ChoralQuest

Program Description:

ChoralQuest^TM is an exciting series of new music and accompanying curricula for middle-level choir, is a program published by the American Composers Forum. The series was started as a response to feedback from music educators that there is a pressing need for new, fresh choral music. The heart of this program is new works written by a diverse group of leading American composers who have created challenging pieces that are a true departure from standard middle school repertoire. Based on the successful decade-long BandQuest® program, the compositions are accompanied by curriculum materials designed to assist students as they learn the music and to integrate each piece with non-music studies. Downloadable curriculum materials are currently in development. The ChoralQuest series is representative of the immense range and richness of American musical traditions. It gives students tools with which to create music, encouraging them to explore and to appreciate historical and cultural contexts.

The ChoralQuest Series

Alice Parker
Dancing Songs

Stephen Paulus
Through All Things

Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate
Coming in 2012

Exclusively distributed by Hal Leonard Corporation

Click here to order a piece in the series

Click here to request a complimentary CD of the pieces in the series

FAQs

The ChoralQuest Advisory Committee

Anton Armstrong - Conductor, St. Olaf Choir
Bruce Becker - President, Minnesota ACDA
Bryan Blessing - Choral Director, Oak Grove Middle School, Bloomington, MN
Nyssa Brown - Music Education Coordinator/CAPP Coordinator, Perpich Center for Arts Education, Golden Valley, MN
Emily Crocker - Vice President of Choral Publications, Hal Leonard Corporation; Founder, Milwaukee Children’s Chorus
Michael Culloton - Artistic Director, Honors Choirs of Southeast Minnesota & Choral Arts Ensemble, Rochester, MN
Rollo Dilworth - composer, conductor, clinician, and Director of Choral Activities and Music Education at the North Park University School of Music, Chicago
Karen P. Fulmer - National President-Elect Designate of the American Choral Directors Association
Diana Leland - Immediate past-President Minnesota ACDA; national ACDA steering committee
Eugene Rogers - Associate Director of Choirs , University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Mary Alice Stollak - Michigan State University, retired

The ChoralQuest Curriculum

The national standards for arts education make it even more imperative that teachers have access to curriculum materials that link music with other subjects. Through the ChoralQuest curriculum, students will gain a richer and deeper understanding of the music they rehearse and perform. Free downloadable curriculum materials will soon be available for each piece in the series. ChoralQuest curriculum is based on use of the Facets Model.

To learn more about the Facets Model, you may download the PDF below.

Facets Model

The ChoralQuest Curriculum Team

Joanna Cortright, arts education specialist at Perpich Center for Arts Education. The Perpich Center for Arts Education is a Minnesota state agency serving school districts, educators, and artists. Cortright has directed the arts-infused teaching in learning institute sponsored by the Perpich Center for Arts Education and University of Minnesota for eight years. Other recent positions include arts coordinator and music specialist at Linwood A+ Elementary School, an arts-infused public school in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and Assistant Director for MacPhail Center, a Twin Cities Community School for the Arts. A frequent speaker and consultant, Ms. Cortright has presented numerous workshops for educators throughout the region, and written curriculum for arts organizations and school districts. In February 1995, the Minnesota Music Education Association named Ms. Cortright Minnesota Classroom Music Educator of the year.

Robin Lorenzen, Music Educator, Arts Coach and Extended Day for Learning Elementary Instrumental Music Coordinator for Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS). Robin Lorenzen has taught choral music, general music, musical production, and music technology in the Saint Paul Public School District for 25 years. She developed and directed comprehensive choral music programs at both Harding Senior High School and Capitol Hill Magnet School for the Gifted & Talented. She was trained through VoiceCare Network and specialized in the changing adolescent voice. Ms. Lorenzen has served on the Educational Advisory Board of the Ordway Performing Arts Center and held music leadership positions in the Saint Paul Schools throughout her tenure. She was recently published in the MMEA journal on the new Minnesota Music Standards, their implementation in SPPS and their alignment to Bloom’s Taxonomy. Ms. Lorenzen has been on many curriculum writing teams over the years and most recently has become certified as an educational facilitator through the Leadership & Learning Center, running teacher trainings on curriculum, assessments, and data collection for PLC (Professional Learning Communities) work with the Saint Paul Arts teachers.

For more information contact:

Suzanna Altman
Email Suzanna
(651) 251-2840

Funded by generous gifts from:

The Katherine B. Andersen Fund of The St. Paul Foundation