IFCM - International Federation for Choral Music

May 13

ACDA Publication: Women Conductors of College Men’s Choirs – Redefining the “Brotherhood”

Published: May 13,2024

The International Journal of Research in Choral Singing (IJRCS) is ACDA’s scholarly publication that welcomes research studies that apply rigorous, systematically grounded methodologies, either quantitative or qualitative, to investigate phenomena of potential interest to all who sing in, work with, or are otherwise interested in choral ensembles. Here is the abstract from an article written by Meg Stohlmann titled: “Women conductors of college men’s choirs – redefining the ‘Brotherhood’”.

ABSTRACT

Collegiate men’s choirs have unique and storied traditions dating back to the Civil War and the founding of many prominent colleges in the United States (Albinder & Jones, 2008). Historically, these ensembles created a place for fraternity, brotherhood, and social outlets for young men (Jones, 2010). Consequently, there are few documented instances of women conducting collegiate men’s choirs (VanWeelden, 2003). The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of women conductors of college men’s choirs. This research was guided by the following questions:

How did women choral conductors describe their motivations for working with college men’s choirs?
How did these conductors describe the rehearsal environment in their college men’s choir?
And finally, how did these conductors define the challenges of working with male singers? The following areas provided focus for themes that emerged from the conductor interviews: their motivations, the rehearsal environment, and the challenges associated with a lack of opportunity and quality literature.

Visit https://acda.org/archives/6165 to read this article.