Conducting Choral Warm-ups: Pedagogy and Gesture
Conducting Choral Warm-Ups is the first course of its kind on the “how-to’s” of conducting Choral Warm-Ups. My journey with this material began with my work with Frauke Haasemann in the 80’s. Since then, the books I have written in addition to the Core Vocal Exercises have become influential in choral training around the world. But truth be told, my “on the job training” was with The Westminster Chapel Choirs from 1991-2003. Chapel Choir was the “training choir” where students acquired the necessary ensemble singing skills to move into theWestminster Symphonic Choir.
For me, warm-ups are essential to the choral pedagogy of any choir. I also believe that while we all can talk of vocal technique, it is my belief that we can truly “cause” choirs to sing using informed and pedagogically informed gesture that supports healthy vocalism. This course will share the conducting techniques that I believe are foundational to the building of both musicianship healthy vocalism in the choral rehearsal.
In this course you will be guided through the following topics through demonstrationand then receive conducting “feedback” from the instructor! Students taking the course will also receive instruction in Laban Effort as a tool to be deployed in choral warm-ups:
• On the Breath Singing
• Breath Impulse Gesture
• Enabling Musical Line through understanding the horizontal aspects of gesture
• Conducting Vocal Onset
• Conducting Vocal Offsets
• Conducting Leaps
• Helping Vocal registration
• Cantered Conducting
• The Use of Laban Effort Shape Gestural Vocabulary To Empower Singers
• The Role of Body Architecture and Centering In Conducting Warm-Ups
• Aware Listening For Vocal Issues
• The Importance of Hand position and Arm Architecture
The course is organized around seven modules that you complete on YOUR schedule. The course window is either 4 or 6 weeks, done at your own pace as this is an asynchronous course. In addition to the cost of the course, course materials include two downloads of lecture/demonstration via The Virtual Classroom at giamusic.com.
Note: There are two certificates offered for this course at completion. 1) If you successfully complete ALL assignments, you will be given a Certificate of Completion! This credentials you in order to document your participating and completion of the course. 2) If you do not complete all the assignments or simply watch the content, you will receive a Certificate of Audit for the course.
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He was described as a “visionary” by the Choral Journal, which cited his book Evoking Sound as a “must read.” His more than 65 books explore both the philosophical and spiritual basis of musicianship, as well as aspects of choral rehearsal teaching and learning, and conducting pedagogy. Resources authored by him are considered to be essential references in the conducting profession around the world. Jordan is Professor of Conducting and Director of Choral Studies at Westminster Choir College of Rider University where he holds the Scheide Chair in Conducting. He serves as the 7th conductor of the renowned 103 year-old Westminster Choir and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. He now leads the largest masters degree program in choral conducting in the United States.
We have made the registration process as easy and seamless as possible. Click the "Enroll me now!" button above to add to cart and follow the steps to checkout using your credit card. Once you have successfully checked out, you can expect to hear from one of our team members within 24-48 hours with more information to prepare you for your course or workshop.
All of our online courses are asynchronous and can be completed at your own pace. Once registration has officially begun and you have successfully enrolled for the course of your choice using credit card, you will receive an invitation from course director James Jordan to join the course platform.
James Jordan is recognized and praised around the musical world as one of the nation’s pre-eminent conductors, writers, and innovators in choral music. The most published performer/author in the world, he has authored more than 30 books on all aspects of the choral art, and he has been described as a “visionary” by The Choral Journal. His book Evoking Sound was named as a “must read” on a list of six books by The Choral Journal. At Westminster Choir College, he is Professor and Senior Conductor and conducts the Westminster Schola Cantorum and the Westminster Williamson Voices.
Founded in 1941, GIA Publications, Inc. is a family-owned company with more than 10,000 choral and instrumental editions in print, as well as hymnals, recordings, a licensing division, and a wide variety of music education resources. The esteemed choral publisher Walton Music became part of GIA in 2013. Both World Library Publications (WLP) and Meredith Music joined the GIA family in 2020.
To get in touch with James Jordan directly, please follow the steps on our Contact page.