Page 48 - CJOct24

CHORAL CONVERSATIONS
CHORAL CON VERSA TION S

When I started at the Florida State University, I was treble, non-auditioned choir. As I continued to create
already an experienced teacher (sixteen years of K-12 collaborations, word spread and students found the
teaching), but I was a brand-new college professor. I choir. My peak enrollment was 108, though I preferred
had to establish a means for success with undergradu- 70-80 for ease of managing everything and ensuring I
ate choral music education majors. Thus, I identified still knew my students to some degree.
immediate challenges. Because student teachers were
placed all over the state with few local placements near- Were your collaborations organic or always
by in Tallahassee, they needed to reach teaching inde- well planned out from the start?
pendence before leaving for the internship. Thus, my
first partnership was born: Adopt-a-Choir (AAC). This I always started with a plan, but things constantly
was specifically designed for my students who needed changed as partnerships advanced. I originally wanted
to gain practice and teaching independence before the teachers to introduce the three partnership songs
they left for student teaching. to their choirs, and then my university buddies would
AAC involved my college students partnering with have an after-school or weekend rehearsal together on
at-risk high school students for learning three pieces those pieces, for at least three meetings. Adopted stu-
alongside a college buddy and then performing to- dents attended the college dress rehearsal and joined us
gether at the college choir concert. (This later evolved for the concert. My university choir volunteers received
into adopting any choir from all levels of excellence bonus points if they chose to participate. Initially, many
and student experience.) Thus, students headed to in- non-major collegiate students were hesitant to try be-
ternships were able to actively teach music to the AAC cause some were not strong musicians and felt unpre-
students in the partnership choir. Reflecting back on pared. I promised to make them successful; they were,
these partnerships, I now realize they were a rehearsal and they loved it!
for student teaching, perhaps a “student teaching” for I always chose the repertoire, but the music reflected
student teaching. This collaboration model is a short- opportunities to learn specific concepts or skills cho-
term commitment of one semester (one and done, if sen by the high school teacher (sight reading, singing
needed). high notes more effectively, structure of a mass, etc.—
Before the internship, it provided direct experience anything they wanted, this was their power). Each first
for university students to teach and work with all types rehearsal started with buddy assignments, and each
of students (with two teachers in the room), as well as buddy pair was assigned to a “teaching group.” I al-
having my mentorship for planning and rehearsing the ways used an ABA structure in these rehearsals, with A
partnership choir. Over time, this evolved into having being music rehearsal and B providing social interac-
choral majors do the initial teaching at the three part- tions among the partners, as planned by me. Initially I
nership rehearsals, pairing volunteer collegiate buddies fully structured the student interactions and guided the
and their adopted student. I also invited the partner- interviews with handouts I created. During rehearsal
ship teacher to conduct one of the three songs. Area (A), buddies reinforced my teaching by reteaching the
schools lined up to get “adopted,” and across my twen- task to each other. For more complicated things, bud-
ty-seven years at FSU (with 2 semesters per year = 54 dies joined their small teaching groups such that a mu-
semesters), I had AAC for thirty-nine semesters. sic major (usually choral music education) ran the mini
The short-term benefit for me was connection with rehearsal to fix things we were addressing.
area schools, because my college students could be At some point, other partnership opportunities be-
out there any time I needed. The long-term benefits gan to magically appear, so I moved from only short-
included enrollment gains in my university ensemble, term, one-semester commitments, to long-term invest-
as those singers, regardless of major, loved serving as ments. These new settings still involved people working
mentors and singing buddies. During my first year together for common success, but the time commit-
(1990), there were twenty-two singers enrolled in my ment and the ability to control important aspects took

46 CHORAL JOURNAL October 2024 Volume 65 Number 3