The Choir Director Podcast

Your choir can sing the right notes and still feel disconnected. The missing piece is often not “more rehearsal”, but better ensemble connection: eyes up, bodies engaged, breath shared, and responsibility spread across the group. I’m joined by Dr Gary Safeman, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Trinity University, to explore the practical science behind what happens when singe...

A choir can rehearse for years and still feel like a group of strangers who happen to sing in the same room. The moment you take singers on the road, something changes: conversations deepen, trust builds faster, and the music starts to sound like a shared commitment rather than a weekly task. We talk through how choir travel and choir tours can be genuinely transformational without being extravaga...

Most conducting careers do not begin with a neat roadmap. They begin with a choir, a spark of curiosity, and a moment where you realise you would rather shape the sound than blend into it. We’re joined by Tori Longdon, Principal Conductor of the Covent Garden Chorus and Associate Chorus Director of the London Philharmonic Choir, to talk about what it really takes to build a respected, sustainable...

Most choirs don’t need more rehearsal time. They need rehearsals that feel alive. Russell Scott is joined by choral conductor, composer and educator Peter Futcher of Choir Matters to explore what actually lifts a choir from competent to compelling, even when you’re working with busy adults who arrive tired, stressed and short on headspace. We talk about playfulness as a serious tool for better sin...

The fastest way to improve a choir is not a new warm-up or a clever baton trick. It is building trust so singers feel safe enough to actually sing. Russell Scott sits down with Susan Cox, director of the Grand Union Community Choir, to explore what community choir leadership looks like when you take confidence, wellbeing, and real life seriously, especially in mixed ability groups. Susan shares wh...

You can feel when a choir rehearsal has real trust, and you can also feel when singers are holding back. Maria A. Ellis, St Louis-based choral conductor, educator, and founder of Girl Conductor, joins us to get practical about how we create rehearsal rooms where singers take risks, learn faster, and actually enjoy the work. We talk through high-impact rehearsal strategies that start with comfort a...

A choir can sing accurately and still leave an audience cold, so what actually creates a performance that feels alive? We sit down with Oliver Rudin, a Basel-based artistic director who works deeply with youth ensembles and the Basel Boys Choir, to get practical about the decisions that make a choir sound confident, expressive, and genuinely surprising. We talk choral programming across styles, in...

Pop and rock choir can sound electrifying or it can sound like a classical choir wearing a pop costume. We sit down with Craig Lees, Principal Lecturer in Popular Voice at Leeds Conservatoire and a leading figure in contemporary pop choral work, to get specific about what actually makes popular music feel authentic when sung by a choir. We dig into the nuts and bolts that choir directors and vocal...

A youth choir doesn’t thrive because you pick the perfect repertoire. It thrives because rehearsal feels like a place young singers choose to return to, week after week, even when life gets messy and confidence wobbles. I’m joined by Berlin-based choral director Johannes David Wolff, artistic director of Vokalhelden, the children’s and youth choir programme founded on the initiative of Sir Simon R...

A choir warm-up on a whiteboard turns into a viral moment, then into a teaching philosophy. We sit down with Myles “It’s Mr Finn” Finn to talk about what actually makes singers lean in: not performative energy, but real craft, clear standards, and a teacher who shows up as themselves. If you lead a school choir, conduct a community ensemble, or juggle show choir and musical theatre, this conversat...

The scariest moment for many choir directors is not the high note, it is the first time you ask the group to move and everyone suddenly forgets how to stand. We sit down with choir choreographer Daniel Raaflaub to get practical about choir choreography, staging, and how to build confident stage presence without turning your ensemble into a “dance troupe”. Daniel shares how his background in perfor...

Music can be the loudest thing in the room and still not be the point. On his birthday, Russell goes solo for a personal, practical reflection on what truly drives choirs, festivals, mentoring, concerts, and all the unseen choices behind great musical experiences. We talk about why choral conducting is really people work, and break down three forces that shape every strong ensemble: connection, tr...

A choir can sing the right notes and still leave an audience cold. That’s why I loved sitting down with Berlin choral musician and choir leader Simon Berg to get practical about the one thing that changes everything: how singers feel and listen while they sing. Simon’s work connects ensemble blend, tuning, and expression into one skill set, so we stop treating “technical problems” like isolated fi...

You can hear it the moment a choir stops “trying hard” and starts making sound with intent. That shift is what I chase with guest Chris Maunu, a conductor, educator, and composer based in Portland, Oregon, with nearly two decades of experience building choirs from the inside out. We talk about the real-world craft of improving choral sound in ways you can repeat tomorrow: better breath support, cl...

If you have ever watched a school choir rehearsal lose five minutes to late arrivals, missing copies, and low energy, you already know the real challenge is not musical talent. It is leadership, structure, and buy-in. I sit down with James Manwaring MBE, Director of Music at Windsor Boys’ School and a major voice in UK music education, to talk about what actually works when you are leading teenage...

Four singers above a pub can turn into 18 choirs and 750 members, but only if you build something people want to come back to every week. We sit down with Abi Gilchrist, founder and director of UK Soul Choirs, to get practical about what actually makes an inclusive, non-audition community choir work without letting standards slide. We talk choir leadership that goes beyond waving your hands: how t...

A gospel choir in Ireland might sound unlikely until you hear how it actually happens: one person asks to sing, a choir director says yes, and a community begins. I’m joined by Keara Sheeran, a choral practitioner and gospel music specialist based in Galway, who has spent more than 25 years championing gospel music and connecting directors across Europe and the US. We talk about what “gospel” real...

Rehearsals don’t fall apart because the music is too hard. More often, they fall apart because the room leaks time, focus, and respect in tiny, repeatable ways. I’m Russell Scott, and I’m putting a spotlight on the unglamorous topic that quietly decides whether your choir rehearsal feels calm and musical or chaotic and exhausting: rehearsal etiquette. I share my top ten rehearsal etiquette rules f...

What does it really take to lead hundreds of everyday voices into a single, confident sound—and keep joy at the centre week after week? We sit down with Scotland-based Rock Choir leader and arranger Jen Bonnar to unpack the craft behind community singing that changes lives. From a childhood in classical choirs to careers in electronics engineering and learning and development, Jen’s unusual path b...

What if your warm-up wasn’t just about waking up voices, but snapping a whole room into one mind? We sit down with Danish conductor, educator, and arranger Jonas Rasmussen—leader of Academic Choir Aarhus and a youth mixed choir, and the creator behind millions of views of rehearsal craft—to unpack how synchronicity, risk, and razor-sharp cues turn good choirs into magnetic ensembles. Jonas shares...

Ever walked out of rehearsal wondering why you worked so hard yet moved so little? We kick off The Choir Director Podcast with a clear promise: cut the chaos, save time, and lead with calm confidence using practical tools you can try this week. From community ensembles to professional groups, we focus on simple, proven frameworks that make choirs sound better fast—without burning you out. We share...