Who Needs the Videos and Books from Choral Excellence Press?

STUDENTS of conducting, choral music, and music education!

MUSIC TEACHERS and school choral conductors!

COMMUNITY chorus conductors!

CHURCH choir conductors!

EVERYONE who works with singers,
from POTENTIAL CONDUCTORS to PROFESSIONAL CONDUCTORS!

Enter the world of conducting, or improve your conducting techniques, with choral conducting instruction videos from Choral Excellence Press. Every video in our selection features either the brilliant music education professor and conductor Patrick K. Freer of Georgia State University or the renowned choral conductor Donald Neuen, current Director of the “Hour of Power” choir of Shepherd’s Grove — formerly the Crystal Cathedral — which is televised internationally every Sunday to an audience of more than 31 million.

Donald Neuen Video Series and Text

Donald Neuen’s choral conducting videos are geared towards directors. The derivative soft-cover book, Empower the Choir, selects from the videos the concepts that choral directors want their singers to master.

For instruction in the physical art of conducting we present the two-volume series,
“Artistic Musical Conducting.”

For instruction in guiding a group of singers toward becoming a choir, we have assembled the five-volume series “Choral Techniques and Methods.

Artistic Musical Conducting by Donald Neuen, edited by Piero Bonamico
  
Vols 1 and 2   DVD   60 mins each  NTSC  No region code  $17.95 each, set of both volumes $29.95.

Volume One
In this introduction, we approach conducting as a high art to be mastered like any musical instrument. The baton is treated as an instrument in itself. Detailed commentary is provided on different ways to hold the baton, as well as how to use it most effectively to communicate with your ensemble. Neuen also discusses when to use just your hands, and how to use your body language to maximize effect. When you want to learn conducting from a master, this series is the essential resource.

Volume Two

This volume continues the discussion with conducting beat patterns and styles, from the basics to more complex issues including fermatas, preparatory beats, and cueing. Any musician who is ready to step up to the podium has an invaluable aide in Donald Neuen’s examples and demonstrations. He will prepare you to stand in front of any ensemble, whether instrumental or choral, and feel confident that your conducting is clear, effective, and in the best possible service to the  music.

 

Choral Techniques & Methods by Donald Neuen, edited by Piero Bonamico

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Five DVDs available individually or as a set.
60 mins each  NTSC  No region code  $17.95 each or $75.95 for the set.

 

1. Energy, Beauty, & Placement
This first methods video focuses on the foundational concepts of developing a fine-sounding choir: energy, beauty and placement.

2. Individual Section Characteristics
The second volume offers effective solutions to the most common challenges associated with each choral section.

3. A Unified Approach to Vowel Formation
This popular video shows how strident “ee”s, lackluster “ah”s, and poorly formed “oo”s can create havoc within your ensemble, and provides solutions to these impediments to fine choral sound.

4. The Power of Words
In this video we see that singers are not only technicians and musicians, but also dramatic actors who have the unique ability to communicate directly with their audience. You will learn how to help them better deliver the text, with understandability, meaning and color.

5. Rhythmic Interest & Forward Motion
The last volume of the series demonstates how to teach your singers to find and mark instances of forward motion in their scores, and show them how rhythmic interest and forward motion are common threads in all great musical performances.

 

All 7 DVDs, including the 5 Choral Techniques and Methods set plus the 2 Artistic Musical Conducting set, are also available as the Choral Conducting Masterset for $105.95.

 

 

Empower the Choir! ~ Concepts for Singers

Single copy $3.95; 5 copies for $15.00; 10 copies $25.00; 80 copies (full case) $160.00.
by Donald Neuen, contributing editor Piero Bonamico.
This is a soft-cover, thirty-nine-page color-illustrated text including singer-specific information from the Choral Techniques and Methods DVDs plus pronunciation guides to five foreign languages, a guide to essential score markings, and a section on understanding meter and conducting beat patterns. Because of its appealing appearance and clear explanations this book is suitable for, and currently being used by, singers from middle school through high school and college to adult community and church choirs.

Dr. Patrick K. Freer Video Series

Dr. Freer’s videos are primarily for teachers and conductors of young adolescent singers, roughly ages 10 to 15. A section of the third video, which includes interviews with some of the singers appearing in the video series, is meant to be shown in the classroom or at rehearsal.

Success for Adolescent Singers

Patrick Freer Video Series 
Success for Adolescent Singers ~ Unlocking the potential in middle school choirs by Patrick K. Freer, edited by Piero Bonamico
1. THE SINGER:  Finding the Adolescent Voice
2. THE CHOIR:  Designing the Optimal Rehearsal
3. THE INDIVIDUAL:  Exploring the Changing Voice

THE MANUAL

Three DVD Set  60 mins x 3  NTSC  No region code

Sold only as a set, including a booklet of instructions for the exercises. $49.95, whether packaged three to a case or in separate cases with separate booklets for library orders.

Conductor, teacher and researcher Patrick K. Freer explores practical solutions to common problems while focusing on an impromptu ensemble of everyday kids. These three fast-paced DVDs demonstrate familiar challenges and Freer’s real-time solutions to them.  You will see the process unfold as it actually happened, and see how Freer incorporates research on adolescent learning into the process of teaching choral music. When working with these young adolescents, Freer demonstrates clearly how challenges associated with male and female changing voices can be handled successfully. Interviews with the students present a valuable perspective on being an adolescent singer, and a special segment of Video 3 is designed to be shown in classrooms and choirs. The included manual contains additional materials with printed instructions for the exercises demonstrated throughout.

Many young adolescents simply stop singing during or after middle school.  Middle school teachers, and conductors of youth choirs, need to ensure that their singers are motivated to continue choral singing for a lifetime. These videos outline a philosophy, grounded in research, which embraces the challenges of adolescence and matches them with solutions. These ideas, along with the accompanying methods and strategies, will enable you to promote success for your singers and provide greater fulfillment for yourself.