Workshop and Masterclass Topics

The workshop and masterclass topics described here are appropriate for one- or two-hour sessions with music students, faculty and interested observers. Each is self-contained but can also be expanded depending on needs and interests. They can be presented with an established choir during a normal rehearsal period, or, alternatively, they may be scheduled as a separate special event or masterclass. Coordination with the host institution and faculty is essential in order to maximize the impact of these sessions. 

Masterclass Clinic with Choir

I am available to rehearse and/or perform with choir as a clinician, either in polishing and interpreting American and other English language repertoire, including music from the African American tradition, or in music of other regions and languages. This clinic can be structured in several ways, including direct work conducting and rehearsing with the choir music within their repertoire, or in the form of feedback and evaluation of the choir in formal or informal performance.

Masterclass Clinic with Conducting Students

A traditional masterclass approach with conducting students working with choir, instrumentalists, or piano accompanists is an effective way to explore my unique approach to understanding the relationship between the whole body, gesture and musical expression.

Movement in the Choral Rehearsal: Movement as Aid to Vocal Technique, Intonation, Phrasing, Style

A long list of American choral conductors and educators, including Rodney Eichenberger, Robert Fountain, Janet Galvan and many others have made movement in the choral rehearsal a foundation of free vocal technique and expressive musicality. These include motions to address group vocal technique (breath support, voice placement, color, vowel uniformity), rhythmic entrainment (kinesthetic rhythm awareness), musical interpretation (phrase shape/direction, dynamics) and more. The session will focus on specific techniques and their application through active engagement of participants.

English Diction Topics. Expressive Potentials of American English

Language itself is music when its sounds are well articulated and clearly expressed. Musical settings of American poets including Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Robert Frost and Maya Angelou benefit from careful attention to American linguistic practices. This session explores effective articulation of American English, focusing on consonant and vowel use, practices of syllabification and phrase stress, as well a host of stylistic conventions. These include some sounds that are unfamiliar in other European languages. The session focuses on maximizing the expressive potential of English.

Repertoire and Style: Teaching African American Spiritual

African American choral music draws on the western classical tradition and also relies on predominantly African sources for its use of rhythm, including non-western conceptions of syncopation, polyrhythm and a grounded, physical macrobeat impulse. As with any different culture, effective artistic expression begins with an understanding of the culture. We explore the African American experience in the United States and its impact on conceptions of rhythm, diction, vocal timbre and more in the creation of a body of choral music that evokes both profound suffering and exuberant joy. We rely on essential works of the African American choral repertoire, particularly that of recent years, and explore how to teach the stylistic elements that are critical to the passionate performance of this repertoire.

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The guiding light in these sessions is to enhance the growing musicality of student musicians by offering a different perspective on common issues in a way that supports students, faculty and the host institution.