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High Notes Blog

Chorus America's High Notes blog is curated by the Chorus America staff. Here, find articles on what our members are up to, and links to the latest news and commentary on the issues that matter to the choral field. High Notes also includes information about policy issues and advocacy alerts.

Additional Advocacy Information

Chorus America is a member of the Performing Arts Alliance (PAA), a national coalition of nonprofit arts service organizations advocating for federal policies that impact the nonprofit performing arts sector. Membership in Chorus America includes membership in PAA and you can learn more about PAA's policy agenda in the PAA Advocacy Center.

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  • Is This Really the World’s Ugliest Music?
    by Chorus America Staff

  • NY Phil Concert Stopped for Cell Phone Ring
    by Chorus America Staff

    “The final movement of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony is a slow rumination on mortality, with quiet sections played by strings alone. During the New York Philharmonic’s performance Tuesday night, it was interrupted by an iPhone.

  • Composers and Their Last Pieces: What Do They Mean?
    by Chorus America Staff

    “There is usually something revealing about the music of a composer who feels death at his shoulder. Beethoven’s late music has a distinctive voice. Little of it is tragic and there is no trace of self-pity, even though in his last decade he was deaf and suffering from an endless train of illnesses that included chronic colitis and possibly lead poisoning. In his spiritual life, Beethoven was no churchgoer and not particularly interested in Christ; he preferred to deal with God man to man.”

  • Study Finds Musicians Better at Yet Another Important Mental Task
    by Chorus America Staff

    "Can you mentally rotate a three-dimensional object, getting a clear sense of how it looks it from a variety of angles? It’s a specific cognitive skill that has been the subject of much study in recent years, since it’s a key component of processing spatial information. Professionals ranging from auto mechanics to brain surgeons rely on this ability.

  • Social Media and the Concert Hall
    by Chorus America Staff

    "You can't help but wonder what sort of productions we'll begin seeing as more and more performance venues, theater companies, symphony orchestras, and the like begin experimenting with 'tweet seats,' sections reserved for audience members who just can't tear themselves away from their Twitter feeds.

  • Poll Finds Most People Don't Know Lyrics to Auld Lang Syne
    by Chorus America Staff

    "Three-quarters admit they will mime or make up the words when the clock strikes midnight tomorrow . . . and the time comes for Auld Lang Syne. A poll found that some 37 percent do not know a single line of Robert Burns’s piece, written in 1788."

  • Building the Musical Muscle
    by Chorus America Staff

    Cochlear implants may help restore hearing in those with hearing loss, but they don't give people a full experience of music...yet.

  • Auditioning for a Solo? Speaking to an Audience? "Power Poses" May Help You Feel More Powerful
    by Chorus America Staff

    "[Social psychologist Amy J.C. Cuddy] and a colleague found that holding 'power poses'—open, expansive body postures that convey confidence and power (imagine a corporate titan with his feet propped on a desk or an Olympic runner raising her arms in victory)—for as little as two minutes changes people’s levels of testosterone and cortisol (hormones associated with leadership), increases their appetite for risk and helps them cope with stressful situations."

  • Western Union Resuscitates the Singing Telegram
    by Chorus America Staff

    "[Western Union has launched] the microsite wu-singingtelegram.com, which will facilitate sending the audio messages via email. In the past, a singing telegram would be delivered by a Western Union operator, but now the sender can utilize their own voice, or choose one from a lineup of artists who have signed on with the company, including Snoop Dogg, Timbaland, and K’Naan."

  • LA Phil and Bard College Prepare Teachers to Lead El Sistema-Inspired Programs
    by Chorus America Staff

    "The Los Angeles Philharmonic has announced a new Masters of Arts in Teaching degree, in partnership with the Longy School of Music and Bard College, to position high-level musicians as socially-conscious, engaging teachers in El Sistema-inspired programs in the U.S.

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