28th Annual Student Research Conference
The Choral Conductor's Role in Teaching Voice
Ryan T. Welker♦
Dr. Thomas Hueber, Faculty Mentor
Choral conductors and voice studio instructors have carried on an infamous feud for years. Many choral conductors fail to recognize that individuals' solo tones are valuable in contributing to the overall sound of an ensemble; instead, they ask individual students to back-off or to "blend." Therefore, studio teachers fear that when their students sing in choirs, students' vocal skills will deteriorate rather than grow and thrive (as they should) through additional singing experience. This paper was written in order to inform choral conductors of high school and college ensembles how to be more aware of their roles as a voice teacher in the choral classroom. Some concepts discussed include basic vocal pedagogy, the International Phonetics Alphabet, warm-ups designed for teaching voice in the choral environment, and seating techniques to get the best sound out of the singers in a particular ensemble.
Keywords: choral conductor, voice teacher, teaching singing, singing warm-ups, vocal pedagogy
Topic(s):Music
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 307-4
Location: OP 2117
Time: 1:45