Remote voice lession

Working with Student Teachers in Distance Learning

Remote voice lessionI had the opportunity to work with a student teacher this spring during the shutdown, and like many cooperating teachers, I was forced to shift gears essentially overnight. Kayode Gloster was a student … now a graduate … of Rowan University and was one of Dr. Christopher Thomas’ choral students.

Kayode came with a wealth of experience, a thoughtful perspective, and a real joy for music that made my job and the situation easier. They were interested from the start in engaging with me and my students as much as possible. From my vantage/concern point, I wanted to figure out how to best use their time … and not waste it … and give them as valid of an experience as possible.

Nothing that we did comes close to what an in-person placement would look like, and if remote teaching continues into the fall, I think that it’s important that all of us simultaneously try to make the best of the situation while continuing to emphasize the fact … and reminding others and ourselves … that none of this is a replacement for the collaboration and relationships of an in-person choral community. I’m just sharing a few of the things that we did over Kayode’s placement if they might spark an interest with others or dovetail into ideas already in place. I would also welcome other ideas and solutions. I already have a student teacher placement assignment from Rowan for next year and I am currently feeling that combined sense of positive expectation … and internal resignation … over what the actual experience will be like for them. The following is not an exhaustive listing of all activities that I have been doing with my students, just the ones that connected most-directly with Kayode’s placement.

The stuff of our work that we do as choral directors is rehearse/create/discover/reveal/make music in a collaborative, connected process. Kayode and I had no illusions that we would be able to create a live rehearsal experience, so we decided to run sectionals instead, concentrating on part work and musical elements. We held online sectional rehearsals and took questions and offered feedback. I took a public domain piece (the Gloria from the Heligmesse by Haydn) and created a marked-up pdf and broke it down into three short sections, asking students to practice in chunks prior to our sectional work on each portion. Students were asked to record their work and send it in to us and then to offer their own critique on their performance. Kayode was responsible for that procedure … receiving recordings, offering feedback and encouragement and responding to student reflections on their recordings.

We also asked students to continue practicing the music that we were already working on before the shutdown, not knowing at the time whether we might be able to return or not. They kept practice logs and offered reflections on their practice. Kayode worked with those documents and reflections and I encouraged them to give comments that spoke specifically to what the students had shared so that it would not feel as though we were so disconnected by the situation. Specificity/interest opens windows while generalization creates walls … or even a vacuum.

I gave Kayode the chance to coach our students individually in a group-lesson format with their audition preparation for All State Chorus.  Students listened in but only one student and Kayode were unmuted at a time. I felt that this most-closely approximated the kind of vocal pedagogy work that they might be able to engage in in an actual in-person experience. It also gave my students an opportunity to have reinforcement from a different perspective. The attached tile of screenshots is from a session of Kayode working with my students.

Finally, we worked a great deal on choral elements, musical elements and artistic/life/heart/self-reflection elements through listening and response. By assigning everything through Google Classroom, each assignment generated a private document that was only viewable by the student, my student teacher and myself. I felt that this gave Kayode a chance to read and respond to a range of student thoughts/reactions/experiences and interact directly with the students. Many took advantage of this dialogue which gave Kayode a chance to engage vocal/choral/person/caring/teaching chops in an authentic way.

What Community Choir Leaders should be doing now

From my friends at Chorus Connection:

5 Ways to Set Yourself Up for Success

Learn to adapt, quickly. In a changing world, choruses that succeed will be the ones that adapt quickly.

Aim for flexibility. There’s no doubt about it — your chorus will need to be very flexible this year. Ensure there’s room for flexibility in everything you do from your vendor contracts to your attendance policies.

Be willing to experiment. No one knows the right thing to do right now. Choruses are going to have to try new things to see what works. And they’ll have to fail a few times to see what doesn’t work!

Ask for help. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from your choral colleagues, your volunteers/staff, and arts advocacy organizations.

Don’t give up. Your organization has an important purpose and people are counting on you to help them during these difficult times. Don’t give up on your mission or your community. You can do this. You will do this. We believe in you.  …more…

Virtual Concert Hall Lesson Plans

Westminster Virtual Concert Hall Lesson Plans

Westminster Choir College has developed a series of lesson plans focusing on a concert featured in Westminster’s Virtual Concert Hall.  Each plan is suitable for remote instruction and is appropriate for middle or high school choral ensembles. The lessons focus on the artistic processes of creating, performing, responding and connecting to music, and most can be taught synchronously or asynchronously.  Developed by recent Westminster Choir College graduates, each lesson within the unit provides national standards, objectives, essential questions, and assessment strategies.

Westminster is here to help, and we invite teachers to utilize the entire lessons as written or to use them as inspiration. Each piece of music sends an uplifting message for students working in isolation.

All lessons are based in:

  • Connecting to music that students may already know and to their life experiences.
  • Discovering and creating meaning in partnership with other students and the teacher.
  • Open-ended learning through discussion and creative problem-solving.

Hope in Tomorrow
Westminster Williamson Voices
Grade Level(s): 9-12

Angels and Demons
Westminster Chapel Choir
Grade Level(s): 6-12

2020 Elementary and Junior High Honor Choir Festival CANCELLATION

Dear Elementary and Junior High Directors,

It is with a heavy heart that we must inform you of the cancelation of the NJACDA 2020 Elementary and Junior High Honor Choir Festival. We really, really hoped a fall performance might be possible, but with so many uncertainties we have decided that at this point it just is not responsible to try to move forward. We certainly wish we could all come together and sing, but the safety of our singers, teachers, and audience members is of most importance. The checks that were submitted for the registration fee ($25 per student) were not cashed. Please let us know if we can shred your check, or if your district requires that it be sent back to the business office by filling out the attached Google Form by May 15th if possible.

That being said, we do wish to honor your accepted students. We will be creating certificates for all of the students who were accepted and we will send those to you when they are finished. We would also like to honor any 6 year members of the choir, so please let us know if you have a student who was a member every year from 4th grade through 9th grade, this year included. We also have thought about creating a video of the directors singing together in virtual choir style, or saying short, uplifting messages to the singers.

We have decided not to do a virtual choir of students. As nice of an idea as it is, we just didn’t want to add the burden to you all to teach the music and collect recordings, when we know that the experience of singing your part by yourself is not nearly as fulfilling as singing together as I group. We have attached a letter that you can send to your students. We would like to encourage you to do some sort of virtual meetup with your accepted students and make a connection with them. Tell them it’s going to be okay, remind them to keep singing, and ensure them that we will all sing again together the second it is safe to do so!

If you have ideas for our director video, please reach out! We will reach out with the certificates as well as more information about the video we would like to create. I’ve included a Google Form where you can indicate your interest in being a part of the video. We certainly don’t wish to overwhelm anyone!

Please stay healthy and try to remain positive. The world will sing together again. I’ve found it helpful to write lists of what I CAN do to keep my program running, rather on focusing on what I CANNOT do.

Musically and with tremendous gratitude,

Kaitlyn Reiser and Pamela Crockett

 

ELEMENTARY STUDENT LETTER – FESTIVAL CANCELED

JH STUDENT LETTER – FESTIVAL CANCELED 

NJ HONOR CHOIR REGISTRATION FEE REFUND

NJ ELEMENTARY AND JR HONOR CHOIR VIRTUAL CHOIR

When will we sing together again? A second opinion…

The speaker is Dr. Amesh Adalja from Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Very informative and nuanced.

Dr. Adalja is a Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. His work is focused on emerging infectious disease, pandemic preparedness, and biosecurity.

I am honored to be able to publish this in a time in which all of the education field is reeling with the possibility that school might be unrecognizable in the fall. From state educational organizations publishing recommendations that look very scary, to “The Webinar” that blew up facebook. …click here for more…

Podcast link

A Conversation: What Do Science and Data Say about the Near-Term Future of Singing?

A Conversation: What Do Science and Data Say About the Near-Term Future of Singing?

FOLLOW UP FROM CALL:

“Seek clarity, not certainty.” – Overheard by Mollie Quinlan-Hayes

“Be patient. The time will come again to meet together. . . . Use this time to strengthen your organizations and the community within your organization.” – Dr. Lucinda Halstead

“Make sure your arts organization is at the table when plans for reopening are being made.” – Allen Henderson

These phrases stood out in a wide-ranging conversation yesterday, co-hosted by ACDA, NATS, Chorus America, Barbershop Harmony Society, and the Performing Arts Medicine Association.

As ACDA Executive Director Tim Sharp summed up, “We are in a state of shock right now, and are, perhaps, a little depressed seeing all that we can’t do. We have to turn next to focus on what we can do. We’re going to enter a period in the next months that will be a discovery period.”

Below is an unedited recording of the webinar (the program starts at about 6 mins., 10 secs.). Stay tuned for an edited version of the recording, as well as additional ways ACDA will be sharing the information.

Plans for follow-up webinars (on platforms with greater attendee capabilities) are in the works!

ORIGINAL: Posted 30-Apr-2020

Tuesday, May 5, 3:00-5:00 pm EST

Moderators: Tim Sharp, Allen Henderson, Catherine Dehoney, and Marty Monson

Guests include:

  • Dr. Donald Milton, Professor of Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, with a secondary appointment in the School of Medicine, and currently conducting C.A.T.C.H. the Virus Study
  • Dr. Lucinda Halstead, laryngologist, founder/medical director of the Evelyn Trammell Institute for Voice and Swallowing at the Medical University of South Carolina & President-elect of PAMA (Performing Arts Medical Association)

Join us for a conversation with medical experts who will provide us context as we plan for the next phase of choral and singing life in the age of COVID-19.

  • What does medical science tell us about singing and how the virus is spread, and how might that relate to decisions we make?
  • Is there such a thing as a “safe” choir rehearsal and how might we best protect our chorus members and private voice students?
  • What does data tell us about our audiences and when they might return to hear us perform in a live setting?
  • What questions do we need to ask ourselves in formulating a plan for the future?

Sight Reading Resources (SightReadingFactory.com)

If you don’t already know it and love it, use sightreadingfactory.com.  Memberships are free for teachers and students for the next few months, and it is a great way to build an essential skill. It is super user friendly!

Take care,

John Wilson