Dear Choir Friends,

By now you and your students are deep into rehearsing the audition pieces for the 2014 All-State Choir. Dr. David Brunner, professor at University of Central Florida in Orlando, will be our clinician. It has been my privilege to communicate with Dr. Brunner about the music and experiences we will share. Here is a link to his bio/photos to share with your students: davidbrunner.com/meet-david

AUDITION UPDATES: Note that the audition deadline is OCTOBER 11.

Please check the KMEA website for complete information on this year's selections.

If you were able to order the Arista edition of the "Veni Sancte Spiritus" please continue to use it if you like—the voice parts are identical to the CPDL version. Dr. Brunner will be using a reduced version of the string parts at the concert. I ordered the string parts for use at home.

I always enjoy working on a piece with the composer; the time spent on "Cloth of Glory" will be a treat when Dr. Brunner gives us his compositional insights. I bought the Atlanta Sacred Chorale's iTune performance; Dr. Brunner recommended it. (They also recorded "Psalm 57").

Stacey Gibbs, the arranger of "I Don' Feel No Ways Tired," is very excited about his work being featured—if possible, he plans to come to a rehearsal to talk with the students.

At our recent KCDA convention, we experienced great ideas from clinicians Patrick Freer, Tom Carter and Tony Silvestri, along with women's choir director Pearl Shangkuan. They were great communicators and inspired me to let the information flow to my students more clearly and in turn, help them sing the message in a moving way. Each year I choose an overall theme to provide focus for the students' learning and Tony Silvestri helped when he made an astounding statement: "Music +Text = Magic." Voila! My theme! In these times of common core integration, I believe this will provide a logical pathway to help our students create internal meaning and external magic!

Dr. Brunner's interest session on Friday afternoon at the ISW will continue this idea. He has chosen the following topic: EMOTIONAL GEOGRAPHIES: It's Not What She Taught Me, It's How She Made Me Feel, a reflective session on our shared journey.

Thank you for being a part of the Kansas choral community. I look forward to our experience together in February! In the meantime, please contact me with any questions or concerns.