Episode 229: 2024 Year in Review. HIGHLIGHTS!

Choralosophy

2024 comes to a close this week! What a ride its been. This episode features highlights of YOUR favorite episodes of the year, as well as a preview of a new Choralosophy Community blog advocating for a possibly new way of viewing “Merit” and “Rigor” in music education.

The top episode of the year was my coverage, with the brave help of Michal Dawson Connor, of the debacle that unfolded at All Saints Episcopal in Pasadena. “Excluded in the Name of Inclusion” was a difficult, but necessary conversation, and was even covered on one of the world’s biggest podcasts “Blocked and Reported.”

The next episode falls into the category of “Free PD” that you should turn in to your school district if you are a teacher. This episode built our vocabulary around concepts related to choral intonation and sound building. James Jordan helped us kick off our new GIA/Walton series with a bang! Next up, in the third spot was another show that generated a healthy amount of controversy. It stemmed from an article written in the Choral Journal advocating for the removal of Sight Singing from All State Choir assessments. I disagreed with the suggestion vehemently, and invited the author, Dr. Marshaun Hyman to join me and Dr. Chantae Pittman in a good faith discussion. Some common ground was found, but I am not sure any minds were changed.

Rounding out the top 10 episodes in terms of total listens/views was a fantastic example of the diversity of topics explored on this show. From nuanced discussions of the ways diversity impacts our music making environments, to practical ideas for music classrooms explained and demonstrated, to vocal pedagogy gems, to the adolescent boys AND girls changing voices and brain development of musicians.

• Chukwuebuka Ezeakacha on ways to make the music of Africa accessible to choirs of the West, while maintaining authenticity.
• Anita Collins of “Bigger Better Brains” with a summary of the research on neurological benefits of music learning, and why choir gets left out of that research.
• David Jones joins me to share a jam packed episode on vocal pedagogy focusing on exercises and warm ups that are helpful for beginning AND advanced singers.
• Then, a pair of episodes really climbed the download latter this fall that were generated from within my classroom. One walked the audience through the process I have developed for assessing a new music reader’s appropriate “level” for reading music alone. The other is a peak in to my choral warm ups!
• Rounding out the top 10, and I swear I am not making this up…are TWO episodes on the adolescent changing voice. Both Bridget Sweet and Martin Ashley are experts in this area and offer masterful explanations of the things we should know and consider when caring for developing young singers.

Choralosophy presented by Ludus. Visit Ludus.com/choralosophy for the cutting edge in fine arts ticketing and marketing solutions.

Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself with your related ideas and experiences on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com Also, don’t forget to grab a reading rope for your classroom wall from the shop! Music Reading Rope

Clinician/Presenter Requests

Support the Show/Bonus Materials

Choralosophy Community Blog

Merch Store!

Visit Kaleidescope Today!

www.sightreadingfactory.com is the best literacy tool on the market today. Enter Choralosophy at checkout to get 10% off memberships for you AND your students!

Be Sure to Find Choralosophy on TikTok!

For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!

New Blog on Choralosophy Community!

Sign up for an annual membership and save over $50 by entering Choralosophy at checkout! Save 15% on monthly or annual subscriptions.

Below is an excerpt. Read the rest for FREE at Choralosophy.Substack.com

We don’t have to choose between rigor and accessibility, and we don’t have to choose between evaluating something as “great” or “excellent” and valuing every rung of the music making skill ladder.

Enter Choralosophy at Checkout for a 5% discount when you shop for folders, robes and other gear for your choir program! www.mymusicfolders.com and www.mychoirrobes.com

In music education, we have long embraced the belief that success hinges solely on talent and hard work. According to this view, if a student is talented and diligent, they will inevitably achieve success—whether by joining an All-State ensemble, securing a college scholarship, or pursuing a distinguished performing career. This framework, which has produced many remarkable musicians from diverse backgrounds, seems to be the ultimate formula for success.

However, this perspective has always overlooked a crucial element: luck. Factors such as geographic location, financial resources, race, gender, and access to quality instruction play a significant role in determining outcomes. While raising awareness of these disparities has gained traction in recent years, I believe we need to address an essential aspect that is often neglected.

Great deals, speedy shipping, and back to school sales at SheetMusicPlus!

We must acknowledge two key truths:

1) No perfect meritocratic system exists: It is a fallacy to believe that every choir audition, or job application, or college admissions form is perfectly selecting for the “objectively” best person for each position. So, of course, this would also extend out to societal level structures. Some may simplify this phenomenon by shrugging their shoulders and saying “life isn’t fair.” There is a time and a place for this shoulder shrugging. Sometimes we have to shrug to preserve our sanity. But, in my view there is NO appropriate time for that type of disengagement from inequities to lead us to create a mythology in our minds about “the perfect meritocratic system.”

2) Merit itself, and how to measure it, is not the problem. Many argue that because not everyone has equal access to rigorous music education, we should evaluate students based on different criteria. Indeed, we lack a universal standard for what constitutes a “great” musician, and differing opinions on this can be beneficial. In fact, I would argue that it is the fact that such a question would generate multiple answers, that makes this such an important topic for educators to discuss.

Subscribe to the Blog FREE

RyanMain.com is now expanding to a family of composers! Visit endeavormusicpublishing.com and of course, enter Choralosophy at checkout for a 10% discount!

@choralosophypodca

.

View this profile on Instagram

Choralosophy Podcast (@choralosophy) • Instagram photos and videos