LA Master Chorale’s Voices Within program has consistently produced astonishing work from the children they work with. Creating new music, and often very deep thoughts, over the course of several weeks, the instructors, professional performers and audience members are often just as affected by the results of this collaboration as the children are. See this … Read more
Christopher Gravis shook up Facebook today with a thoughtful and spot-on post about the current state of choral education, and the lack of emphasis on actually reading music and learning real musical skills. Chris is an active conductor and clinician, and his post confirms a reality in the choral world that has been growing for a … Read more
One of the strangest repeat questions I’ve gotten about the List over the years is this: “Why are there so many teaching jobs on the site, but fewer performance opportunities?” It’s mostly couched in those polite terms, but there’s always a sense of menace from the asker, as if we have some agenda contrary to … Read more
A friend posted the following on Facebook last month, and it just cropped up on my radar. (No, I do not check my Facebook feed every day.) While my initial instinct was to simply comment, the linked article started a ponderation that needs a ranting space of its own. (Brace yourselves.) Please do read the … Read more
Music teachers, there’s still time to get involved in this endeavor: Teach Music America Week is coming up, and it’s a very direct way of engaging potential students and giving them a chance to try out a music lesson for the first time. This is the third time the organization has organized this nationwide effort, … Read more
A new program at USC’s music school will allow two graduate students each year to take temporary positions on NCC’s staff. The first up is Alexander Lloyd Blake, also the conductor of Tonality, a new professional choral group formed in September. Press release follows. The National Children’s Chorus Forms Partnership With USC Thornton School Of Music Select doctoral … Read more
As the List is an arts advocacy organization focused primarily on professional music-making, it’s not often we feature college choirs. This is not due to bias, but to the sheer volume of choral music presented by colleges at any given time — there’s just no way to cover it all. But with impressive buzz coming … Read more
One of the greatest myths in education is that grades are indicators of intelligence, talent and even potential. All of these misconceptions must be discarded, especially if you plan to work in a creative field. Grades are part of an academic environment that can do much to prepare a creative soul for work in the real world. … Read more
