CUEnotes
Insights from renowned experts and clinicians focused on the needs of youth choir directors
Stories are critical to student choir communities – (Part 2) Shared common narratives
STORIES ARE CRITICAL TO STUDENT CHOIR COMMUNITIES Part 2 of 5 Shared Common Narratives A few months ago, I was visiting with Dr. Randall Bradley, director of the Men's Choir at Baylor University. Looking back over the pandemic years and then coming out of that choral...
Stories Are Critical to Student Choir Communities (Part 1) – Storytelling
STORIES ARE CRITICAL TO STUDENT CHOIR COMMUNITIES Part 1 of 5 Storytelling Just a few years ago – only sixty-two to be exact – when I was in the first grade, all our school’s elementary teachers held regular events called “Storytelling.” Short, simple group training...
Tuned In for a Game of Football, We All Re-Learned Powerful Lessons
I don't often watch Monday Night Football, but I did on January 2. I found myself magnetized to the game because it involved the Cincinnati Bengals, for whom YouthCUE alumnus Evan McPhearson is the place kicker. In the opening minutes of the game, Evan, one of Roger...
How are you doing? Part One
Here we are in July 2020, at a place none of us could have fully imagined this time last year. It’s not just the pandemic itself that is difficult; it’s also the seemingly countless areas of fallout caused by the virus: Isolation. Unemployment for some. Uncertainty....
The greatest message in the world mobilized by the greatest art
Since we are now looking at an Easter where no church gatherings will take place - can you imagine … well, yes you can - it will do us well to consider the power of the gospel, even when we cannot celebrate it to the fullest extent. Please think about this for a...
Adults providing leadership to teens, your work has never been more important than it is right now!
As we are all in the process of helping our students deal with COVID-19, we have a super-important job to accomplish! At a time when the population as a whole is feeling insecure and scared, when public discourse has often degenerated into childish name-calling, when...
Lord, (please) make your children one
Forty years ago this fall, I completed my masters and immediately began serving as minister of music at First Baptist Church in San Antonio. My first Sunday morning there, I was in for a most pleasant and powerful surprise at the end of the service. For several years,...
Providing our students a smooth ride
Stagnation is a death-knell in student choir ministry. Go on automatic pilot for one week too long, and your ministry with students will suffer.
A healthy break helps all of us desire more
For the past several weeks, our part of Texas had begun to feel a lot like Ireland in winter. Rain. Continual rain. More rain. Occasional wind. Cool temperatures. Then more rain.
Bubble Gum Challenge
I hope your fall is off to a great start with your choir(s). There are new singers in your group and many veterans as well. Time to mix them up a bit so they can get to know each other a little better. Singing in a choir for young people is, first and foremost, all...
“Knowing a person is like music…
what attracts us to them is their melody, and as we get to know who they are, we learn about the harmony, rhythm and lyric that makes them unique."As you begin to plan for your fall and the anticipation of working with new singers in your choirs, it's important that...
“You don’t get harmony when everybody sings the same note.”Doug Floyd
Several years ago my good friend and colleague, Melanie, decided to start a Festival of Choirs, an international high school choral festival, at The American International School of Muscat, Oman (TAISM). www.taism.com The country of Oman is located near the Persian...
“Trust is built with consistency.” Lincoln Chafee
April Greetings – Now that Easter services have been completed for the spring, I'm sure some of you are winding down your youth choir for the year. For those of you who tour with your group during the summer, your attention has now turned to finalizing music,...
Stay Awake and Boogie! Retreat
March Greetings! Spring is on it's way. I know it can be hard to look ahead to plan for the fall but school and parent calendars are always 6 to 9 months ahead so we have to be as well. With that in mind, are you looking for an out-of-the-box beginning of the year...
Building community through giving back!
I have a good friend who teaches at the high school level.She is the drama and forensic (speech and oral interp) coach.T., as I will call her, has an outstanding speech/oral interp program as evidenced by qualifying a dozen or so students for the National...
Lessons from Geese – Part 2
I don’t know how you feel about the fall season, but for me, living in South Dakota in the fall can be delightful for many reasons. Not only does the weather provide us with warm days and crisp, cool nights, the smell of harvested grains as you drive by a dried...
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” Booker T. Washington
Fall is a great time to pull your choir together for fun group bonding activities outside on a beautiful Saturday or Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours. You could theme your event, place posters in the church, post on your social media choir site and allow...
“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot, together we can do great things.” Mother Teresa
Do we have enough sense as geese? I trust your summer was relaxing and you took time to refresh before the rush of the fall began. Good luck as you plan your year with your singers. It is my hope that as you plan your literature, performances and tours,...
