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August 29, 2011 Inspiration and fellowship offered this Fall! by Barbara Tappa, Eastern Washington ACDA Liaison
I am pleased to announce our second annual WA-ACDA Fall Workshop. It will be held on Saturday, September 17th at Whitworth University, 8AM-4PM. This is free to all ACDA members! We are featuring 4 wonderful clinicians. Scott Miller from Whitworth, will offer a clinic on Teaching Principles of Voice Production in the Non-audition Choir. Dean Luethi from WSU, will lead a session on Efficiency and Expectations, the Key to Ensemble growth. Timothy Westerhaus will be speaking on the Foundations of Musicianship: Developing Choral Skills Through Renaissance Repertoire. Peggy Gretsch will share her ideas on Reading and Music: Food for Life, a subject she will make us all passionate about. At the end of the day we will sight-read through “tried and true” pieces that we all have brought to share. This is a wonderful way to get rejuvenated for the school year and earn 7 clock hours. Check out the brochure online at waacda.org. Online registration is now available. Enjoy the final few weeks of summer and I will look forward to seeing you on September 17! |
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February 14, 2011 by Barbara Tappa, Eastern Washington ACDA Liaison It’s the same with choral music. You choose a piece of music and work on all the technicalities. Soon the pitches are right, dynamics have been added along with thearticulations. What’s left? Well, basically the heart and soul of the piece. It needs to be sewn together. The text is what makes choral music so different from instrumental music. I try to create an image that relates to the student. We are currently working on Lamentations of Jeremiah. What a wonderful piece! I told the story behind it and, though they understood on an intellectual level, they were too far removed to make an emotional connection. Using a contemporary analogy, we talked about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the human loss, and the emotional toll of this tragic event. This gave the students an understanding of the pain Jeremiah was experiencing in Lamentations. When we went to rehearse it they sang from the heart. We had made our quilt of sound, and it was much more than just pleasing to the ear. |
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A Jump Start on Fall
Here we go again! In the next couple of weeks we will be back in our classrooms enjoying the rapt attention of our musically marvelous students. Well, we can hope for that. Anyway, I hope you were able to rejuvenate this summer and maybe even find the time to participate in the Washington ACDA Summer Institute. Those three days were loaded with excellent professional development opportunities not to mention the positive energy associated with great commaraderie. If you weren’t able to attend, or even if you were, and you are looking for something to to rev your engine for Fall, come to the Fall ACDA workshop in Spokane! The Fall ACDA Workshop will take place on Saturday, September 11th, from 8:30 - 3:45 at Ferris High School in Spokane. We have lined up four wonderful clinicians: Marc Hafso will give us a fall tune-up on conducting; Kristina Ploeger will engage us with a session on jazz; Janice Newell will speak on “Singing and the Whole Child”; and, Darnell Preston will give us a lesson on practical vocal pedagogy. This workshop will provide excellent information applicable for all grade levels. We will also be having some “Tried and True” reading sessions. We are asking you to bring 25 copies of three to five of your favorite pieces. We will read through them and create a list that you can take home and refer to in the future. To make all of this even more enticing, it is free to ACDA members and a mere $35 to non-members. WMEA members will be able to receive 6.5 clock hours. So, what are you waiting for? Register now online. You can also register onsite on the day of the event. This will be a great way to “jump start” the year! |
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Never Underestimate the Power of Networking
Every year we go on a choir tour. This year, I decided to do things a little differently by designing my own tour. I wanted the students to understand that music is an art to be shared and not a trophy to be won. We had been west to Seattle several times so I decided to go east: Missoula, Montana. It has great music programs, it’s right off I-90, and we could stop at Silver Mountain Water Park on the way home! I had met a colleague from Missoula at the Summer Institute last year. He graciously identified other directors in the area. When all the calls were made our tour was set. We went to the University of Montana for an enlightening clinic with the Director of Choirs and participated in exchange concerts with two high schools and a community choir. It was a fantastic trip (and cost effective, too!). The students and I benefitted from performing, hearing different choirs and learning about other choral programs. And, who wouldn’t enjoy hiking up to the big “M” on the hillside and splashing in the water park? All of this became possible because I met a new colleague at the Summer Institute. So, I encourage you to come to the workshop this summer for great literature, new ideas and, of course, the opportunity to network with other choral directors. You just never know what may come of it! |
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January 22,2010 by Barbara Tappa
I added Show Choir to my choral program two years ago and the students love it. We meet two mornings a week during zero hour and occasionally add an afternoon rehearsal as performances approach. I only use SAB music so we can learn the music quickly and move on to choreography. I can do a lot of things, but I know my limits… so, I hired a choreographer! She is high-energy and fun-loving and keeps the kids moving and engaged the whole period. The emphasis is on singing and dancing so, although costuming is important, we keep it simple. We start with a base layer of black and add accents appropriate to the pieces we are performing. As for programming, I like to do a musical theatre piece in the fall, a show medley in the winter, and a contemporary piece in spring. Use live musicians whenever possible. It takes the “cheese factor” out of the mix. You can get far more energy out of your performance by using just piano, bass and drums than you could with a fully orchestrated CD! The kids on “Glee” can be handed a piece of music and perform it flawlessly the first time. Well, we’re not quite there yet. But, we sure have a lot of fun singing, dancing and, of course, hearing the applause! If you’re interested in starting a show choir I will be happy to share my ideas.
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WA-ACDA welcomes Barbara Tappa as new liaison for Eastern Washington Starting the Year August, 2009 S My goal is to
have the students walk out of class singing and excited about the choral program. If the students are excited about the program then they will tell their
friends and the program will continue to grow. I would love to hear what you do on the first day. Please contact me at: barbarata@spokaneschools.org. Have a wonderful year! |
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Ready………Go! That’s what it seems like at the beginning of the year. Hopefully we have all had time to relax this summer. Now the pace picks up to full speed. This is a great time to get a few fresh ideas for the new school year.
by Barbara Tappa, Eastern Liaison
by Barbara Tappa, Eastern Liaison