Choirs do not just teach harmony, they teach people how to belong. Russell Scott sits down with Irish singer-songwriter and vocal and creativity coach Eimear Crehan to unpack what happens when you treat creativity as a practice, not a talent, and when you design rehearsals to help singers feel safe enough to be expressive. If you’re a choir director, conductor or vocal leader looking for practical rehearsal ideas and a stronger choir culture, this conversation is full of usable detail.

We talk about the way music carries us through hard seasons, and how a single song can change meaning across the years. Eimear shares how her background shaped an inclusion-first approach to community music making, and why helping people “find a voice” is both musical training and personal development. From lyric-first connection to the difference between sound and words, we explore how to get a choir performing from a real place, not a self-conscious one.

You’ll also hear concrete strategies for running rehearsals with clarity: sending materials in advance, choosing repertoire that matches a choir’s personality, breaking learning into achievable goals, and creating an environment where confidence can be shaky without becoming a barrier. We go deep on sustainability too, including business lessons from growing a music school, recruiting staff who truly understand the ethos, and a brilliant retention idea: a no-questions-asked “Life Happens” policy that keeps members connected through the realities of work, health and family life.

If you enjoy thoughtful conversations about choir rehearsal technique, vocal confidence, inclusive leadership, and building a thriving community choir, subscribe to the Choir Director Podcast, share this episode with a fellow director, and leave a rating and review so more choral leaders can find us.

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More about Eimear Crehan:

Website: www.eimearcrehan.com

Instagram: @eimearcrehanmusic

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Resources:

The Choir Director Podcast — helping you build stronger choirs, run better rehearsals, and create outstanding musical experiences.

• Website: thechoirdirectorpodcast.com
• Mailing List: Join our Newsletter

Follow Russell Scott:

• Website: russellscott.org
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• X: @russellscottuk

(c) Russell Scott 2026. All rights reserved.

The fastest way to improve your choir might not be a new warm-up or a clever rehearsal plan. It might be dropping the “presenter voice” and leading with genuine curiosity. Russell Scott shares a cross-over conversation with Christopher Munce (Choralosophy) about why authenticity matters in choral conducting, podcasting, and every rehearsal where a director stands in front of real people with real lives.

We talk about what makes conversations and rehearsals feel unscripted in the best sense: relaxed, honest, and useful. Christopher explains why he avoids over-curated formats, how he keeps advertising in balance, and what he has learned from hundreds of interviews about the pressures choir directors do not always admit in public. Russell reflects on building a UK choir where members pay to be there, why expectations must be clear from the start, and how a “taster session” and voice review can protect both the singer experience and the ensemble’s sound.

From there, we get into the hard stuff: recruitment and retention, school choirs versus community choirs, and what happens when you raise the musical bar. Russell describes preparing a major Disney suite with orchestra under intense time pressure, the thrill of the final performance, and the reality of losing members along the way. We also challenge oversimplified “inclusive choir” claims and land on a more honest idea: different singers want different things, so the choral world needs many kinds of choirs, not one perfect model.

If you care about choir leadership, rehearsal technique, vocal development, and building a choir culture that lasts, you will take away practical perspective and a lot to think about. Subscribe, share this with a fellow choir director, and leave a rating and review so more conductors can find the conversation.

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More about Choralosophy:

Website: www.choralosophy.com

Instagram: @choralosophy

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Resources:

The Choir Director Podcast — helping you build stronger choirs, run better rehearsals, and create outstanding musical experiences.

• Website: thechoirdirectorpodcast.com
• Mailing List: Join our Newsletter

Follow Russell Scott:

• Website: russellscott.org
• Instagram: @russellscottofficial
• Facebook: facebook.com/russellscottofficial
• X: @russellscottuk

(c) Russell Scott 2026. All rights reserved.

A boys’ choir that can rehearse in a car park, tour for weeks, premiere brand new works, and still feel like a safe place to belong does not happen by accident. We sit down with Herbert Washington, Artistic Director of the Phoenix Boys Choir, alumnus, clinician, and leader of a Grammy-winning choral organisation, to talk about what it really takes to build an outstanding boys’ choir programme from the inside out.

We get into rehearsal strategy that actually works for boys: making practice accessible, using accountability without humiliation, and letting peer leadership do real work. Herbert shares how he keeps standards high when he only sees singers a couple of times a week, why “every voice counts” is more than a slogan, and how a shared mantra can reset focus the moment warm-ups begin. We also talk about building the whole singer, with gentlemanly discussions on bullying, confidence, interviews, and even practical touring habits, plus short fitness sessions to support stamina and vocal freedom.

Voice change is a major thread, and Herbert offers a refreshing, practical approach grounded in adolescent vocal pedagogy. Instead of telling boys their voices are “breaking”, he teaches transition, physiology, and self-trust, and he explains how creating a young men’s ensemble can keep early-changing singers engaged and thriving. On the repertoire side, we explore tessitura choices, masterworks, and the New Works Rising Choral Composition Competition, which brings living composers into rehearsal and gives boys music written for their sound and their lives. We finish with the story behind a Grammy-winning recording project and what that level of focus teaches young singers about doing hard things well.

Subscribe for more conversations for choir directors and vocal leaders, then share this with a fellow conductor and leave a rating and review so more people can find the show. What idea are you most keen to try in your next rehearsal?

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More about Herbert Washington:

Website: www.boyschoir.org
Instagram: @herbertwashington_conductor
Facebook: @phoenixboyschoir

Contact the Studio

Support the show

***

Resources:

The Choir Director Podcast — helping you build stronger choirs, run better rehearsals, and create outstanding musical experiences.

• Website: thechoirdirectorpodcast.com
• Mailing List: Join our Newsletter

Follow Russell Scott:

• Website: russellscott.org
• Instagram: @russellscottofficial
• Facebook: facebook.com/russellscottofficial
• X: @russellscottuk

(c) Russell Scott 2026. All rights reserved.