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2022 ACDA Southwestern Region Conference

In t e r est S
Interest Sessionsessions

these exercises will build vocal tech- Victor C. Johnson is Missouri. He holds degrees from
nique, aural skills, musicianship, and the School Choral Western Illinois University, the Uni-
awareness in singers that will trans- Editor for SING!, the versity of Illinois Urbana-Cham-
fer to the choral repertoire and re- educational publishing paign, Michigan State University,
hearsal. This session will use a varied division of Choris- and an Artist Teacher Diploma
collection of warm-ups from famil- ters Guild. He has over 350 choral from the Choral Music Experi-
iar exercises to specifi c drills. works, vocal solo books, and key- ence-Institute for Choral Teacher
board collections currently in print. Education.
Eric Posada is a vibrant While at the Ft. Worth Academy of
and diverse conductor, the Fine Arts (2000-2018), he direct-
choral educator, and ed the Academy Singers, Academy
mentor with 17 years’ Men’s Choir, and was artistic direc- Kodály in the Middle:
experience at all levels. tor of the Singing Girls of Texas and Games and Brain Breaks
He was recently appointed director Children’s Choir of Texas. Johnson for Choirs
of choral activities at Angelo State has served as director of worship
University. Previously, Posada served and arts at Shiloh Baptist Church in
as director of choral music at Tyler Plano, Texas, since 2007. The presenter will share games
Junior College and associate director and activities that were adapted
of choral activities at Texas A&M from Kodály training, books, and
University. Posada founded the Rio other sources for the secondary
Grande Valley’s fi rst professional It's Just Middle School choral rehearsal. Participants will
chorus, Pasión, and serves as the en- try out the activities as they are ex-
semble’s artistic director. Teaching at the middle level is of- plained, and learn how to create
ten seen as an undesirable and tran- their own database for brain breaks,
sitory position. Participants in this warm-ups, and other musical activ-
session will confront some common ities. Some activities are designed
It’s All in a Year’s Work: misconceptions and assumptions to help directors foster conversa-
Practical and Purposeful Strategies about middle-level students by using tions or emotional check-ins with
the psychological phenomenon of their students, others complement
for the Choral Classroom the Rosenthal and Golem Eff ects as repertoire-driven rehearsals, and

a framework for better understand- many introduce or reinforce music
Effective teaching occurs when ing and informed pedagogy. literacy concepts. Although most of

you have done extensive yet practi- these activities were designed with
cal planning and purposeful prepa- Brandon Williams is a middle school choir in mind, they
ration. In this session, we will discuss assistant professor of have been tried with high school
methods that will help keep you and choral music and cho- students, with equally enthusiastic
your ensembles motivated and en- ral music education results!
gaged throughout the year. Topics at Rutgers, The State
discussed will include: strategies for University of New Jersey, where Amy Knous holds
building community within your he conducts the Rutgers Voorhees an MME from Tex-
ensembles, score preparation, and Choir (Eastern ACDA 2020, Carn- as Tech University, a
practical rehearsal techniques. egie Hall 2019). Williams amassed BME from Oklaho-
a decade of middle and high school ma State University,
teaching experience in St. Louis, and Kodály certifi cation from the

106 CHORAL JOURNAL January 2022 Volume 62 Number 5