Choir Fam Podcast
The Choir Fam Podcast is a venue for conversations about the current state of choral music. Hosts Dean Luethi and Matthew Myers seek to bring the worldwide choral community closer together through their discussions with a variety of guests who work with choir in its various forms. The goal of the podcast is to provide listeners with interesting tidbits of knowledge they could use in day-to-day choral rehearsals and to bring light to the ways that issues in the choral field are being observed and addressed.
- Update frequency
- every 9 days
- Average duration
- 46 minutes
- Episodes
- 142
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2025
Ep. 22 - Leadership in Choral Music Education - Barbara Tappa
"In mentoring a new teacher, I ask, 'How do we bring the music home to the students? Really, what is our job as music educators?' I believe my job as a music educator is to create better people. That…
Ep. 21 - Breaking Down Barriers: Choral Music and Social Change - Amanda Stevenson
"My tunnel vision of choral music just exploded. I was able to learn so much about all these different cultures that were in my school and the music that represented them. That's where I really learn…
Ep. 20 - Expanding the Canon to Expand Choirs' Reach - Matthew Bumbach
"We all get this exposure to popular music as young children, and when we get to the academy, we're quickly taught that popular music is less worthy, less valuable. The idea that started to settle wi…
Ep. 19 - From the Ground Up: Building Choral Excellence at a New Institution - Aubrey Dunham
"Quality breeds quantity. If we establish really high expectations, people will be attracted to that, and they're going to want to be a part of it. I just led with some sort of blind enthusiasm that …
Ep. 18 - Teaching Through Trauma: From Chaos to Community - Sara Bray
"In the times that we are in, trying to reach students, encouraging them to be themselves, and giving them that safe space is so important. I've learned so much about how unwelcoming the world is for…
Ep. 17 - From Mentee to Mentor: Sharing Wisdom with the Next Generation of Teachers - Kimberly Barclay Ritzer
"My elementary music teacher took a chance on me. She was the one who opened music up to me, and it was incredible. I've come from being the mentee to the mentor. I just want to pass on that informat…
Ep. 16 - Poetic Imagery and the Choral Arts - Dale Trumbore
"The text is so crucial to my process. I try and derive every little detail -- rhythm and harmony and melody and the overall mood and tone and textures and timbres of the piece -- from the text itsel…
Ep. 15 - Diagnosing and Recovering from Vocal Injury - Aubrey Nelson
"Receiving the news that I would need to have vocal cord surgery was really hard. I love teaching and singing. I need my voice for both of those things that are literally my entire life. I'm extremel…
Ep. 14 - Championing Social Justice and Bringing Voices to the Table - Angelica Brooks
"Through breaking down stereotypes and saying 'this is who I am'...my students in turn would be their authentic selves and break down some of their own stereotypes about how they're supposed to sound…
Ep. 13 - Identity and Self-Discovery in Choral Education - Raul Dominguez
"Education is an opportunity for self-reflection, a beautiful time to look inwards and ask 'Who am I? Why am I here? Do I really want to be here?' Those answers for me have been, 'yes, I really want …
Ep. 12 - Reducing Tension to Conduct with Ease - Angelica Dunsavage
"I came to Alexander Technique trying to see if there was a way that I could experience less pain when I conduct. Over time, I retaught myself. It's not a quick process, because nothing about Alexand…
Ep. 11 - Rebuilding a Culture of Singing - Amanda Sprague Hanzlik
"Let's celebrate the choral art form in all of its varieties. What you do does not have to look like everyone else. Your choir and your community are going to look and feel and sound very different t…
Ep. 10 - Cultivating Choral Music on an International Scale - Melanie Brink
"A retreat sets the tone, sets the table, but throughout the year, whether it's a little sprinkle of a community-building activity, an exercise that is reflective, or a revisit to something that they…
Ep. 9 - Building Choral Tone Through Voice Matching - John Stafford
"I'm really into using music to teach culture and life lessons... It's like cuisine. With different tastes come different etiquettes. It's the same thing with music. You want to show respect for how …
Ep. 8 - Treasuring Singers' Humanity and Finding Flow - Jace Saplan
"In the context of talking about the value of choral music, are you acknowledging the identity of the person in front of you? Does the beauty of what we do require components of strict uniformity in …
Ep. 7 - Finding Your People in the Choral Community - Katherine Rosenfeld
"Working with different people on the podium has given me a lot of skills I can take back to my classroom. It's just a matter of reaching out. If you have one connection, you have 25. If you have 25,…
Ep. 6 - Choral Magnetism: The Undeniable Urge to Make Music - Coreen Duffy
"One of the real benefits from being away from music is that you really appreciate it more. I understand what it's like to live without that opportunity to make music. Now I'm immersed in what I alwa…
Ep. 5 - Reexamining Ensemble Hierarchies - Dominique Petite
"I have a strong connection with treble ensembles because of our shared experiences. It feels safer to make a mistake. I feel I can take more risks with them."
Dr. Dominique Petite serves the faculty …
Ep. 4 - Flexibility: From Tone Color to Teaching Mode - Courtney Evans
"Whether you're looking to be a teacher or a vocal performer, to be marketable, you have to be able to do more than one thing. Healthy singing is healthy singing regardless of the genre."
Courtney Eva…
Ep. 3 - Advocating for Music Education on the National Stage - Lynn Brinckmeyer
"People at all levels can be advocates for music education. It's telling stories. It's educating people that don't have the same experiences that we do."
Dr. Lynn M. Brinckmeyer is Professor of Music…