For more information, contact Sarah Staebell at [email protected].
As choral leaders, we strive to cultivate ensembles that reflect our values and aspirations. However, when was the last time we critically examined whether or not our decisions regarding programming, organizational structures – and even rehearsal planning – truly align with our personal and structural missions? This interactive session will invite participants to engage in some practical evaluation methods, using self-reflection in order to maintain an authentic connection to their mission.
Drawing on our experiences rebuilding a community choir, we will highlight some of the instances where we were compelled to examine our mission and the ways in which our actions, values, and program execution aligned (or didn’t). In this session, we will explore actionable ways that any choral ensemble can do the same.
Together we will use hands-on exercises to analyze mission statements from a variety of choral organizations alongside their concert programs, advertisements, and social media content, critically evaluating the connection between stated missions and actual practices. Participants will consider their own values and missions in real time, and engage in thoughtful exploration of strategies and tools that can be tailored to fit their (and their singers’) needs.
Whether leading a school choir, a community ensemble, or a professional organization, this session will provide concrete steps and practical tools for fostering mission-driven ensemble culture, aligning values with decision-making for long-term success.
Session 2 (All): Conducting Masterclass
Melissa Trevino Keylock, Coty Raven Morris, Diana Saez
The formation and evolution of LGBTQ+ choirs in the United States have played a significant role in fostering community, advocating for social justice, and enhancing artistic expression. This session explores the historical development, ongoing significance, and practice/performance techniques of such choirs, with examples from the Transpose: Ithaca Queer Singers Alliance.
This workshop provides a broad overview of the application of Kodály methodology in choral rehearsals for choirs (ages elementary to adult) with a wide spectrum of musical skills and experience. Attendees will participate in interactive focus activities for teaching musicianship skills in the choral context. At the end of the workshop, all will have a toolkit of strategies for transforming their choruses into vibrant learning environments where singers are empowered to develop aural and music literacy skills while cultivating an appreciation for ensemble music-making. Starting with choosing repertoire that meets musical, vocal, and social emotional goals, attendees will explore strategies for long-term growth and transferable skills that will inspire life-long music-making among their chorus members.
Using a combination of resources, humor, and interactive group singing, this workshop will answer three questions: Why should choral conductors who’ve immersed their entire lives in standard choral literature care about contemporary a cappella? How can a fundamental understanding of contemporary a cappella help improve your choir’s understanding of more traditional literature? and How can choral conductors who are unfamiliar with the culture of contemporary a cappella dip their toe into the water?
In this presentation, two democratic ensemble approaches are presented with practical application to the choral ensemble—informed by research, philosophy, and seventeen years of classroom practice. Session attendees will take away strategies that can help develop the ensemble director’s approach to cultural responsivity while providing students and teachers with an opportunity to engage with critical pedagogy and democratic practice. First, I describe how my students and I chose repertoire together using co-created criterion-based selection procedures and dialogic considerations of culture, social justice, and community music making. Second, I share how my students co-designed their own rehearsal processes to accomplish their interpretive goals.
Have you ever noticed how your “top” singers get the most interesting repertoire?
Do you ever wish that your non-auditioned choir could also have the chance to experience artistry at a high level? Your non-auditioned groups are capable of so much more! Give them challenging but accessible, high-quality but achievable repertoire and you will notice a change in your choir culture.
The session will include rehearsal strategies for continually uplifting non-auditioned singers in the choir program. It will also feature suggested repertoire from various composers. This session is geared towards choir directors of high school choirs of any size, from rural schools to urban settings.
Musicians want to be seen and heard, yet many struggle with performance anxiety—sweaty palms, a racing heart, or even freezing up completely. This session explores the deeper roots of stage fright, revealing how our nervous system responds to being “seen” as a threat based on past experiences.
We begin by identifying when and why being seen felt unsafe, tracing these moments back to their origins. Understanding this connection allows us to create a framework to support our younger selves, helping to rewire our response to performing. Through breathwork, visualization, and grounding techniques, we shift from fear to presence, ensuring musicians can step on stage with confidence.
Beyond mindset, we explore the importance of self-compassion and reframing past experiences, transforming fear into a tool for deeper connection with both the music and the audience. Attendees will walk away with actionable strategies to manage performance anxiety in real time, empowering them to perform with authenticity and ease.
This talk is ideal for musicians or directors of groups at any stage of their career—whether struggling with performance nerves or looking to deepen their stage presence. By integrating both psychology and practical techniques, this session offers a holistic approach to overcoming stage fright and embracing the power of live performance.
This session will explore the importance of thoughtful and representative programming through non-idiomatic choral music by composers of color, examining one of the foremost social and psychological determinants of a student’s likelihood for success in academia. The presenter will share practicable resources and pedagogical strategies for use in the choral classroom, as well as research to contextualize the need for representative and diverse programming. Non-Idiomatic Choices for Developing Voices: Centering Representation in Your Choral Programming utilizes both repertoire and classroom-based approaches to expose students to music of non-idiomatic styles, expanding their concept of musical identity with the goal of dissuading stylistic pigeonholing. Participants will leave the session with exposure to various non-idiomatic choral works, online repertoire databases, and practicable strategies to intentionally enhance diverse representation in the music classroom setting.
Do you want your choir to sing in tune, ringing harmonies? Would you like to incorporate more popular music styles into your curriculum in intellectually stimulating ways? Barbershop harmony might be an answer for your classroom! Barbershop is increasingly relevant for today’s ensembles because it affords rich opportunities for auditory and notational literacies, admits a variety of tone quality ideals and ensemble voicings, and adapts a considerable range of music genres. In addition, with the Barbershop Harmony Society’s recent “Everyone in Harmony” movement, the paradigm of single-gender, white, US-based quartets and choruses singing archaic songs is giving way to more inclusive, worldwide ensembles who employ flexible voicings and repertoire based on current popular music. This trend toward greater inclusivity reflects the nineteenth-century roots of barbershop quartet singing better than ever!
In our session, we will learn about and reflect upon the rich traditions and burdened legacies of the barbershop style, sing an uplifting barbershop ‘tag’ together, and consider how we might teach barbershop music today in culturally respectful and educationally relevant ways. We will explore practical strategies for adapting barbershop music for many ensembles, including SATB choirs, groups with mixed ability levels and voices in transition, and choruses with an imbalance of voice parts.
Commercial music serves a very important role in our musical and cultural vernacular. From school musicals, to movies, to background listening, our singers engage with popular music at every turn. Raiber and Teachout (2013) defines this ongoing dichotomy as “school music” and “student music”- the music we prescribe to our students versus the music in which students choose to listen themselves. With the emergence of wide-spread acceptance in popular culture (GLEE, the Sing-Off, and the Pitch Perfect movies to name a few), we have seen a significant shift in student interest and the general landscape of choral music.
Much of our singers’ experiences in popular music are limited to “specialty” ensembles- small, exclusive, only available to some, and often open by audition (show, pop/a cappella/jazz). This READING SESSION is intended for our general membership with a focus on larger concert choirs that may want to explore popular, commercial, and theatre music as a means of meeting curricular goals. Participants will follow a READING SESSION format with a balance of collective singing, listening, and discussion, while drawing connections to Geneva Gay’s “Six Key Practices for Culturally Responsive Teaching” (2010).
We do not often consider popular music as a vessel for inclusive excellence, however, in its truest form, “student music” amplifies the student experience while ‘igniting their voice’ (as per the conference theme). As Peter Miksza (2013) states, “As professionals, we are responsible for creating and reflecting our music culture, and must choose repertoire that suits both of those goals.”
The repertoire we choose has tremendous potential to bring singers together through shared, positive, memorable experiences. The strongest choir is a diverse choir, and creating a safe and nurturing environment where its members can share their experiences is paramount to the short- and long-term success of the ensemble. In this session, we will discuss the music learning process and strategies for incorporating music-centered community building into rehearsals. The focus will be on exploring how music literacy/excellence and community building go hand-in-hand, and how, when we build a strong family of diverse singers, we are also building an ensemble of excellent musicians.
Participants will receive a list of diverse pieces for middle, high, collegiate, and community/professional levels spanning traditional and underrepresented composers across a variety of time periods. Session attendees will experience several examples of these pieces along with corresponding activities that foster community building and music learning, as well as how to transfer these ideas to other pieces of music. Topics discussed will include methods to find the community building potential in all music, general activities and lesson ideas that can be adapted to any piece or any type of ensemble, how to incorporate the lived experiences of singers into the rehearsal process and relate these experiences to the repertoire, and strategies to facilitate these activities so singers feel comfortable stepping out of their comfort zones in order to embrace personal and musical growth.
In every culture, stories shape our understanding of identity. Whether through fairy tales, history, or current events, storytelling connects us. In choral music, singers become storytellers, using words and music to bring narratives to life. Staging choral performances, which blend auditory and visual elements, creates powerful opportunities for both performers and audiences to engage with a shared experience. This interactive workshop invites participants to explore how theatrical techniques can enhance choral storytelling. Drawing from the “viewpoints” approach used in drama and dance, we’ll focus on three key elements—space, pace, and attitude—to deepen the impact of choral performance. Through a combination of video demonstrations and physical exercises, participants will learn how to integrate these concepts into their choir rehearsals, fostering greater unity and connection. The session aims to transform the approach to choral performance, building stronger, more cohesive ensembles.
In response to today’s hostile climate, many conductor-teachers are seeking ways to lift up gender-diverse voices in their ensembles. The Choral Music by Trans+ Composers Database was launched in November 2024 to meet the field’s need for a programming resource that specifically highlights works by transgender, nonbinary, gender-expansive, and Two Spirit composers. As of March 2025, the database contains nearly 800 entries of works by trans+ composers from around the world representing a vast spectrum of voicings, genres, and topics.
This reading session will introduce participants to choral works for SATB, S(SA)A, and T(TB)B voicings appropriate for a variety of settings, including school, community, and worship ensembles. Participants will come away with:
+ An overview of the database project
+ Specific repertoire by trans+ composers to incorporate into their programming
+ Expanded knowledge of gender-diverse composers
+ Greater appreciation for the variety of choral music written by gender-diverse composers
Resources for further exploration
View the Choral Music by Trans+ Composers Database here: http://www.erikperegrine.com/choral-music-by-trans-composers.html