good Morning” Babes in Arms (1939)“Would You?” San Francisco (1936) “Broadway Melody Ballet” The Broadway Melody (1929) and “Broadway Rhythm” from Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)

Debbie Reynolds and Gene Kelly.

Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont and Debbie Reyn-olds as her voice double Kathy Selden.



Melody” and “Broadway Rhythm.” An artistic scarf dance was also in-terpolated, danced by Kelly and Cyd Charisse.

Stanley Donen (born 1924), an American film director and choreog-rapher, is best known for Singin’ in the Rain and On the Town, both of which he co-directed with Gene Kelly. His other major films include Charade, Damn Yankees!, Funny Face, Indis-creet, Royal Wedding, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Two for the Road. Film critic David Quinlan called Do-nen “the King of the Hollywood mu-sicals.” Donen is known for changing Hollywood musical films from realis-tic backstage dramas, in which songs were motivated by stage settings or the physical presence of musicians, into an integrated art form, whereby the music was unmotivated and songs became a natural continuation of the story.

The Singin’ in the Rain ScoreArthur Freed’s songs serve as the

bulk of the Singin’ in the Rain score. “Catalog” pictures were a sub genre of musicals normally presented as biopics utilizing a musician’s catalog of songs. Thus, Singin’ in the Rain does not have an original score, but rather a compi-lation of selected songs with lyrics by Arthur Freed and mostly composed by Nacio Herb Brown. The only original song written especially for the film was “Moses Supposes” with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Roger Edens.

The original song “Singin’ in the Rain,” first appearing in the film Holly-wood Revue of 1929, did not include the lyrics “and dancin’” in the line “Singin’ and dancin’ in the rain.” The two words were added for the film version so that Don Lockwood would be highlighting both the songs and choreography.

Score and Film-Related Activities

The Arthur Freed songs that com-prise the Singin’ in the Rain score invite a number of activities that can enhance both music and dance curricula. Con-sider the following activities:

Dubbing Activity: In class, each student can partner with someone who dubs his or her singing voice as in “Singin’ in the Rain.” One student sings the song while the other lip syncs or mouths the words. How close are the dubber’s vocals to the lip-syncher’s? Songs from Singin’ in the Rain could be used for this activity.

Singing and Playing: Students could learn one or more songs from the Singin’ in the Rain score and sing them or play them instrumentally.

MGM Musicals/Arthur Freed Unit: Singin’ in the Rain is one of many MGM musicals. Teachers can have stu-dents research the Freed unit. What other musicals were produced? How many musicals were produced? How many musicals on average per year were produced?

Songs in Original Films: Investi-gate the original films in which the Sin-gin’ in the Rain songs were used. How was each song used within the context of its original film or films?

Dream ballets: The dance sequence in Singin’ in the Rain called “Broadway Melody,” featuring Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse, may be considered a dream ballet. Find out about other stage or film musicals that utilize a dream bal-let. How does the ballet help move along the plot and story as well as con-tribute artistically to the work?

Dance during Singin’ in the Rain: Analyze the dance sequence during the song “Singin’ in the Rain.” What types of dance steps are used? Why do you think this song and dance number is so well known? How does rain contribute to the overall scene?

ConclusionSingin’ in the Rain is not only one of

the best film musicals of the 1950s, but arguably one of the best films, musi-cal or otherwise, ever produced. Cel-ebrating the 60th anniversary of Singin’ in the Rain can truly enhance a choral, vocal music, show choir, or dance cur-riculum. What a glorious feeling!

Keith Mason, Ph.D. teaches World Languages at New Providence High School in New Providence, New Jersey. Dr. Mason received eight Rising Star Awards for Edu-cational Impact from the Paper Mill Playhouse for integrating his school’s mu-sicals into the high school cur-riculum. He has authored many articles about using musicals in the interdisciplinary curriculum.

Print Sources Bingen, Steven, Stephen X. Sylvester, Michael Troyan, and Debbie Reynolds. MGM: Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot. Solana Beach, CA: Santa Monica Press, 2011.

Comden, Betty, and Adolph Green. Singin’ in the Rain: Story and Screenplay: Classic Film Scripts. London: Lorrimer Publishing, 1986.

Fordin, Hugh. MGM’s Greatest Musi-cals: The Arthur Freed Unit. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 1996.

Green, Alexander. Gene Kelly – His Life of Stage and Screen – A Biography.

Hess, Earl J., and Pradibha A. Dub-holker. Singin’ in the Rain: The Making of an American Masterpiece. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2010.

Hirschhorn, Clive. Gene Kelly: A Bi-ography. New York: St. Martins Press, 1985.

Miner, Sylvia. Gene Kelly – A Short Biography for Kids. Amazon: Kindle Edi-tion, 2011.

Morby, Sheridan, Ruth Leon, and Leslie Caron. Gene Kelly: A Celebration. Brighton, England: Pavilion, 1997.

Wollen, Peter. Singin’ in the Rain. London: BFI Publishing, 1992.

Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds.



It’s no easy task to retain high enrollment in any school choir, regardless of location. Choir directors must be vigilant in their communi-ties and persistent with new recruits, using all tools available to them – everything from direct outreach to word of mouth, colleague

support, and fundraising are all vital. Wild success year after year in performances and competi-

tion never hurts.This past school year marked the second year in a row that

choirs from Los Alamitos High School were named National Grand Champions at the Finale show choir competition (the honors went to both the school’s mixed AAA choir and its all-girl advanced choir). The Orange County, California students were part of a program steeped in a proud choral tradition, but choral director David Moellenkamp is actually a recent addi-tion to that timeline.

UPCLOSE: David Moellenkamp

UpClose.indd 14 11/14/12 4:07 PM

Los Alamitos High School has always had a strong choral program, but the ranks of its singers have doubled in the last four years. Director David Moellenkamp reveals how.

Built to Last

By Matt Parish



In the four years since Moellenkamp came onboard, en-rollment numbers in Los Alamitos choirs have doubled and their showings at competitions have improved dramatically. The school’s choirs have combined to win 29 first place/championship awards and have also collected over 80 “Best in Category” recognitions.

Moellenkamp was a seasoned veteran when he was hired, having begun work as a choral director at the age of 21 at his old high school’s rival program in Sullivan, Illinois. During those formative years, he found fast success in the Sullivan program while rapidly expanding his reach by adjudicat-ing at competitions throughout the country and getting in-volved with choir camps like the Butler Showchoir Showcase in Wichita and the famous Stagedoor Manor in New York’s Hudson Valley. By the time he arrived at Los Alamitos in 2009, he had over 100 first place finishes to his credit.

And yet, Moellenkamp says that the size of the trophy has become less important to him than the development of his kids. “The kids don’t remember the placement,” he says. “But they do remember how great it felt coming off the stage after having just performed for a really great crowd.”

Choral Director spoke with Moellenkamp about his own development and the success he’s had at Los Alamitos, par-ticularly regarding the incredible recruiting and retention numbers.

Choral Director: How did you approach the job at Los Alamitos when you first began there?

David Moellenkamp: The kids’ complaint when I first started was that everyone else thought that all they did was stand and sing. So my main goal was to change the percep-tion of choir on campus – first by changing the perception the kids had about being in the program, and second (really at the heart of it all) by giving these kids more confidence. I wanted the campus to know how great these kids were and I think getting more students involved certainly helps with that. We try to instill confidence in all these kids. I wanted to be their champion. I wanted them to be really proud of being in choir. That was my main goal.

CD: Your first job directing choir was back in Illinois, at Sullivan High School. How did that affect you in your early years?

DM: I started when I was 21, right out of college. It was quite a shock to me. When I was in high school, we com-peted in a national competition against the Sullivan Sing-ers. I went to Rolling Meadows High School in Illinois and I remember watching them when we were in competition and just being in awe of everything about them – their per-formance, their strength, their costumes, and their sound. It was weird that four years later, I’d find a job opening there. Actually, after I graduated college at Millikin, I didn’t think I was going to teach. I really thought it was time to do some-thing else. I found that this job was open and I interviewed on a Tuesday morning and was given the job that afternoon. I thought, “Okay, I can last a year to make my parents think I’m grateful for my four-year private school education.” Now,

21 years later, here I am still teaching. Even that program doubled in size within the first three

years. We started more groups – we started a girls group and the mixed group got larger. When I showed up the first day, I thought they’d be just like I had seen them in competition and that wasn’t the case at all. It actually took a lot of hard work! I hadn’t realized that, naïve as I was. It was quite a program. When I took over, it was a very successful program so I had quite a lot to learn. I still do, obviously. But it was a very challenging first couple years trying to figure out how to navigate that program.

CD: What was it about that first year that got you hooked?

DM: The hope that it would be better next year. Everyone says your second year is going to be much easier and that you’ve got to stick it out. You’ve got to try. And honestly I’ve always really loved show choir. I was in show choir in high school and in college at Millikin. I enjoyed doing it but the challenge came later on. You just learn as you go. At Sulli-van, I had very big shoes to fill. I was replacing David Fehr, who teaches at Clinton, Miss. – he’s the Attache Show Choir director. He’s a really strong director so I had a lot to learn to measure up to that, and I definitely still do.

CD: Was there anything in particular during those experi-ences that has really changed the way you’ve approached choir direction?



DM: Oh sure. At Butler Showchoir camp, working with Valerie Lippoldt Mack was life-changing. Her teach-ing methods are so uplifting, motivat-ing, and positive and she’s so gracious to everyone that she comes in contact with. The way that she’s able to build a group’s self-esteem and their cama-raderie was extremely inspiring. I also spent 13 summers working at Stagedo-or Manor, a music theater program up in the Catskills. That experience was incredible because I was able to work with a different kind of kid than I had at Sullivan. These kids from New York were all the music theater stars.

Then there was going to Show Choir Camps of America with Dwight Jordan and Sue Moninger. In general, every director you run across, you should be able to learn something from. I feel like a sponge trying to pick up everybody’s knowledge.

CD: What do you do to get the kids excited about the program?

DM: Success breeds success. I re-member our first show back in 2008, our Broadway show. The kids were so proud of their vocal sound and proud of their performance and proud that they’d worked very hard. It was dur-ing Halloween weekend and I think we only sold 100 seats the last night of the performance. Overall, we sold maybe 700 seats for the production. We are at the point now that we’ve added a fourth show for all of the performances and we sold 2,700 seats for our Broad-

way Show this last year. Still, that first show created a buzz around campus. We always invite the staff to come to the show and they’re very supportive. They talk about the performances and eventually more people show up.

CD: What are some direct steps you take to keep your recruitment efforts strong?

DM: There are a number of ways to recruit kids into the program. Having taught grades 6-12 for so many years, I knew that it was easier when you were able to get to know kids early on and transition them into the high school program. Now that I’m only teaching in high school, I’ve had to come up with other ways of listening to different colleagues and look for many ways to

get the job done. I spend a lot of time at junior high, whether I’m doing a workshop with them, choreographing a song, or teaching a song.

We’ve gone in and actually taught the middle school physical education classes where we’ve done choreogra-phy and show choirs – keeping them active, of course. I’ve also been given written recommendations from current students and teachers at the middle school for certain kids that we need to have in our program. So we write per-sonal letters – the students and myself

– to the kids at the middle schools that we feel would be great in our program.

CD: Are there specific events for which you harness your choirs’ tal-ents that are designed to help with recruiting?

DM: We do a district choral festi-val with a big group number including every boy that’s currently enrolled in choir from grades 4-12. They do a big singing and dancing performance and that’s a big deal. Also at that choral fes-tival, our groups all perform together and for each other including all grades 4-12. That seems to be a very popular event.

We’ve also gone into the middle schools and done performances at their assemblies and spoken about the choirs

there. At the high school, we’ve done a class-by-class performance where we’ll be getting ready for a show and invite the classes to come in and watch stu-dents perform. Whether it’s the kids in the classroom or the whole school, for students to see what our kids did and the success they were having onstage. The fun and pride that they shared was really incredible. And we picked up a lot of kids from that.

CD: How important is it for you just to be present in the schools and get to know the younger students?

DM: I try to get to know the kids on campus as best as I can. If I can’t get out of my classroom at lunch or after school, I at least try to communicate to the students who are already on our campus. I do think that it’s important to get kids early. If you get students as freshmen, you can keep them through-out their years. The kids that join late are always so disappointed that they didn’t join earlier.

We had a whole conversation re-cently in our boy’s group and some of them were talking about the letter they received from me as an 8th grader and how it made them feel so special that someone wanted them in the program.

The moment you stop recruiting is the moment that your numbers start to drop.“ ”



There were five boys in that group that year that would not have been there if they hadn’t received that letter. It was amazing how much a difference that one letter made in their high school career.

CD: Do you find that there’s a criti-cal mass for the amount of boys in particular in the program to keep it moving?

DM: Yeah, but the moment you stop recruiting is the moment that your numbers start to drop. You can’t ever stop. They’re not going to run to you. Most of those boys are not going to walk into that room. You’ve got to get them in there. We had that whole talk about how the choir had changed their life, but then we started talking about their responsibilities.

CD: Do you try anything to actively instill that attitude in them?

DM: My choir director at Millikin, Richard Hoffland, told me something important after one show. We’d gone on tour in Russia and had been per-forming in St. Petersburg. The show was amazing and I was so moved. It was a mind-blowing experience – just singing in that choir always was, but that performance especially. So I talked to him afterwards and I asked, “How do I ever thank you?” He said, “You pay it forward. You share your talents, you give kids that skill, and that’s how you repay me.”

This year, my students and I talk-ed about what this experience has been like for the first six weeks of the year and how our lives have already changed. They didn’t know they could have this much confidence, they didn’t know they could have this much fun.

And at that point, we entered a conver-sation about paying it forward. I think we had 80 percent of those boys think of someone on this campus that could benefit from this program. So your kids can actually be big recruiters. The more confidence they have in the program, the more confident other students will be in a decision to join.

CD: How do you balance the need to build the program as fast as you can with the challenge of making sure the quality improves?

DM: That’s tough. Last year was the biggest leap. We grew this year as well, but it was only by about 20 kids. We’ve been doing more vocal section-als where the basses meet, the tenors meet , the altos and sopranos meet – that way, the kids don’t get lost. All the section leaders meet with them at lunch or after school. That certainly helps. We call them “tribes” – the tenor tribe and the bass tribe and so on. We make smaller groups within the big

At a Glance:Los Alamitos High School 3591 Cerritos AvenueLos Alamitos, Calif.On the Web: www.losalamitoschoir.comStudents in the LAHS Choir: 385Students Enrolled at LAHS: 3,200

Ensembles:XpressionsSoundFXXtremeAxcentSoundtraxDeluxe/Dynamix

Staff:David Moellenkamp (Director)Eddy Clement (Accompanist)Heather Hoppus-Werner (Choreographer)April James (Choreographer)



groups and make sure they feel like they’re part of some community as well as part of a big group. It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle.

CD: Do you think formal successes like those found in regional and na-tional competitions plays a big role in recruitment?

DM: It does help to remind people how great the choirs are, but the nor-mal kid on campus doesn’t have any idea of who the other groups are that we go up against in competition. I think the success that really translates best is when they can actually see what the choirs can do in a show and do it really well. That’s exciting. Winning a competition is fun, but it’s not really what we’re about. Having said that, I always expect that they give a Grand Championship performance! At com-petitions, we just want to be the best we can be and hopefully receive some positive comments about what we were able to do.

If you’re just chasing a trophy, it’s an empty chase. I learned that along the way. When I first started teaching, it was all about getting that first place trophy, but then it really became about the experience with the kids and them growing as people.

CD: Now that you’re five years into this experience on the West Coast, what have you learned about kids that you can compare to students of yours back in the Midwest or at camps in the East?

DM: Everyone always wants to know how kids are different in Califor-nia or New York or Kansas or Illinois or wherever. You know what? The kids all really just want one thing – they want to be proud of what they do. They want to fit in and be proud of who they are. Being a teenager is tough and that’s why Los Alamitos has been so suc-cessful, because it is a haven for kids that want to express themselves and be successful. People figured that out and that’s why the program keeps growing every year.


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Roundtable: Adjudication

What are the most important quali-ties for middle or high school choral groups to display at a choral festival?

Alyson Shirk: Intonation, diction, and dynamics are the most important demon-strable qualities for choral groups to display at festival. Intonation can be fixed in part by uniform and spacious vowel formation. Crisp beginning and ending consonants are within the grasp of every choral group. Don’t wait until the final rehearsals to add crisp conso-nants; start them right away! Layer in dynam-ics right away as well. Terracing dynamics on repeats and paying attention to crescendos and decrescendos adds an impressive level of musical professionalism to a performance.

Tom Shelton: Choral tone is the most important quality. I listen for a beautiful sup-ported tone with unified vowels that is ener-getic and has rhythmic vitality. I also listen for phrasing and singing in a musical line. All adjudicators listen for superior musicianship, but I can be forgiving with other areas of scor-ing if the tone is supported and beautiful.

Debbie Glaze: The most important qualities are an understanding of beautiful and healthy tone production and a sense of the text that they are expressing. For high school groups, every piece should not sound the same. What are the stylistic and cultural factors that guide the interpretation?

Harry Musselwhite: I look for a healthy full sung tone: breath-oriented and vibrant singing. I feel most choral singing I hear nowadays is undersung in the service of some sort of perfect accuracy. This leaves me cold. I also look for an attention to the phras-

Behindthe Adjudicator Table:Improving Festival Performance and Ratings

When preparing for an adjudicated choral festival per-

formance, the fundamentals of musical execution –

pitch, balance, timing, and so on – are the first pri-

ority for every choral director. While that may seem obvious, there

are also many other perhaps-more-subtle elements that will impact

the performance, the audience response, and the ratings from the

judges. For a closer look at what adjudicators themselves look for

from school choral groups, CD went straight to the source, asking a

panel of accomplished and esteemed directors and adjudicators for

insight into this particular domain.

Roundtable.indd 20 11/14/12 4:10 PM


ing of the vocal line: moving air and a sensitivity to the line as indicated by the composer. Absence of vocal energy turns me decidedly off.

Tom Wine: After pitches and rhythms, the most important thing is that the group has a defined concept of choral tone. This is presented by the way groups focus breath (technique), match vowels (diction), and address intonation.

When adjudicating school choral groups, what are the most common errors that you see?

Tom Wine: Some directors approach contest as an entirely academic exercise. They assume that singing the correct notes at the right time will constitute a superior (I) rating. As a judge, this is only the starting point for a top rating. More important is how the director has made musical decisions regarding the performance. Is there nuance in phrasing? Have diphthongs been adequately addressed?

Alyson Shirk: Aside from easily taught uniform vowel structures, the most common error I encounter is, shockingly, director repertoire se-lection. Too many directors choose from repertoire that is beyond the per-formance capability of their students. As a result, chords are badly tuned and many musically nuanced elements are missed. Choose repertoire that your students can read in part by sight. Never choose music for festival that you must teach entirely by rote. A group that can perform a less-dif-ficult piece with beauty and musicality will always score higher than the group that poorly performs a song that is too hard for them. While uni-form vowel formation drastically helps intonation, nothing is a substitute for basic music literacy. Whether using fixed or moveable do, numbers, or other syllable systems, if students can sing intervals in tune by sight and by ear, they will apply such skill to reading repertoire.

Tom Shelton: I see difficulty unifying the vowel sounds and having the singers really listen to each other to create one beautiful sound.

Another common problem area is singing the line of the phrase. Notes and pitches are normally accurate, but I have experienced a lot of “notes” at festivals that could have easily been put into a beautiful phrase.

Particularly with middle school choirs, repertoire selection can be problematic for some conductors. Is the vocal range appropriate for the baritones/tenors/basses? Is the selected repertoire accessible to the choir? To quote Jean Ashworth Bartle, “Simple things sung exquisitely are far better than difficult things done badly.”

Debbie Glaze: The most common error that I see is programming music that is too difficult for the singers, either given the time they have to prepare or the level of proficiency that the singers possess. A difficult piece performed poorly is always disappointing to listen to and, most often, difficult to perform under adjudication pressure. A choral director should always strive to set his or her students up for success and keep teaching until he or she can successfully achieve more difficult literature.

If singers are struggling just to get through a piece, there is no joy on their faces, in their sound, or textual expression.

Harry Musselwhite: I often see undersinging. Also precious per-fection that takes the emotional content away from choral performance, and a lack of attention to musical detail.

Do you have any simple or not-so-obvious recommenda-tions for educators on how they can improve their group’s festival ratings?

Tom Wine: Judges tend to listen for different things. Where one judge will focus on diction and energized consonants, another judge might focus on balance and matched voices. My personal “pet

Dr. Alyson Shirk is the director of Music for the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore and the artis-tic director for the Children’s Chorus of Maryland. A lyric soprano, Alyson has a healthy respect for the pedagogy of both choral and solo vocal tech-nique. She is a frequent choral clinician, adjudica-tor, and master class teacher.

Tom Wine is professor of Music Education and director of Choral Activities at Wichita State University. Wine was the recipient of the 2009 WSU President’s Distinguished Service Award as well as the 2009 Burton Pell Award from the Wichita Arts Council. This is his 19th year of col-lege teaching following 10 years of public school

teaching. Wine is editor of the book, Composers on Composing for Choir, published by GIA Press in March, 2007. Wine is also past-president of Kansas ACDA and currently serves as the Youth and Activities R&S board member for KCDA.

Debbie Glaze serves as the coordinator of the Music Education Program at Portland State University, where she teaches courses in Choral Methods, Elementary General Music, and Intro-duction to Music Education, while also supervis-ing student teachers. Debbie has also been a high school choral director for 17 years and is the as-

sistant and interim director of the Portland Symphonic Choir. She has served as the president of the Oregon Music Educator’s Association, a board member of the Oregon American Choral Director’s Association, and as a state certified choral adjudicator. She is active as a clinician and an adjudicator in the choral arena, an active member of both ACDA and MENC, and is currently president of the Northwest Division of MENC.

Tom Shelton is assistant professor of Sacred Music at Westminster Choir College where he teaches classes in Sacred Music, Conducting, and Music Education. Prior to teaching at Westmin-ster, he was a middle school choral director for 18 years in Winston-Salem, NC, and served as as-sociate director of Music for Children and Youth

at First Presbyterian Church, Greensboro, NC. Mr. Shelton has conducted elementary, middle and high school choral festivals in 14 states, and has served as a choral adjudicator for Paramount Carowinds Theme Park Choral Festivals, NCMEA Regional Middle School Choral Festivals, NC Elementary Honors Cho-rus Auditions, NC Governors School Auditions, National ACDA Performing Choirs Listening Committee, National ACDA Middle School Honor Choir, and the Southern Division ACDA Perform-ing Choirs Listening Committee. He has compositions published by Colla Voce, Heritage Music Press, Hinshaw Music, and Santa Barbara Music.

Harry Musselwhite is senior lecturer in Mu-sic and director of Choral Activities at Berry Col-lege in Rome, Georgia. As a soloist, his basso voice has been heard throughout the United States and Europe, and he has led his choral groups throught England and Europe. He is an award-winning filmmaker and recently released, with Hal Leon-

ard, his first children’s book, Martin the Guitar.



peeve” is choirs that do not sing in tune. Try to bring guest directors into the classroom before contest. Get a different set of ears in front of the students to help sort out areas that might not be a priority to the director.

Debbie Glaze: Don’t get so bogged down teaching notes and memorizing texts that you forget to always have them breathe together, in the shape of the vowel they are about to sing. Good breathing habits and vowel shapes will immediately improve a choir’s sound, blend, and intonation, and create beauty. Alive faces will also energize and beautify their sound, as well as express the text more fully. Too often, an adjudicator can tell that the choir has spent the majority of their rehearsal time on learn-ing parts and has neglected to build habits that inform their sound and expressive elements.

Tom Shelton: Choral Festival is a won-derful performance opportunity for the sing-ers to share their musical growth and musi-cianship. It’s not about the product – it’s the process. If your process is sound, then your product will be sound. Use the warm-up pro-cess in your rehearsal to focus on listening and unifying vowel sounds. Have the singers make the connection between the warm-ups and the repertoire. As you are teaching the music, lis-

ten – detect errors and fix them quickly – and do not allow the singers to sing out of tune or sing incorrect notes and pitches.

Teaching musicality is part of the teaching process. If you have not worked on singing a legato phrase, you can’t add that articulation to the rehearsal before the festival and expect it to stick.

Prepare your students for the non-musical elements of the experience – what the stage is like, where the adjudicators will be, what the adjudicators are listening for, will you an-nounce the songs, and so on. The “unknown” causes “unrest.” Preparing them as much as possible beforehand will make the experience calmer and more rewarding.

Harry Musselwhite: When a choral group enters the adjudication space, at that moment, they are performing, and so is the conductor. Enter the space in performance posture and performance attitude. Let this lead to the actual vocal presentation that you have worked so hard too execute.

How important are non-musical ele-ments, such as posture, facial expres-sion, wardrobe, and entering and exit-ing the stage?

Tom Shelton: First impressions are very important. The performance starts the moment the singers step on the stage. Sing-ers should take the time walking to the risers to focus and prepare themselves for singing, which will lead to a better performance. Cho-ral singing is working together. Having a uni-fied “look” helps foster the feeling of “we are in this together.” Posture/alignment is the basis for good choral tone, so even though it is “non-musical,” it is monumental!

Harry Musselwhite: I feel these items are sometimes as important as the actual sound a choral group makes. Pride of performing power is not to be underestimated!

Debbie Glaze: Choirs who carry them-selves with a sense of pride will enter and leave the stage professionally and wear ap-propriate attire for their performance. This is important, because it’s one of the few times in a student’s life that this sort of disciplined teamwork is essential to the success of the group and builds community and confi-dence for individual students. In terms of adjudication, it is always noted, though ap-propriately scored less heavily than musical aspects such as quality of sound, musicality and technique.

Tom Wine: Posture is very important, as it is directly related to vocal technique. Lack of focus on posture indicates lack of preparation on breath support. Facial expression can be a positive because it tends to indicate connection to the text, but it is not a negative if students sing with good tone and musicality. Matching outfits can help create a positive first impres-sion, but will never be the defining item in a final score.

Alyson Shirk: As an adjudicator, I am always impressed by how students present themselves and the precision with which they enter the stage. Wardrobe is important, too. A uniform look allows for full concentration on the musical performance. A well-choreo-graphed entrance and exit and a spiffy look never detract from a performance! Students who show expression in their faces gener-ally show expression in their music. Only a few children are gifted with natural ability to emote facially – most students must practice. It may seem like time is better spent work-ing on the music but when students engage emotionally (as they must even to fake a facial expression), I find they sing more musically and better in tune.

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Harry Musselwhite: Worry less about perfection and worry more about expression. Engage the text, the vowels, the sounds, and execute through these aspects.

Alyson Shirk: I recommend inviting a clinician you know and trust to come to a rehearsal several weeks before the assessment. Students will hear the recommendations that you give them on a daily basis differently from someone else and will benefit from the work of an outside party. It is also helpful to record a full rehearsal for the director’s edification and to record a partial rehearsal for the students’ growth. The director will pick up on things she or he has missed and the students will benefit from hearing the good things that are happen-ing in rehearsal as well as the things that need improvement. If they can make meaningful commentary on their own performance, they will own the process.

If space and rehearsal parameters allow, take the students to a different rehearsal loca-tion and have them practice walking on risers and singing in a different space. Just the expe-rience of a different acoustic and a mock riser load-in can add a level of serious concentration that will counterbalance an attack of nerves that often arise when students sing in unfamil-iar spaces.

Tom Shelton: Plan ahead. Make long-range and short-term goals for your choir. You don’t want them to “peak” too soon, but you want them to be comfortable, self assured, and confident in their performance. Singing in a choral festival is a great educational tool. Go over the adjudication sheet with the singers several weeks before the festival. This explains exactly what the adjudicators are listening for, and can be a wonderful assessment tool for you (and the singers) in the rehearsal. Don’t just go for the “rating.” After the festival, listen to the taped (or written) evaluations with the singers and discuss the comments with the goal of im-proving before the next performance.

Debbie Glaze: I like to think of the festi-val performance as a culminating experience of weeks of hard work and rehearsal. It is a time to put it all together and do the choir’s best work, yet enjoy the process as well as the prod-uct. Rather than looking only at the adjudica-tion numbers or ratings, look at how much the choir has grown and improved in the process. This is easier said than done, but singing in a choir is for life; a festival score is a measure of that day. Go to a festival to hear other great choirs and hear new and wonderful pieces.

Finally, festivals are always more satisfying when the choir can read a wide variety of mu-sic, so remember to teach musical literacy con-tinually, giving them lifelong tools and facilitat-ing more productive rehearsals in preparation for festival season. A good choral conductor is a good teacher.

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Survey: Accompaniment Instruments

Choral Accompaniment:


While most vocal music groups perform at least some material without accompaniment, hav-

ing an instrumental reference is often a key part of instilling the building blocks of choral

performance. As every chorister knows, the piano is the typical accompaniment of choice.

Yet with changing technology, budget restrictions – pianos are quite expensive, after all – and an influx

of musical influence from cultures that have their own unique instrumentation, it might be worthwhile

to re-examine some long-held assumptions about choral instrumentation.

Trends in the

Backing Track

Survey.indd 24 11/14/12 4:12 PM


This recent Choral Director survey asks readers to share their accompa-niment experiences – the instruments they use, how their ensembles collabo-rate with instrumental groups, and the latest relevant trends among school choral groups.

Which instrument do you typically use to accompany your school choirs?

“I use a Yamaha Arius YDP-V240. It has a very good digitally sampled pia-no sound. It, unlike acoustic pianos in our dry climate, is always in tune. I can also record accompaniments for use in rehearsal.”

Deanna AmendLa Cueva High School

Albuquerque, N.M.

“I try to plan music to give oppor-tunities to students in my choirs who play flute, violin/viola or any other in-struments that I might be able to work in.”

Camille BlackburnHillcrest High School

Ammon, Idaho

“I perform a lot of songs that use percussion instruments.”

Marie DewarAmbridge Area High School

Ambridge, Pa.

“I generally use the ‘canned’ accom-paniments available.”

Carl BeckNew Road School

Parlin, N.J.

Does your school choral program have a full time accompanist?

“I encourage my students who play piano to accompany one song each for the performances. This has worked out well and they all enjoy the experience.”

Susan SaposnikMt. Olive Middle School

Budd Lake, N.J.

With the prevalence and ac-cessibility of electronic instru-ments, have you noticed a trend towards non-traditional choral accompaniment instruments?

“My students are craving digital accompaniment – either CDs or key-board.”

Kim LevanDunkirk Middle School

Dunkirk, N.Y.

“While I think that is true in many districts, it is not the norm in our district. We fortunately still use predominantly acoustic rather than recorded or elec-tronic instrumental accompaniment.”

Marie MillerCheston Elementary School

Easton, Pa.

“What would a choral performance be without percussion! All kidding aside, there is an abundance of good choral music with percussion, espe-cially multicultural selections. We’re lucky that our school has a percussion ensemble! We also combine one choir and our jazz band from time to time.”

Margaret Anne ButterfieldWilmington Friends School

Wilmington, Del.

“While we know it is out there, we are very traditional for the 2/3 of the year and then we end the year with full-blown pop productions.”

David HendersonEdina High School

Edina, Minn.

Does your vocal music program collaborate with instrumental ensembles in your music depart-ment?

Piano

77%

12%Keyboard

3%Guitar

8% Other

Yes, frequently

60%

Yes,occasionally

19%No

21%

Yes

12%

88%No

Yes

43%57%

No

29%

18%

16%

13%

9%

7%

6%

2%

Humor




Guest clinicians


Piano/Accompanist

SmartMusic/Finale

53%

24%

18%

4%

1%

Nearby colleagues

Friends & family


A mentor


Piano

77%

12%Keyboard

3%Guitar

8% Other

Yes, frequently

60%

Yes,occasionally

19%No

21%

Yes

12%

88%No

Yes

43%57%

No

29%

18%

16%

13%

9%

7%

6%

2%

Humor




Guest clinicians


Piano/Accompanist

SmartMusic/Finale

53%

24%

18%

4%

1%

Nearby colleagues

Friends & family


A mentor


Piano

77%

12%Keyboard

3%Guitar

8% Other

Yes, frequently

60%

Yes,occasionally

19%No

21%

Yes

12%

88%No

Yes

43%57%

No

29%

18%

16%

13%

9%

7%

6%

2%

Humor




Guest clinicians


Piano/Accompanist

SmartMusic/Finale

53%

24%

18%

4%

1%

Nearby colleagues

Friends & family


A mentor


Piano

77%

12%Keyboard

3%Guitar

8% Other

Yes, frequently

60%

Yes,occasionally

19%No

21%

Yes

12%

88%No

Yes

43%57%

No

29%

18%

16%

13%

9%

7%

6%

2%

Humor




Guest clinicians


Piano/Accompanist

SmartMusic/Finale

53%

24%

18%

4%

1%

Nearby colleagues

Friends & family


A mentor


Survey.indd 25 11/14/12 4:12 PM


“Occasionally we will have a string quartet play with the choir, or soloists if the piece calls for it. The Omaha Sym-phony has a great collaborative program with Opera Omaha that brings together several HS choirs each fall to perform a large choral work and opera choruses with professional soloists. Our school performs every other year. I would love to be able to perform a large work with our HS orchestra someday.”

Lyn BoumaOmaha Central High School

Omaha, Neb.

“I seek out opportunities and/or write music for my choral students who study on other instruments. We have used students on harp, French horn, violin, cello, clarinet, oboe, and trumpet. My assistant director and ac-companist are also skilled on flute, violin, and percussion. I am also Orff certified and frequently use an Orff en-semble for choral accompaniment. We often perform in church and have use of a wonderful pipe organ. I also have a professional bass violinist and a drum-mer who play (for a fee) on most major concerts.”

Leah BaskinRock Valley Children’s Choir

Rockford, Ill.

For those that do collaborate with instrumental groups, what are the primary challenges of bringing vocal and instrumental students together for a single performance?

“Time to get all students together. Music students are always in other extra curricular activities and sports. Schedules are difficult to coordinate”

Cheryl BreitzmanAbsegami High School

Galloway, N.J.

“Balance – high school instrumen-talists are challenged to play softly and vocalists do not have the development to sing over a band or orchestra.”

Mary Beth ShumateBrevard High School

Brevard, N.C.

“Attempting to re-create authentic performances of ethnic music with

complex rhythms. I have found that with the really good arrangements, the songs take on a totally different rhyth-mic feel when percussion is added.”

Marshall ButlerJesse O. Sanderson High School

Raleigh, N.C.

Additional thoughts on recent trends or developments in choral accompa-niment and accompaniment instru-ments?

“I think there should be a dramatic push for hiring accompanists at the lo-cal level for high school choral programs. Even the best pianists/choral directors simply cannot effectively evaluate singers while playing simultaneously! We should be given the flexibility to conduct, which is what choral conductors should do. Too often we are forced to accompany instead in interest of time. It should be a standard procedure to have a staff accompanist, particularly at the high school level, and I believe strongly that much advocacy needs to occur to make sure that we work to provide this resource for our secondary choral directors.”

Rachel SossomanPatton High School

Morganton, N.C.

“I enjoy the fact that authentic multi-cultural music is available and if you have some exotic instrument, you can usually find a piece that can use it. I have a con-cert quality didgeridoo and have been able to use it in choral concerts because I’ve found music for it.”

Kat DoebelGross Catholic High School

Bellevue, Neb.

“I think that it is a ‘forward progression’ to bring other instruments into play when appropriate, besides the piano.”

Julie CiesinskiThe Gow School

South Wales, N.Y.

“I think sometimes we believe using a track is a cop-out. We rarely use tracks, but I try to remember that sometimes it is fun to sing with a track. The instrumenta-tion can add a lot to the piece of music.”

Megan Wicks-RudolphVestavia Hills High School

Vestavia, Ala.

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Technology: Professional Development

Professional Development is evolving rapidly. Gone are the days

when teachers needed to wait for a conference or the next

journal for help and happenings – it is now available when-

ever and wherever needed via the Internet. Collaborative technolo-

gies such as social-networking and interactive websites have brought

professional development into the digital, virtual-world. Consulta-

tion, coaching, community discussion, collaborative engagement,

individual study, and mentoring all appeal to various learning styles

and address individual needs and concerns.

by John Kuzmich, Jr. and Joseph M. Pisano

In the music related fields, perhaps the most exciting professional development conversations are revolving around the practitioners’ abilities to congregate and have discussions utilizing well-adopted social networking sites such as Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. A number of very large online social groups have begun to emerge, focused around established entities such as the National Association for Music Education (NafME), as well as ad-hoc groups such as the Facebook “Music Teachers Group” (facebook.com/groups/mpln). In every case, the discussions that are happening within these robust environments are engaging and leading to the furthering of each member’s knowledge.

One of the acronyms of today’s online educationally-related world is “PLN,” which is short for “Personal Learning Network” or, in the case of a group-centered organization, a “Professional Learning Network.” While the concept of a personal learning network is not new, the development of seemingly universally-adopted integrated social media networks such as Facebook have increased the “personal” part from being limited to those living in a close-proximity of each other to now include anyone with access to the Internet. Even the language barriers have be-come greatly reduced due to the increased accuracy of integrated auto-translation services such as Google Translate.

The notion of professional development, for many people, still creates the pic-ture of attending a conference or attending a lecture given by an expert in the field. While these are still viable ways to develop professionally, to more fully take advantage of the incredible resources available in professional development us-ing online venues, one must expand the definition to include concepts such as creative exploration, collaboration, peer-discussion, and self-guidance. Once these

The Emerging Worldof Online Professional Development

Technology.indd 28 11/14/12 4:13 PM


concepts are embraced, the true value of online professional development can be realized; still, in some cases, the per-sonal human element can appear to be lessened.

Composer and director Travis J. Weller notes, “Social media platforms have increased access to online pro-fessional development. Online profes-sional development is now a viable option with a much broader scope and yet has increased in quality. My only criticism is that it does take away true human interaction from the process. Still, with so many knowledgeable educators contributing, music teachers and directors need to take advantage of these opportunities to broaden and enrich their contacts and knowledge base.”

Because a PLN is tailor-made to each individual’s needs, many peo-ple believe that starting their own PLN is difficult, but in actuality the process is quite simple. A person’s learning network can start with the very social networks sites that he or she is already using simply by searching for topics of interest and “joining-in” on the conversations found or by asking their peers what online resources they are using and then exploring them.

Dr. Charles R. Jackson, Jr., noted MusicForAll clinician (musicforall.org), when discussing PLNs, de-scribes some of the strengths and needs for these online opportunities: “One of the many apparent strengths of online professional development for music educators is the ability to focus with pinpoint accuracy on the topics most important and relevant to their needs and interests.” He also points out there are advantages to sit-ting at home and searching through the many online forums for answers to questions that, for one reason or another, a teacher might be hesitant to bring up in a public meeting in-volving their colleagues and peers. Better still is to become engaged in a two-way communication through an online resource and have an in depth discussion on very specific topics.

Online professional development has the potential to become, if it has

not already, the life-line that will save many novice music teachers from falling victim to the staggering statis-tics which reflect the intolerably high number of talented individuals who leave the profession.

As might be expected, music relat-ed industries are increasing their dis-cussions and interactions with music teachers and musicians through so-cial media and by doing so they are helping to better understand each other’s needs and how their cross-purposes can be better met. Marina Terteryan, marketing manager at Al-fred Music Publishing, has been keen on cultivating this relationship. She says, “The music education commu-nity, which includes teachers as well as businesses, is so powerful because of its common goal to bring music to the world. Any time that cross-

collaboration happens, everybody benefits because we can better serve each other as well as the students. That is why it’s so important for us to constantly communicate with the teachers and musicians that we serve. We not only listen and take every-thing into consideration, but we seek this information out because of how much we value it. Social media is one of the wonderful tools that allows us to do all this in real time.”

The “Big Four” of the social net-works being used for professional de-velopment are Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter. Each one of them is being used in a different man-ner, and all of them are being used to disseminate useful information perti-nent to the fields of music and music education.

How the “Big Four” are Being Used as PLNs:

Facebook (facebook.com) – Groups such as “Music Teachers” and “American Choral Dirctors Associa-

tion” have been created specifically to share and collaborate information among their members. Also, organiza-tions and product developers are now frequently using their Facebook pages to discuss topics and products in an online forum.

Google+ (plus.google.com) – “Circles” of friends and like-minded professionals are being utilized to cre-ate groups and share information. In addition, “Hangouts” (video confer-encing) are being used to create small groups on the fly, as well as seminars around a “topic of the day.”

LinkedIn (linkedin.com) – Mu-sic teachers and music professionals are listing potential jobs and posting their resumes. In addition, LinkedIn offers group forums and large-scale professional career networking op-portunities.

Twitter (twitter.com) – Perhaps the fastest way to find the latest, most succinct, information about a particu-lar topic is to utilize Twitter and Twitter hashtags.

Not unlike colleges and univer-sities that have moved a portion of their offerings online, a number of organizations are now offering pro-fessional development opportunities through online “webinars” (web sem-inars). SoundTree (soundtree.org) offered the first-of-a-kind, day long, professional development conference in 2010 aptly named the “Music Edu-cation Technology Online Summit.” In 2011, this “summit” became the SoundTree Institute and it now offers a variety of on-going classes and we-binars. Also, long established groups such as TI:ME (Technology Institute for Music Educators) are increasingly offering a number of their courses through online channels as well.

Ad-hoc, large-scale, professional development opportunities have also developed as an outgrowth of the

“This bodes well for professional development and the ability to communicate and collaborate seam-lessly with colleagues in unprecedented ways.”



members of the PLNs themselves. A complete professional development day that utilized all of the major social networks was put together by long-time music professional learning net-worker and music teacher Catie Dwi-nal. Called “Music Ed. Motivational Day,” this day consisted of a number of free webinars given by well-known and tech-fluent music educators, focused around a myriad of music education topics. The webinars were transmitted and delivered by Google+ Hangouts and available live to any-one who wished to watch or partici-pate. In addition, the webinar topics were also simultaneously discussed via Facebook and Twitter. This type of communicating easily demonstrates the long reach and power of an active social-media-based PLN.

There are endless professional de-velopment opportunities similar to those listed in this article. Most of them are available at any time of the day and may be custom-selected to provide for almost any type of devel-opmental need. Regardless of all of the day-to-day demands that all mu-sic teachers and directors face, taking the time to develop an online PLN is becoming both a necessary and en-

joyable step for everyone. Everyone is an “expert” at something. Active membership in a PLN allows every-one to share their expertise and their experiences with each other.

Staying on top of your Social Media Presence

Managing multiple social media platforms can take time and require time-management skills. One time-saver for busy music educators is a social media manager, or “dashboard,” such as Alternion (alternion.com), Hootsuite (hootsuite.com), or Seesmic (seesmic.com).

The benefit of a social media dashboard is the ability to easily view all the activity connected to your social media accounts in one location, eliminating the need to vis-it each of the sites individually. They also allow the scheduling of updates and the posting of photos to the various accounts with an easy-to-use interface complete with cross-account-posting capabilities. Utiliz-ing a social media manager provides increased productivity and time-sav-ing benefits which, naturally, should be the goal of all technology-related endeavors!

Closing CommentsSmart phones and tablets are fast

becoming the norm, with less need to be connected to a laptop or desktop to have an acceptable Internet experi-ence. This bodes well for professional development and the ability to com-municate and collaborate seamlessly with colleagues in unprecedented ways. This open-ended and, often, self-directed architecture offers almost limitless opportunities for learning and instructing. A good first step to partici-pating in online professional develop-ment is simply to get on a social-media platform that is comfortable for you. There are already plenty of people us-ing PLNs and all of them are ready to help. The benefits are epic; and time, for once, plays nice with our schedules.

Dr. John Kuzmich Jr. is a veteran music educator, jazz educator and music technolo-gist with more than 41 years of public school teaching expe-rience. He is a TI:ME-certified training instructor and has a Ph.D. in comprehensive mu-sicianship. As a freelance au-thor, Dr. Kuzmich has more than 400 articles and five text books published. As a clinician, Dr. Kuzmich frequently participates in workshops throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia, and South America.

For more information, visit www.kuzmich.com.

Joseph M. Pisano, Ph.D. is currently the associate chairman of Music and Fine Arts at Grove City College, where he is an associate pro-fessor of Music and serves as the associate director of Bands. Abroad, Dr. Pisano is an active instrumental con-ductor, adjudicator, author, jazz trumpet player, arts ad-vocate, and the founder of a number of very popular web-resources including: MusTech.Net, MusicEdNews.Com, and the Music Teachers and Jazz Educators Facebook Groups. He is an active member of a num-ber of professional organizations including: PA Inter-collegiate Bandmasters’ Association, Phi Beta Mu In-ternational Bandmasters’ Fraternity (Nu Chapter), PMEA, NAfME, and holds Associate membership in the American Bandmasters Association.

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TWO-PART“The Drinking Gourd”Arr. André J. ThomasHeritage Music PressEasy

André J. Thomas is a renowned conductor, teacher, and composer. When working on this underground railroad song, take the time not only to learn the notes and rhythms, but also to discuss the piece’s background and meaning. With a wonderful piano part, interesting rhythms, and dra-matic shifts, both choirs and audiences with enjoy this piece. Performing a piece like this truly helps students emotionally connect with American history.

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“Great Day!”Arr. Rollo DilworthHal LeonardEasy

This arrangement of “Great Day!” has all the elements discerning choir directors have come to expect from Rollo Dilworth. His understanding of the young voice is evident in his writing. The call and response texture makes this piece a great introduction into harmony. Add in his exciting piano part, and Dilworth’s arrangement stands out as a wonderful choice for developing voices.

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For many choirs and audiences, spiritual ar-

rangements are the highlight of concerts.

Although the following is certainly incom-

plete, I’ve listed some of my favorite arrangements

below. Some are “barnburners,” while others have

interesting histories and subtexts. Take time to ex-

plore the depth of these works and how they fit into

the tapestry of American history; spirituals can be

much more than a flashy show piece. For more in-

formation on the history and performance practice

of the spiritual idiom, I cannot recommend highly

enough André J. Thomas’s book, Way Over In Beulah

Lan’: Understanding and Performing the Negro Spiri-

tual (Heritage Music Press, 2007).

By John C. Hughes

Repertoire Forum: Spirituals

Selected Spiritual Arrangements For All Choirs

Rep Forum.indd 32 11/14/12 4:16 PM


TTB“Good News!”Arr. André J. ThomasHeritage Music PressMedium Easy

Feature the young men in your choir with this arrangement of the popular spiritual, “Good News!” This arrangement has an infectious melody that everyone is sure to enjoy. Thomas adds excitement and fervor through the blue notes. The frequent repetition of the refrain makes learning this piece go very quickly. This arrangement is also available in a SSA voicing.

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TTBB“Soon-Ah Will Be Done”Arr. William DawsonNeil A. Kjos PublishingMedium

While many wonderful new ar-rangements of spirituals are published every year, it is worthwhile to perform spirituals that helped secure the idiom’s rightful place in choral music. The fundamentals of this piece are fairly straightforward; however, the piece re-

quires expressive and artistic nuance. Help guide students towards an under-standing of the emotional depth of this work. Dawson’s arrangement is also available in a SATB voicing.

tinyurl.com/8lcrlo4

SSA“Elijah Rock”Jester HairstonBourne MusicMedium Easy

Jester Hairston was another com-poser and arranger who helped es-tablish the choral spiritual. This is his most famous arrangement and often appears on festival and honor choir repertoire lists. There is also a SATB voicing available.

www.jwpepper.com/183517.item

SSSA“Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit”Arr. Rosephanye PowellFred Bock MusicMedium

There are many great arrangements of this spiritual, and Powell’s fits right in with the best of them. She writes well and creates a captivating musi-

cal experience. It is unaccompanied, so strong intonation and sense of en-semble are needed. However, the hard work this piece requires will be worth it at the concert. Rehearsal and perfor-mance CDs are available.

w w w. f r e d b o c k . c o m / D e t a i l .asp?tid=JG2380

“Listen to the Lambs”R. Nathaniel DettG. Schirmer, Inc.Medium

R. Nathaniel Dett has a thought-provoking and inspiring life story. Born in Canada in 1882, he grew up in a home where, due to financial strug-gles, only his older brothers were able to take piano lessons. However, Dett’s hard work, talent, and determination carried him far, and he graduated from Oberlin College. This arrangement is particularly interesting because Dett draws upon the spiritual model for in-spiration, but infuses it with Romantic stylistic elements. “Listen to the Lambs” is a wonderful choice for choirs.

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Selected Spiritual Arrangements For All Choirs

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THREE-PART MIXED“Wade in the Water”Arr. Moses Hogan/ed. Purifoy and DayHal LeonardMedium Easy

What listing of spirituals would be complete without one by Moses Hogan? While all choir directors probably have their favorites by Hogan, this new edition by Purifoy and Day adapts Hogan’s superb arranging style to fit the needs of younger voices. With an added piano part and sim-plified voicing, developing choirs can also enjoy Hogan’s sense of drama and deep expressivity.

tinyurl.com/8jlnfm9

SATB“My God Is a Rock”Arr. Alice Parker and Robert ShawAlfred Music PublishingMedium

Alice Parker and Robert Shaw’s ar-rangements are among the most beloved in the American choral repertory. “My God Is a Rock” has superb choral writing, expressive text setting, and powerful emo-

tional import. Feature a baritone in your choir through the moving solo.

www.alfred.com/Products/My-God-Is-a-Rock--00-LG51107.aspx

“My Lord, What a Mornin’”arr. Harry T. BurleighAlfred Music PublishingMedium Advanced

While many spirituals work well as closers because of their grandiosity, Bur-leigh’s “My Lord, What a Mornin’” is dif-ferent. It begins and ends very softly and quite slowly. The moving text, which deals with loss, is expertly set by Burleigh. The piece builds to a stupendous climax, where there is significant divisi (however, this is very accessible). Then, the piece retreats to its former sublimity. Burleigh’s sincere ar-rangement will captivate audiences.

www.alfred.com/Products/My-Lord-What-a-Mornin--00-FCC00412.aspx

SSAATTBB“Ride on King Jesus”Arr. Stacey V. Gibbs

Colla VoceAdvanced

Stacey V. Gibbs is quickly rising to the top of current arrangers of spirituals. His pieces are always expertly crafted, heart-felt, and musically satisfying. This par-ticular arrangement has been on several reading lists and festivals in 2012. Gibbs strikes a balance of treating the famil-iar melody in new and innovative ways while maintaining the overall structure and character of the piece. A true barn-burner, “Ride on King Jesus” will have audiences on their feet.

www.collavoce.com/catalog/item/ride-on-king-jesus-36-20168

John C. Hughes is a versatile choral musician and pedagogue, drawing from experience as a K-12 teacher, collegiate conductor, and church musician. Presently, Hughes is pursuing the D.M.A. in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy at The Uni-versity of Iowa, as well as serving as music director at The Congregational United Church of Christ in Iowa City. Please contact him directly at his website: www.johnchughes.com.


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Choral Director Magazine November 2012

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Transcript of Choral Director Magazine November 2012