HEADLINER SESSION

Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt

Leadership for Challenging Times 

This looks at characteristics of leadership as they apply to choral musicians, in terms of teaching style and presentation, personality, gender identification, encouraging student leadership especially during challenging times, and decision making about repertoire and programming. 

Joyce Click & 

Brian Long

The Inclusive Choir:  Focusing on Individual Capabilities when Including Students with IEPs in Choral Ensembles

This session will equip choir teachers with tools to include students of all abilities/ disabilities in choral music ensembles and demonstrate how an IEP guides instruction. Participants will receive practical tips and best practices for honoring the unique qualities and talents of students.  The session will be presented by Joyce Click and Brian Long. Both educators have years of experience including students who have IEP’s in their choirs and will share how all students have benefited and been enriched through the process. 

HEADLINER SESSION

Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt

Music in Motion: Conducting with Clarity and Expressivity

This covers basics and more, focusing on how to “look like the music” with minimal distraction. Sometimes we overconduct when “less is more.”  This will use musical examples from several styles and genres.  

Ross Hanson

“Finding Your People” Making Choir Part of the School Culture. 

This session focuses on collaboration, community partners, and connection within the culture of the school.

Leeann Starkey

"The ABCs of Composing for Children's Choir" 

This session gives details and thoughts on the best practices for writing for children's choir - selecting text, vocal ranges, ideas for how to go about composing, editing your song, etc. 

HEADLINER SESSION

Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt

Integrating Choral Warmups and Cool-downs Into Repertoire Learning

Warmups affect physical, intellectual, and socio-emotional aspects of singers’ development. When warmups lead directly to the repertoire, they set the scene for an integrated rehearsal.

HEADLINER SESSION

Laura Farnell

Putting the FUN in Choral Fundatmentals

Farnell shares her favorite tips and techniques to establish the basics for musical and vocal excellence. Practical techniques will specifically focus on cultivating beautiful tone through vowel unification, energizing the body during rehearsal, ways to introduce new music, and adding the musical details crucial to a successful performance. 

Dr. Dennis Malfatti

Conducting Choral Works with Orchestra

This session will address the preparation, conducting technique, and rehearsal technique needed to conduct choral works with orchestra and other types of instrumental ensembles. Among the topics covered, the session will include: 1) Overview of different types of ensembles that typically perform with choirs (paid "pick up" orchestras, student orchestras, community orchestras, etc.) 2) Appropriate string count relative to the size choir 3) Navigating and learning from a full orchestra score 4) Addressing perceived differences in conducting technique between choral conducting and orchestral conducting 5) Rehearsal technique and protocol when working with combined choral/orchestral forces. 

Mark Statler

The Choral Works of Florence Price: Compelling Music for a Range of Choirs 

This session introduces the choral music of Florence Price, an early 20th century composer in the United States. The majority of Price’s works currently being programmed are keyboard pieces, art songs, and orchestral works, but she also composed a significant number of choral works in a variety of styles and genres that display a diversity of musical style and language. This choral music offers interesting and useful pedagogical challenges for a variety of educational and community settings, particularly regarding musical texture and harmonic language. During the session we will listen to some of Price's choral works, highlight the historical significance, discuss musical characteristics for the different styles in which she composed, and talk about the pedagogical usefulness of the music in high school, collegiate, and community choirs. 

Matt Gerhard

Rethinking the Standing Arrangement: How the arrangement of our singers affects blend, pitch and other factors

This session will explore various options for sitting in sections and different mixed formations, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each.  

Dr. Kerry Glann

Dramtic Diction: Enlivening Your Choral Sound

Because we sing text in choral music, we are always dealing not only with notes and rhythms but the quality and shapes of the sounds we sing. This session explores ways that the treatment of those individual sounds can heighten the effectiveness and polish of our choral performances. This is not so much a session about the rules of diction as one that will offer ideas on how to use ‘diction events’ – both vowels and consonants – to bring drama, resonance, and unification to your choir’s sound. 

Sarah Kavanagh

You Can't Pour From an Empty Cup:  Practical Strategies for Thriving Instead of Just Surviving in the Choral Music Profession

In this session, we will identify the common mistakes choral professionals make that over time can lead to burnout as well as poor mental and physical health. Most importantly, we will discuss possible solutions and strategies to equip choral professionals in building better habits. We will create individual action plans to empower us to thrive--not just survive. 

Scott Bradford & 

Joyce Click

Scaffolding Choral Sight-Singing Instruction to Build Literacy Skills

Scaffolding is the process of teaching a big concept in small increments while providing less support as students master each concept. Scaffolding is an effective technique for teaching choral sight-singing skills.  

Scott Bradford and Joyce Click will share this session as they talk about the process of teaching choir students of any level to become excellent sight-singers through a sequential progression of skill building. 

The session will include:

a.)  A demonstration of techniques that may be used with your choirs to teach sight-singing that develop independence and literacy skills

b.) Techniques to assess sight-singing skills

c.) Collaborative and engaging ideas that ignite learners

d.) Guidelines for Choral Sight-Singing Adjudicated Assessments at ISSMA Organizational Festivals

Melissa Walsh

Strategies and Tools for Assessment

This session discusses the importance of assessing individual choir members to ensure that all are growing in their musical skills and contributing to the ensemble.  Although it is geared towards classroom choir instructors, other choir directors may also benefit from the ideas shared. 

Mark Yount

Applied Vocal Jazz Techniques: Latin Music

In this session participants will read a latin jazz tune.  From there, I will go over the style requirements, common mistakes, and how to work through the nuances of teaching your choir a latin vocal jazz tune.  

Dan Andersen

The Aging Voice:  How to get More From Your Aging Voices

In this session we will explore many of the physical, vocal, and musical issues of the aging voice. We will look at the limitations a singer may have with some of the typical church choir literature. We will sing through a number of different exercises to help your choir members perform this music easier, more musically, and with better technique.