“When You Know the Notes to Sing”: Teaching Music-Reading Skills to the Amateur Church Choir
This workshop generously sponsored by the New Haven Chapter of the AGO
In this workshop, church music directors learn techniques to develop their choirs’ music-reading skills. The workshop begins with a brief, accessible lecture on how we process information when we read music, based upon music cognition studies. The vast majority of the workshop is a hands-on demonstration of rehearsal techniques and exercises that contribute to improved sight-reading. The workshop leader talks through the pedagogical value of these techniques and exercises, and then demonstrates them in practice by leading sections of mock choir rehearsals; attendees act as choristers in these rehearsals. The workshop concludes with a question-and-answer session.
Scott Perkins
Connecticut native Scott Perkins enjoys a multifaceted career as an international prizewinning composer, a versatile performer, an award-winning scholar, and a music educator. His critically acclaimed music spans numerous genres and styles and has been performed throughout North America and Europe. Augsburg Fortress and Encore Music Creations publish his music. He has concertized as a tenor throughout the United States and abroad, performed with many professional ensembles as both a vocalist and a conductor, and is a featured soloist on recordings produced by Bridge Records and Loft Recordings. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy in composition and master’s degrees in music theory and music theory pedagogy at the Eastman School of Music. He is on faculty at DePauw University, where he teaches courses in composition, music theory, musicianship, and orchestration. He has previously taught at Central Connecticut State University, Nazareth College, and the Interlochen Summer Arts Academy.