California Choral Directors Association
  • Home
  • Membership
    • Member Spotlight
    • Regions >
      • Northern
      • Bay Area
      • Central
      • Central Coast
      • Southern
      • Far South
  • Events
    • CASMEC >
      • Register
    • ECCO >
      • ECCO Headliners
      • ECCO Sessions
      • ECCO Information
      • Heussenstamm Choral Composition Competition >
        • Choral Composition
    • Honor Choir >
      • General Info
      • Central & Coastal
      • All-State
      • SCVA HS
    • ACDA Conferences >
      • National
      • Western Division
  • Cantate
    • Sponsorship
    • Previous Issues
  • Resources
    • CCDA Classifieds
    • Howard Swan Award
    • Repertoire & Resources
    • Vision for the Future >
      • Dr. Charles C. Hirt Scholarship
      • Choral Equity Scholarship
      • Creativity Grant
      • CCDA-CASMEC Awards
      • ECCO Scholarship
      • Dr. William Hall ECCO Scholarship
    • Webinar Sessions
  • About
    • About CCDA
    • Directory
    • Executive Admin
  • Donate

MEMBER SPOTLIGHTS

CCDA is proud to launch a new "member spotlight" series, featuring choral directors from around the state who are navigating life in a COVID world. We are highlighting the excellent singing happening in California AND inspiring members to say, "That's amazing, I could do that, too!" If you know a good nominee, please email mepeters79@gmail.com.
Membership Home
Meet My Rep

Matthew Martinez - Artistic Director of Long Beach Chorale & Chamber Orchestra

12/30/2022

0 Comments

 
ACDA is a priceless resource both personally and professionally. The network of people who are teaching, creating, and learning along with me is such a welcoming community that I’m proud to be a part of. Not only do I have incredible colleagues in ACDA but also trusted friends who are devoted to mutual success, but I am musician constantly looking to improve! In my first year at the official helm of this amazing group, I’m excited to welcome new singers and strengthen relationships with returning ones. We’ve done a lot of behind-the-scenes work with our Board to have the talent and resources to further grow into the amazing Long Beach community and continue to strive to bring Great Music to Long Beach and beyond!
Picture
0 Comments

Matthew Davis - Choir Teacher at Goddard Middle, Sandburg Middle, and Glendora High Schools

12/19/2022

0 Comments

 
My favorite thing about returning to in-person instruction this year was seeing the excitement on the students' faces when they finally got a chance to sing with their friends again. I knew going into the year that I had to make sure the students were interacting with each other and singing as much as possible. The most difficult part of this year was managing 3 separate choir programs at 3 separate schools. As a first year teacher, I had no idea how I was going to manage all of these programs. There were a lot of things working against me like coming back from distance learning, learning how to do show choir, working with 3 different administrations, but throughout it all I kept the students as my primary focus and managed to make it through.It took quite a bit of adjusting, but I finally managed to find my rhythm and had several very successful events, performances, and competitions throughout the year.
My students love the warm ups, 'Mrs. Shady' and "The Good-Looking Cook." They're both sing-songey kinds of warmups with fun lyrics. They always request these 2 warmups every single rehearsal and it is such a joy to see them get so excited about warmups. Despite not having done it before now, I absolutely love show choir. I am excited to see where I can take these programs in years to come. If I had to offer one piece of advice to inspire other first year teachers it would be to ask a lot of questions. There are so many people out there who want you to succeed so don't be afraid to ask questions if you're unsure of how to do something.
Picture
0 Comments

Andrew Hernandez - Choir Director at JSerra Catholic High School

11/21/2022

0 Comments

 
The greatest gift that returning to live instruction has been is seeing students laughing and singing in the choir room during breaks, lunches, or after school. I love being able to spend my breaks & lunches with students talking about life or playing games.Our choir room is bustling with tags, random instruments, and community. The most challenging obstacle I faced this year was our Spring calendar. I had over planned our 2nd semester and we had our school's Spring musical - at one point in the semester, we were learning music for 4 different events! I definitely learned from this experience, but I also learned that students love the challenge and will learn anything we can teach them... So, teach effectively! Something wonderful that our students have really been enjoying is conducting their own pieces. I did not get the opportunity to do this many times througout the year, but when we did, it was always very impactful. After a short lesson on the conducting pattern and time signature, we have the students stand in a circle and all conduct a verse or phrase of the music. Already primed with the question, we then have students volunteer to conduct and voila! The students get a chance to practice notes and rhythms, never singing the same phrase twice, and watching a new conductor. Students usually leave this exercise with a new found appreciation for conducting, the music, and themselves.
Picture
0 Comments

miguel chicas - Vocal specialist at Eastshore, Turtle Rock, and Beacon Park elementary Schools & Beacon Park MIDDLE School choir director

7/1/2022

0 Comments

 
My favorite thing about returning to in-person instruction has been observing how students have handled school post online learning. I really am impressed with the resilience of this group of students. I am finding that this generation of students is willing to fight for what they believe is right. They challenge you and ask you questions that from my experience as a student, you were never allowed to ask or say to a teacher. But... 
Picture

Read More
0 Comments

Sammy Salvador - Dr. Augustine ramirez intermediate school

4/29/2022

0 Comments

 
Last year I was on a virtual track teaching a study skills class from home the whole school year. My favorite thing about being in-person this year is just that....being in person! Being able to make music and sing together as a choir again has been a huge improvement compared to the previous year. One of my biggest hurdles are all those students who literally don't want to sing since they didn't sign up for choir. Since I'm in middle school, I've sometimes found it easier to run with the chaos and let them go a little wild if it means they'll actually sing. For example, we're in the middle of doing our regular old warm-ups, when a group of trouble-maker boys start singing (more like screaming at first) the Bob the Builder theme song...this is now one of our favorite and most highly requested warm-ups!
Picture

Read More
0 Comments

ROB BLANEY - University High School & Ranch san JOAQUIN MIDDLE SCHOOL

3/28/2022

0 Comments

 
​I currently teach vocal music at University High School in Irvine and one section of choir at Rancho San Joaquin Middle School in Irvine.

​I LOVE the energy of the classroom and the opportunity to get to know the students as real people. The biggest hurdle for me this year is that I am at a new school after 10 years. With these changes, however, is enormous potential for growth - building relationships, expanding culture and choir opportunities, and continuing to build on the excellence that was in place before I arrived. 
​
Picture

Read More
0 Comments

    Molly Peters

    Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022

    Categories

    All
    Bay Area Region
    Central Region
    Coastal Region
    Southern Region

    RSS Feed

CALIFORNIA CHORAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION
#CALIFORNIASINGS

© 2013-2022 CCDA. All rights reserved.
Members
  • Home
  • Membership
    • Member Spotlight
    • Regions >
      • Northern
      • Bay Area
      • Central
      • Central Coast
      • Southern
      • Far South
  • Events
    • CASMEC >
      • Register
    • ECCO >
      • ECCO Headliners
      • ECCO Sessions
      • ECCO Information
      • Heussenstamm Choral Composition Competition >
        • Choral Composition
    • Honor Choir >
      • General Info
      • Central & Coastal
      • All-State
      • SCVA HS
    • ACDA Conferences >
      • National
      • Western Division
  • Cantate
    • Sponsorship
    • Previous Issues
  • Resources
    • CCDA Classifieds
    • Howard Swan Award
    • Repertoire & Resources
    • Vision for the Future >
      • Dr. Charles C. Hirt Scholarship
      • Choral Equity Scholarship
      • Creativity Grant
      • CCDA-CASMEC Awards
      • ECCO Scholarship
      • Dr. William Hall ECCO Scholarship
    • Webinar Sessions
  • About
    • About CCDA
    • Directory
    • Executive Admin
  • Donate