Perceptions of Choral Diction Curricula

This study proposed to provide in-depth insights into the current status of the efficacy of diction curricula, as well as to seek ways for enhancing the curricula to better support a culturally diverse musical experience. 21st century choral music encompasses languages and music from all over the world. While this diversity is crucial to the idea of a global choral community, it necessitates choral conductors to be scholars of diction, which includes creating the appropriate sounds for a given language. For a conductor to confidently perform in global languages requires skills, resources, and tools. This study examined the diction coursework that choral musicians are exposed to within the three-degree levels – undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral – and further investigated the efficacy of the coursework as it applies to the modern choral folder. To accomplish this, the study employed a mixed methods research design by conducting both qualitative and quantitative survey, constructed and distributed via Qualtrics, of recent graduates of choral conducting programs largely in the Southern Region of the United States. The study’s findings reveal a need for a restructuring of diction curricula to better serve the diverse languages of the contemporary choral folder. This dissertation includes an appendix to guide readers through resources intended to aid conductors in better instructing students in the languages of the contemporary choral folder with a specific focus on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a globally-accepted system of characters for codifying the phonemes of the world’s languages.