Le'go My Ego

The Balancing Act of a Choral Music Educator

By: Tod Fish

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

About the Book:

Balance significantly impacts choral directors’ professional and personal lives. As choral technicians, we balance our choirs for tuning and other musical aspects. As program leaders, we balance our position as an authoritative figure and an empath, cultivating relationships with students and families to build a program. As leaders of choral programs, we must balance our egos to avoid being hindered by perfectionism, comparison, and workaholism stemming from our fear of shame and vulnerability. This textbook will guide teachers of all experience levels toward finding balance in their professional and personal lives.

About the Author:

Dr. Tod Fish received his bachelor's and master's degrees in music from SFA. He studied conducting with Dr. Terry Eder and Dr. Tim King while studying voice with Dr. David Jones. In 2009, Dr. Fish completed his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Kansas under the tutelage of Dr. Paul Tucker and Dr. John Paul Johnson. Under the direction of Fish, the University of Kansas Men's Glee Club was the only collegiate choir selected for the 2008 Kansas Music Educators Association conference.

Before joining SFA's School of Music faculty, he enjoyed a successful 13-year career as a high school and middle school choral director. While teaching in Seguin, Round Rock, and Lubbock, his choirs earned numerous awards, significantly increased enrollment and saw several former students pursue careers in the music field.

Dr. Fish has conducted several Texas Music Educators Association All-Region Choirs and guest conducted in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Ohio. He was a Texas All-State Mixed Choir section leader in 2005 and 2012. Dr. Fish debuted as an international clinician through a series of virtual lectures for the VocalTerra International Choral Festival in 2020. This festival served choral directors from upwards of twenty nations on four continents.

Dr. Fish leads the Kantorei (treble choir) and the Singin' Axes (tenor-bass choir) at SFA. In 2020, Kantorei was the only collegiate treble choir to sing at the Little Rock, Arkansas, Southwestern American Choral Directors Association conference. It was the first time for a non-auditioned choir from SFA to perform at a peer-reviewed forum. Dr. Fish also leads the online Master of Music in Music Education (choral track), chorus master for SFA Opera, musical director for SFA School of Theater and Dance musical productions, and teaches courses in music education, choral repertoire, choral conducting, and Italian diction.

Dr. Fish is the founder and Artistic Director of the Stone Fort Chorale, a thriving community chorus for the greater East Texas area. Dr. Fish's family consists of his wife, Alice, and his son, Aaron.