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K-12 Resources: Book Reviews

ing mindfulness into the rehearsal while challenging others. The thir- ent, to a more intentionally con-
routine, and ways to include writing ty-one contributors work to address structivist model that supports and
in the choral rehearsal. In the fi - the ever-widening gap between and fosters personal agency for each
nal chapters, Paul also covers score among competing ideologies in the member. This includes the devel-
study, a brief survey of conducting choral tradition. They come from opment of one’s choral identity,
gesture tips, and advice drawing on disparate perspectives that include: which also seeks to overcome the
her storied career as a choral con- score study and composer integrity, idea of voice types with associat-
ductor, pedagogue, and teacher. how students learn, community for- ed personality types, as well as the
Any choral conductor, at any mation and change, and truly trans- intentional development of per-
stage in their career, will discover formative experience. The breadth sonal and gender identity within a
a number of new ideas and useful of perspective alone is reason more inclusive setting and includes
tactics to employ in their rehears- enough to invest in this resource. the role of feminism in pedagogy.
als whether it be with young chil- The book contains two large “World Perspectives” frames
dren or adult singers. In addition areas of focus: Theory and Prac- traditions from around the world
to the new strategies, the scientifi c tice. Each are is also broken down including the crucial social role of
discussion and understanding of into subcategories. Theory con- singing in culture, and how to ap-
how the brain works will open the tains three parts: “Challenging proach authenticity in music outside
opportunity for new and enriched Traditional Paradigms,” “Con- one’s own culture. It includes per-
approaches to the learning process. struction of Identity and Mean- spectives on the United Kingdom,
ing,” and “World Perspectives.” Black South African Choral Music,
“Challenging Traditional Par- Corporate Choirs in Brazil, and the
Submitted by Robert Sinclair adigms” challenges the tradition- State of the Choral Art in Germany.
al conductor-centered model that The second part of the book,
often creates a problematic power Practice, also contains three sub-
The Oxford Handbook paradigm between the conduc- categories: “Repertoire as Peda-
of Choral Pedagogy tor and the singers. Each chapter gogy,” “Teaching and Conduct-
edited by Frank Abrahams looks at pedagogy through a diff er- ing Diverse Populations,” and
and Paul D. Head ent lens such as Critical Pedagogy, “Choral Pedagogy and the Voice.”
New York: Oxford University Press which builds more reciprocal and “Repertoire as Pedagogy” ex-
(2017) collaborative relationship within plores the process of developing
545 pages the ensemble where each member singers through repertoire selec-
$125 (hardcover), has greater agency in the process. tion. It includes sections on pro-
$37.49 (electronic), Authors also look at the impact of gramming that creates meaning
$48.51 (Paperback) media on the choral tradition, the and transformative experiences for
changing face of traditional choral both audience and performer. The
What exactly is choral pedago- experiences as they move toward section includes a discussion of
gy? In the introduction, Abrahams something that is more engag- Western Art Music and the Music
and Head suggest that a number ing for more of the choral popu- of Diverse Cultures as pedagog-
of choral method books dedicate lous, including the place of formal ic approaches to the choral art.
an obligatory number of chapters and informal music learning and “Teaching and Conducting Di-
to the philosophical foundations their place in pedagogic thought. verse Populations” includes a num-
and sociological trends in cho- “Construction of Identity and ber of important discussions of cho-
ral practice, but most are actually Meaning” works to explain and ral pedagogy that are more globally
purposeful resources for training support the shift from the con- inclusive. There are important con-
young conductors (p.1). This text ductor-centered model, where the tributions on the pedagogy of adult
affirms some areas of tradition singer is more of a passive recipi- community and professional choirs,

70 CHORAL JOURNAL October 2022 Volume 63 Number 3