Page 124 - CJJanuary2026

2026 ACDA Southern Region Conference March 4-7, 2026 Memphis, Tennessee

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Mind the Gap: for resonance and support, making it crucial that we
Building a Bridge to the Tenor-Bass Head Voice exemplify these principles from the podium. This ses-
sion explores how conducting gestures, breath manage-
This session equips choral directors with a clearer ment, and body alignment influence ensemble sound
understanding of head voice in tenor-bass singers and and reinforce healthy movement. It also examines how
how to help them build a resonant, lifted, and in-tune physical engagement shifts across repertoire styles and
choral tone. Using peer-reviewed research, the session how holding music can impact vocal production. By in-
defines head voice, clarifies terminology, and explains tegrating these principles into our conducting, we pro-
what occurs anatomically and acoustically in this reg- vide a clear model that empowers singers to develop
ister. Attendees will explore video and vocal examples, sustainable performance habits.
practice targeted exercises, and learn how to access
head voice through both falsetto and non-falsetto ap- Amanda Moreno serves as the choral
proaches. The session also explores passaggio and of- music education specialist at Ball State
fers strategies for guiding singers through this difficult University in Muncie, Indiana. She has
part of the range in ensemble settings. Participants will served as a teacher and choral director in
leave with practical tools and vocal exercises to support Oregon, California, Washington, North
developing singers. Dakota, and Germany. She has also maintained a pri-
vate voice and piano studio, worked with church and
Braden Rymer is a DMA candidate in community choirs, adjudicated for local and state fes-
choral conducting at the University of tivals, supported musicians as a collaborative pianist,
Miami Frost School of Music, where he and music-directed for musical theatre productions at
serves as a graduate teaching assistant. all age levels. Moreno holds a BME from California
He earned an MM in choral conducting Baptist University, a master’s in teaching from George
and performance and pedagogy from the University of Fox University, and a PhD in music education from the
Georgia (UGA). While at UGA, he conducted the Rep- University of North Dakota, where she completed the
ertory Singers, Men’s Glee Club, and Women’s Glee first fully quantitative research study on the use of body
Club while also serving as the choir director and or- mapping instruction for singers. She is a licensed body
ganist/pianist for the Commerce Presbyterian Church. mapping educator with the Association for Body Map-
He also served as the instructor of record in aural skills ping Education.
and music theory. Prior to that, he worked for six years
as the choir director and AP music theory instructor at
Maple Mountain High School in Utah. Choirs under Pathways to Curricular Pacing:
his direction were invited to perform at various con-
certs and state conferences, including Utah ACDA and Developing Choral Skill Sets
UMEA.
Musical literacy is the backbone of a successful cho-
ral program. However, the sequencing of those skills
Modeling Balance is not always laid out in a clear manner that works for
in Rehearsals most students through some popular sight-reading cur-
riculums. As educators we often struggle to empathize
As choral conductors and educators, we regularly with our singers, as we are trained to just do it and for-
model essential skills: breath, phonation, phrasing, en- get how overwhelming the tasks can be for beginners.
gagement, etc. Vocalists rely on posture and alignment The same struggles can also be found in the approach

122 CHORAL JOURNAL January 2026 Volume 66 Number 5