www.ndacda.com | 1
The Official Publication of the North Dakota Chapter
of the American Choral Directors Association
Issue 14 • Winter 2016
2 | The Chorister • Winter 2016
North Dakota ACDA Leadership
Joshua Bronfman, president
University of North Dakota
Peggy Dahl-Bartunek, president-elect
Mike Weber, past president
North Dakota State University
Sheldon Weltz, treasurer
North Dakota Repertoire and Standards Chairs
Cheryl McIntyre, children’s choirs
James Wolter, junior high choirs
Discovery Middle School
Allyse Hoge, junior high choirs
Valley Middle School
Tom Porter, men’s choirs
University of Mary
Charlette Moe, women’s choirs
North Dakota State University
Phillip Voeller, senior high choirs
Beulah Middle/High School
Mike Seil, jazz choirs
Legacy High School
Brian Saylor, show choirs
Bismarck High School
Sara Lichtblau, ethnic/multicultural
Fargo South High School
Chris Redfearn, collegiate/university
Valley City State University
Melanie Popejoy, community choirs
University of North Dakota
Vicky Boechler, music in worship
St. Mary’s High School
Andrew Miller, student activities
Bismarck State College
www.ndacda.com | 3
In This Issue From the President 4
From the Editor 6
2016 State Conference Information 8
Schedule 8
Legacy High School 10
Honor Choir Conductors 12
Articles
Multicultural Resources 14
Sara Lichtblau
Promoting Your Program 15
Mary Pat Archuleta
Becoming an Encourager 18
Brian Saylor
4 | The Chorister • Winter 2016
From the President W
elcome back from break
everyone. I hope you had
a restful and rejuvenating
time with family and
friends.
First off I’d like to share my excitement
for the upcoming ND-ACDA State Con-
vention, February 5-6. If you haven’t
made arrangements to attend the con-
vention, I encourage you to do so as
soon as possible. Peggy Bartunek, our
Conference Chair, has put together an
exciting program of showcase choirs, in-
terest sessions, and outreach activities.
We have some wonderful guest directors,
and a gorgeous new facility at Bismarck
Legacy High School with our host, Mike
Seil. It’s going to be a great time, and I
hope to see you all there.
I love conventions. I go whenever pos-
sible. I find so much value in getting to-
gether to share our common experienc-
es. But still, when I look around this state, I
see many folks that are not participating
in enrichment events like our conference.
Here are some things to think about, that
might help those who don’t participate,
to join us at ACDA, or NAfME, or any oth-
er gathering like our state convention.
Education
OK, so this one is obvious. We have in-
terest sessions, we have guest conduc-
tors and auditioned showcase choirs, all
of which help us to learn more about our
field. What I find interesting is that while
we recognize the value of education for
our students,
sometimes we
neglect the need
for our own con-
tinued growth.
We’ve all had
those weeks (or
months!), where
it seems like all
we’ve been do-
ing is going from
meeting to re-
hearsal to another rehearsal to voice les-
son to musical rehearsal, without a break,
until our head hits the pillow at night. And
then, we wake up the next day and do it
all again. By joining ACDA, and partici-
pating in ACDA events, we force our-
selves away from the grind of daily music
making (a joyful grind nonetheless), and
allow ourselves time to breathe and think
about what we are doing. The best di-
rectors always give themselves this time,
and they know how much it helps them-
selves, and their singers. I find that there is
always something to learn, whether it be
a new technique, a new piece, or to
learn about the state of the choral com-
munity around us.
Difference
This one is not so obvious, but is no less
important. By attending convention, you
get to see stuff that is fundamentally dif-
ferent from the stuff that you do. Another
way of saying this is diversity, but I think
that word seems to infer only racial or reli-
gious difference (which is no less im-
www.ndacda.com | 5
portant). That’s why I chose the word
“difference” in the subtitle. I’m talking
about different teaching styles, different
repertoire choices, different school sizes
and ages, different administrative struc-
tures, and so much more. I find I learn an
incredible amount from the ways in
which people are doing differently than
me.
One of my closest friends is another
college choir director, and he is my go to
person for repertoire questions. The funny
thing is, we both hate each others’ reper-
toire choices! That might be an exagger-
ation; the truth is more that we are on
opposite side of the repertoire spectrum,
and rarely choose the same pieces. But
because of that, because of that differ-
ence, we provide each other with fresh,
out-of-the-box ideas and pieces that get
each of us thinking in different ways, and
more often than not leads to a solution to
the problem at hand. When I go to con-
vention and see all the diverse and differ-
ent ideas floating around, and it inspires
new ideas in me in exactly the same
way.
Community
All that aside, the sense of community
is the most important for me. In many
ways, this is more important than any-
thing else. ACDA provides a community—
a tribe, really—of like minded folks who
can get together and share our triumphs
and tribulations. Normally, we spend all
day long talking at our singers, and so
rarely get a chance to talk with our col-
leagues. When I can go and have a cup
of coffee with my peers, and just relax
and talk to people who get what I do, it’s
rejuvenating in a way I can’t even ex-
plain. I think many of those folks who
don’t participate in conventions are real-
ly missing out on an opportunity to im-
prove their professional and personal
lives. It’s sort of like those “Blue Zones”
that scientists have identified around the
world where people live an average of
20 years longer than anywhere else.
They’ve identified common factors be-
tween the Blue Zone communities, and
one of them is a robust and fulfilling so-
cial network. We are so often closed off
in our classrooms and offices that we
sometimes don’t realize how even going
out a few times a year can have a real
impact on our happiness, health, and
sense of well-being. This to me, is the
main reason to be a part of gatherings
like the upcoming state convention.
And so, please reach out to any of
your colleagues who are not coming to
Bismarck, and encourage them to come.
It’s a small commitment, but well worth it.
I hope to see you all in there. Come and
say hi.
Josh
Joshua Bronfman
University of North Dakota
NDACDA President
6 | The Chorister • Winter 2016
From the Editor I
’ve often found an outsider’s per-
spective to be enlightening, because
the longer I’m in a place or situation,
the less conscious I become of the
objective pros and cons of that place or
situation. For example, when I was a stu-
dent at Brigham Young University I
thought it was normal for a large universi-
ty (around 30,000 students) to have four
auditioned choirs with a total enrollment
of 450+ students, along with two more
non-auditioned choirs with a combined
enrollment of 200–250. When I got out in-
to the real world, I realized I was very
much mistaken.
So I want to share with you an experi-
ence I had last month that might remind
you of one way in which we are fortu-
nate here in North Dakota. Being in my
first year at Dickinson State University, I
don’t have a good feel yet for what kind
of audience we have in our community,
what they’re interested in, and how likely
they are to attend our concerts. So when
I planned a large-scale holiday concert
at a venue 25+ miles from our campus, it
was something of a hail-Mary pass to see
what would happen. My department
chair was skeptical—especially when I
asked for $2,000 to hire an orchestra from
Bismarck so we could perform the Saint-
Saëns Oratorio de Noël—but I pressed on
in hopes that an impressive holiday con-
cert in perhaps the most beautiful venue
in the western part of the state would be
just the thing we needed to jump-start
the choral program at DSU. I was not dis-
appointed.
The concert
took place on a
foggy, icy even-
ing, and much of
our audience
had to drive a
significant dis-
tance to attend
the concert at
Assumption Ab-
bey in Rich-
ardton. But they
came—and they filled the church. We
started with more-familiar holiday tunes,
which they seemed to enjoy, and when
our band teamed with the fine string
players we hired from Bismarck to play a
medley of songs from Frozen, the audi-
ence loved it. However, as we prepared
for the oratorio—which in my mind was to
be the centerpiece of the concert—I
wasn’t sure what they would think. This is
a 150-year-old piece, and none of it
would be familiar to the audience. We
sang it in English instead of the original
Latin to make it more accessible, but I still
had concerns that the performance
would fall flat in terms of audience re-
sponse. But they responded very positive-
ly, and we have received many com-
ments from many community members
since the day of the concert letting us
know how much they enjoyed it.
We have good audiences here! In my
first college-teaching job (whose name I
won’t give so as not to “throw it under
the bus”), we really struggled to get an
audience to come out for our concerts.
Yes, we can’t expect people to pack the
www.ndacda.com | 7
house for every performance, but even for our big holiday concerts our venues were
typically half full at best—and this was in a city significantly larger than Dickinson. Last
month I was absolutely floored not only to see the church filled, but also to see the
way the audience responded to a piece which, although it’s one of my favorites, was
completely unfamiliar to them and from an era long past. This is a blessing that not all
conductors have, but I have found that there is a strong love for music in many Mid-
western towns. My first college job was in a city about the size of Bismarck, which had
only a small community orchestra which was nowhere near as skilled as the Bismarck-
Mandan Symphony. We are fortunate indeed to be in an area where music in gen-
eral—and classical music in particular—is valued by the community. As an outsider
who is transitioning to being an insider in this area, this was brought powerfully home
to me last month, and I hope this is a phenomenon you also enjoy in your respective
positions.
Brent Rogers
Dickinson State University
Editor and Designer, The Chorister
How Can The Chorister Better Serve You?
Are there issues you would like to see addressed in a future article?
Some examples might include:
The Boy’s Changing Voice
Re-Arranging Your Arrangements
Working With Instrumentalists
Anything else you think could be useful!
Are there regular features you would like to see included in future is-
sues? Any features that were previously included, but which may
have gone by the wayside?
Please feel free to email me with suggestions as to how this publication
can better meet your needs!
8 | The Chorister • Winter 2016
2016 State Confer ence Friday–Saturday, February 5th–6th
Legacy High School, Bismarck
Schedule
Friday
11:30 Register
12:00 Honor Choir Rehearsals Begin
(Directors are encouraged to observe rehearsals when workshop
presentations don’t fit their needs.)
12:30 Business Meeting
All members are encouraged to attend.
1:30 Sight Reading Resources and Ideas to Incorporate into Your Middle
School (and High School) Choir Rehearsals (Desiree Bondley)
2:20 R&S Reading Session #1: Middle School (Allysse Hoge)
2:30 What I Wish I Knew Going In & How I’m a Better Teacher Now Than I Was
in My First Year (panel of teachers who are in their first five years)
3:20 R&S Reading Session #2: Children’s Choir (Cheryl McIntyre)
3:30 Act II: Music Directing the Musical! The Complete and Healthy Way
(workshop continued from 2015) (Dr. Katherine Noone)
4:20 R&S Reading Session #3: Ethnic/Multicultural (Sara Lichtblau)
5:30 Dinner – Legacy High School Cafeteria
7:30 Showcase Concert (Doors open at 7:00)
Honor Choirs
19th Ave. Jazz Choir, Fargo North High School
Shelley Zietz, Director
Central Dakota Children’s Choir – Kantorei (grades 7-9) Bismarck
James McMahon, Director
Horizon Middle School 8th Grade Choir, Bismarck
Connie Stordalen, Director
www.ndacda.com | 9
Saturday
9:00 Incorporating Kodaly into the Choral Rehearsal (Dr. Charlette Moe)
9:50 R&S Reading Session #4: Women’s Choir (Dr. Charlette Moe)
10:00 So You Want to Start a Jazz Choir: Nuts and Bolts (Shelley Zeitz)
10:50 R&S Reading Session #5: Jazz (Shelley Zeitz)
11:00 Choral Conducting (Dr. Joshua Bronfman)
11:50 R&S Reading Session #6 (Phil Voeller)
12:00 Lunch – Legacy High School Cafeteria
12:00 Lunch & Meeting for Collegiate Students
1:00 Making the Most of the ND-ACDA Website (Rebecca Raber/Brian Saylor)
1:50 R&S Reading Session #7: Showchoir (Brian Saylor)
3:00 Final Concert (Doors open at 2:30)
Middle School Treble Choir
Middle School Mixed Choir
Men's Choir
Presentation of Outstanding Choral Director Award
10 | The Chorister • Winter 2016
O n behalf of the staff and ad-
ministration of Legacy High
School, I look forward to wel-
coming you to our new facili-
ty on February 5 & 6th for the NDACDA
Honor Choirs and Convention. We are
excited to finally be in our space in our
third year of existence. Located on the
northeast side of Bismarck, Legacy is just
one piece of the massive expansion that
has taken place in this part of town and
throughout the greater Bismarck/
Mandan community.
At Legacy High School, we were given
the directive to formulate our teaching
structure and strategies around what will
best serve students. Rather than simply
follow the models of what has always
been done, the Legacy staff spent two
years researching and formulating a plan
to motivate students to be more active
participants in their education. We are
employing a “flex-mod” schedule, divid-
ing each day into 20 minute intervals.
The class schedule is different each day
of the week, similar to the structure of a
lab science college course. Some days,
we see the students for 40 minutes, while
on others, 80 minutes. This structure al-
lows the flexibility to schedule those ac-
tivities that require more time for the 4
mod days. In several of the required
courses, the teachers collectively utilize
the auditorium for large group presenta-
tions, rather than giving the same lecture
or hosting a special event multiple times
during the day. Another philosophy of
Legacy is promoting collegiality amongst
the staff. Many of the rooms are
equipped with a windowed garage
door, allowing teachers to open their
classroom, or
better yet, col-
laborate with a
teacher in the
same area. In
the center of the
hallways, com-
mons areas and
c o l l a b o r a t i o n
rooms are availa-
ble for students
who are completing missed work or par-
ticipating in a group project. Throughout
the day, students have “Saber Time.”
This time can be used for lunch or a
break, but can also be used for tutoring.
Each teacher is assigned “Saber Time”
mods, in addition to the staff that are sta-
tioned in the Learning Commons to assist
students throughout the day. Lastly, Leg-
acy is a 1-to-1 school, utilizing and em-
phasizing the implementation of technol-
ogy in the classroom and beyond.
In the music department, we feel very
fortunate to have a facility that promotes
both group rehearsal and individual stu-
dent practice. We have three large re-
hearsal spaces (band, choir, orchestra) in
addition to the 660 seat auditorium.
However, we also have 2 Wenger prac-
tice modules, a recording studio, and a
black box theater that can be used for
any level of rehearsal. In Choir, Alicia
Fladeland and I have taken on the phi-
losophy that “bigger isn’t always better.”
Our middle level choirs, mostly sopho-
more and juniors, are divided into groups
of 30ish based on ability for rehearsal, ar-
ranging them in any appropriate combi-
nation for performance. We feel that this
makes each singer’s individual participa-
Welcome to Legacy High School!
www.ndacda.com | 11
tion more meaningful, while assisting us in
making authentic assessments of ability
and improvement.
When you arrive in February, please
use these directions to find Legacy High
School:
From I-94:
Use exit 161
North on Centennial Road
West on Knudsen Avenue
Enter from the northeast side of the
parking lot, proceeding forward to
the bus loops
From HWY 83:
East on 43rd Avenue
South on Minnesota Drive
West on Knudsen Avenue
Enter from the northeast side of the
parking lot, proceeding forward to
the bus loops
From Century Avenue:
North on Hamilton Street
East on Calgary Avenue
Enter from the southeast side of the
parking lot, proceeding forward to
the bus loop
Don’t use Google Maps, since we don’t
yet exist in that world. We are really look-
ing forward to having you here with us!
Mike Seil
Legacy High School
Jazz Choirs R&S Chair
For more photos
of the Legacy HS facilities, see p. 21
12 | The Chorister • Winter 2016
Honor Choir Conductors
Dr. Janet Galván (Mixed Choir)
Dr. Janet Galván, Director of Choral Activities at Ithaca College,
conducts the Ithaca College Choir and Women's Chorale, and is Artis-
tic Director for the Ithaca Children's Choir. Her New York colleagues
recognized Dr. Galván’s contribution to choral music in 1995 when she
received the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) New York
Outstanding Choral Director Award. In 2010, she founded the chorus
UNYC that has performed with the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra
(Lanfranco Marcelleti, conductor).
Galván has conducted national, regional, and all-state choruses
throughout the United States in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Wash-
ington’s Constitution Hall, Minneapolis’ Symphony Hall, Pittsburgh’s Heinz Hall, and Nashville’s
Schermerhorn Symphony Center. She has conducted her own choral ensembles in Carnegie Hall,
Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, and Avery Fisher Hall as well as in concert halls in Ireland, Italy, the
Czech Republic, Austria, Canada, and Spain. Her choral ensembles have also appeared at na-
tional, regional, and state music conferences. She has conducted the chamber orchestra, Virtuo-
si Pragneses, the State Philharmonic of Bialystok, Poland, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, the
Madrid Chamber Orchestra, and the New England Symphonic Ensemble in choral/orchestral per-
formances. Galván was the sixth national honor choir conductor for ACDA, and was the conduc-
tor of the North American Children’s Choir which performed annually in Carnegie Hall from 1995-
2007. She was also a guest conductor for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in 2002.
Galván has been a guest conductor and clinician
in the United Kingdom, Canada, Belgium, Austria,
the Czech Republic, Greece, and Brazil as well as
national and regional choral and music education
conferences and the World Symposium on Choral
Music. She was on the conducting faculty for the
Carnegie Hall Choral Institute, the Transient Glory
Symposium in February of 2012 and the Oberlin Con-
ducting Institute in 2014.
Galván has two choral music series with the Roger
Dean Publishing Company and is the author of
chapters in two books, Teaching Music through Per-
formance in Choir, Volume 2 and The School Choral
Program: Philosophy, Planning, Organizing and
Teaching. She is also the series advisor to Latin Ac-
cents, a series with Boosey & Hawkes. Her article on
the changing voice was published in the Internation-
al Federation of Choral Music Journal in August of
2007 and was reprinted in La Circulare del Secretari-
at de Corals Infantils de Catalunga.
Galván has been recognized as one of the coun-
try’s leading conducting teachers, and her students
have received first place awards and have been
finalists in both the graduate and undergraduate
divisions of the American Choral Directors biennial
www.ndacda.com | 13
National Choral Conducting Competition. Dr. Galván was a member of the Grammy Award-
winning Robert Shaw Festival Singers (Telarc Recordings).
Galván is the founder and faculty advisor of the Ithaca College ACDA Student Chapter. This
chapter has won Outstanding Student Chapter at the last three national conventions of AC-
DA. She is past president of NYACDA.
Dr. Christopher Redfearn (Treble Choir)
Christopher Redfearn is Chair of the Department of Music and Direc-
tor of Choral Activities at Valley City State University. He conducts the
Concert Choir and University Singers, and also teaches courses in con-
ducting, vocal methods and pedagogy, music appreciation, and ap-
plied voice. He earned the BM in Choral Music Education at Brigham
Young University, the MM in Choral Conducting at Michigan State Univer-
sity, and the Doctor of Arts in Choral Conducting and Music Education at
the University of Northern Colorado. Redfearn has experience conduct-
ing choirs at all age levels, from elementary through high school stu-
dents, collegiate ensembles, and adult community choirs. He taught
high school choir for seven years at programs in Idaho and Michigan, where his choirs consistently
scored superior ratings at large group festivals. Choirs under his direction have presented juried
performances at conferences and competitions across the United States and in Europe. He is in
demand as an adjudicator, guest conductor, and choral clinician, with recent presentations at
area conferences on topics such as vocal and choral pedagogy, assessment in the choral re-
hearsal, and choral literature. Redfearn has been chosen to conduct the ND ACDA Jr. High/
Middle School Honor Choir at the 2016 ND ACDA Conference in Bismarck, ND.
He is an active member of the American Choral Director's Association, the National Association
for Music Education, College Music Society, and the National Collegiate Choral Organization.
Redfearn currently serves on the executive board of ACDA North Dakota as the College/
University Repertoire & Standards Chairperson.
Dr. Daniel Stowe (Men's Choir)
A native of the Los Angeles area, he received his undergraduate de-
gree in Music and International Relations from the University of California,
Davis, and holds graduate degrees from the University of Southern Cali-
fornia and Cornell University, with research interests in the sacred and
secular music of the sixteenth century.
He has conducted the University Chorus, Chamber Singers and Early
Music Ensemble of U.C. Davis, as well as the Cornell Chorale.
In addition to leading the Glee Club, he also presently serves as con-
ductor of the Notre Dame Symphony Orchestra and the Notre Dame
Collegium Musicum. He is a founding member of the plainchant ensemble Schola Musicorum and
has appeared in Notre Dame Opera productions of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Marriage of
Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi fan tutte. Mr. Stowe contributed articles on Renaissance, Baroque
and 20th-century Latin American composers to the Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music.
14 | The Chorister • Winter 2016
Multicultural Resources T
he following are a few resources that I found online
that I’m going to be using to increase my knowledge
and understanding of multicultural music, and re-
sources that I can use to build my music library.
For all of you Pinterest fans, there are plenty of resources to
gain from this person’s pins. https://www.pinterest.com/
thorppearse/music-ed-multicultural/
Multicultural music education articles: http://
www.davidell iottmusic.com/praxial -music-education/
multicultural-music-education/
In this article the author of Music Matters discussed his
opinion on why multicultural music should be taught and learned during all stages of
development. He has written a few books on the subject and you can check those
out on this webpage: http://multiculturalmusiceducation.weebly.com/
This website gives many different websites to utilize and links to national associa-
tions that also talk about multicultural music education.
“The Skin that We Sing”- http://mej.sagepub.com/content/98/4/75.abstract
This link will lead you to the abstract and you can choose to read the pdf file that is
attached to the abstract. The author, Julia Shaw, states, “[T]his article builds on an
abundance of literature addressing culturally responsive pedagogy in general edu-
cation to apply the principles specifically to choral music education. In addition to
describing culturally responsive approaches to repertoire selection, rehearsal tech-
nique, and curriculum design, the article discusses how choral music education can
go beyond a surface treatment of diverse repertoire to one that develops students’
sociopolitical competence and empowers them toward social action.”
If you have any suggestions for multi-
cultural pieces, I always welcome them. My
e-mail is [email protected]. I’d be
happy to review something that you have
enjoyed performing.
Sara Lichtblau
Fargo South High School
Ethnic/Multicultural R&S Chair
www.ndacda.com | 15
Promoting Your Program H
ow do you promote your cho-
ral program?
Depending on the size of
your school and school district,
this can vary. Many of us leave the pro-
motion of our programs, and info to our
school secretary and a school newsletter.
Maybe we rely solely on an informative
handout we give the students on the first
day of school. We all communicate the
concert dates, festivals, auditions and
countless other things verbally to our stu-
dents. I also have to be honest, before
social media was so prevalent I wasn’t
too big on tooting my own horn about
anything. By nature, I wasn’t a “look at
me”, “see what I’m doing” kind of per-
son. True story: I had to be pushed, prod-
ded, convinced and talked into starting
a Facebook account by some fellow col-
leagues and they were right, it’s fun! You
share what you want to share, learn
about others, and well, now I’m hooked,
just like everyone else.
As an educator well into the prime of
my career, I loved learning how to utilize
all the new technology that exploded
into the world of education. Along the
way, I learned to rely on my own chil-
dren, my STUDENTS and my own experi-
mentation with all of the social media out
there: Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat,
Twitter, school/program web pages, and
the list goes on. I truly enjoy the fun of
the social interaction, finding friends from
high school, seeing my kid’s pictures of
their activities, seeing our grandkids grow
and achieve. But setting up, managing
and keeping current information in these
accounts can be
tough and time
consuming! Es-
pecially if you
have a busy cho-
ral program and I
know that all of
you do!
In my position
in Bismarck, I am
fortunate to have a lot of help. My high
school has a fine Activities Director, who
advertises and promotes ALL activities in
our school—and quite fairly, I might add.
Above him, we also utilize a wonderful PR
person who gets upcoming events on a
district webpage. We are able to send
important dates, concert information,
photos, achievements and within a day
or so, our information is out there for the
world to see. Within that same district of-
fice, we have a district Activities/Athletic
Director and a secretary who assists by
putting out a great district-wide Fine Arts
Newsletter. They are magic if for some
reason we have to make a concert date
change, and we all know that comes up
occasionally.
I designed a webpage this summer
with WIX and if I can do one of these an-
yone can put a webpage together. I
would suggest that you start taking pic-
tures of your kids during the day, as they
line up for concerts, after a concert and
just whenever. As a parent myself, I love
to see when my child is featured or pic-
tures for something they’ve done well.
Everyone loves to see pictures-just be
sure to check out your district’s privacy
16 | The Chorister • Winter 2016
and opt out policies for publishing photos
of students. Your smart phone will work
just fine because you carry it with you
most of the time. I used to keep a cam-
era in my office and that works just fine,
too. I looked at many webpages before
doing one and decided to try to keep it
simple, informative and colorful. It was
very well received and our parents like to
have a place to check out dates and
times for events.
I also did a Facebook page for our
CHS Choral Department. Until very re-
cently, it really stunk. Fortunately, we
have hired a wonderful accompanist to
our music department who has a market-
ing degree and lots of experience. She
asked me in her fun way, “Who is the ad-
ministrator for the Choir’s Facebook
page? It’s terrible!!” I laughed out loud
and said “I am”, and quickly added,
“would you please come on as an ad-
ministrator?” She graciously and immedi-
ately said YES and I was ecstatic!! She’s
improved the page so much more in the
last two months than I had since I started
the darn thing. But as all of you know,
our real job is to teach, to sing and play,
and motivate young brains. At the end
of a very busy and musical day, I don’t
always remember (or have TIME) to post,
vine, snap or tweet about my choirs?!
Even though I love my job and students
like crazy, I’m thinking about other things
like: music to program for upcoming con-
certs, auditions, my crazy calendar, my
family and perhaps what I am going to
cook for supper that night. It was a
great move to accept help. Genius.
I would encourage you to seek others
in your community who are good at get-
ting the word out, in as many ways possi-
ble. It may mean you should start small.
Maintain some of the promotion yourself,
but rally some help with management of
your choir’s PR. You may have a parent
or a student out there who really enjoys
PR work, design-and has a good head
on their shoulders. Our accompanist/
marketing whiz, Lauren, has also stepped
in to assist with designing programs and
posters for concerts. She’s got t-shirt ide-
as, Facebook posts, lovely photos and
new IDEAS constantly. Relinquishing
some of that control and allowing myself
to delegate a few things has allowed me
to be a better professional. It’s also re-
duced a little stress.
I have realized that it’s a good thing
to “toot my own horn”, and to accept
some assistance in doing it! I have to ad-
mit, being a visual learner and a little old
school from time to time, I still like a pa-
per copy. Still, our world is more e-driven
than ever and our stakeholders are in-
creasingly tech savvy. If we are going to
showcase our programs, it will have to be
along the information super highway.
Mary Pat Archuleta
Bismarck Century High School
NDACDA West Representative
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Becoming an Encourager L
ately I have been contemplating the idea of the Choir
Director’s role in encouraging our students. We all
have numerous stories of how and when we were able
to encourage a student to push for success in an area
of their lives and this lead me to another thought. What about
us as the Choir Director. How do we stay alert and ready to
accomplish this daunting task. How do we ensure that we are
able to see the needs of students and be able to act accord-
ing to those needs. I was reminded of a story I read several
years ago and decided to share it with you:
The Keeper of the Stream (From Soul Keeping, by John
Ortberg, )
There once was a town high in the Alps that straddled the banks of a beauti-
ful stream. The stream was fed by springs that were old as the earth and deep
as the sea.
The water was clear like crystal. Children laughed and played beside it;
swans and geese swam on it. You could see the rocks and the sand and the
rainbow trout that swarmed at the bottom of the stream.
High in the hills, far beyond anyone’s sight, lived an old man who served as
Keeper of the Springs. He had been hired so long ago that now no one could
remember a time when he wasn’t there. He would travel from one spring to an-
other in the hills, removing branches or fallen leaves or debris that might pollute
the water. But his work was unseen.
One year the town council decided they had better things to do with their
money. No one supervised the old man anyway. They had roads to repair and
taxes to collect and services to offer, and giving money to an unseen stream-
cleaner had become a luxury they could no longer afford.
So the old man left his post. High in the mountains, the springs went untend-
ed; twigs and branches and worse muddied the liquid flow. Mud and silt com-
pacted the creek bed; farm wastes turned parts of the stream into stagnant
bogs.
For a time no one in the village noticed. But after a while the water was not
the same. It began to look brackish. The swans flew away to live elsewhere. The
water no longer had a crisp scent that drew children to play by it. Some peo-
ple in the town began to grow ill. All noticed the loss of sparkling beauty that
used to flow between the banks of the streams that fed the town. The life of the
village depended on the stream, and the life of the stream depended on the
keeper.
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The city council reconvened, the money was found, the old man was re-
hired. After yet another time, the springs were cleaned, the stream was pure,
children played again on its banks, illness was replaced by health, the swans
came home, and the village came back to life.
The life of the village depended on the health of the stream.
I would assert that it is vital that we as Choir Directors need to be “Keepers of the
Stream” so that we can be effective encouragers to our students. I would like to take
a few moments of your time and quickly explore 5 areas in which we can all seek to
maintain the skills and attitude necessary to accomplish the awesome responsibility of
being a “Keeper of the Stream.”
Stay Positive
It is easy in life to see the negative around us. In real life and online we see and
hear the horrible awful things that are happening in the world. It is a challenge for us
to remain positive. Our students can read us better than we expect, often when we
are frustrated or upset this blends and blurs into our daily school life. I would assert
that we should keep these negative things out of our rehearsals and conversations
that we have with students. I try to do this, often unsuccessfully, but now aware.
Speak positively about colleagues and other students. Help students to see the posi-
tive around them. I know that I am constantly amazed by the small little acts of stu-
dents towards each other that show the good in my day-to-day world. We need to
reinforce those positive actions in every way possible.
Avoid Negativity
I know what you are thinking, “isn’t that the same thing.” I don’t think it is. Avoiding
negativity is the awareness that I was talking about earlier. Once we are aware of the
negativity and the sources of negative thoughts, we then can begin the process of
avoiding them at all cost. I once worked in a school where the teacher’s lounge was
the worst place to hang out because of all of the negative talk. I could go into de-
tails, but I won’t. I made a decision to avoid the place whenever possible. I found
that my days were better just by removing myself from the negativity. There will al-
ways be folks who seek to tear others down to make themselves seem bigger. It is the
most basic of the study of human behavior. I think we are at our best when we avoid
those who seek to do this in our lives.
Stay Sharp (Sharpen Your Axe)
You have probably heard the story of the young man who starts working for a log-
ging company. He is told that he will be paid according to his productivity. The first
day, he has more trees down than all of the rest of the crew, however as the days go
on he notices that he is falling behind. He asks his foreman what the secret of the old-
er loggers is, the foreman simply responds “sharpen your axe!” I know this to be true.
When I am out of sync and balance in my life, I feel like I am working harder and
20 | The Chorister • Winter 2016
harder and the work piles up more and more. Sometimes I need to walk away, do
something restful and rejuvenating and then my productivity returns. As Choir Direc-
tors our lives revolve around performances and rehearsals. The pace can be grueling
and exhausting. We owe it to ourselves to take time and “sharpen our axes.” Be crea-
tive, be musical, be in the moment.
See Beyond the Surface
In a Choral Program it is easy to see the performances, auditions, festivals, and
contests; while missing the little needs of our students. My choirs are like any other,
they have students who excel and students who struggle. It is often easy to work with
the students who excel, and much more difficult to work with the student who strug-
gles. It is my job to see each student need, know their story, and do my best to assist
them on their journey as a singer. This means that helping a student figure out how to
match pitch and sing a scale are every bit as rewarding as working with the students
who achieve at the highest levels. This will help me (I am still on the journey) to seek to
work with each student individually, and to see them for what positive things they are
equipped with.
Show Gratitude
Sometimes saying “thank you” is hard. Not that the words are hard, but just re-
membering to say it. Showing gratitude is crucial to being a “Keeper of the Stream.”
No one achieves without the help and encouragement of many. I think it is our re-
sponsibility to show gratitude as often and in as many ways as we can. A simple note,
email, word at a concert, or conversation can go a long way. This is particularly true
with the students we work with. Showing genuine and true gratitude for them and
their individual strengths is an awesome way we can encourage them to be some-
thing more than what they even imagine they can be.
Finale
In conclusion, it is my hope that these words have encouraged you. I hope that
you are excited and invigorated as you begin your next several weeks of working with
students in the 2015-2016 school year. Please know that I am honored to be a part of
such an awesome group of Choral Directors. I believe that North Dakota is THE PLACE
to be as a Music Educator. I am excited to see many great things in the future of our
great North Dakota American Choral Director’s Association.
Brian Saylor
Bismarck High School
Show Choirs R&S Chair
NDACDA Website Administrator
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22 | The Chorister • Winter 2016