Advertise your event here, for a fee of $20 per announcement. Click
here for details.
CANTABILE 2008 Alexandria, MN. June 19-22, 2008
Sigrid Johnson, Director of the Manitou Singers,
St. Olaf College - Guest Clinician. Workshop for church choir directors and singers
at Mount Carmel Center for Renewal on Lake Carlos,
"My church choir wants to know which of our
anthems come from Mt Carmel and look forward to more."
"Accommodations and food superb."
"I appreciated the air-conditioned facilities."
"...Seeing a loon close up on the pontoon ride."
Summer Chorus with the Oratorio Society
and U of M
The Oratorio Society of Minnesota and the
University of Minnesota invite you to
participate in the second annual Summer
Chorus with conductor Matthew Mehaffey.
We're going to have a great time! There is
no audition; it's a short-term commitment,
July 21-August 9; you'll have an opportunity
to work on fine music with other experienced
singers; you'll get to perform Durufle's
Requiem with full orchestra in concert at
St. Olaf Catholic Church in Minneapolis.
You could think of it as summer camp for
your voice.
There is a reduced fee for registrations
received by July 11. Please take a look at
the
flyer
and
form, and forward this e-mail your
friends who might be interested. You may
visit our website atwww.oratorio.org for
more information about Dr. Mehaffey, OSM,
and its activities.
Call 612-624-1511 with any questions
New documentary to celebrate Minnesota's
choral tradition
Minnesota enjoys a well-earned national
reputation for excellence in
choral music. According to Chorus America,
Minnesota is home to more
than a hundred independent professional,
community and children’s
choirs, in addition to hundreds of church
and school choirs.
Prominent Minnesota composers write
extensively for the voice, and in
2002 we welcomed more than 3,000 singers
from around the globe to the
World Choral Symposium.
What's behind this passion for singing? The
video documentary Sing We
All! will explore the Minnesota choral
phenomenon through interviews
with leading choral conductors and
composers, behind-the-scenes
activity, rehearsals, concert excerpts and
historical background.
Through personal stories and musical
excerpts, it will reveal the great
joy and inspiration that people derive from
performing and hearing
great choral music. Sing We All! is being
produced by Peter Myers, an
independent producer, former TPT executive
and long-time choral singer.
It will be available to Minnesota public
television stations in early
2009 and is expected to reach a broad
audience through TV, the
Internet, and free DVD distribution to high
school and college choir
directors. Interviews, transcripts,
rehearsal and performance footage
will also be collected in a permanent
archive.
More information is available at http://www.singweall.org
If you
have good story about what choral music
means to you, and wish to share
it with your choral colleagues, click on the
"High School Directors"
link, where you can send an e-mail with your
story. We will post some
of these on our Website in the future.
Major underwriting for Sing We All! is
provided by the Wenger
Foundation.
Peter B. Myers
Myers Communications Group, LLC
332 Minnesota Street, Suite E-1319
St. Paul, MN 55101
tel 651.291.5449
fax 651.291.0251 pmyers@myersgroup.net
Brains and Brain Chemistry
A TOTALLY UNIQUE SUMMER COURSE
(I swear…)
choral music educators, band educators,
orchestra educators, classroom music
educators, PreK music educators, and private
music educators
BRAINS AND BRAIN CHEMISTRY:
HOW YOU CHANGE THEM IN MUSIC EDUCATION
GMUS 544 06
Three Saturdays, July 12, 19, 26, 2008
Graduate Programs in Music Education
University of St. Thomas, St. Paul
Graduate credit is available
Non-credit attendance is available (reduced
fee)
THE SCOOP…
School administrators are now paying closer
attention to brain research and how it
relates to learning, teaching, and student
behavior.
Neuroscientists are recognizing that music
processing in brains can teach them a great
deal about cognitive, motor, and emotional
processing in brains.
So…can cuts in programs that are “less
important” than reading, math, and science
be upon us or not far behind?
THIS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSE
PREPARES YOU TO…
• CITE RECENT BRAIN RESEARCH TO ANSWER
ANYBODY’S “CUT-BACK-ON-MUSIC” TENDENCIES
• CREATE YOUR OWN BEST-PRACTICE TEACHING
THAT IS BACKED UP BY RECENT BRAIN RESEARCH
• DEMONSTRATE TO SCHOOL PERSONNEL AND THE
PUBLIC HOW YOUR TEACHING ELEVATES:
RESPECT AND EMPATHY IN ALL HUMAN BEINGS
(self and others; antidote for ‘discipline’
and at-risk behaviors)
STUDENTS WANTING TO LEARN WITH CONFIDENCE
(another antidote for ‘discipline’ and
at-risk behaviors)
SCHOOL CONNECTEDNESS
(yet another antidote for at-risk behaviors)
Fellow members of ACDA,
I’m the adjunct faculty member that will be
the instructor at St. Thomas for this course
(Leon Thurman). It’s intended to connect you
with up-to-date brain and brain chemistry
knowledge that can ignite your creative
juices toward even more effectiveness than
you already have.
Those of you who know me, or of me, know
that I’ve been involved in voice education
in my career. So, you must legitimately ASK,
“How can a voice guy know anything of depth
about brains and brain chemistry?” and “What
background or credentials qualifies Leon
Thurman to teach a course like this?”
ANSWER: For over 30 years, I’ve been doing
post-doctoral studies in such areas as the
cognitive and affective neurosciences,
biological psychology, music neuroscience,
psychology, and anthropology, human
development, consciousness studies,
endocrinology, immunology, medicine and
music in medicine. I’ve learned some amazing
‘stuff’ that has ‘blown me away’! The work
includes participation in related seminars
and symposia presented by scientist members
of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science and the New York
Academy of Sciences. I am a member of both
organizations.
So far, the only writing I’ve done in this
area is the nine chapters in Book I of
Bodymind and Voice: Foundations of Voice
Education titled “Bodyminds, Learning, and
Self-Expression.” [Info/ordering:
www.voiceccarenetwork.org]
“Is this course going to be one of those
survey courses where Leon gets up and
lectures, notes are taken, but course takers
are left to WONDER… ‘How the heck do I use
this information to improve my teaching,
rehearsing, or conducting?’ or ‘Will I
really learn how my students, school
administrators, and community members can
become enthusiastic supporters of high-value
music making (choral singing) we bring to
the education of human beings?’”
ANSWER: Equal parts of: (1) knowledge
gathering and (2) course takers interacting
with each other, with Leon, and two surprise
guest teachers. We’ll generate ideas and
plans for how the knowledge can impact your
music teaching and increase student
connection and school and community support
for music (choral) teaching and learning.
BUT ULTIMATELY? COME AND FIND OUT!
[Oh…be careful, though: You might learn a
bunch and have a lot of laughs, too!]
Sincerely yours, Leon Thurman
BRAINS AND BRAIN CHEMISTRY:
HOW YOU CHANGE THEM IN MUSIC EDUCATION
GMUS 544 06
Graduate Programs in Music Education
University of St. Thomas, St. Paul
Graduate credit is available
Non-credit attendance is available (reduced
fee)
