012. Working with Middle School Voices--Interview with Maurice Burgess

The Choir Director Corner Podcast

One of the most challenging aspects of being a choir director is working with middle school voices. It's challenging for a variety of reasons: not only do you have such a wide variety of voices to work with, those voices are constantly changing. You then have to help all of your individual singers, and then try to bring them into one cohesive ensemble.
Because of all of the different challenges involved with working with middle school voices, I enlisted the help of a fantastic middle school director, Maurice Burgess. I first got to know Maurice online, and then more so after he became a member of the Choir Director Corner Community Membership. In our conversation we discuss a variety of topics, including how he places voices, how he utilizes the Cambiata concept in his teaching, how he helps singers through their voice change, how he selects repertoire, and more!
If you are someone that works with middle school voices, then this episode will bring you TONS of incredible strategies and tips! Definitely one you do not want to miss!
If you've got ideas for a topic or someone who I should interview for the podcast, I would love to hear about it! Send me an email at: [e-mail] and let me know!
If you are looking to dive deeper into resources designed to tackle all of the challenges of being a choir director, then you should check out the Choir Director Corner Community Membership. The Membership includes online courses and trainings, a PDF Resource Library, opportunities for 1-to-1 coaching, a private Facebook group, and more! If you’d like to find out more about the CDC Community Membership, you can go to:
choirdirectorcorner.com/community
Looking for an activity that you can do with your choir virtually as well as in-person? Check out the solfege game, "The Choir Room is LAVA!"
www.ChoirDirectorCorner.com/thechoirroomislava
If you are looking for some new choir warm-ups that will reinforce vocal technique AND engage your singers, check out my free PDF, the 50 Awesome Warm-Ups for your Choir Cheat Sheet!
http://bit.ly/50AwesomeWarmUpsCheatSheet

For more great resources, hop on over to our website:
www.ChoirDirectorCorner.com
Make sure you check us out over on Facebook! You can find our private group at:
www.ChoirDirectorCornerGroup.com
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Cambiata Institute: http://cambiatainstitute.com
Cambiata Press: http://cambiatapress.com
Texas UIL Performance List: https://www.uiltexas.org/pml
Practical Vocal Acoustics: Amazon Link
Finding Ophelia's Voice: Amazon Link
Drakensburg Boys Choir (YouTube)
Apple Music: search for TMEA, ACDA, etc.