Choir Baton Podcast Episode 6. Conversations from ACDA 2019 National Convention

The American Choral Director's Association National Conference in Kansas City provides amazing professional development for choral directors across the world. But beyond the amazing interest sessions and concerts are the conversations with share with the people we meet during the week. Listen in on some impromptu conversations I had and get a taste of what ACDA National Convention 2019 was like!   1. Conversation at Manhattan Concert Productions booth in the exhibit hall - what started as one conversation veered towards discussing Moravian music and choral music of little known exposure 2. Reactions from choir directors regarding the Oakwood Aeolians' performance that "broke ACDA" 3. Check in with 4 East Carolina University Chamber Singers who participated in the morning sessions with John Rutter. Three of the singers are non-music education majors and briefly discuss their collegiate music experience. 4. Exhibit Hall interviews with 2 members of the Aeolians, Paula from the Texas Street Choir, and further reflections from choir directors in attendance. Enjoy this informal insight into conference!

Choir Baton Host: Beth Philemon @bethphilemon | www.bethphilemon.com Visit Choir Baton Online: @choirbaton | www.choirbaton.com Choir Baton Theme Song by Scott Holmes

Beth Philemon: And we're gonna leave before we get kicked out of the conference center. But, man, this was really cool. Yeah, well, I think we have to have you on. 

Security Guard: We're closing the exhibit hall.

Beth Philemon: So I'm really not kidding we are being closed down. Stay tuned for more from ACDA 2019 in Kansas City.

Welcome to the Choir Baton, a podcast designed to engage people and stories, ideas and inspirations stemming from choir. No other art form, no sport, no hobby, no business requires a group of people to execute a communal goal with just their voices. Join me, your host, Beth Philemon, as I interview guests who are singers, teacher, conductors, instrumentalists and community members. Together, we’ll ask questions, seek understanding and share insights from our experiences in life, and in choir.

Hi guys, thanks so much for tuning into a another episode of the Choir Baton. I'm so excited to share some insights with you, today, that I gained while at the American Choral Directors Association Conference last week. That was the last week of February and the first couple days of March in Kansas City, Kansas. Now, again, because this podcast is designed for, really, the choir enthusiast, not just necessarily choir directors, I want to give you a little bit of an insight into the conference. ACDA, or the American Choral Directors Association, is the professional conference for choir directors in the United States. And I'll be perfectly honest, I was never involved in ACDA until I went back to graduate school and it kind of seemed to be a thing. Actually, NAU, at the last national conference, was awarded with a collegiate chapter of the year. So it was very active, or, still is very active at NAU to have a student chapter. But prior to that, I was never really plugged in with a professional organization, probably because we were not involved with it at my small liberal arts undergrad. 

So I think it's really important and really dear to my heart to explain, kind of, why I am now a part of it, why I haven't been a part of it in years before, and to show people the importance of why it is a great organization to be involved in, because, to be perfectly honest, I was a skeptic about it for a really long time. You know, choir directors can be kind of snobby and I just kind of equated snobbishness with that professional organization, but I will say that in my time of being involved at ACDA, yes there is some snobnishness, but y’all, there is snobbishness everywhere. And there's also amazing people and amazing learning to be had as a part of this organization and that really encompasses the greater part of what ACDA is all about. And ultimately, you get out of something which you choose to put into it. And once I gave ACDA a chance, it has really not ever let me down. And I guess I would be remiss technically, I think my first ACDA experience was when I was in high school. We were one of the demo choirs for a state ACDA conference. I'm pretty sure it was a state ACDA conference. And we were the demo choir for Dr. Rodney Eichenberger and I just loved preparing for that event, and not knowing at that time I would go on to be a choir director. But I loved preparing for that event because it was at the beginning of the school year and it just demanded such a high level of musicality from us. And I even remember being on the stage at UNCG, and some of the things he had us doing and you know, little did I know 15, almost 20 years later here, I would be attending ACDA as a choral director myself. 

So I just want to give you kind of a broad overview of what it entails: ACDA meets every other year on a national level. And then, ACDA meets on a regional level level on those off-years. So this year, the National ACDA met in Kansas City, next year will be the regional conference. So, we're a part of North Carolina, we're a part of the Southern region, and ours is gonna be in Mobile, Alabama, and then next year, so two years from this year, the next national ACDA conference will be in Dallas.

Eventually, I'll do something about what I think my top 10 things to consider when going to a national conference or even a regional conference are. I do have some tips for that, that I honestly wish that I had known. The biggest thing is it is expensive. It is a financial investment to do this. And I'm fortunate, I write it into my booster budget for them to pay a portion of it, and I pay for a portion of it as well. And when I had a church position, they paid for a portion of it, as well. But it is expensive. However, I do think that it's worth it, and kind of like I said about professional organizations to begin with, you get what you put into something, it's a financial commitment as well. The days that ACDA can literally go from 8:30am to 10:30 at night, so pacing is very important, and you kind of have to pick and choose what you're going to go to. And also you have to be prepared that you cannot see or do everything. It's just physically impossible. And you ultimately have to prepare yourself for the fact that because you can't do that, you're gonna miss some amazing performances and/or amazing sessions, because you just can't do it all. So, for example, I heard that there was a middle school from Mississippi that was amazing, and I think was the Vancouver Youth Choir people were raving about, and I missed those probably because I was napping in the late afternoon. I went to some amazing sessions. Well, I'll get to that set-up. But then there's also amazing concerts. 

So the way my day was structured this year was that I started at about 8:30, attending three sessions back-to-back, and then I took a lunch, I would go and try to nap, go catch a couple afternoon concerts, go eat a little dinner and, a couple times, even take another nap. And when I say nap, I mean a 3- minute ‘cat nap’, and then go back and catch the evening concerts as well. It was really important for me to hear some of these evening concerts for a lot of different reasons. There are probably eight to nine concerts a day, if not more. And there's usually about 10 to 12 sessions running interest sessions running concurrently in the morning that you can pick from. Then the other thing with all of this is there's reading sessions going on throughout the day. Different publishers will sponsor reading sessions where they will give you pieces of choral music, and you go and sight read them as a big group. And it's really fun. You can find some cool repertoire there. And then there's also different rehearsals going on. There's honor choirs for high school, middle school, elementary school. And then this year, they did a legacy choir, where different choir directors could participate in this choir where notable choir conductors came and led them in rehearsals throughout the week. And then they presented a big concert, I believe it was on Saturday evening as well. So, lots to do. And on top of all of that, there's also an exhibit hall that's open, and the exhibit hall is everyone and their brother with choral music. There's music publishers, there's travel companies, fundraising companies.

Some new inventions like harmony helper was there, a vocal mist thing, and one of my favorites, Voice Science Works was there, as well. So, there's just so much to be done during ACDA. Again, you can't do it all, but it's an amazing opportunity to reconnect with people, and to also connect with new people. And that's what you're going to hear. That's what these recordings are going to be about. They're going to be connections that I made with friends, with new people, with people I haven't seen in a while, and just some of our conversations. Because a lot of people will tell you that, you know, you can go to conventions and things like this, and you can learn amazing things, amazing insights, from the convention and from the sessions, and hear amazing performances and repertoire. And they can be reinvigorating, and they are, but what's also so important about conventions like ACDA is that it's an opportunity for you to connect with people just like you, people that are in the trenches of a classroom, or a church position, or a community choir position, and that fully understand what you do, and you can just gain so much from conversations with these people. 

So I have several conversations for you to, if you will, eavesdrop, now, everyone did know that I was recording on these, but several conversations for you to check out. And this first one. Actually, before I introduce this first one, I have to give an ode to my social media friends that I met up with. It was awesome. There was about maybe eight of us that connected for the first time in person at this, and one of them, who is going to be on a future episode of the Choir Baton podcast, Kate, who is also more well known as @whathappensatchoir on Twitter. She said, ‘You know, you should just take your phone out and record some of these conversations of what's happening here’, and it was such a brilliant idea. And I think I did it even that same day that she suggested it, and that's the conversation you're about to hear. And now that I'm back home in North Carolina, away from the frigid cold and recently fallen snow in Kansas City. I'm actually wishing that I'd taken my phone out even more. So be prepared, a next ACDA, for maybe there will be several installments of reflections and conversations from ACDA. 

Okay, so first, the conversation that you're about to hear is not sponsored. Again it is not sponsored, by Manhattan Concert Productions. However, it did take place at the their booth in the exhibit hall. And myself, my dear friend, Darrick, Maggie, and Heather, who you'll essentially hear me meet, kind of, during the recording, are all sitting around talking, and I'm going ‘Oh, this is good stuff. We need to record it,’ and I guess actually, Heather wasn't even talking with us at this point. It was just me, Maggie, and Darrick. And I pulled my phone out to start recording, and Darrick starts talking about himself, and where he's from, and what he's doing, and before we can even really introduce Maggie, Heather walks by, and hears where Darrick is from. And we totally take a spin-off from where I originally planned for us to record and what we were going to talk about, into talking about Moravian music and Heather's experience with that. Her research and work into preparing and performing choral music that's not very well known. And it was really just a very cool delight to hear more about her and her work as the artistic director for a new ensemble called ‘Five Lines’ based out of New York City. So without further ado, here is our conversation on Wednesday night at the Manhattan Concert Productions booth in the exhibit hall. Enjoy.

Beth Philemon: So I'm here in the ACDA exhibit hall at the Manhattan Concert Productions booth, with two very good friends of mine. And some other people might be joining us, we’re just being super informal here. But I thought it was really important to bring about what we're discussing here because we're having exciting conversations. And I am joined by my dear friend, Darrick King and fellow teacher within my county. And Darrick, tell us a little bit about yourself. 

Darrick King: I'm Darrick. I'm a choral director at Southeast Raleigh High School. I've been there for three years. I'm a music director at a church. And I've recently started the African American Choral Ensemble at North Carolina State University.

Beth Philemon: And, you're in school,

Darrick King: I’m in grad school for school administration. 

Beth Philemon: Thank you. So, in admin. For, for admin -

Darrick King: Yeah, for Educational Leadership.

Beth Philemon: And so your undergrad degree is from -

Darrick King: Winston Salem State, music education for -

Heather: You’re from Salem? I studied there because I did a whole bunch of Moravian studies.

Beth Philemon: This is the beauty of ACDA, y’all. You never know the connection. So you studied at the -

Heather: Well, I did. I worked with the Moravian Music Foundation for my undergrad and I edited, and I published two pieces. And then for my Masters, went back and studied, and was hanging out there, and did my whole master's thesis on Moravian Music.

Beth Philemon:  Wow. Heather, I have to I have to tell you, we were recording right now, if you don't mind the fact

Heather: Oh I didn’t hear, but I just interrupted you. I'm so sorry.

Beth Philemon: No, no, no, this is the this is the brilliance of it. Have a seat. We are recording for an episode of the Choir Baton podcast, just about the goodness, that is choral music. And you can interrupt, but I'm just telling you we're recording. Also what you're hearing is a side conversation by someone that, we won't mention their name, but, you know, it's that common nervousness of like, ‘Oh, hey, I didn't introduce you, not because I wanted to be rude, but because I didn't know their name’. 

Heather: I knew that.

Beth Philemon: So pro tip, if someone doesn't introduce you, they're not being rude. Okay, so Heather, where'd you do undergrad?

Heather: I went to a tiny little school in Orlando, Florida called Rollins College. 

Beth Philemon: Nice. Were you music ed.?

Heather: Nope. It was a liberal arts, so it's just a regular BA there. Conducting was my focus. And then, it was so funny, I was just telling this story, then I just hijacked your conversation. But when I did this Moravian master's thesis, you know, you expect four people to be in the audience, right? It's like a Tuesday at two o'clock, and maybe the people in the choir are bringing their family members. I walked out and this place was 100%, there were people standing in the back. I literally walked back behind and I said ‘Is this my concert? Am I in the right place at the right time?’. I said ‘This can’t be mine’. One person in Minnesota heard that there some Moravian, but they're so proud when their culture was represented because it's so rarely is. They came from everywhere. 

Beth Philemon: And so your master's was in -

Heather: Choral Conducting.

Beth Philemon: And where? 

Heather: That was in St. Cloud State. Then I finished DMA at University of Arizona.

Beth Philemon: Okay, cool. So how did you pick Moravian? Like, what was that connection?

Heather: My professor had a connection with the Moravian dudes. Yeah, I was like, ‘I like this stuff’. Some of it's very dramatic. And you know, they have such a deep musical culture. Right, I mean, you must know, what's your experience with them?

Darrick King: Well, I mean, Old Salem is, growing up there, it's, you know, where you always do field trips. But I mean, it's a culture that they're extremely proud. Yeah, like it's real.

Heather: Oh, it's amazing.

Beth Philemon: So, we also, in Raleigh, my group sings at the Moravian Church every Christmas. It's a huge thing and -

Heather: Do you do the love feast?

Beth Philemon: Yes! And oh my gosh, the cinnamon bread. Yeah, but it's like a huge deal, and the star is such a big deal, the Moravian star. Interesting. 

Heather: Yeah they hand out coffee and these beautiful cinnamon rolls. Only during the love feast, and it’s not, like, a love feast. I was really interested at first. I was like, ‘We’re getting into it here’. But, no, it is a, of course, love of God and music celebration. For those services, maybe once a month, I don't remember, but it's certainly not every Sunday. Yeah, maybe quarterly. They bring out these beautifully glazed cinnamon rolls and coffee. It’s their version of communion.

Beth Philemon: That’s my version of communion. Coffee and sugar. Can I get an ‘Amen’. Yeah, exactly. Cool. Okay, so Moravian music. What was the - 

Heather: It was a historical context, and presentation, and performance practice, and then introducing new works, because I had edited a few pieces. Because the Moravians were extensive catalogers. Yeah, I mean huge. So, I’m trying to remember all these details now, the library in Heren hoot, Germany has almost everything. So that is their main hub, and then Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and then Winston Salem. And so when everyone came over in the 1800s, they settled first in Bethlehem, and in Winston Salem, and the Moravians are directly responsible for bringing the music of Bach over to America. The first St. Matt. Passion was performed by them after Mendelssohn revived it. So, I mean, they're all over the place, but no one really knows how heavily they contributed to all that we do today. Yeah, it's a very, very rich culture and their own upbringing, you know, the single sisters live in the house, the single brothers live in the house, and the cemetery is that way, your status in life is how you're buried, because everyone is one big community and family, and they they just catalog everything, so there's all this lost music or incomplete music from these really wonderfully talented, very classical, very Mozart-y; just not done. Anyone can like, go in there and be like, ‘Oh, I can finish this’, and now we've got some new music. I mean, if you want to, it requires a lot of work of course. Yeah, it's a really great skeleton of stuff. So if you want something on your CV, dig right in there. 

Beth Philemon: That's for you some, future DMA candidate looking for that extra CV plug. Now, did you go to Germany at all when you were -

Heather: I didn't, unfortunately. Yeah. I mean, for other reasons. 

Beth Philemon: What was one of your favorite things about, like, if you could narrow all of that research, and time, and study down to one thing you're like, this is it -

Heather: My favorite was their Maundy Thursday music. Their Holy Thursday music for that, and I'm not particularly religious actually, but it is some of the most dramatic and sentimental, ‘connected to the story’ music and it gets me every time. It gets very dramatic and very powerful. And it's dripping with sadness and love. It’s fabulous. So discovering all of that music, and it's hard to program some of that stuff, and you’re tired of the same thing over and over again, we could do the seven last words over. But there are these, even titles, ‘By Your Meritorious Death’ and it's fabulous. That was my favorite little nugget of that repertoire for that particular day in the Lenten calendar.

Beth Philemon: Now, if you were to describe, could you listen to a piece and be like,’ Oh, that's from the Moravian tradition’.

Heather: Not necessarily. It is pretty classical. It is pretty blanket. Some of them are flat-out boring. But the certain gems are real fabulous. And they’re composers that no one does. Yeah, right. 

Beth Philemon: Okay, so who are some composers? 

Heather: I mean, probably the most famous is like David Moritz Michael. Okay, maybe there's like a Kruger; everyone's Johan. Johan-someone. 

Beth Philemon: Okay. Then from that, I'm even fuzzy on what are the tenets of the Moravian faith are. Like, what makes the Moravian Church the Moravian Church? 

Heather: They are, they're Christian, if you were to strip away, sorry for all of you that I'm about to offend, but if you're going to take away any of the guilt, and the hardship, and the fear that you'll get in Catholicism or some of the others, it is truly a love-based Christian environment. It was totally open, the congregation because they're so rooted in music. They all sing four part harmony, it is truly community. So they don't care what you are.

Beth Philemon: So it's like a Unitarian-esque -

Heather: Kind of, but not. It's not as modern as Unitarian or progressive. I haven't been to a service. So I'm not sure that they're talking about maybe some of the LGBTQ stuff. But at the same time, you're 100% welcome there. Maybe they are talking about it now. What I remember going, as well, this is just straight up ‘We're gonna find a good stuff. So we're talking about all these good things. We're going to teach you how to be a good person through the good parts of the Bible’. Good storytelling and teaching love. It is pure love-based. 

Beth Philemon: I had no idea.

Heather: So it's born out of Bohemia and Czech.

Beth Philemon: I was gonna say, is Five Lines gonna be doing some new music?

Heather: Maybe!

Maggie: Heather started a professional choral ensemble.

Heather: Thanks, Maggie. Yeah, just a little plug here.

Maggie: We’lll be doing a lot more recording of unknown, lesser-performed works and things. So, this might be right up the alley.

Beth Philemon: So it’s based out of New York?

Heather: We’re based out of New York. We’re called ‘Five Lines’ and it is a sparsely unaccompanied ensemble. Totally professional. It's a nonprofit organizations that we will specify in either rarely performed or never-heard pieces. 

Beth Philemon: So you're the artistic director and founder? Oh, okay. So excited. I have all the questions,

Heather: Well I do feel like I've just totally hijacked your conversation? 

Beth Philemon: Oh, no. This is the beauty of the conversation, this is what ACDA is. And this is like the beauty of this time.

Darrick King: We're talking about sharing.

Heather: What, can I share my wine? 

Beth Philemon: Oh, man. I'm okay right now. Where did the idea come from?

Heather: I've always had interest in unknown music, hence the Moravian when I was young. For Manhattan concert productions, I'm conducting the Schumann Requiem, and every time I say that, people are like ‘Schumann wrote a Requiem?’. No idea. And he did, and there's so much music out there, and I'm so tired of hearing the same stuff. And not because it's bad, who doesn't love the Mozart Requiem, it's absolutely phenomenal and I can listen to it every single day. But guess what, there's other stuff out there, and then when it comes to certain pieces, maybe like early music, there isn't anything written, or there are no recordings, and performance practice is hard, people are scared to do it. Or maybe there's a piece they want to do, they just don't have the forces, they just literally don't have the choral-makeup to do it. So they can't, and there are million reasons why you can't perform something, so I would love to hear some of this stuff performed live. When's the last time you heard Vaughan Williams ‘Mass in G’, the double choir, I've never. Did you know Tchaikovsky wrote a mass? Oh, it is real.

Beth Philemon: But this is so interesting to me because and I'm so guilty of this. Like, I'm really bad about considering pieces that there's not a recording of and I know that I'm not the only one. That's ballsy in and of itself to go after that, but then it's painstakingly filled time to listen through and think through. So tell me about that process.

Heather: I mean, I love score study. Here’s a plug, but I can thank Bruce Chamberlain at the University of Arizona. I mean, score study beyond, and my hope is, this is not meant to claim that I'm any type of expert, but I know a few things. You know, there's certainly some scholars out there, but I would not only like to perform these works, but I want to give away digital recordings for free in addition to, kind of a mini-thesis on you know, some rehearsal techniques, or score analysis, something that you can go ‘This this will help me’, not because it is really overwhelming for me, it's just about getting it. I love tearing apart a score. The one thing I learned that will never ever leave me, and it's the most obvious thing, but it never clicked. The only thing you need to know is in the score. It is all there. You just have to know how to read it. You know, when you spend time with it, it all reveals itself.

Beth Philemon: So many times we'll sit down with a score though and it's ‘Ugh, where do I start?’, right. But what is one of the biggest things, I realize we’re probably closing down here soon, but what’s the first thing you think through?

Heather: I start big, I start form ‘What's our text? What's our scenario? Where was this person when they wrote it? Who are they writing it for?’. And then you get smaller and smaller, you know. If it's a mass for instance, you get into the tradition and you know what's common. And the Schumann, for example, we get to the Sanctus, and typically we have a slow opening, grandiose. The Adagio Sanctus and then ‘boom’, that fugue comes, the tempo picks up, there's usually a book-end slower Sanctus, but he, in fact does not do that. And he specifically writes docile tempo, same tempo, do not change it. So, when you have the foundation of what's normal, you can start to pick apart ‘What's different?’, harmonic language determines speed, text. Just got to get that theory, keep studying your theory. 

Darrick King: I wish you all could see the joy on Heather’s face.

Maggie: I think you can hear it.

Beth Philemon: That's such an important factor. But thinking form and text -

Heather: It all matter, it really all matters.

Beth Philemon: Well, and something I've really buckled down, with him thinking about is the text. And when the composer says the text, they don't see it within the score, like we see it as the singer. And it's so important for us to pair the text out of the score and look at it with just a textual format. And then before like putting it back into the context of. How often do we have our singers, or how often do we as conductors and singers take the score out and write it in a poem form?

Heather: Yeah, yeah. I mean, when's the last time we actually took a sequence from a Die Irae? I mean, that's coupled to sets. Right, ‘Dies Irae, Dies illa, Solvent Seclum in favilla, Teste David’,  I mean we're jammin. That's all that is. And when you take it out and pull it away like, ‘Oh, this is starting to make sense because the rest of the Requiem’, or anything like that. You know, there are these really special, if you have, you know, four of bar phrases over and over again, suddenly you've got three bar, why? Why, is it we're just at the end of this page? You know, what's special about these six notes, and there'll be something, it'll be something that's different. 

Beth Philemon: We're totally nerding out. Okay, so we've got to close out here because they literally shutting down the lights. But the other voice that you heard in here, and giving a plug for ‘Five Lines’ was a dear friend of mine, like a sister, former roommate -

Heather: A soprano for ‘Five Lines’. 

Beth Philemon: Oh, yeah. What's your title at MCP?

Maggie: I am the director of ensemble services. 

Beth Philemon: Oh, and then what's your position, Heather? 

Heather: I am a conducting resident, and what am I? Concert developments?

Maggie: That's our concert development associate.

Beth Philemon: Well I love ‘Five Lines’, like I swear, I was teaching before I realized like ‘Duh, Five Lines’ and I literally have my kids hold out their hand and use it to count lines and spaces. But anyways, so Maggie is going to be on a soon-to-be released episode of the podcast, talking about what it's like to be in concert production and her role as a professional singer, and how that interacts with MCP and also her journey from small town Minnesota-girl to big-time city and we were talking earlier about

Heather: It's shocking really. You’d never know she's from Minnesota.

Beth Philemon: When you say certain words, yeah. Oh, yeah. 

Heather: I mean, she won't eat the last chip in the bowl. So we know she's from Minnesota.

Beth Philemon: Whereas Darrick and I'd be like, yeah, I'm done. Man, he also makes a really great overeasy egg.

Maggie: Eggs are my favorite food, just so everyone knows.

Beth Philemon: And I think the way she makes eggs is a great testament to her personality. Because a great overeasy egg takes patience. And Maggie is one of the most patient people. Oh yeah, absolutely. So more to be on Maggie. And we're gonna leave before we get kicked out of the conference center. But, man, this was really cool. Yeah, well, I think we have to have you on. 

Security Guard: We're closing the exhibit hall.

Beth Philemon: So I'm really not kidding we are being closed down. Stay tuned for more from ACDA 2019 in Kansas City.

Yeah.

So the next interview that you're about to hear occurred after the ‘blue track’. Oh, that's another thing I forgot to explain. At ACDA, because there's so many people and such limited seats at the concerts, and I'm sure there's other reasons as well, I think it's pretty cool. They get to perform twice, but there's a ‘gold track’ and a ‘blue track’. So you sign up for one of the track, and all the choirs will perform at one time for the ‘blue track’ at one venue, and then they'll perform at another time at another venue for the ‘gold track’. So it kind of spaces things out and gives the performers two chances, two different halls, and it helps with capacity. At least, that's my guess as to why they do it. And that's the case at the national level. I don't think it's the that way at the regional levels. That said, you're about to hear the reactions from three choral directors and one choral grad student, former choral director, after we have just got through hearing the Oakwood University ‘Aeolians’ perform. Now, this concert was something a lot of us will remember because it was a Wednesday evening concert and the phrase became known ‘The Aeolians broke ACDA’. Their repertoire was so varied and vast, and they sang with such intention, and I could describe other things but you'll hear the guys respond to that in just a moment. But what you can't see through the recording, but if you go right now to YouTube, I give you permission. Stop this right now, before you hear this, and just pull up a video of the Oakwood Aeolians singing, you'll see they, they sing with such joy and freedom. And it's just powerful freedom within their voices, but especially freedom within their bodies. They move so much, it's not too much, but it just helps you engage with the sound so much. And I tell my singers all the time ‘People hear with their eyes’. And that's just an amazing opportunity to see a choir that engages you visually as just as much aurally. So, you're going to hear the reactions to the Aeolians concert. Here it is. 

Alright, so we just saw the Aeolians. And I'm here with Dan Winecube. What do you think?

Dan: I think I’m kind of spellbound, I'm trying to figure out what's up with that. The resonance, in the way they ring, it is effortless, and then they completely change their color in the middle of a song. It was a treat for my ears. It was truly a treat.

Beth Philemon: What do you think

Darrick King: It was amazing. It was more than I expected. They displayed the power of music. This is what makes America great.

Beth Philemon: What do you think Dareion?

Dareion Malone: I think the sheer artistry is nothing less than amazing. Just the way that they can play with color, and play with tone, and just create all of those different balances, and blends, and just beautiful sounds. It was just amazing.

Beth Philemon: Steven, what did you think?

Steven: I thought that they were able to emote and connect to each piece in each genre and fully embody the text of everything and bring every different style to life.

Beth Philemon: So those were reflections from three high school directors: Dan wine cube, Dareion Malone, both out of Charlotte, North Carolina, Darrick King, out of Raleigh, North Carolina, and second year grad student at Northern Arizona University, Steven Shafer. The cool thing that happened, right after this conversation that we had, was we walked into the lobby and the Aeolians were there. And everyone was just kind of going wild, congratulating them, thanking them for such artistry and commitment to sound. And I ran into a lady, she's a college student, cache. And I was just telling her how much we appreciated it. Their dresses are actually beautiful. So I was that weird person that was complimenting them on their choir dresses and I was like, ‘Can I can I feel the material of this? I just want to see what it feels like,’ because I basically want one, and to conduct in. Not to wear, but it's in great condition. Anyhow, I digress, I started talking to cache and I said, ‘You know, I would love to have you on the podcast, I have this podcast that's about choir music, and I would just love to have you guys on it’. 

Now, side note, if you hear some rustling behind me, I normally shut my dog out when I'm recording. But because I've been out for so long and been gone, I don't have the heart to banish him to the living room. So if you hear the side noises, it is my dog. Back to the story. So I'm telling cache this, asking her, and she's like, ‘Oh, of course’. And she goes, ‘We actually have a guy in the choir with his own podcast’. And she goes and we find another guy, Chad, and between the three of us and two of them, we find Clee. And Chloe is a member of the Aeolians and shout out to him, he has his own podcast that's called ‘The Muse Report’, and he actually interviews the director of the Aeolians in it. And he has a lot of other really great interviews with different people, all about life, and goals, and ‘how are you aligning yourself with your goals’, so on and so forth. So go check out ‘The Muse Report’ by Clee Davis. And they have agreed to be future guests on the podcast. We were going to try to record during that weekend, but it just got too crazy. You will hear a little bit from Chad at the end of this because we ran into him in the exhibit hall. All that to be said, stay tuned for a future interview with the singers of the Aeolians to hear more about this process that they've gone through. They are the most genuine choir members, I think that I've ever been around. It was just very, very cool. 

So the next thing that you're going to hear is a conversation that I had over food, this amazing little cafe in Kansas City called ‘Gratitude Cafe’, and these four student are members of the East Carolina Chamber Singers. And the East Carolina Chamber Singers have a long history of great choral music. And they were a demonstration choir for two sessions with John Rutter early in the morning, and they sang choruses from his newly released Oxford publication. I think it was called ‘Sacred Choruses’. Man, this is not sponsored by Oxford either, but they're getting a little plug there too. Man, I need to find a way to import the audio of the conversation that John Rutter and ACDA executive director Tim Sharp had on Wednesday morning, because Johnny compared the opening to ‘For The Beauty of the Earth’ with Elton John, you just have to check it out. It's hysterical. 

Anyhow, Maggie, one of the students that you actually don't really hear from because I'm going to do an actual interview with her in the near future, Maggie texted me and said, ‘Hey, Miss Philemon’. She's a former high school student of mine that sings in the ensembles, ‘I had this amazing lunch at this restaurant that you would totally love, you have to come’. And it worked out for us to be able to go to ‘Cafe Gratitude’ on Thursday at lunch, and we went with three friends of hers from the choir. And I was just so taken with each and every one of their stories. They're so different. And they really embody what I think singing in a choir is all about, and their stories are stories that I think need to be told. And ultimately, my vision for Choir Baton is the stories of, not just our choir directors, but our choir members, and how we all find choir through unique ways. 

So you're going to hear my interview with Maggie, but you're really going to hear me talk a lot more with her three friends, Rachel Jackson and Coby. And Rachel's story really struck me because she had no formal choir experience before joining the EU Chamber Singers. And what she doesn't know is I actually had a conversation with her director several days after I met Rachel over the recording you're about to hear. And we were talking about the levels with which we get singers into our programs. And so many times, I think, you know, elementary, middle and high school teachers think about the fact that we oftentimes get first-time singers, but a lot of times collegiate directors get that too. And Rachel is an example of that. And her director, Dr. Franklin, heard something in her voice, and I think ultimately took a chance on her. Now when you meet her and hear her, you'll hear she's a ‘dynamite’ kid. But it took her because of her instrument and knew that he needed that sound in the choir, and she's really learned what a choir is all about, and how to read music with just the short year and a half that she's been involved. 

So you're going to hear Rachel talk a little bit about that. And I just think that says a lot about her choir director at East Carolina, Dr. Franklin, with the fact that he could have easily said, ‘Well, you can't read music. This is not the place for you, you know, take a year in another ensemble, or try to read and then come back’, but he didn't. And he knew that that was the instrument and the voice that he wanted and took a chance on her, and I think it ultimately paid off. She's a great kid and just passionate about choir. You're going to hear Jackson's story, and he is a music major, but really desires to go to vet school after that. And I think it's so important for people to hear the stories that you can be a choral musician, and not be a choir director, and Rachel actually, is going into music therapy. And then finally is Coby, and Coby is a composition major. And so again, another example of an individual who is singing in a choir, participating in the collegiate choral experience, but is also not going to be a choir director, but directly involved with the profession. So here is my lunchtime interview, get to know you, with these three collegiate singers from the East Carolina Chamber Singers at the ‘Cafe Gratitude’.

I'm sitting here at lunch. We are at this amazing cafe in downtown St. Louis called the ‘Gratitude Cafe’ and I'm sitting with four ECU Chamber Singers, and I'm just kind of listening to their stories about how and why they got there. And it's really cool because they are all in different degree programs. Help me with names because I'm gonna forget. Maggie is a music ed. major, and she's a former student of mine. And then, remind me again, Rachel, I was gonna say Kate, I don't know why. So Rachel is a music therapy major from Virginia. And Jackson is a science, but not science, chemistry major. Okay, so he's a vocal performance major and a biology minor because he's going to go to vet school, and he has a cat. And then, Coby

is from Winston Salem, and he is a vocal performance major and a composition major. But the thing that like I was already thinking ‘I should turn on the phone and start recording this’, and then I was talking to Rachel, and Rachel made the ECU Chamber Singers as a freshman with no prior experience because she was homeschooled, but Jackson was giving her crap for that and judging her real hard. And so as I'm sitting here, I'm thinking like, ‘Hey, how interesting to be in this collegiate choir, being there with all these people that have been in choir’, and you've I mean, you're in this great, prestigious choir, and you've never had a choral experience before. So, Rachel, tell me, what was that like?

Rachel: Okay. Well, I would say that the first, at least two months, may have been the most stressful months of my life. But as soon as I started singing with them for the first time, it was like, an incredible experience, just hearing all the sounds of being surrounded by incredible musicians. Yeah, it was awesome. 

Beth Philemon: Was it hard?

Rachel: Oh absolutely. Yeah, it was ridiculously hard

Beth Philemon: But you’ve read music though, because you’ve been in musical theatre.

Rachel: Barely, but yeah.

Beth Philemon: What part do you sing?

Rachel: I'm an alto in choir. Yeah. 

Beth Philemon: What was the hardest part of reading the music?

Rachel: The hardest part was solfege because I didn't even know what that was. The closest thing to solfege that I knew was ‘Do-Re-Mi’ from The Sound of Music. And that was it. So that was the hardest part.

Beth Philemon: What tips would you give to someone that is in a similar place and is trown into an overwhelming choir experience?

Rachel: Practicing, obviously, is the biggest thing, but that's kind of a general musician thing. But people don't do it. Yeah. So practicing, but also writing your solfege because a lot of people don't do that. It's so helpful. Write it in.

People think it’s weak to write in solfege, but if you write it in, you don't have to think about it, you can think about the other stuff. 

Beth Philemon: Now, there is an argument though, that then you’d only be reading the solfege and you don't read the actual notation. I actually ended up having my kids, I don't have my kids write it in anymore. I have them write in big leaps and skips. So step-wise motion? No, you should be able to get this motion. But if you go from like, ‘re’ to ‘la’ then they can write it in. And I scaffold, as an ed., well, you're the only ed. person here, but for some new people, I do have them write it in. Then they're like getting faster, right? But once they're a bit more advanced, I'm like, if you can figure out that’s ‘Do-Re-Mi’, you don’t need to.

All right, so Jackson, what's it like managing two vastly different programs?

Jackson: It's impossible. Especially like during the semester, I can only take one non-major class during the semester, because there's already 15 or 16 credits required for each semester of music. And anything more than three more credit hours on top of that is really hard. So I'm having to take classes over the summer, and I took a class over winter break that was four weeks long. I got three credits from that, so I'm just trying to get everything done where I can. So I don't die.

Beth Philemon: What kept you from being a biology major and a music minor?

Jackson: I don't know, actually, I don't know. I got here as a music major, because I didn't know what I wanted to do. I was on the tipping point of going to NC State, for animal science or something. But then since they only have a music minor there, and their music school isn't developed at all, or something, I was like, ‘I knew a bunch of people at ECU’, and like, for music, and I just been doing music my whole life, and couldn't imagine not doing it. And I'm glad that I'm taking all the classes because they're interesting. And I like singing. I don't think I'd get to sing enough if I was just a minor. So I get to sing as much as I want and then do as little science as possible to get into vet school.

Beth Philemon: Do you want to go to NC State for vet school?

Jackson: Probably, that's near home.

Beth Philemon: Right, I'm gonna pass it in. Okay, Coby. Are you done eating?  Toby and I, we're both enjoying a vegan mac and cheese and it's the bomb. Alright, so tell me about composition? Like, what's that like, to be a composition major? What are you learning? You know, there's not a ton of composition majors I feel.

Coby: Yeah, so as a composition major, we don't really have a lot more than the regular music courses, except for once we get to upper division. We will start more theory-intensive courses. Like, we have to take advanced music theory and advanced music history, which is probably going to be the worst thing I've ever done in my music. But aside from that, we also get like, for oice people and people who play instruments, they get like a private voice teacher. I get that, and I get a private composition teacher. So I will have a composition lesson just like a voice lesson. And that's where I bring in a piece that I've been working on and he gives me feedback on it and tells me different ways that I can try to incorporate some new ideas that maybe I didn't think about, or ways to just, either simplify or like, expand on a piece.

Beth Philemon: So how has that been, being part of the choir that's with John Rutter? And he's given such gems, I feel like, about composition, I think.

Coby: So it's kind of interesting because, me, in particular, I really don't listen to a lot of Rutter music, even though it's a big part of the compositional world, because he's so well known. But I would say his technique is almost simplified, in a way. But it's grand. Like, he'll have like the sopranos doing much more grander things to get what he wants without having to add a bunch of tones and notes, and I think that's really cool.

Beth Philemon: Okay, so now, this next recording you're going to hear is from the exhibit hall, and I ran into Chad, the Aeolian that I met a couple days earlier. And he is, this time, with his friend Cole. And we knew that we weren't going to get a chance to record a full podcast over ACDA, but I wanted to take the opportunity to check-in with them, and just see how they were feeling amidst this experience. When I tell you ‘The Aeolians broke ACDA’, I was in the Uber with the kids back from ‘Cafe Gratitude’, the recording you just heard, and the Uber driver was talking about how awesome they were, and that she had clients, or guests, or riders, or whatever, who had been so dead-set on making sure they were an hour early to hear the Aeolians sing that day in the ‘Worship and Art’ service that they had also taken place in. They literally broke ACDA, they were stars of the conference. So here's my interview with Chad and with Cole, and you don't want to miss Cole singing at the end.

So, this is going to be a precursor audio to the interview right now, that we're going to be doing with some of the Aeolians. But I'm with Chad and Cole right now. And I'm just here. What are you feeling right now about everything?

Chad: Man, we're just blessed and honored to be here. Honestly. You said to us earlier, we're kind of celebrities now, walking around, and it kind of feels that way, because everybody's been stopping us, telling us how much they've been touched by the programs. And we're just blessed to be here. You know, we work so hard over the last six months, and it's crazy that it was over just like that. And so, for that to happen, and for us to be here, it's just a blessing. Our first ACDA ever, and it's just been crazy, people talk about we broke the convention. I don't think we broke it. I think we mended it, some kind of way. I would like to think, you know, put some kind of different stitch in the fabric you know, yeah.

Cole: So everything Chad said, I agree, but 10 times more, like, it's so surreal. It's an amazing experience just to see all these people just know who we are. And for what we've done, again, this being our first national ACDA, it was the most amazing experience. The work that we put in finally paid off. And then we see the glories of after, like it was it was amazing. It's a great experience.

Beth Philemon: How’s your director feeling? Have you had a chance to like, kind of talk with him? And like, what were some of his words?.

Cole: He's lost for words. Pretty much.

Chad: We always have a little debriefing after our trips, or whatever. So we're going to have one of those. I'm sure we're going to talk more. He actually posted on our Facebook page and said, ‘What do you guys think about it?’, and a couple of us have posted, but I still don't have my words together yet to post on there. But I'm sure there’s gonna be some tears later. I'm so proud of him. I've been the choir, this is my sixth year in the choir. So, to see where we come from since 2012, Fall 2012 to now is spectacular. 

Beth Philemon: Well, you know, we've been trying to find a time to schedule the podcast, and we've decided to do it after the conference. And then, upon further reflection, I'm really glad because it'll be interesting for you to come off of it, and see and have the reflections of him and your colleagues, and things like that. Wow. Now, where are you from?

Chad: I'm originally from Atlanta, Georgia. But the school is from Huntsville, Alabama. And

Beth Philemon: Then where are you from? 

Cole: I'm from Harlem, New York. Well, everyone in the choir is from all around the world, we got people from the DMV area of Georgia, Florida, the Bahamas, Bermuda, California, everywhere, England and Canada, of course, let me not forget the Canadians, Cuba.

Beth Philemon: Very cool. All right, let me hear a little jazz.

Cole: Oh, um ‘When I fall in love / It will be forever / For I’ll never fall in love / In a restless world like this / Love has ended before it’s begun / And too many moonlight kisses / Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun / When I give my heart / It will be completely / For I’ll never give my heart / And the moment I can feel that / You feel that way too / Is when I fall in love with you’. 

Beth Philemon: I just want to issue an apology to Zoey, Cole's girlfriend. I was totally kidding about the marriage thing. But they were just remarkable to hear and that one solo voice magnify it by like, 40, in every single genre of choral music that exists and that is a taste of what the Aeolians sound like. Here is a clip from my next interview, the music that inspired us reaching out to her for it.

*You Will Be Found, by Pasek & Paul*

Beth Philemon: On Saturday morning, the last morning of the conference, when you are just running on caffeine and choral music at this point, I witnessed one of the best interest sessions I have ever seen, and one of the best performances I've ever seen. And that was with the Dallas Street Choir. Dr. Jonathan Palant and Dr. Anne Nordberg presented on the work that they have done with this choral organization, and they have provided a choir opportunity for those that are homeless and or in shelters or in some sort of transient living in the Dallas community. And the session was broken up into three sections. They sing two songs to open it with. And then Dr. Palant and Dr. Nordberg both talked about their experiences and findings with the choir. And then they closed with having anyone that wanted to, to come and join the choir on-stage and sing with them. The entire experience is something that I will never forget. And I am just a changed person from it. 

After I walked away from Chad and Cole in the in the exhibit hall, I ran into a member of the Dallas Street Choir. She was still wearing her shirt from the presentation. And myself and Dan, who you heard speak earlier, took the moment to just ask her some questions about the experience and with her permission, of course, we explained what this was for. The Interesting thing is, Dan texted me admist the performance, saying ‘Are you here? You have got to experience this’. He had not necessarily intended to go to that interest session on the Dallas Street Choir, but had chosen the wrong room and ended up there by fluke. And he will say it was providential. He was supposed to be there. It was an experience I will never forget. So here is an interview that we had an informal interview in the exhibit hall with a member of the Dallas Street Choir.

Dan wine cube and I are here with Paula from the Dallas Street Choir. And Dan and I were just so moved by your performance this morning. And you, in particular, I mean, I remember your face more than anything and so - sorry, Dan, you just asked her.

Dan: So how long have you been singing with the choir? 

Paula: Going on three years.

Dan: What has it meant to you, to be a member of the Dallas Street Choir?

Paula: Well, I think God sent me here because I came here from the disaster in Houston. But I came, I came to stoop hard to get my teeth fixed to see the dentist and that's what it was all about. But when I got my teeth fixed, I kept having to come back and redo, and you know, I didn't have any money to get back. And so I became homeless. As I stated, I stayed at the bridge for a while until I asked them, ‘Could I bring my cat and put them in in the channel like the dog?’ I said, ‘Sure’. But when I brought my cat here, they said, ‘We can't do cats’. So then that's when somebody told me, ‘Take him to Stewpot’, and so, through stewpot, I learned about the Dallas Street Choir. And that's when I joined, I said ‘I want to sing’ because I have always sang, when I was in the children's home, I sang when I was young. We made an album there. So yeah, I knew what the singing was all about.

Beth Philemon: But it's been a long time since you sang in a choir?

Paula: Yes.

Beth Philemon: Do you remember your first rehearsal with Dallas Street Choir? I mean, that must have just been like you're coming home, singing again.

Paula: Yeah, I thank God that I'm here and I told my children I don't want to go back to Houston. I want to stay with the Street Choir. Because this is home to me. And when I was there, I didn't feel at home. But I feel home and I feel like Jonathan is my big brother now. The choir is is our brothers and sisters. So yeah, we feel alive when we're there.

Dan: Did you expect to get as much out of the choir as you did, whenever you went to the first rehearsal, did you think it was going to be as meaningful?

Paula: No, I didn't know but I knew that if we keep on singing ,practice makes perfect. So the more we sing, and Jonathan tells us, you are so good now. So yeah, we practice. 

Beth Philemon: Well, thank you so much for sharing a little bit of your story with us. And again, your spirit on stage.

Paula: Oh, yeah, Jonathan likes what I do. I put body and body motion into it. And I draw the crowd into the music.

Beth Philemon: Absolutely. Well, and another thing too, we were talking to Paula before she got here, and she was sharing that she's from St. Louis - I keep saying we're in St. Louis, from Kansas City. And so it's been a neat returning back home in a sense for her to be here. I just wish we had a little warmer weather.

Paula: Yeah, it's gotten colder. Yeah.

Beth Philemon: Absolutely. Well, thank you, Paula. We won't keep you any more from checking out things. Likewise.

Dan: Look forward to seeing you again.

Beth Philemon: Again, I can’t express to you how powerful it was to hear this ensemble sing, and what an amazing job they did. And the work that they're doing is, is just so powerful. The last thing you're going to hear are just some legitimately informal reflections by me and some friends. At the end of the conference, we kind of talked about some highlights. You hear the reality of the fact you can't do it all. You can't hear it all. You will miss something. But you will also be changed by the things that you do here. There's some really great life analogies and some takeaways at the end of this that, as we connect different mindsets and concepts to what we are living in our daily life, to the life we live as choir directors within this, so I hope you enjoy this last little bit.

Okay, we digress. Let's talk about choral music and not my dating life. Um, what has been the best part of your conference? How are you feeling folks?

Feeling good. My favorite part was the Brock Commission last night.

The Brock Commission was good. It was. I know.

I'm heartbroken.

It was I'm still like working through that and the Aeolians performance but yeah.

Dallas Street Choir is like, right up there. 

There's been all these moments where it's like, I get kicked in the jewels and then I'm kicked in the jewels again, and I think I'm gonna recover, and then I get stomped in the head and it's like, ‘Oh my gosh’. And normally these conferences aren't like this. I mean, I'm emotionally drained at the end, but this is, this is Jamie's Norris Choir from Mississippi -

Beth Philemon: Oh the middle school?

Yeah, ‘Paper Cranes’. Yeah.

What's the name of the school?

Hernando. They were amazing, his programming was great. It’s just gonna make me rethink how I can cohesively program, as opposed to putting in songs that I think are curricular and or that I like. How can I be able to feel an extra step to do some more work to make things more cohesive, because the audience was completely engaged. I feel like a dog trying to open a door. You know, I have no thumbs. So that's good. What was it, Texas Women's Choir? They blew the paint off the walls. They were amazing. 

Beth Philemon: Yeah, Darrick. What about you?

Darrick King: I'm just blown away, connecting with everyone and hearing about all these amazing performances that I've missed somehow because of grad school.

What was that, what was the last choir last night? Vozoncho?

Oh my god yeah, they were super fun.

You were there? Oh, on Instagram. 

What you saw from the live feed?

Beth Philemon: Listen, that's honestly what I also loved and appreciated about the Dallas Street Choir when he was like, ‘One share is one voice, take out your cell phone, record these’. Like, we cannot as an industry be so ill at popular music today. I think there should be some songs where we don't have our cell phones, that we do take it in. But oh my gosh, take your cellphone out, take a recording and share it with people.

Here's a great takeaway from that. He said, we as choral directors go into a concert or performance with a score sheet before we start listening to a concert or something. We instantly go in and we start, ‘Okay, how can I score this? How does this measure up to my choir?’, or what my mental image of the sound should be, as opposed to just taking the people where they are, and loving them, and loving the music, and we're all at different places.

Beth Philemon: But that we do that in life. And in life, right now, we go into life and we think ‘What's bad about this? What's negative about this? What can I -

We’re just really judgey.

To tie that into the women's developing voice session we were just in. Oh, which was, ‘Okay, we take everybody where they are, and let people know that it's okay, where they are. There's another place that they're going, and you can’t snap your fingers and get to that next place. It's one step at a time to get that mile down the road’. 

Yeah, totally agree. I totally agree with that.

Beth Philemon: Have you guys heard that song, When I Get Where I'm Going?  t's like a country song, it's not a choir song.

All right friends. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Choir Baton. I so hope that you gained some insight into what the conference was like, and if you were there, maybe heard about something that you didn't experience or were reminded of something that you did experience. If you weren't there, I hope that you were encouraged and inspired by some of the stories and experiences that we did share. I'm going to close the podcast with the recording from the last section of the Dallas Street Choir’s performance on Saturday morning at ACDA. Remember I said that their entire presentation was in three sections: the first, a performance, the second, and informational time to talk about the history, the makeup, the demographics and the social implications of joining the choir for their members, and then the final section where they invited us all up on-stage to sing with the choir, the following song that you're about to hear. I so hope that you enjoy it. I hope that wherever you're listening to this, you are encouraged to sing along with To Walk In The Light.

*To Walk In The Light*