Laura Stuart is an amazing vocal pedagogue who has tapped into a way to bring joy, technique, and self-trust to singing.

In this conversation we hear how Laura got into the world of singing and then we dive deep into working with adult choral singers, aging voices, and all kinds of vocal technique.

Learn more about Laura at Theweeklywarmup.com.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_3c2VGmoFqM

The Music (ed) Matters Podcast is sponsored by our friends over at Perform International. Thinking of going on tour domestically or abroad, want to take a solo tour, or team up with a dynamic festival? PI offers the best educationally sound and culturally significant experiences! Check them out, and tell them Emmy sent you :) Perform-International.com

Order your copy of “The Business of Choir" - check out the website, businessofchoir.com.

Join us over at Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters for monthly meet-ups, monthly bonus episodes, special content, and more!

Let’s explore exactly what goes into developing a new Broadway music with producer (and Tony voter) Cristina Maria Vivenzio!

If you haven’t heard, there’s a new book musical hitting the Broadway mainstream mid March and we can’t wait! The preview tracks have been epic! In this episode we talk all things from the classic novel, The Outsiders and how it’s being adapted to what’s destined for an award winning musical!

Cristina Marie Vivenzio (Producer) is currently the Vice President of Production and Development at The Araca Group and a Co-Producer on their Broadway musical, The Outsiders. Prior to her time at The Araca Group, Cristina worked at the producing office, National Artists Management Company, during the opening of their Tony Award-winning production of Pippin before joining the theatre owner, Jujamcyn Theaters, as the Executive Department Director working directly with all senior leadership and the Creative Operations Department. While at Jujamcyn, she was the Production Coordinator for the annual August Wilson Monologue Competition, a nation-wide high school event that culminates on the Broadway stage and filmed for Netflix in the documentary, Giving Voice. Cristina is also credited as an Associate Producer on the Netflix capture of the Broadway show, Diana The Musical, filmed during the height of the pandemic while maintaining strict Covid production protocols. Cristina is a proud alumni of the Broadway League’s Rising Stars Fellowship, the Commercial Theater Institutes Producing Intensive and the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond’s Community Organizing Workshop. Cristina is a graduate of New York University, Tisch School of the Arts.

Learn more about The Outsiders at Outsidersmusical.com.

Listen to this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XMTsMTNI8_g

The Music (ed) Matters Podcast is sponsored by our friends over at Perform International. Thinking of going on tour domestically or abroad, want to take a solo tour, or team up with a dynamic festival? PI offers the best educationally sound and culturally significant experiences! Check them out, and tell them Emmy sent you :) Perform-International.com

Order your copy of “The Business of Choir" - check out the website, businessofchoir.com.

Join us over at Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters for monthly meet-ups, monthly bonus episodes, special content, and more!

Eric David Ackerman is an aspiring presence in the world of music, theatre, and film. Hailing from New Jersey, he is currently pursuing his BFA in Acting at the Savannah College of Art and Design and today we get to talk to him about creativity, balancing it all, and an epic album/experience he just dropped - “SPIRALING.”

Why is this conversation important? Get ready to be inspired! Eric thrives in creative spaces and fosters connections with like-minded individuals who share his love for the arts. With his unwavering commitment to personal growth and a knack for connecting with people, Eric David Ackerman is set to leave a lasting impact on the world of entertainment and beyond.

Learn more about Eric at Ericdavidackerman.com.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/W_hrz-1yNl4

The Music (ed) Matters Podcast is sponsored by our friends over at Perform International. Thinking of going on tour domestically or abroad, want to take a solo tour, or team up with a dynamic festival? PI offers the best educationally sound and culturally significant experiences! Check them out, and tell them Emmy sent you :) Perform-International.com

Order your copy of “The Business of Choir" - check out the website, businessofchoir.com.

Join us over at Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters for monthly meet-ups, monthly bonus episodes, special content, and more!

Meet conductor and author, John Hughes. In this conversation, we discuss John’s new book, Letters to a Young Conductor: Thoughts on Music and Life, all about how to maintain joy in music-making, career development, and how to keep the big picture in mind. This is really the perfect episode following bonus #23 in December and Dr. Robertson in January! To get your primed for the convo, check out this blurb all about the book, but tune in to learn more!

"Letters to a Young Conductor: Thoughts on Music and Life is now available in print and on Apple Books. I wrote this with a younger version of myself in mind. Over four sections, “Mindset,” “In Rehearsal,” “In Concert,” and “Building A Career,” I offer the advice I wish I had listened to when I was first starting out. It’s a mix of philosophy and practical tips sprinkled with humor. Letters to a Young Conductor is an ideal read for people at the beginning of their careers, experienced directors looking for encouragement, and even people in leadership positions outside of music."

Learn more about “Letters to a Young Conductor: Thoughts on Music and Life” at www.johnchughes.com, https://books.apple.com/us/book/letters-to-a-young-conductor/id6448801303 and https://a.co/d/ilRdsz1

Learn more about John Hughes at https://www.johnchughes.com/

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/l5vwKgyY6HM

The Music (ed) Matters Podcast is sponsored by our friends over at Perform International. Thinking of going on tour domestically or abroad, want to take a solo tour, or team up with a dynamic festival? PI offers the best educationally sound and culturally significant experiences! Check them out, and tell them Emmy sent you :) Perform-International.com

Order your copy of “The Business of Choir" - check out the website, businessofchoir.com.

Join us over at Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters for monthly meet-ups, monthly bonus episodes, special content, and more!

Happy New Year! And what a way to start with this awesome episode!

We’ve started this little mini-series on avoiding burnout thanks to feedback we are hearing as part of ACDA’s Advocacy and Collaboration Standing Committee. The goal of these episodes is to provide our members and listeners with tools to avoid and overcome burnout - one of the leading causes to folks leaving our fabulous career.

In this episode, part one of two, you’ll hear from Director of Choral Studies and Founder of ChorAmor.com, Dr. Troy Robertson. We talk about how to guard your time, explore what we really want in our life and careers, and a couple tools to help us.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/y8tT8DQNLFs

Link to Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YihgiNT5yYTkoXObQwDrwX3TIzly3RYwUpr3nQ2GORQ/edit

Link to Choral Journal Article: https://choralnet.org/archives/650130

Stephanie Robertson, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Child Center for Wellbeing at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. She has worked in public schools, non-profit institutions, and higher education for over fifteen years, with a focus on the wellbeing and healthy development of children. She researches the impact of invisible disabilities and student access to education at secondary and post-secondary levels. Her husband, Troy Robertson, PhD, is the Director of Choirs at Tarleton. He conducts Tarleton’s five choral ensembles, teaches conducting and choral methods, and supervises clinical teachers. He is also a composer whose works are published with Hinshaw Music, Santa Barbara Music Press, Colla Voce, and Music Spoke. They make their home in Stephenville with their ten-year-old son, Winton.

The Music (ed) Matters Podcast is sponsored by our friends over at Perform International. Thinking of going on tour domestically or abroad, want to take a solo tour, or team up with a dynamic festival? PI offers the best educationally sound and culturally significant experiences! Check them out, and tell them Emmy sent you :) Perform-International.com

Order your copy of “The Business of Choir" - check out the website, businessofchoir.com.

Join us over at Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters for monthly meet-ups, monthly bonus episodes, special content, and more!

Meet NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) CEO and President of the NAMM Foundation, John Mlynczak. In this conversation, we talk about what is NAMM and how important it is for us to know the work they are doing, especially as music educators. This episode was incredibly inspirational and exciting as NAMM is continuing the awesome work they’ve been doing while also starting some new huge things under Mlynczak’s leadership. The big question - who wants to go to the Trade Show with me? 2025? Let’s do a meet-up! I can’t wait!

Find out more about NAMM: https://www.namm.org/about

Learn more about CEO and President, John Mlynczak: https://www.namm.org/johnmlynczak

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1vew4f1qNxA

The Music (ed) Matters Podcast is sponsored by our friends over at Perform International. Thinking of going on tour domestically or abroad, want to take a solo tour, or team up with a dynamic festival? PI offers the best educationally sound and culturally significant experiences! Check them out, and tell them Emmy sent you :) Perform-International.com

Order your copy of “The Business of Choir" - check out the website, businessofchoir.com.

Join us over at Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters for monthly meet-ups, monthly bonus episodes, special content, and more!

This conversation covers the recently released 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts from the NEA. The decline in arts audiences from 1982 - 2022 as well as an upcoming workshop series designed to empower small-budget arts leaders to drive meaningful change in 2024 with relevance strategist, Ruth Hartt.

Ruth Hartt leverages interdisciplinary insights to champion the arts, foster inclusivity, and drive meaningful change. Known for merging powerful perspective shifts with actionable insights, Ruth brings a unique blend of experience to her work as a relevance strategist for arts organizations.

Currently serving as Chief of Staff at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, Ruth previously spent nearly two decades in the arts sector as an opera singer, choral director, and music educator.

Drawing on 23 years of experience in the cultural and nonprofit sectors, including six years’ immersion in innovation frameworks, Ruth helps arts organizations rethink audience development and arts marketing through a customer-centric lens.

Her perspective as a relevance strategist has been shaped by her unique journey: growing up in blue-collar Maine, convincing teenagers to love choral music, training and performing as an opera singer, engaging with donors and opera patrons, and supporting the research of a Harvard Business School professor.

This diverse range of experience provides Ruth with a distinctly empathetic and inclusive viewpoint, enabling her to connect with and advocate for a wide range of stakeholders in the arts industry.

Find at more about the workshops: http://www.cultureforhire.com/a-path-forward

Find the slide deck: https://www.cultureforhire.com/articles/82-22

Listen to Ruth’s original podcast appearance in Episode 169!

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/tC3fv_7EKY8

The Music (ed) Matters Podcast is sponsored by our friends over at Perform International. Thinking of going on tour domestically or abroad, want to take a solo tour, or team up with a dynamic festival? PI offers the best educationally sound and culturally significant experiences! Check them out, and tell them Emmy sent you :) Perform-International.com

Order your copy of “The Business of Choir" - check out the website, businessofchoir.com.

Join us over at Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters for monthly meet-ups, monthly bonus episodes, special content, and more!

You’ve met Dr. Steenblik before in his awesome episode about the sight-reading chorus as part of Florida All-State programming. We get to bring him back today, but this time addressing a BIG hot topic - burnout! Get ready for tools, ideas, and so much more — including guest co-host, Alex Gartner! This episode is part of the ACDA National Standing Committee for Advocacy & Collaboration Committee’s curated content.

Check out more from Dr. Steenblik in episode 143!

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QfCtU4Mlcc4

Resources list:

Brock, Barbara L., and Marilyn L. Grady, Rekindling the Flame. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press, Inc., 2000.

Hancock, C. B., “National Estimates of Retention, Migration and Attrition: A Multiyear Comparison of Music and Non-Music Teachers.” Journal of Research in Music Education 57:2 (2009): 92-107.

Hamann, D. L., “Burnout: How to Spot it, How to Avoid it.” Music Educators Journal 77:2 (1990): 30-33.

Kim, Sung Eun, and David Barg, “Reducing Music Teacher Turnover and Its Consequences.” Music Education Policy Briefs (Boston University), October 2010.

Siebert, Johanna J., “Why Music Teachers Remain in the Profession: Conversations with Career Music Educators.” PhD diss., Eastman School of Music, 2007. Unpublished.

Strauss, Valerie, “Teacher: The Day I Knew For Sure I Was Burned Out.” The Washington Post, December 12, 2014.

Warren, Franchesca, “Teacher Burnout is Real – Signs and How to Avoid It.” NAfME.org, May 20, 2015.

+ Dr. Steenblik's own experiences

The Music (ed) Matters Podcast is sponsored by our friends over at Perform International. Thinking of going on tour domestically or abroad, want to take a solo tour, or team up with a dynamic festival? PI offers the best educationally sound and culturally significant experiences! Check them out, and tell them Emmy sent you :) Perform-International.com

Order your copy of “The Business of Choir" - check out the website, businessofchoir.com.

Join us over at Patreon.com/MusicEdMatters for monthly meet-ups, monthly bonus episodes, special content, and more!