Recently, a “Facebook post dialogue” of sorts went viral amongst music educators between Juilliard professor Geoffrey Keezer and James Falzone. Professor Keezer made a relatively short post related to the problems he is seeing in his teaching position related to reliability and accountability for students. It resonated with thousands of people as it got shared and discussed. But, it kind of had a “kids these days” feeling to it, so not everyone responded sympathetically. Enter, James Falzone. He crafted an essay in response encouraging a much more introspective approach to the very real issue that Professor Keezer was speaking to.
That’s where this episode comes in. I was clued in to this discourse when I saw it shared by this week’s guest, Dr. Jonathan Talberg. Jonathan has decades of experience teaching at the post-secondary level, so I asked him to join me to parse out some nuance in this discussion. We wrestle with questions about “tough love” and “holding students accountable.” How do these ideas mesh with this generation of students and their changing needs, values and sensibilities? And maybe most importantly, how do we navigate all of this while NOT lowering our academic standards?
Tune in, and have your thinking stimulated and challenged. Then, weigh in yourself on Facebook in the Choralosophers group or over on choralosophy.substack.com.
For future rehearsal clips, find me on TikTok, Insta and FB!
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Recipient of the President’s Award from the California Music Educators Association honoring “extraordinary accomplishments in music education,” Dr. Jonathan Talberg serves as Director of Choral Activities at the Bob Cole Conservatory, where he is conductor of the international award-winning Bob Cole Conservatory Chamber Choir and the CSULB University Choir. Recent career highlights include leading the Chamber Choir to first place at the Austrian Spittal International Choir Festival and the “Choir of the World” competition in Wales. Additionally, he and the choir have performed with groups as diverse as the Kronos Quartet, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Pacific Symphony and the Rolling Stones.
A passionate advocate for choral music education, Dr. Talberg is regularly engaged to conduct honor choirs across the US, including numerous all-state choruses, and National Association for Music Education conference choirs. His choirs from Long Beach State have performed in venues throughout Europe and Asia, including the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Great Hall of the People in China.
His professional experience includes appointments as Director of Music at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Bach Festival. He also served as Conducting Assistant to the Cincinnati Symphony and the Aspen Music Festival and as principal choral conductor at Arrowbear Music Camp in Southern California. A past-president of the California Choral Directors Association, he serves as an editor at Pavane Music Publishing, where a choral series dedicated to outstanding quality, collegiate-level music is published under his name. He taught high school choral music and drama for five years before moving into higher education.
Of the many hats he wears each day, the one he is most proud of is mentor to the next generation of choral musicians. Alumni of the Bob Cole Conservatory Choral Studies program are teaching at elementary, middle and high schools, churches, community colleges and four-year universities throughout the country. Scores of alumni are professional singers—in opera, musical theater, choirs, church music, jazz and pop.
Bob Cole Conservatory choral studies graduates are currently earning—or have finished—their doctorates at some of the finest institutions in the country, including the University of Michigan, the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, Indiana University, the University of Kentucky, the University of Iowa, the University of Houston, the University of Southern California and UCLA.
Dr. Talberg received his BM in Choral Conducting from Chapman University, where he received the Outstanding Alumnus in the Arts award in 2014. He earned his MM and DMA in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and completed a post-doctoral fellowship with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Pops, and the May Festival Chorus. His conducting teachers include Roger Wagner, William Hall, Earl Rivers, John Leman and Elmer Thomas.
Episode 76: Finding a Niche with John Rutter
Episode 75: The Delta Variables with Dr. Tracy Hoeg (part 2)
Episode 75: The Delta Variables with Dr. Tracy Hoeg (Part 1)
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Bite Sized Choral Tips: “Mindset” in Rehearsal with William Bennett
Bite Size Back to School Thoughts- “Cultural Custodians” with Zach Singer
Car Thoughts Live: What is Expertise in Choral Music?
Reimagining the Rubric For “Success” In Choral Careers
The Essential PD Library: Starting Your School Year With Momentum
Episode 74: Is the Choral Ecosystem a Political Monolith? With Reginal Wright
Episode 73: Love Supreme with Professor Teodros Kiros
Episode 72: Artists! It’s OK to be an Entrepreneur with Brian Witkowski
Car Thoughts: The Conductor is ALWAYS Right?
Episode 71: It’s All in the Story, with Cecilia McDowall
Episode 70: Legitimate Love and Suffering in the Music Classroom with Dr. Ryan Board
Episode 69: Higher Standards-Lower Anxiety
Car Thoughts: Is Social Media Steering or Reflecting Choir Conversations?
A Rhetorical Analysis of Toxic Discourses with Dr. Erec Smith
Episode 67 Part 2: Growing Access in a Greenhouse with Vince Peterson
Episode 67 Part 1: How to Create your Musician’s Credo with Vince Peterson
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