2025 Maine Music Educators Association Conference

No matter the stage of career, conductors are tasked with engaging students to join and participate in their ensembles through a variety of pedagogical, musical, and marketing techniques; perhaps none as critical as closing the gap between the music students choose to listen to and the “choir songs” we painstakingly program for their benefit! This interactive session will guide participants toward the musical language of their students, where and how they collaborate outside the choir room, and how both conductor and student identify and share their implicit aesthetic preferences in any repertoire. Fresh perspectives on tried and true score preparation approaches through a “singer-songwriter” lens will illuminate ways you can tether students to the choral canon while affirming their musical taste and untapped potential as artists.