A Report on 2007 Breakout Sessions

Breakout Sessions are an integral part of each conference because they enable us to focus on important issues. Future sessions are determined and prioritized by reacting to surveys from the previous conference. We received 43 surveys, so not everyone filled out a survey (grrr!), and not every respondent answered every question. The overwhelming majority of respondents identified themselves as coming from the vocal instructional area (23), followed by theory (12), instrumental (6), piano (4), technical/applied music (2), music appreciation (2), and fundamentals (1).

The Breakout Sessions for Fall, 2007 were:
SESSIONS (ATTENDEES) as per survey results
SLOs (29) Conversation w/Megan Solomon (22) Conf. Choir
Choral Pedagogy (22) Deans in Jeans (18) session with 2 music deans
Teaching Blue (17) reflecting the human element in teaching
Applied Music (14) Advising Students to Transfer (14)
Music Tech. w/Logic (11) Instrumental Conducting (11)
The Perfect Interview (7)

Favorite Session
Session (No.) Why?
Teaching Blue (10) visionary/inspiring
Choral Pedagogy (9) knowledgeable presenter/audience participation
Deans in Jeans (7) pertinent/stuff faculty ought to know
SLO’s (6) timely/creative & fun
Inst Conducting (3) provided specific training
Applied (2) good ideas
Perfect Interview (1) practical
Conversation w/MS (1) not stated

The favorite parts of the conference (other than breakouts) were:
Favorite Part (No.)
networking/being with colleagues (20) performances at conference (5)
quality of breakout sessions (5) choral/inst. rehearsal/seeing students (4)
Steinway reception (2)
The following had (1) responce: performing in recital, legislative session, sharing administrative ideas, location of conference, interactive sessions.

As one can see, there was a great diversity of breakout sessions. Some recommendations for Future Breakouts are include by title: Keyboard Proficiency Expectations at Jr. Level, Sharing Ideas—Music that Works with Community Colleges, Learning Styles and Teaching Styles and Session for Students to Transfer.

By Course or discipline
6 asked for straight vocal/applied voice/vocal jazz
5 asked for tech/sound recording/Dave Megill/electronic
3 asked for vocal warm-ups and pedagogy
2 asked for local composers/ new music
2 asked for theory 2 asked for pedagogy
other requests included: discipline specific roundtables, keyboard, applied music, guitar, multi-cultural/world music, history, ensembles, orchestra and session with student composers (how to teach comp).

The MACC Board meets again in early June. Should you have a suggestion for a breakout session that is not listed here, please contact President-elect, Ron Kean (rkean@bak.rr.com) know BEFORE June! The board will make every attempt to plan a schedule that is as diverse as possible keeping your stated priorities in mind.

Ron Kean President Elect, Bakersfield College

2007 Choral Notes

The November 2007 MACCC Conference Choir, under the direction of Dr. Magen Solomon of San Francisco Choral Artists and USC, was a huge success.  Dr. Solomon was able to establish a superb rapport with the 192 singers from throughout the State of California.  One of the student participants said she appreciated that “Dr. Solomon had a good sense of humor and kept us on our toes during the intense rehearsals.  She did not lower her standards even though the choir only rehearsed with her for two days prior to the Friday afternoon performance.”  

Over the past four years, I have appreciated and enjoyed the opportunity for my students to work in a festival choir setting with excellent choral conductors such as Magen Solomon of USC, Shawna Cross Stewart of Biola, Joshua Haberman of San Francisco State University, and Jonathan Talberg of CSU Long Beach.  Each conductor has brought a unique perspective to their choice of literature and their manner of rehearsing the combined choir.  In addition, the alternation between San Francisco and San Diego has provided a welcome variety of venues, and an opportunity to take a short tour with members of my choir early in the year.  In short, it has been a very positive experience.

Congratulations and many thanks to Latrice Morning of Los Angeles City College and Samuel Tejada of El Camino College, who were chosen by Magen Solomon to perform solos in Keep Your Lamps as well as to Christine Lovejoy of West Valley College who played congas.

Lou De La Rosa, Northern California Choral Rep

A Student's Perspective

When I first stepped into the crowded room at the MACCC conference in beautiful downtown San Fransisco last fall, I came with expectations of a mediocre choral festival. By the end of the first evening after working with Dr. Solomon, I walked up to my room with a majority of my music memorized, a rekindled passion for making music and a HUGE adrenaline rush. There’s something about 150 amazing musicians in one room singing Mozart’s bloodcurdling “Dies Irae” that revs the engines of the spirit with the gratification of coming together to make this phenomenal sound as well as the anticipation of what is about to take place!

All of the pieces that we thought we had conquered became strangely beautiful to us once more as it took on new sounds, new heights, and an astronomical level of emotional complexity. The camaraderie we gained with the people around us who were singing the same music, the same story, taking the same audience on the same emotional journey, made all the difference between an awkward singing experience and an incredibly moving music experience. Together we sojourned through the challenge and came out the other side victorious and ready for more.

I’m planning on making a career in directing choral music and I will say that this experience never fails to consistently remind me why we as musicians go through all those long aggravating hours of practice, theory and ear training; its for great moments like this. Everything that one could experience through sound is the medium from which these MACCC conferences lift up those of us who find unspeakable joy in exquisite sounds. This is truly what it is all about.

So if you, as directors, conductors, students, and music enthusiasts are considering on attending these conferences, I encourage and invite you to join these awesome people in this wonderful program and witness the power and beauty of music making!

Rebecca Young, Soph., Long Beach City College