INTEREST SESSIONS:
(Please click on the name of any clinician to view their photo and bio.)

Singing into the Sunset: Shedding Light on the Aging Voice
Sarah Parks

If we are truly committed to lifelong learning, it is our job to provide inspiring music programs to our aging population. In this session Dr. Sarah Parks explores research related to the aging voice and discusses ways to design, implement and maintain music programs for our mature singers.

HELPING YOUR CHOIR SING BETTER IN THE GOSPEL STYLE WITH A FOCUS ON THE MUSIC OF GLENN BURLEIGH
James Kinchen

Learn the exciting choral work of composer Glenn Edward Burleigh, who was so skilled at infusing his music with gospel stylings, and discover how your choir can more effectively sing choral music written in or influenced by the gospel style.

"Why Can't My Choir Sing In Tune"
Dr. P. Bradley Logan

This session will examine sound vocal techniques and concepts that will lead to healthier vocal production, greater vocal agility, a more vibrant sound, and accurate intonation. We will examine and experience vocal exercises coupled with kinesthetic activities, then follow with a practical application of these concepts "in" the music. Session participants will serve as a choir and internalize these concepts through experiental learning.

Community Choirs that SING (when not dealing with details)!
Jane Ramseyer-Miller and panel

Need some inspiration for your community chorus? This workshop offers tips and motivation for integrating outreach into your programming, how to capitalize on the energy and interests of your singers, using collaborations for audience development, and ways to entice foundations and sponsors.  Includes speed-topics on: attendance, dues, marketing, fundraising, creative programming and chorus management. Facilitated by Jane Ramseyer Miller with Tom Porter, Tom Paulson, Bill White, Wayne Kivell, Vicki Peters and Carol Carver.

Developing a Vocal Color Palette for Various Choral Styles
Peggy Dettwiler

With the influx of choral music from around the world, choral directors have the opportunity and the challenge of incorporating a vast array of choral colors in their musical performances. Through recordings and audience participation, this session will present techniques that develop a vocal color palette for various choral styles.

After the Prelude - the Creative Use of Handbells in Worship
William H. Mathis

The prelude is finished -- now what can a bell ensemble do to enhance the worship experience? What are some ways in which musical forces already present can lead worship with creativity, simplicity, and integrity? You'll try on new approaches to the use of music i worship in a variety of traditions and styles.

Movement and Imagination in the Choral Rehearsal
Patricia C. Connors

This session will present techniques for engaging the whole person - body, mind and spirit - to address issues of rhythm and meter, phrase shaping and expression. Specific ideas for employing movement and firing up the imagination to enhance the musicanship and performance of the choir will be explored.

Project Restoration: Restoring the brilliance of Baroque polyphony with your choir
Eric Johnson

In recent years many of the great edifices of Europe have received significant restoration and cleaning, revealing a dazzling array of color and contrast that has not been seen for hundreds of years. This session will look at examples of restored Baroque architecture and painting to explore the aesthetics of the period with an eye towards finding new ideas for interpreting Baroque polyphonic music, and inspire directors to be more persistent in "cleaning out" the sometimes dense polyphony. Specific rehearsal techniques will be presented that choral directors can employ to help their students sing Baroque polyphony with clarity, line and understanding.

Perfect Blend in a Perfect Rehearsal
Tim Seelig

Perfect Blend does not just happen in a performance when your chorus members open their mouths. It begins with the first activity at the first rehearsal and continues until the final bow. The blend of vocal technique, sight-reading, learning texts, perfecting music and performance tips can be daunting. What is perfect blend? What is a perfect rehearsal? This session will guide you from that first exercise, through tips for successful rehearsals, to the echo of that standing ovation!

PERFORMANCE PRACTICES IN CONTEMPORARY REPERTOIRE
Jerry Rubino

While many trained musicians have spent hours studying the performance practices of classicalmusic, the American styles of pop, Broadway, jazz and gospel each embody their own sound, tone and expressivity. This interactive session will discuss the vocal health, expressivity and articulation elements at our disposal to deliver an authentic performance for singers of all ages. The effects of amplification, microphone techniques and musicianship for the pianist andband will aso be explored.

Points to Scores: Developing Musicianship in the Elementary Choral Rehearsal
Deborah K. Lamb

Join fifth grade students as they rehearse several pieces of literature for children's choirs in highly active and participatory ways. Incorporating techniques from the Kodály, Dalcroze and Orff Schulwerk methods, they will work to develop literacy and artistry through rhythm and solfege reading, movement, and vocal play and exploration.


Howard Goodall's Music of Solace
Howard Goodall

HG explores themes of loss, grief and comfort in his choral music, sacred and secular, with reference to his "21st Century Requiem," Eternal Light, which began life in 2008 as both choral-orchestral work and contemporary ballet, and his intensely personal, eye-witness response to the 9/11 tragedy, Spared.



A less known facet of Zoltán KODÁLY's oevre: composition for male voice choir - composing techniques and performing questions. Featuring: Pannon Volán ZRT "Bartók Béla Male Choir, Pécs. Hungary, "Ambassadors of Pécs, European Captital of Culture 2010.
Tamás LAKNER

"Zoltán KODÁLY'S name is widely known for his music/singing teaching concept, his pieces of great dimensions such as Psalmus Hungaricus, Te Deum, Missa Brevis are often performed worldwide. He is the composer of brilliant masterpieces for children's, female and mixed choir ... but his oeuvre for male voice ensemble is far less known than it deserves. Dr. Lakner, with the assistance of his Béla Bartók Male Choir of Pécs, shows "the ocean in a drop": composing techniques and performing questions -- discoveries for all who wish to learn more of the choral art of Kodály, the great Hungarian composer of the 20th century. Some of the introduced pieces -- such as Esti dal/Evening song; Fölszállott a páva / The Peacock - exist in different voicing as well.

Rotation Sessions:

Successful Middle School Strategies, Jim Heik, Presider/Presenter

Jim, as music supervisor in Appleton, WI, brings a wealth of energy and experience to the conference. He will focus on strategies, beyond survival, and successes for today's and tomorrow's middle school and K-12 educators.



Relevant Issues in Today's Education, Dr. Rhonda Fuelberth, Presider/Presenter

Rhonda, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Associate Professor of Choral Music Education and Chair of Graduate Music Education, is a highly successful collegiate classroom teacher, researcher, and pedagogue - and past NCDA President. She will present important, timely, and current concepts, trends, and solutions for tomorrow's talented and ambitious educators.



Recruiting and Retaining Male Singers in the 21st Century Choral Classroom, Peter A. Eklund, Presenter

Pete, one of the most successful recruiters and conducotrs of male singers in the country will share his plans, policies, and philosophies that have worked at all levels, elementary through large university graduate schools and how they have enhanced the entire comprehensive and SATB choral curriculum at all levels.



Meet and Greet Many of the Choral Luminaries, Past and Present, in our Field

Potential speakers/dignitaries may include Alice Parker, Tim Sharp and other noted individuals appearing at the conference.

Paperless Singing: Leading "Music That Makes Community" (4 Sessions)
Presenters: All Saints Company (San Francisco) team of Ben Allaway, Roosevelt Credti, Ana Hernandez, Doug Von Koss and Donald Schell.

O v e r v i e w "Paperless" singing simply reminds people how to sing spontaneously, without the use of books, enabling singers to see faces and action, to listen and respond to one another, to move and sing at the same time. Our goal is to restore an early and basic component of human gathering to our worship and changing the culture of a congregation through the power of music. When people begin engaging with one another this way in liturgy it begins to affect the whole fabric of community life! (See below for more background information.)

Session #1: "Improvisation as Worship Transformation with Paperless Music"
Ana Hernandez and Donald Schell

Learn the joy of chanting and improvisation in paperless mode; how it can transform the worship experience while building confidence and community.

Session #2: "Techniques for Leading Paperless Songs"
Ben Allaway

Learn some basic "paperless" techniques that can be used with any choir. Come lead a song (optional). Discuss why some songs work paperless and some don't. Analyze songs for the important sequence of teaching steps.

Session #3: "African and African-American Paperless Songs"
Roosevelt Credit

Learn how to lead in the African and African-American call-and-response style of echo, rounds, lining, partner songs (quodlibet) and more.

Session #4. "Paperless Songs from Around the Planet"
Doug Von Koss

Experience Doug's unique spirit and inventive, infectious approach to spontaneous songleading using ethnic songs from many traditions.

Background

Music that Makes Community is dedicated to exploring a style of singing that transforms worship and more deeply forms Christian community. Participants will learn how to lead music effectively without the use of hymnals or other printed or projected materials.

We are rekindling an ancient practice of singing… a way of music making that has been central to folk traditions for centuries. Taught and sung from memory, it is simple and beautiful, faithful and traditional. Sung without the use of a book, these songs allow congregations to focus on listening to one another, being attentive to the Holy Spirit, and singing from their hearts.

"Paperless" music can be sung by any group of any size, and in any setting. It's perfect for an evening alternative service, and can be led by musicians or a practiced "lay" singer. Finally, paperless music teaches congregations to sing together confidently in harmony. Making use of such elements as repetition, round, and call-and-response, this communal music is accessible to the widest range of singers in any size of congregation, and may be practiced without the luxury of a choir or organist/pianist.

Participants will learn how to introduce this kind of music to their congregations, how to select songs and leading "paperless" music, and will have ample opportunity to practice these skills. We will also spend time discussing the role of this type of music in the church and its potential to effect congregational transformation.