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Workshops / Teacher Training

Cross-Choral Training(SM)

Dianne Berkun, Founder/Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy, teaches vocal and musicianship training workshops for choral directors, voice teachers, music educators and all those interested in furthering the development of young vocal musicians. Her method, developed with Voice Specialist Jeanette LoVetri, is called "Cross-Choral Training(sm)", and is respected as one of the best methods to teach vocal and musicianship skills in the world.

For the 2nd time, BYCA will present its Cross-Choral Training(sm) program in collaboration with New York University's Steinhardt School of Education from June 30-July 2, 2008. For more information visit www.steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/summer

The C-CT curriculum addresses:

• Going beyond “warming-up” to real vocal development
• Preparing young voices to sing any style of music with ease
• Empowering your students with music literacy skills
• Bringing out the best in your conducting to enliven your performances

Across the country choral conductors have the role, often by default, of primary voice and music educators for school-age children. In order to be effective communicators and facilitators, who are prepared to teach a wide variety of musical skills and techniques, we must have access to the latest musical and vocal tools. Most college choral conducting programs do not offer training in children’s voices, nor do they teach vocal technique for today’s contemporary commercial music, which makes very different vocal demands than classical music.

Cross-Choral Training(SM) (C-CT(SM)) is BYCA’s holistic approach to building vocal musicians who are capable of responding to the musical and expressive demands of diverse repertoire. It is both functional voice training, based upon voice science and health, and a comprehensive approach to teaching sight-reading and other musicianship skills. C-CT(SM) affects vocal changes at the physiological level, enabling singers to intentionally perform a variety of coordinated adjustments and vowel sound qualities. By focusing on free function, singers learn to sing in the healthiest sounds possible in a wide variety of styles.  

For the past 14 years the GRAMMY® Award-winning Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy, under the guidance of Dianne Berkun, has prepared hundreds of children to perform with symphony orchestras and recording artists to great acclaim. Through its C-CT(SM) program, BYCA singers consistently demonstrate that all children can reach the highest levels of artistic achievement in a wide range of music.

Core goals :

Musicianship and Music Literacy Skills: the pedagogy of music reading, sight singing, ear-training and basic music theory.

Score Analysis: how to analyze and prepare your scores for teaching and conducting.

Conducting Practicum: improve your skills by working with a master conductor

Vocal Pedagogy: learn how to healthily build the voices of your students so that they are able to sing all styles of music.

Voice Class: improve your skills by applying Cross-Choral Training(SM) techniques in your own singing by working with a master voice teacher.

Master Classes (conducting optional): try out all you have learned with support and feedback from our team of clinicians and special guests while you conduct the BYCA Institute chorus.