Rocky Mountain High

Inspiration at the National Children's Choir Conductors' Retreat

What do you get when you put 180 children’s choir conductors together over a long weekend?  Well, a lot of singing, of course. And laughter. And inspiration. And encouragement. And great ideas for becoming a better educator/conductor and for helping to make Northwest Girlchoir the best music education and performance organization it can be.

 

Last month, over the MLK weekend, I attended Peak Your Vision, the 2^nd annual Children’s and Community Youth Choir Conductors’ Retreat held in Denver and sponsored by the American Choral Conductors Association.  How wonderful to be immersed in an environment where every attendee and every session was a resource for exactly the work I do!  There were conductors from elementary schools, universities, churches, and community choirs like Northwest Girlchoir.  They came from as far away as Minnesota, Georgia, Boston, Wyoming, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.  And, there was excellent representation from the Seattle area, including conductors from the Seattle Children’s Chorus, the Tacoma Youth Choirs, St. Joseph’s School, and the Rainier Youth Choirs!

 

What do children’s choir conductors want to learn more about?  What do they have to share with each other?  Here are some of the session topics: Team Building Activities for the Choral Ensemble; The Great American Folksong—Performing American Folk Music With Authenticity and Joy; The Importance of the Text in Choral Singing; Meeting Recruitment Challenges in Community Choirs; New and Classic Repertoire for Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Treble Choirs; Teaching Musicianship through Movement; Collaboration in the Ensemble Arts—Working and Playing Well With Others; Encouraging Diversity; Conducting Master Class; and Dynamic Listening.  For a children’s choir conductor, this an exciting list!

 

We also got to hear a concert by four children’s choirs.  Three from the host state, Denver: Young Voices of Colorado, Colorado Springs Children’s Chorale, and the Colorado Children’s Chorale.  And, the Crystal Children’s Choir, from Cupertino, California also performed.  They specialize in Chinese and Asian-American music; they are quite a special choir!  These choirs performed individually and as a combined choir.  Our Northwest Girlchoir singers would have recognized some of the composers on the program, including Rollo Dilworth, Paul Caldwell, Bob Chilcott, Jim Papoulis, Gwyneth Walker, and Tacoma’s own Judith Herrington.  I wish that our singers could have been there to see and hear these choirs sing—they really looked like they were having fun!

 

I know that I speak for all of our conductors when I say that we are always striving to get better at what we do. It was so wonderful to attend this retreat, represent Northwest Girlchoir, share a few pieces in a repertoire reading session, and get rejuvenated for the work of 2012. There’s a lot to do, and so many exciting things to try. I look forward to developing as a conductor and musician right along with my choristers this year!       

 

 

 

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