Online courses and webinars
Explore our online resources for purchase! Choose from our online courses for primary and secondary teachers, our Vocal health toolkit, or our bank of recorded webinars.
Members can buy these courses at a 25% discount: if you’re logged in, the discounted rate will appear automatically. Find out more about joining us here.
Leading singing in primary schools
Six recorded CPD sessions, forming an invaluable package of training for primary school teachers, covering vocal health, warm-up and repertoire ideas, conducting skills, singing in parts and using singing to teach the curriculum. Purchase individually or buy the full series.
Find out more & purchaseLeading singing in secondary schools
Seven recorded CPD sessions for secondary school teachers, forming a new package of CPD exploring how to build a whole-school singing culture, voice change, repertoire, how to engage singers, conducting skills and working with teenagers. Purchase individually or buy the full series.
Find out more & purchaseVocal health toolkit
Twilight, online training sessions for anyone working with singers, either in the community or in the classroom. The four sessions consider groups of singers in turn: from young singers through to the mature voice. Purchase individually or buy the full series.
Find out more & purchaseWebinar library
Explore our wide ranging bank of recorded webinars – just £8 per recording, FREE to members. Choose your interest topic, or just browse through. They are all between an hour and an hour and a quarter long. Find technical hints and tips, interviews with leading composers, sessions for everyone leading young singers, diversity in singing, or just enjoy listening to chats with some of our leading composers, conductors and performers. You can find any supplementary resources within the description of the YouTube video.
If you’re an abcd member, make sure you’re logged in, and you should see a ‘download’ button, rather than ‘add to basket’: just click on the button to access your chosen webinar (please note the price will appear as well as the button, but you will not be charged).
Conducting technique
Gesture and Metaphor: How do our choirs know what we mean? With Liz Garnett
How do formal conducting patterns relate to intuitively-felt musical shape? This webinar draws on the research behind Choral Conducting and the Construction of Meaning (2009) to offer a practical exploration of how physical gestures become musically meaningful, along with ideas to use in rehearsal to strengthen the communicative bond between conductor and singers. Price: £8.00
Text and Meaning with Nicholas Cleobury
This webinar took place in 2020 on Purcell’s birthday and the day before Britten’s: the perfect time to look at the setting of words to music. Arguably the two greatest setters of the English language, they form the background for this webinar on using text to widen the palette in singing and dig deeper into meaning and subtext, looking at the music from the text, through the composer’s eyes.Price: £8.00
The Culture Code: Implications for Choral Directors with Dr Liz Garnett
Daniel Coyle’s 2018 book documents the characteristic behaviours and belief systems of successful groups. What can choral conductors learn from his findings to inform how we run our rehearsals, whether live or online?Price: £8.00
Equity, Access & Diversity
Singing our Lives: A social justice choral project
June 2020. Presenter: Jeremy Haneman Guests: Hamsa Mounif and Mike Roberts. What wider role can choirs play in society? Can choirs be vehicles for social change? How can a choir authentically engage in a community and make a difference in the world? The attitude of people around the world to refugees and migrants is one that concerns many of us. Are we opening and welcoming to those who have lost their homes and lives or are we cynical and think they should go back where they came from?Price: £8.00
The LGBTQIA choir movement and what all choirs can learn from it
July 2020. Panel: Michael Betteridge Martin Brophy Andrea Brown Jane Edwardson Jeremy Haneman. From its origins in America fifty years ago, the LGBTQ+ choir movement has grown to have a worldwide reach and has remained at the forefront of political and social change. With over 50 LGBTQ+ choirs now running in the UK, this webinar explores the history of this choir movement and consider issues of repertoire, performance, organisational structures, access and inclusion. Why are LGBTQ+ choirs so important and what can all choirs learn from them?Price: £8.00
Singing Side by Side: Supporting Mental Health Inclusive Choirs
Singing Side by Side is a research project which aims to support mental health inclusive choirs which promote both wellbeing and the best group singing experiences "side-by-side" and will research the current experiences, needs and practice in the community through surveys, consultations and an action research programme. In this webinar, the research team presents a summary of preliminary findings including their systematic review and online survey.Price: £8.00
Dreaming and transgressing: the choral commons as radical possibility
with Emilie Amrein and André de Quadros. The Choral Commons is an American-based media platform that provides a space for singing communities to realize the liberatory potential of the ensemble as a site of radical imagining. Emilie Amrein and André de Quadros reflect on their experiences in the choral world, their longing for a choral world positioned for change based on justice and equity, and their vision for how The Choral Commons as a media initiative can provide a space for collective dreaming.Price: £8.00
Women in Music: successes and challenges
This webinar looks at how much valuable work is being achieved to redress inequality within the performing arts industry, and how far we still have to go. Bringing together an influential panel consisting of dynamic advocates for women in all aspects of music-making, this platform seeks to identify the successes and challenges of women in music. Panel: Dr. Kate Kennedy (Director of the Re:Dress Women Composer's Project), Gabriella di Laccio (Founder of DONNE: Women in Music), James Murphy (Chief Executive, Royal Philharmonic Society) and Cassie Raine (Co-Founder and joint CEO, PiPA - Parents & Carers in Performing Arts).Price: £8.00
What does diversity mean in choral music?
A Convention 2020 session. This panel session looks at the lack of racial diversity across the music sector; the pressing issues we need to consider in our own rehearsals, classrooms and in our repertoire choices. Chaired by Manvinder Rattan, the panel includes Naveen Arles and Nate Holder.Price: £8.00
Singing and mental health
A Convention 2020 session. How do we cope with mental health and well-being issues in our choirs? Singing is known to be a force for good and choirs bring people together to enjoy their company as well as the singing. Nicola Wydenbach explains how she approaches the stigma of mental illness in her Mind and Soul Choir. CEO of Making Music Barbara Eiffler talks about Making Music's Adult Music Learning Manifesto and the barriers to adults accessing musical activities with a focus on singing.Price: £8.00
Signed song, with Paul Whittaker
A Convention 2020 session. Find out more about using British Sign Language to perform songs. Paul uses pieces from the Friday Afternoons repertoire and exploring some of the new resources by Russell Hepplewhite with lyrics by Michael Rosen. Profoundly deaf, Paul is a pianist and organist and has worked for 30 years to raise both awareness and standards of signed song and educating (and entertaining!) people about music and deafness.Price: £8.00
Working with trans singers: practical approaches to musical inclusivity, with CN Lester
How do you work with trans singers? Do trans voices require specialist knowledge and niche approaches? Or can trans singers be included in broader musical cultures using the musical and communicative tools we already possess? In this webinar, CN Lester, trans singer and singing teacher, explores the best ways to work with trans singers - not as musical outsiders, but as valued colleagues and students.Price: £8.00
Introduction to DONNE, The Daffodil Perspective and Multitude of Voyces
an abcd Festival session from 2021 introducing the work of three organisations that seek to address gender, and racial, inequality in choral programming and repertoirePrice: £8.00
The Seven Inclusive Principles for Arts & Cultural Organisations
An abcd Festival session from 2021 exploring how to use these seven principles as the basis for planning, policy and practice. #WeShallNotBeRemoved is an intersectional UK Disability Arts Alliance formed as an emergency response to the pandemic, to advocate, to campaign and support D/deaf, neurodivergent and disabled creative practitioners and organisations through and after Covid19. The Seven Inclusive Principles for Arts & Cultural Organisations working safely through COVID-19 was designed to complement the guidance documents issued by UK Governments and sector support organisations. Michèle Taylor will talk through why the 7 Principles are as important and relevant now as they were when they were first created in summer 2020 and explore the principles, looking at how they can be used as the basis for planning, policy and practice.Price: £8.00
Music education
See our Leading the singing online recorded sessions for primary teachers and secondary teachers for a full range of CPD online training
Building Voices: The Future needs YOU! with Professor Martin Ashley and guest panel
Building Voices is a new initiative designed to bring together the experience of teachers and conductors who have inspired hundreds of young people to sing through the adolescent years of voice change. Hear how they have coped during the COVID-19 pandemic, how they are building strong, more resilient youth singing for the future and, most of all, how they can help and support you to become part of the bright new future of vibrant young voices with networking, support and training. Professor Martin Ashley and guest panel Rachel Staunton, Nav Arles, Ian Crawford, Angela Renshaw and Ben Hamilton.Price: £8.00
Building Voices: Two Sides of the Atlantic with Prof. Martin Ashley & Patrick Freer
For the second webinar in our Building Voices series, we welcome Patrick Freer, Professor of Music at Georgia State University, as our guest speaker. In this webinar, we'll be exploring:
What is cambiata? Are its origins in the United States, or Tudor England?
Key trans-Atlantic differences in choral traditions and practices.
Key differences in the organization of schooling.
Successful adaptations of cambiata in the UK.
Singing lessons and the compromises of singing in chorus.Price: £8.00
Songs and games from Southeast Asia
A Convention 2020 session. A hands-on Kodály workshop of musical game songs from the Southeast Asia region. With Susanna Saw, Vice-President for the International Kodály Society and Lecturer and Choir Director at the Faculty of Music at University of Malaya.Price: £8.00
Repertoire, composition and interpretation
Mini Masterworks: An exploration of four unaccompanied motets
with Neil Ferris & Peter Broadbent. Peter and Neil explore four mini masterworks:
Brahms: Warum ist das licht gegeben?
Stanford: Justorum animae (from Three Latin Motets)
Poulenc: Videntes Stellam (from Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël)
McDowall: I know that my redeemer liveth
Discover (or re-discover!) four gems from the unaccompanied choral repertory. The session includes guidance on score preparation (music, text, language), rehearsal planning, and ideas for applying useful vocal technical techniques in rehearsal.Price: £8.00
Exploring the process of commissioning with VOCES8
Paul Smith, CEO of the VOCES8 Foundation and co-founder of VOCES8 and Artist Manager Robin Tyson discuss commissioning new repertoire. From exploring ideas to speaking with composers; the composition process to performing, recording and publishing rights, Paul and Robin share their experiences and advice for ensembles looking at commissioning a composer.Price: £8.00
Giving Voice to my Music with David Wordsworth, Cecilia McDowall & Adolphus Hailstork
David Wordsworth’s book of interviews with 24 composers of choral music – Giving Voice to My Music – features in-depth conversations about the life and music of some of the most prominent names in choral literature. David talks to Cecilia McDowall and Adolphus Hailstork, both of whose music touches on issues of human endeavour and injustice, about their inspirations, their passions and the challenges they have faced working through the pandemic.Price: £8.00
Understanding and performing Messiah – performance and interpretation
A Convention 2020 online session. What do conductors of amateur choirs need to know about performing Handel’s masterpiece? This Convention 2020 session explores aspects of Messiah that many directors may be unaware of. Andrew Gant explains how different variants and versions of the oratorio can enhance a choir’s approach, Malcolm Bruno talks about different editions, Director of the London Handel Festival, Samir Savant, and conductors John Butt and Nicholas Cleobury discuss what is missing from the score such as dynamics and articulation, and what kind of orchestra amateur choirs should strive for.Price: £8.00
Stories and songs, with Sarah Quartel
A Convention 2020 session. Canadian composer Sarah Quartel joined us from across the Atlantic for our 2020 Online Convention , to share recordings of some of her pieces and the background to them, along with videos of virtual premieres during lockdown, plus a chance to ask her questions.Price: £8.00
The Composer’s Palette, with Nicholas Cleobury
Nicholas Cleobury talks about preparing for orchestral rehearsals and performances, and discusses Michael Tippett's A Child of Our Time.Price: £8.00
An introduction to diverse choral composers, with Elizabeth de Brito
How many composers can you name that are not white men? This session explores the wide world of choral music from across the globe, taking in composers from each continent. As well as checking out some new favourite pieces, Elizabeth looks at at some resources and tools for equitable programming going forward.Price: £8.00
Singing in foreign languages - don't be put off!
A Convention 2020 session. Many UK choirs and conductors shy away from languages other than French, German and Latin. Rather than singing in often ill-fitting English translations, why not try Rachmaninov's Vespers with guidance from Irina Walters? Or how is your Spanish? Mark Sproson provides invaluable advice on how English-speaking conductors can tackle a work like Morton Lauridsen's Soneto de la noche.Price: £8.00
Vocal technique and musicianship for choirs
Vocal shape-up: warm-ups for all with Suzie Vango
New and familiar warm-ups for all ages with singer, conductor and voice coach Suzzie Vango. Why do we do wake up slaps or pretend to blow bubbles? What's the point? Find out the answers in this webinar!Price: £8.00
Embedding musicianship into the choir rehearsal with Lucinda Geoghegan
Bringing the dots on the page to life: We have all worked with adults who have been in choirs for many years and have not yet been taught what the dots and lines on the score actually mean but reading music is a skill that should be available to all. This session aims to give musicianship ideas for your choir to help them safely enter the world of music literacy in a joyful way!Price: £8.00
Winter Warm Up Wonderland: Vocal Health, Warm Ups & the busy festive period with Charles MacDougall
Tenor, Choral Director and Vocal Coach Charles MacDougall presents this webinar on vocal health, thinking about the return to live rehearsals and the winter season. The session features practical work and exercises to take away for warming up (and down) properly, advice on general vocal health and some consideration of the specific demands/dangers of the festive period. This session will be useful for singers, coaches and choir directors alike.Price: £8.00
Modal doodles – warm-ups for everyone with Will Todd.
In this session from our online Convention 2020, composer and conductor Will Todd plays around with modes to warm up our voices, hearts and minds!Price: £8.00