NW ACDA members, take note...

I wanted to make you aware of a tremendous opportunity for graduating college and university choral students.

Through our conference’s New Member Initiative ACDA is offering complimentary membership for first time students as a welcome to the profession.

That is correct! A full year of membership with a subscription to The Choral Journal and all member benefits absolutely free for undergraduate and graduate choral students who are graduating this year.

If you know of someone who might qualify for this offer, please feel free to pass their name and contact information on to me or share my e-mail directly with them. Thank you in advance for helping our newest colleagues and best wishes with the end of your year.

Best Wishes,

Steven Zopfi
Chair of College and University Activities, NW ACDA
www.ups.edu/music <http://www.ups./edu/music>

Soundings: Musing on sound, branding, and mission at the college level

by Steven Zopfi, R&S Chair, College/University Choirs

I have been musing lately on choral sound and branding. A recent article in The Voice of Chorus America on branding (Standing Room Only: "A Strong Brand Is Essential to Success—and Possibly Survival.” Brandon Walsh and Roger Sametz Volume 32, #2, Winter 2008-09)1 and a recent discussion of branding in a recruitment committee meeting at my institution got me thinking about the sounds our choirs make. Many choirs have a recognizable “sound” that identifies them to the listener. Some choirs are famous for their sound. Certainly when one hears Chanticleer or the Vienna Choir Boys there is no mistaking who is singing. It got me thinking, why do some choirs have a recognizable sound and does it help or hinder?

In many ways, I believe it helps the choir to have a signature sound. From a marketing standpoint a sound can act as identity stamp and help with selling the choir. It is part of the branding that many successful choirs and institutions routinely do to separate themselves from the pack. Arguably, choirs that have a successfully “branded” sound have an easier time marketing themselves, selling CDs, and developing audiences, and recruiting. Choirs that have an institutional sound (a branded sound that has survived over generations) also have an advantage in integrating new members as all they need do is “fit themselves in” to the established choral sound norm.

So far so good. But I believe that branding can also be harmful to our ensemble and our students. The problem is two-fold I believe. First, by forcing everyone to conform to the sound brand, we run the risk of disregarding what is pedagogically appropriate for some students. As institutions of higher learning we have the responsibility to teach vocal technique that is pedagogically appropriate to our students’ level of development. To be sure, many branded sounds have much to recommend them pedagogically. However, is it always appropriate to demand, say, the non-vibrato singing of a professional early music ensemble from our touring choir, or the nasal, high-larynx singing of Eastern European folk ensembles from our advanced women’s ensemble. Most of us do not have the luxury of auditioning for voice-types specific to one particular style. College and University choirs tend to be comprised of singers with a wide range of vocal expertise and voice type. Are we asking for something that our students are not developmentally capable of giving in some cases?

Secondly, is the chorally branded sound appropriate for the wide range of literature that is part of the mandate of teaching institutions to share with their students? I own a recording of a very fine professional European choir singing a number of American choral standards. I pull it out for my conducting class every year and they almost always have the same reaction – laughter. The performances are beautiful. The phrasing, intonation, unified vowel shapes, and the ensemble is impeccable. However, the sound ideal is completely different than what is considered the norm for this repertoire. I wonder, then, at some of the choices we make as conductors when we ask our ensembles to sing their entire repertoire with a similar sound ideal. Instead, might we consider Robert Shaw’s maxim “There is no such thing as absolute ‘beauty’ of choral tone; there is only dramatic integrity of choral tone.”2 To that I might add for educational institutions, “and pedagogically appropriate choral tone.”

To be sure, as institutions of higher learning we also have the responsibility of teaching style. We must present a wide variety of repertoire, and teach and perform within many different style parameters. To not do so shortchanges our students and deprives them of critical musical experiences. So how do we go about walking that pedagogical fine line that exposes our students to style without forcing them to make poor vocal choices beyond their ability?

I believe that we can still promote choral branding and institutional sound without harming our students, as long as we are willing to modify the teaching of style and our choral brand to fit within the possibilities of our students’ voices and experience. Judicious programming that takes into account the realities of what our students can do and for how long, can go a long way in helping students find a level of vocal comfort. We can reassign voices for individual pieces that place uncomfortable demands on certain voice types. Larger voices might find it easier to sing a lower choral part for a Renaissance motet that requires less or no vibrato, for instance. Or perhaps we can ask our students for “less vibrato” instead of no-vibrato for certain styles that require very clean intonation and “center-of-the-pitch” singing. Our rehearsal plans can be adjusted so that we don’t ask students to sing vocally taxing ethnic pieces at the ends of rehearsal or at the ends of long concerts when they are vocally fatigued. And finally, we can use caution when using recordings of professional choirs to model style. Many professional choirs specialize in a very narrow range of repertoire. This specialization allows them to choose singers whose voice types match the technical needs of the music. Our modern college choirs, on the other hand, sing a wide range of repertoire and styles. What may be possible for the Tallis Scholars or Anúna might not be possible for our college students in all cases. Certainly, we can learn from these highly specialized groups and apply their lessons when we teach style. But we must sing and teach responsibly.

Developing a recognizable choral sound that is identifiable to an ensemble or institution can be a positive facet of today’s college and university choral ensemble. An ensemble or institution with such a sound can have a tremendous advantage in branding their ensemble with members, audiences, and prospective students. A “branded” sound can help attract and retain students, maintain institutional pride, and popularize the ensemble. However, such branding can have a negative impact on our singers by forcing students into making poor vocal choices for their level of vocal development. However, with a little judicious planning and sensitivity, conductors can adjust the choral brand to accommodate the pedagogical needs of their students and ensembles. By choosing repertoire that is appropriate for our singers’ vocal development, teaching style within the limits of the possible, careful rehearsal planning and re-assignment of parts, our college and university choirs can sing a wide variety of repertoire with stylistically and pedagogically appropriate tone that is in line with the pedagogical mission of our institutions. All that, and a little Bach too.

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Steven Zopfi Named University of Puget Sound Director of Choral Activities and Conductor of Adelphian Concert Choir

(JUNE 5, 2008) TACOMA, Wash. – Following a rigorous national search, University of Puget Sound is pleased to announce conductor Steven Zopfi as the university’s new director of choral activities and conductor of the Adelphian Concert Choir. His appointment begins July 1.

“I look forward to returning to University of Puget Sound,” Zopfi says. “The opportunity to make music with incredibly talented students and to be part of a faculty that is interested in teaching and helping students learn is fantastic. The supportive atmosphere at Puget Sound makes it a wonderful place to learn and grow.”

One of the leading young conductors in the Pacific Northwest, Zopfi has been called “magical” and “superb” by critics, and choirs under his direction have been invited to perform at local and regional conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, and other professional organizations.

“I am delighted to have our choral program led by such an outstanding conductor as Steve,” says Keith Ward, professor and director of University of Puget Sound’s School of Music. “He has received many accolades for his work, all well deserved. He is a remarkable artist and teacher; I really could not be happier with his appointment. I look forward to his vision and dedication to excellence in shaping the choral program at Puget Sound.”   

Zopfi is a native of New Jersey, and attended The Hartt School at University of Hartford and University of California-Irvine before earning his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from University of Colorado. He has taught in public schools in both New York and Vermont, and has served as Vermont state president of the American Choral Directors Association, as well as on the executive boards of the Vermont Music Educators Association and the Washington Choral Directors Association. Zopfi’s scholarly interests include late-20th-century American motet composition and the instrumentation of the basso continuo of early-17th-century vocal music.

As a performer Zopfi has sung for many leading conductors, among them Sir David Willcocks and one of America’s most celebrated choral musicians, Robert Shaw, in addition to sharing the stage with symphonies and orchestras in the United States and abroad. He has prepared choruses for several nationally recognized conductors, including Carlos Kalmar, Bernard Labadie, Alastair Willis, and more, and is the founder and former artistic director of The Foundling Hospital Singers, The Boulder Schola Cantorum, The Grace Chamber Orchestra, and The Portland Sinfonietta.

In his new post, Zopfi will oversee Puget Sound’s vocal ensembles and take the helm of the Adelphian Concert Choir, one of the university’s signature groups and one of the Northwest’s most celebrated ensembles. An Adelphian concert schedule follows:

Adelphian Concert Choir
Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008*
7:30 p.m.
Kilworth Memorial Chapel
Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008*
2 p.m.
Kilworth Memorial Chapel
Saturday, May 2, 2009
7:30 p.m.
Kilworth Memorial Chapel

* Seasonal concert. Admission for the seasonal concert is $8 general and $4 sr. citizens (55+), non-Puget Sound students, and Puget Sound students, faculty, and staff. Tickets are available at Wheelock Information Center, with remaining tickets sold at the door. For credit card orders, call 253.879.3419.
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