The Choir Journal: A Choir Director’s Best Friend
Keep a repository of your choir-related thoughts and feelings. You’ll thank yourself someday.
“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)
Keven Smith is the music director at St. Stephen the First Martyr Catholic Church, an apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) in Sacramento, California. He trains and directs a mixed choir that sings full Gregorian propers, ordinaries, and sacred polyphony at more than 100 traditional Latin Masses per year. Keven lives in Sacramento with his wife and five musical children.—Read full biography (with photographs).
Keep a repository of your choir-related thoughts and feelings. You’ll thank yourself someday.
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Are you aware of your legs? And do you know why that matters for a choir conductor?
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This sweet, simple SATB motet provides a contrast to heavier, darker Lenten repertoire. But it’s going out of season soon.
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Let St. Augustine’s wisdom guide you through the most important season for Church musicians.
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Find out why this motet is simple enough for beginning choirs yet demanding enough to challenge seasoned singers.
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These easy techniques will help you eliminate tension so you can be at your best.
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This striking Christmas motet puts Latin text atop jazzy harmonies to lull Our Infant Lord to sleep.
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Reflections on one year with no caffeine. Find out what to expect if you try it.
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Add these fuguettes and trios to your repertoire with minimal practice time.
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How we all respond to mistakes can have a huge effect on the cohesiveness and sound of our choirs.
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We choir directors can’t eliminate mistakes entirely. But here’s what we can do to minimize them.
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Salve Regina is still in season for another three months. You have plenty of time to learn this simple yet satisfying piece.
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Here’s how to get the most out of this fantastic new resource for interpreting chant rhythm.
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If you missed it, you can hear my iPhone recording on YouTube. But will it be quite the same?
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If you enjoy juicy dissonances and hearing the sun dart in and out of the clouds, you’ll love this modern setting of an ancient text.
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