Up Front!
Becoming the Complete Choral Conductor

Guy Webb, Editor

ECS No. 4638
$32.00

Ray Robinson – The Challenge of Choral Leadership in the Twentieth-First Century

Timothy W. Sharp – Choral Literature: Research References, Current Sources, and Future Directions

Gordon Paine – Score Selection, Study, and Interpretation

Melinda O’Neal – Coming to Terms with Historical Performance Practices

Jameson Marvin – Mastery of Choral Ensemble

Donald Neuen – Conducting

Paul Brandvik – Choral Tone

Richard Cox – Diction

James Jordan: Rehearsal Technique: A Guide for Planning the Choral Rehearsal

Guy B. Webb – The Tools of a Choral Musician

G. Roberts Kolb – Effective Choral Programming

Scott W. Dorsey – Resources for the Choral Conductor

Preface

The idea for this book originated at a Youth and Student Activities Committee roundtable breakfast meeting during the 1991 National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association in Phoenix, Arizona. The subject that early March morning was “Training Our Future Choral Directors,” and several of us on the committee felt it could form the basis for a journal article or monograph. Sr. Sharon Breden, Chair of the ACDA Repertoire and Standards Committee, was of invaluable help in her encouragement, as was Ray Robinson, who suggested that the subject might well become the basis for a book.

While many fine volumes have already been written on the subject, it soon became evident that singing in a college choir, taking one or two courses in conducting and a choral techniques class is all too frequently the extent of a choral conductor’s training. Also, the path to conducting a choir is often approached from different areas of expertise – from one’s keyboard skills or instrumental background, leaving many conductors without a concept of diction or choral tone. So much is involved in the learning process to become an effective choral director. A publication which would articulate basic concepts would be an invaluable research tool in the training of choral musicians.

The learning process is the sum total of many things – courses taken, books read, conventions attended, and most importantly, on-the-job training. Though this book is written for the student, it is written for every choral director who is still striving to grow in the profession. It is not limited to those who have yet to find their first choral position.

I wish to thank the chapter authors who so promptly and graciously agreed to participate in this project. Their succinct views on their respective topics were requested, in a manner that would speak directly to choral students. They have each brought considerable uniqueness to the approach of their subject. The reader may find within these twelve chapters some repetition of the various aspects of rehearsal techniques, score study, resource materials, etc. Yet such duplication, if viewed from different perspectives, can be illuminating. If through reading these pages the reader gains some new concepts, a desire to grow, to look anew at what is involved as a choral musician – to listen, search, and perhaps even question old habits or ways of doing things – this book will have served its purpose.

-Guy B. Webb
Southwest Missouri State University
Summer 1993