“Start with the way that you structure your rehearsal, your classroom, your feedback. In terms of feedback, we talk about not giving people more than three pieces of information to work on. Working memory is affected by ADHD in particular. ‘Here's what you're doing well, here's what you can improve on, here's how you can improve it.’ That structure helps with their ability to anticipate what you're going to say and quickly implement that into their own music making.”

Dr. Peter Haley serves as Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at Ohio University, where he conducts the Ohio University Singers and Singing Men of Ohio and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting, choral literature, and music education. He previously spent seven years as a high school choir director in North Carolina where his students were consistently chosen for honor choirs on the local, state, and regional level, while being immersed in a program that stressed collaborative music-making and artistic excellence.

Dr. Haley’s research interests include pedagogy for neurodivergent learners in the choral rehearsal, and Arvo Pärt’s sacred choral music. He has been invited to present at state and regional ACDA and MEA conferences and served as a clinician or adjudicator in Alabama, North Carolina, Ohio, and South Carolina. He has served as a pastoral musician for Baptist, Presbyterian, Reformed Jewish, and United Methodist congregations and held leadership roles on the Executive Board of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians and the Southern Region Conference of the American Choral Directors Association.

Dr. Haley holds the Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of South Carolina, as well as a B.A. in Music from Wingate University and an M.M. in Church Music from Samford University. He has the honor of being the second-best teacher in his house, behind his wife, Ashley, and is a proud parent to Patrick and Libby Kay.

To get in touch with Peter, you can e-mail him at pahaley@ohio.edu or find him on Instagram: (@peterallenhaley).

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

“We’re often put in positions that make us uncomfortable with the inner struggle of how to keep our job and have our program recognized enough to get support versus how to carry out our true mission with students. If I’m trying to continue to fall in love with the choral art, I think the way to do that is looking for literature that will balance the soul-searching and academic needs of the students and the entertaining needs of the audiences. Looking for literature for all of those reasons often reignites my own curiosity and interest.”

Dr. Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah is a Full Professor of Music serving as Director of Choral Activities and Undergraduate Music Education at Eastern Washington University. She has earned degrees from Edmonds Community College, Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, and the University of Kentucky. She was the Artistic Director of the Spokane Area Youth Choirs, and the Director of Spokane Symphony’s Chorale & Chamber Choir. Previously in Spokane, Kristina taught Choral Methods at Gonzaga University, observed student teachers for Whitworth College, and taught Middle School Choir at St. George’s School and High School Choir at West Valley High School in the Spokane Valley. Before moving to the Spokane area, she taught at Everett HS, Ephrata HS, and AC Davis HS. Kristina has served on the WA ACDA Board as an R&S chair in world music, children’s chorus, university, and jazz, and is the current President-Elect of WA ACDA. She has presented numerous times for state and all-northwest MENC/WMEA conventions and twelve WA-ACDA Summer Institutes. Directing Honor Groups and All-State Choirs in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Kentucky, from Elementary through High School levels; as well as presenting at festivals and conferences in WA, MA, OR, ID, FL, and KY has given her the opportunity to work with a wonderful array of choristers and directors. The Spokane Arts Commission of the City of Spokane has awarded Kristina the “Arts in Education Award,” and the “Arts Organization Award” for her work with the Spokane Area Children’s Chorus. Kristina also received Spokane’s “YWCA Woman of Achievement in Arts and Culture Award.”

To get in touch with Kristina, you can e-mail her at kploeger@ewu.edu.

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

Thank you for listening to our show this season!!

Here are the favorite choral pieces from our guests in the fifth season:
Christmas Oratorio, Johann Sebastian Bach

Mass in B Minor, Johann Sebastian Bach (x2)

Trois Chansons Bretonnes, Henk Badings

The Sweetheart of the Sun, Eric William Barnum

Ein Deutsches Requiem, Johannes Brahms

The Music Makers, Edward Elgar

The Ground, Ola Gjeilo

Kalinda, Sydney Guillaume

Measure Me, Sky, Elaine Hagenberg

Messiah, George Frideric Handel

Las Amarillas, Stephen Hatfield

Gloucester Service, Herbert Howells

Where the Light Begins, Susan LaBarr

O Magnum Mysterium, Morten Lauridsen

Symphony No. 2 (The Resurrection), Gustav Mahler

Elijah, Felix Mendelssohn

Vespers of 1610 , Claudio Monteverdi

Exaudi, Jocelyn Morlock

Ave Verum Corpus, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Lacrimosa (from Requiem), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mori quasi il mio core, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

The Call, Roxana Panufnik

I Was Glad, Hubert Hastings Parry

Bogoroditse Devo (from All-Night Vigil), Sergei Rachmaninoff

To the Hands, Caroline Shaw

God So Loved the World (from The Crucifixion), John Stainer

If Ye Love Me, Thomas Tallis

Dona Nobis Pacem, Ralph Vaughan Williams

Va Pensiero (from Nabucco), Giuseppe Verdi

Here are the composers that our guests suggested you check out:
Dominick Argento

Johann Sebastian Bach

Benjamin Britten

Saunder Choi

Jennifer Lucy Cook

Rob Dietz

Reena Esmail (our guest on Episode 50)

Rachel Fogerty

Joshua Hines

Kevin Johnson

Susan LaBarr

Andrew Lippa

Ryan Main

Ily Matthew Maniano

Francis Poulenc

Zanaida Robles (x2)

R. Murray Schafer

Robert Schumann

Caroline Shaw

Barbara Strozzi

Tracy Wong (our guest on Episode 58)

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson from Pexels