Where Do I Fit In?

As I was browsing ChoralNet discussions this evening, I came across an interesting topic from a high school choir director, Garrett. At first I was unsure if I should even comment on this, but after some thinking I've decided that I will share.

"Hello, colleagues!
This topic could be placed in several categoris, and I am suprised that I couldn't find this same scanrio in post history. There are two issues:

What to wear?
I have a high school aged alto who is in the beginning process of transition from female to male. She has states she feels more comfortable in a tux, but is open to what our organizaation feels is best, and would be willing to wear a dress.
Have you had experience with a sitatuion like this before? Did you have him/her match his/her section, or how she/he identifies him/herself?

Where to sleep?
How do you make room assignments with transgender singers? With their current biological sex, or the gender with which they identify?

Thank you for sharing your experiences!"


I am not transgender nor do I know anyone personally who is transgender. And although I support the LGBTQ community, I am heterosexual and don't claim to have any kind of knowledge on how LGBTQ people feel or any struggles they face.

I think the answer to the first question is obvious. Allow the student to wear what he feels most comfortable in. Since he is transitioning to male, it is obvious that he wants to be seen as such. It won't make the choir look "off" aesthetically and if that is a major concern, then have him stand next to the tenor or bass section.

The second question is more tricky. It is something that needs to be discussed with school administration and potentially the school board. If there is no policy in place, then I suggest speaking with the student and his family as well as potential roommates. I think it's safe to assume that this student is out as a transgender so his peers know. Hopefully an agreement will be reached where everyone is comfortable. If nothing seems possible, perhaps a single room would work best.

What are everyone else's thoughts on this issue? Garret, the choir director, seems accepting of his student and hopefully you all are as well.

How High Should Boys Sing?

I recently read a book titled "How High Should Boys Sing? A Study in Gender, Authenticity and Credibility in the Young Male Voice" by Martin Ashley. Although it was an interesting read, I wouldn't really recommend it as a choral resource to aspiring or current educators. My thoughts are included in this presentation.

I've also included my presentation notes. This presentation is in the Pechakucha format, which is 20 slides for 20 seconds each. Because I've used this particularly presentation style, there are very few words on my slides so I feel like it would be most beneficial if I included what I actually said. 



Check under "Read More" for my notes!

Choral Warm Up Part 2!

You'll notice from my previous post that I uploaded (quite a while ago, whoops!) some videos of a sample choral warm up. Here is the written directions that accompany the videos. Thanks to Evan for preparing it!

Choral Warm-ups (Evan Harte & Emily Wright)

• Physical: (face-lift exercise)
“Eyebrow situps” - This involves fully raising the eyebrows, relaxing them, and repeating
continuously to create awareness of the extent of the eyebrows. Next, hold eyebrows in a fully
raised position.
“Lower jaw extension” – Keeping the jaw extended low used in conjunction with raised
eyebrows while singing helps the performer communicate to the audience and makes the face
look more pleasant.
“Silent cheering” - Since shouting is bad for the voice, use silent cheering of letters of choice to
practice this “pleasant face”.

• Breathing: (breath pulse)
First off, take a deep breath. In staggered “sips”, let this breath out slowly while repeating the
syllable “ch” (note: the entire breath should take about 10-15 seconds to release; the time
interval between each “ch” sound should be quite short).
Try rhythms on this syllable (“ch”): ta, ti-ti, ta, ta, etc.

• Diction: (forward tongue/tuned continuants)
Place the tip of the tongue directly behind the teeth and say “oo, oh, ah, ae, ee” (note: remember
to keep space in the jaw/mouth for resonance).
To work on sustaining and emphasizing the consonances “m” & “n”:
Say, “moo, mo, ma, mae, mee” ; then sing it on a single pitch
Say, “noo, no, na, nae, nee” ; then sing it on a single pitch
Sing the word “Amen” on a single pitch. Hold the “Ah” syllable first. Then move to the
“Mmm” sound, holding at length. And finish by saying “men” but holding the “Nnn” sound at
length.

• Resonance:
Sing “do, re, do, ti, do” on syllables “oo, oh, ah, ae, ee”. Repeat with different starting pitches.
With this exercise, one is looking for breath energy and for sound projection.
(note: the extension of the lower jaw helps support this idea of sound projection)

• Flexibility: (broken triads up to an octave in range)
(note: sing the following on “ah” ; solfege used to indicate intervals ; start on a comfortable
pitch in mid-range)
Sing the following triad arpeggios: do, sol, me, sol (x2)
Once comfortable, add this to the above exercise: do, la, fa, la (x2)
Then, combine the above two exercises with: do, ti, sol, ti (x2)
Then, end on do just above ti in the last arpeggio. Repeat this vocal flexibility exercise on
different starting pitches (recommended: C4, D4, E4)

Here is a sample choir warm up, led by Evan and I. We have exercises in the following categories: Physical, Breathing, Diction, Resonance and Vocal Flexibility. Our warm ups are based off of the video series "Teaching Kids to Sing" by Ken Phillips. Hopefully these videos will give you some ideas of different choral warm ups and how to led a vocal warm up!

Physical Warm Up

Breathing Warm Up

Diction Warm Up

Resonance Warm Up

Flexibility Warm Up

Here is my review of the Toronto Children's Chorus, based in Toronto, Ontario. It's conducted by Elise Bradley, who has been the director for the last 8 years. You can visit their website at www.torontochildrenschorus.com



Here is the handout that I passed out when I did my presentation. It has a few things that I didn't include in the presentation so I recommend having a quick look through it!

Toronto Children’s Chorus

- Founded in 1978 by Jean Ashworth Bartle at the request of the then conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Sir Andrew Davis.
- Under Bartle, the Toronto Children’s Chorus earned national and international recognition.
- TCC is recognized as one of the finest treble choirs in the world and has had a huge influence of treble choir repertoire.
- Repertoire embraces diverse cultures and traditions and includes many vocal genres and commissioned Canadian pieces.

- Current conductor is Elise Bradley, who is in her 8^th season with the TCC
- Under Bradley, the TCC has a reputation of artistic excellence and music education

- Bradley has developed an annual concert series, continues the legacy of the annual School Choir Invitational and the Toronto District School Board Choral Project which provides professional development to music teachers.

- There are 6 ensembles under the TCC umbrella:
1) KinderNotes – ages 3-6, serves as an introduction to the TCC program
2) Preparatory Choir – Ages 6+, youngest audition based choir that prepares singers for training choir
3) Training Choir I, II, III – placed into appropriate group based on musical ability and maturity, develop skills to prepare for the main choir
4) Main Choirs – consists of Cantare, Chorale, Chamber Choir and Choral Scholars. Cantare is an introduction to the main choirs, sings less repertoire. Chorale is the experienced half of the choir and has a large commitment to touring and performing. Chorale extends to Chamber Choir and Choral Scholars, who have more music responsibilities.
5) Boys Choir – boys from preparatory choir and up with unchanged voices.
6) Youth Choir – SATB choir, ages 16-25, open to anyone willing to audition.

Repertoire Recommendations

1. Come, Ye Makers of Song – Written by Jean Ashworth Bartle as a birthday gift to Bartle. I like the text and think it’s a good opening song for a program. Although it’s not harmonically difficult, it’s in an irregular meter which is a good rhythm teaching aid.

2. Micma’q Honour Song – Traditional Native Chant arr. by Lydia Adams. I like the nature sounds (bird calls, wind blowing, etc.), and the haunting sound showcases the voices well. I also like it because it is a chant, which makes it different than the usual repertoire.

3. Sing me a Song – Composed by Leonard Enns for the Niagara Children’s Chorus. I like the jazz nature of the piece as well as the sunny lyrics. It’s in unison (with optional divisi.), which is challenging to sing. This could be a bit more of a challenging piece, depending on the skill of the choir.

4. Winter from Folksongs for Four Seasons – Composed by Ralph Vaughn Williams. This is a Christmas piece that doesn’t incorporate any Christmas carols like Silent Night. It’s a nice and different addition to a Christmas program.

5. Petites Voix – A multi-movement work by Francis Poulenc. I chose this piece because I like the way French sounds when it’s sung. It’s also written specifically for children and is about things related to children such as “Le petit garçon” or “The Little Boy”. 

"It's so tempting to think it's all about me"

At the start of Itay Talgam's TEDTalk he says something that really caught my interest, and that I thought about for the rest of the video. He says "Out of small gestures come great music. And it's so tempting to think it's all about me." As a person with very limited choral and conducting experience, I had never even considered this before. Do conductors really believe that they are the ones responsible for the music or was that just my imagination? According to Itay Talgam, that was really just my imagination. Perhaps that thought stemmed from my concert band experience from grades 8-12. She never acknowledged that without us, she would just look like a crazy person, standing in front of fifty or sixty chairs, waving her arms. The students never received any acknowledgement, in performance setting or otherwise, that we were the ones who were making it all possible. I think that realizing that a group success if not just all about you is an important thing to realize as a leader in any situation. Sure, you may be guiding people in the right direction, but you are not the sole reason of the groups success.

The final conductor that Talgam shows in his talk really illustrates this idea. He doesn't once lift his baton or move his arms. He stands, arms crossed, throughout the entire clip, relying on the ensemble to make something beautiful and meaningful. This is a man who has realized that he is not the superstar, he is merely a member of a group of superstars. And that is what every leader should aim for. Not to responsible for the success of the group, but to simply be a part of the success.

Welcome!

Chances are, if you're viewing this blog you already know me and why this blog is here. But, if not, hi! My name is Emily and I'm a university student studying music and music education in Newfoundland. This blog is created as a part of a music education course entitled Voice and Choral Methods. It will serve as a place to reflect on and discuss things explored in class. As the name of the course suggests, this will be full of posts regarding choral singing and teaching choral singing, especially in the K-12 school system. 

I'm a first time blogger with a lot to learn. I'm also very new to the choral world and have so many things to learn there as well. Hopefully this blog and my posts improve over the duration of the course. Thanks for reading and check back for more posts soon.