High School Choral Students' Perceptions of Choral Music Experience

The purpose of this study is to explore high school students' perceptions of their choral experiences, providing an understanding of students' ongoing perspectives of choral experience. Specifically, how have these experiences influenced the formation of their musical identities as members of a choral ensemble? The researcher collected data from the three participants during a full school year. The participants were current students in the researcher's advanced choral ensemble. Through axial coding, three themes emerged: musical interpretation, attitude, and group efficacy. The study revealed that experienced choral students have well-informed musical perspectives that influence their choral experiences. Implications for music education include using students' perspectives for creating rehearsal strategies, planning and programming performances, and fostering a nurturing learning atmosphere. Suggestions for further research include comparing experienced students to non-experienced students, comparing ensembles with student-chosen repertoire to those with director-chosen repertoire, and further examining the impact of choral experience on musical identity.

TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS THE BEST CHORAL REPERTOIRE FROM THE GREAT COMPOSERS: MASTERWORKS AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE, FREE ACCESS FROM THE CHORAL PUBLIC DOMAIN LIBRARY

Studying the choral works of the great composers of the past is always a worthy endeavor. For those aspiring to create an excellent high school choral program, it is critical to a student's musical foundation and heritage. Choral educators who teach high school are often bombarded with the most recently published new choral works, when they have a trove of excellent pieces right at their fingertips through websites like the Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL), all available at no cost. This project will explore the pedagogical reasons why this canon of public domain choral music should be taught at the high school level. A thorough guide to CPDL and an anthology of 200 works available on CPDL will provide the conductor with resources for programming this music. Though choral music in the public domain is free to all, publishers still publish this music and adhere copyright claims. This can create mistrust of legitimate editions on CPDL; why are they available at no cost when publishers are claiming copyright on similar editions? These issues will be thoroughly discussed in this project. For any given work on CPDL, there may be multiple editions available on the site. Choosing the right edition requires knowledge about basic editorial principles, especially for works written during the Renaissance period. A detailed discussion of these principles will provide the conductor with the tools needed to choose the best edition for his or her ensemble.

University Chorale in a Program for the American Choral Directors Northwest Division Convention, February 27, 1976

Concert program for University Chorale, February 27, 1976

Choral Conducting Recital, February 23, 1977

Concert program for Choral Conducting Recital, February 23, 1977

Easy, cheap and true : the case for promoting the Curwen method of teaching choral singing in developing countries

The Curwen method (Tonic Sol-fa) was developed by the Rev. John Cunven in England from the 1840s originally as a means of teaching music reading from staff notation. However, in the 1872 Standard Course, staff notation was dispensed with altogether in favour of Tonic Sol-fa "letter" notation. By the end of the century, Tonic Sol-fa had spread from Britain to many overseas countries. Although aspects were later incorporated into staff-based teaching
systems such as the Kodaly approach and the "New Curwen Method", Tonic Sol-fa in its late nineteenth century ' form has been "extinct" in Britain for several decades. Nevertheless, it is "alive and well", indeed flourishing, in certain African, Asian and Pacific countries. This paper analyses the Tonic Sol-fa system in terms of contemporary pedagogical practice and notational theory. The paper also reports on the use of Tonic Sol-fa in two countries - South Africa and Fiji - where it is now the mainstay of community choral music. It is argued that, particularly for developing countries, the Curwen method and its letter notation should be seriously considered as an alternative to staff notation methods as a highly effective means of promoting school and community choral singing.

Tonic Sol-fa in contemporary choral music practice : a South African case study

The Tonic Sol-fa method of teaching choral singing was propagated throughout Britain during the nineteenth century with the dual objectives of enhancing Christian worship and achieving social reform. It was then imported to South Africa where it was introduced to indigenous people principally through Christian missionary activity and government schools. Although entirely of foreign origin, Tonic Sol-fa was so fully assimilated into African culture that it became effectively 'indigenised'. Due to its widespread use, it became the mainstay of community choral singing and may now be said to represent a significant exogenous aspect of present-day South African musical identity. However, there is little documentation regarding the type and extent of its use in contemporary choral music practice.

This paper will report on the use of Tonic Sol-fa in representative present-day choral music settings. Interview data collected from choir directors, trainers and teachers in Cape Town indicate that there is far from unanimous agreement on several aspects - in particular, the future of Tonic Sol-fa as a pedagogy and notational system. Improving educational opportunities for indigenous South Africans to undertake professional training in music are now threatening the traditional dominance of Tonic Sol-fa in indigenous culture. Nevertheless this research represents a useful case study of the continuing relevance of Tonic Sol-fa to an indigenous population who have 'made it their own' and developed a vibrant choral tradition which continues to both enrich and sustain their lives.

The sacred musical compositions of the late Israel Lazarus Mombach : containing the services for Sabbaths and festivals, New Year and Day of Atonement, consecration hymns, psalms and choral wedding service

ed. by M. Keizer

Mus Hs 85 - Choral-Buch

[Michael Henkel]

Vierstimmiges Choral-Melodien-Buch : zu dem Nach dem Sinne der katholischen Kirche singenden Christen

gesetzt von Michael Henkel

Der Choral von Heute und Der von ehemals : ein Votum in Sachen der Choralreform /

"Mit einer Noten-Beilage."