ILLINOIS CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN CHORAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION Fall 2012 Volume 39, No. 1 PODIUM techniques, ideas, song titles....IL- President’s Message ILLINOIS ACDA EXECUTIVE BOARD ACDA works well not just because of our guest clinicians, but because we have so many generous experts President in our own organization who are Beth Best HOT TIME IN THE OLD TOWN! willing to share with the rest of us. Hill Middle School [email protected] Thank you to all who attended and Dr. Karyl Carlson is putting the Past President helped with the Summer ReTreat 2013 Re-treat together, and has some exciting headliners and ses- Brett Goad in June! It was definitely a "hot time" in more ways than one! Our sions planned! Watch for her arti- Hinsdale South High School—retired director's chorus guest conductor, cles in the winter and spring issues [email protected] Dr. Josh Habermann, gave us a lot of The Podium. Also, please read President-Elect to think about in preparing and ex- Karyl Carlson pressing the varied music he chose Continued on page 2 Illinois State University for us. He was a joy to work with. Laura Farnell shared many of her [email protected] ideas for working with younger In this issue Treasurer voices. A highlight of her sessions Leslie Manfredo was the work she did with Deb President’s Message p. 1 Save the Date—ReTreat 2012 p. 2 Illinois State University Aurelius-Muir's boys, and practical Commissioning New Music p. 3 Just thinking...Why we do what p. 8 [email protected] tips for teaching the changing voice. Dr. Clayton Parr taught us we do Secretary Worship Focus: A personal all about singing in the Georgian reflection on my role as music Joy Schertz style, and Alioni shared a magnifi- director p. 10 Princeton High School cent performance with us on the An interview with Dr. Heather Zosel p. 11 [email protected] concert. Choral Festival Update IL-ACDA Composition Contest p. 13 Podium Editor One personal highlight for me was IL-ACDA Fall Conference 2012 p. 14 Andy Jeffrey National Convention: Dallas p. 15 the Harold Decker Award dinner Dreaming in Darkness: A case Glenbard West High School and ceremony. Listening to the for innovative programming p. 16 IL-ACDA Fall Conference [email protected] accolades accorded to Dr. John Registration p. 20 Podium Assistant Editor Jost, and then to his humble ac- IL-ACDA ReTreat Wrap-Up p. 21 ceptance speech, reminds me of 2012 IL-ACDA Reading Session Jen Burkemper why we do what we do. List p. 22 Hinsdale Central High School 2012 ReTreat Chestnuts List p. 23 IL-ACDA Boys Honor Choir [email protected] There are so many people to thank Registration p. 24 for their session leading, directing, IL-ACDA Community Honor Choir Registration p.26 accompanying, etc., that I know I IL-ACDA Fall Conference would forget someone if I started Headliner Biographies p. 29 naming names. I appreciate your Adult Honor Choir p. 30 Registration Form willingness to jump in to lead so From the Editor p. 31 that we could all learn some new WELCOME Volume 39, No. 1 Page 2 Repertoire and Standards Chairs President’s Message (continued from page 1) Membership Chair Brett Goad's offerings about the Fall Convention, taking place October 19-20 Sarah Smith in Naperville. Pleasant Ridge School [email protected] Beth Best Middle School IL-ACDA President Jill Rinkel Mahomet-Seymour Jr. High [email protected] Senior High Jeremy Little Vernon Hills High School Interested in contributing an article to [email protected] Jazz Choirs the Podium? Stacy Cunningham Leyden High School Contact our editor here. [email protected] Deadline for Winter edition articles is Female Choirs Christina Shoemaker December 15, 2012. Lincoln-Way North High School Be sure to check out our iPad and [email protected] Male Choirs Ted Hesse tablet friendly Millikin University versions of the IL-ACDA Podium at [email protected] Two Year Colleges ISSUU.com Thomas J. Stauch Harper College [email protected] Music/Worship Jeff Hunt Baker Memorial UMC, St. Charles Make plans now to attend the IL-ACDA [email protected] Fall Conference! Show Choir Chair Mark Meyers October 19th and 20th, 2012 Waubonsie Valley High School [email protected] North Central College Naperville, IL Volume 39, No. 1 Page 3 Repertoire and Standards Commissioning New Music Chairs continued College /University As conductors and teachers, we all strive to choose the highest quality Susan Davenport of music for our students. At the end of each season, I love to file the music Southern Illinois University my choir has programmed and look for my next set of pieces. Inevitably, I [email protected] waste a lot of time singing and playing through music I already know and Composition love, as if catching up with old friends. Choosing standard repertoire that is Lee Kesselman diverse and challenging is always a part of my process, but I have also been College of Dupage involved in several commissions over the years, and the experiences have [email protected] been wholly positive. I have found that with each commission, I myself was Children’s Choir given opportunities to grow and develop, along with my students. Commis- Ron Korbitz sioning new music allows the conductor to create teaching plans and activities Brookdale Elementary School that are new and exciting for everyone involved. Composers can interact in a [email protected] variety of ways with students, whether they come in person to rehearsals, talk Community with students via Skype, or answer questions via email. We are so lucky to be Steven Szalaj living at a time when the composers of much of the music we perform are ac- McHenry County College and Voices cessible to our singers, and we only have to reach out to them to form a rela- in Harmony tionship. Every time I have contacted a composer about a piece of music, I [email protected] have received a positive response; students are able to form strong connec- Ethnic/Multicultural tions to the music they are singing when they are exposed to whom and where Clayton Parr it comes from. DePaul University [email protected] This past spring, I was awarded a small grant from the National Endowment Youth/Student for the Arts for the commission of a new work for the CSA Children’s Choir. Mary Lynn Doherty Because my colleague and friend Dr. Tim Blickhan, composer and former Northern Illinois University Assistant Director of the School of Music, was retiring from NIU, he felt like [email protected] a logical choice. We discussed texts in late summer, and by our winter break, IMEA Representative I had his piece in my hands. The music was written to reflect a poem by Eric Ode. Here is the original text: Rick Murphy Weave Me a Poem © 2007 University Lab High School Weave me a poem of ribbons and strings. [email protected] Hatch me a poem of feathers and wings. Webmaster Grow me a poem of sunlight and soil. Jason Hawkins Paint me a poem of canvas and oil. Plainfield North High School [email protected] Build me a poem of timber and stone. Historian Dance me a poem of muscle and bone. Bob Boyd Bake me a poem of sugar and cream. Northwestern University Sing me a poem, I’m ready to dream! [email protected] IL-ACDA District Chairs Volume 39, No. 1 Page 4 District 1 Diane Marelli Commissioning New Music (continued from page 3) Riverside Brookfield High School [email protected] Mr. Ode agreed to write additional lyrics for my singers and Dr. Blickhan and District 2 I consulted several times on range, accompaniment and part work. Using the Michael Zemek Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP) approach to teach- Augustana College ing, I had my students write about their impressions of the piece, questions they had of the composer or poet, reflections on how they felt rehearsals were [email protected] going; my singers also created visual art related to the music that was posted District 3 in the lobby of our performance space on the night of the premiere. By engag- Debbie Aurelius-Muir ing students in a variety of ways, they took ownership of their learning and Olympia High School were able to go above and beyond traditional learning experiences to foster deep connections with the music and musical understandings that will transfer [email protected] to other pieces. District 4 Erin Stegall To give an example of the types of CMP activities I used, I chose to have my Macomb Junior High School students explore the concept of dreams. I chose the poem because of the last [email protected] line “Sing me a poem, I’m ready to dream!). Over the course of several weeks, I showed my students paintings that represented dreams, other poetry District 5 about dreams, and had them write about their own dreams. We then discussed Jacob Elam what our dreams were for the future. This helped all of us get to know each Central A&M Middle School other, which enhanced the ensemble immensely. Here are a few of their con- [email protected] tributions: District 6 My dreams are becoming an architect and building my first real building. I Susan Davenport hope I can be an architect, because I love building. (Vani) Southern Illinois University [email protected] My first dream is to have my family be safe! Another would be to work with District 7 wolves, as a wolf trainer.