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, cleaner vowels, less tension, and more singer ownership.
Chris shares how an artistry-first mindset earns trust quickly, especially with youth choirs. Instead of opening rehearsal with the hardest passage or a wall of technical notes, he looks for an early moment where singers can make music straight away. From there, we get practical about rehearsal pacing, repertoire sequencing, and how to keep young people engaged without lowering standards. If you lead a community choir, school choir, or auditioned ensemble, the same principles apply.
We also dig into vocal technique in plain language: how to help singers feel rib expansion, how to connect airflow to phrasing, and how to address jaw and tongue habits that choke resonance and tuning. We discuss changing voices too, including developing boys’ falsetto to find mix voice, and guiding girls towards head voice without fear of the upper range. If you want clearer intonation, freer tone, and more confident singers, this one is packed with usable cues.
Subscribe and follow so you do not miss future conversations, then share this with a fellow choir director and leave a rating and review to help more conductors find the show.
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Follow Chris Maunu:
website: www.chrismaunu.com
YouTube channel: @chrismaunu1195
Instagram: @chrismaunu
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Resources:
The Choir Director Podcast — helping you build stronger choirs, run better rehearsals, and create outstanding musical experiences.
Follow Russell Scott:
- Website: russellscott.org
- Instagram: @russellscottofficial
- Facebook: facebook.com/russellscottofficial
- X: @russellscottuk
(c) Russell Scott 2026. All rights reserved.
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