The Choral Scholar & American Choral Review

With this issue, the NCCO receives custodianship of two of...

With this issue, the NCCO receives custodianship of two of the longest-running choral research publications in the United States: the American Choral Review, and Research Memorandum Series. You will see from our new masthead that The Choral Scholar and American Choral Review are merged into one publication. Acknowledging our indebtedness for nearly six decades of sterling choral scholarship, this first issue of The Choral Scholar & American Choral Review is published under the numbering system of that venerable antecedent publication: Volume 58, Number. 3.

The NCCO has recently taken up the mantle of an...

The NCCO has recently taken up the mantle of an important project: carrying on the work begun by Dr. Margaret Hillis and Dr. Alfred Mann. NCCO will be making available two choral research publications developed by both Hillis and Mann, during the formative years of the choral profession.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and Staff of...

On behalf of the Board of Directors and Staff of Chorus America, we write to express our appreciation to
the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO) for taking on the publication of the American Choral
Review (ACR) and the Research Memorandum Series (RMS).

Although conductors are professional movers, injury prevention for conductors is...

Although conductors are professional movers, injury prevention for conductors is largely unexplored in empirical studies of musician injury and pedagogical literature. Several unique factors may increase a conductor’s risk for playing-related musculoskeletal disease, including the facilitative nature of the conducting instrument, the need for adaptable movement patterns, and the environmental and occupational stresses inherent in the role. Preventing conductor injury begins with increased somatic awareness of the body and attention to postural alignment and stability. Conductors are advised to develop increased upper body fitness, and five representative stretching and strengthening exercises are described and illustrated.
Ergonomic considerations are also essential, including placement of the music stand and podium, choice of standing or sitting posture while conducting, and use of appropriate eyewear and footwear. Conductor educators are encouraged to take a frontline stance on injury prevention at all levels of instruction. This includes a greater emphasis on embodied learning, gestural practice habits, and self-care/body-conditioning for a career as a professional mover.

In 2013, at just thirty years old, Caroline Shaw became...

In 2013, at just thirty years old, Caroline Shaw became the youngest winner of the Pulitzer Prize for music for her Partita for 8 Voices. Outside of the Baroque dance titles "Allemande," "Sarabande," "Courante," and "Passacaglia," the composer gives little other information as to how these dance forms are incorporated into the work. What characteristics did she draw from these dances and the music that accompanied them? Why would a composer in the twenty-first century draw upon forms codified in the sixteenth century to write a new work that sounds nothing like the Baroque forms? This article focuses on the old worlds in which Shaw takes root. It also examines how the salient style features of the dance grow or are manipulated in the first two movements, "Allemande" and "Sarabande," and illuminates these characteristics within Caroline Shaw’s prize-winning work.

While the majority of musical influences for Steve Reich's compositions...

While the majority of musical influences for Steve Reich's compositions come from non-Western cultures, he states consistently, both in interviews and in writing, how the music of Johann Sebastian Bach also serves as an avenue for inspiration. In particular, Bach’s Easter cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden provides Reich with a portion of the schematic for the creation of his 1981 breakthrough chamber orchestral-vocal composition, Tehillim. These include a “stealing” of imitative counterpoint from Christ lag in Todesbanden’s second verse, "Den Tod niemand zwingen kunnt," as well as the types of wind instruments Bach used to double the voices in a later version of the cantata. Beyond the influences stated by Reich, there are similarities in the vocal employment on the word "Hallelujah" in each work, and a connection in how each composer uses the string section to imitate motion initially found in the voices. This article surveys each work and provides examples of the ways that Reich imitates Bach, both consciously and perhaps coincidentally, and highlights the significance of Reich taking interest in a Western music culture for his own work.

Capturing Music: The Story of Notation-Thomas Forrest Kelly

Staying Composed:...

Capturing Music: The Story of Notation-Thomas Forrest Kelly

Staying Composed: Overcoming Anxiety and Self-doubt Within a Creative Life-Dale Trumbore

David Lang: love fail-Corie Brown
Cyrillus Kreek: The Suspended Harp of...

David Lang: love fail-Corie Brown
Cyrillus Kreek: The Suspended Harp of Babel-Heather MacLaughlin Garbes
Sing About it: Tonality-Alexander Schumacker

Multitude of Voyces: Sacred Music by Women Composers, Vol. 2:...

Multitude of Voyces: Sacred Music by Women Composers, Vol. 2: Upper Voice Anthems
Build the Sky: Jocelyn Hagen, Timothy C. Takach
I Hope You're Doing Well, & A Way to Be With You: Dale Trumbore

Biographical information about the authors of The Choral Scholar &...

Biographical information about the authors of The Choral Scholar & American Choral Review, Vol. 58, No. 3