Any listener can tell when a singer has a personal connection to the piece being sung. Without it, the piece seems rote, emotionless and less powerful. That’s why choir teacher Lara Wolford created a lesson to bring meaning to every choral piece she assigned to her students. As a result of attending Muse Machine’s Summer Institute Mythology and Metamorphosis: Enduring Transformational Journeys, Lara was inspired to use lyrical analysis to help students form a more personal connection to a performance piece. Through a Mad Lib activity and pre and post recordings, Lara demonstrated to her students how their performance improved by tying the lyrics to something they valued.

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