CUEcast

Dr. Allen Hightower is currently Director of Choral Studies at the University of North Texas. Previous to his appointment at UNT, he was Director of Choral Activities at Luther College as well as Director of Choral Studies at Sam Houston State University. In this interview, Randy and Allen will discuss the challenges to choral directors going forward in and beyond the COVID pandemic and how directors can actively meet the needs of today while preparing for the future.

Four church student choir directors discuss their approaches at the beginning of a new school year. Each of these leaders has been known for creativity and innovation even before the pandemic began. All directors in the YouthCUE network will benefit greatly by hearing the discussion of these highly effective colleagues.

Two faith‐based community youth choir directors discuss their current programs and how they are seeking to keep their students connected during the pandemic. Hearing about the journeys of these directors will help all of us be better and do better jobs ministering to our students.

In the thick of beginning a new school year, Randy speaks with two outstanding high school choral directors, Anna Osterman and CUEcast returning guest Remington Foster, about the challenges they are facing and how they continue to move towards hopeful futures in their schools. In this episode, we discuss totally new challenges as well as new methods of teaching and connecting with students.

Randy looks back on the first thirty‐nine episodes of CUEcast, which together have brought us to the first anniversary of the podcast. What began as an every‐other‐week episode accelerated into an every‐week program at the beginning of the pandemic in March. We've learned a great deal in over these fifty two weeks, and there's much more to glean in the future.

Pamela Dunagan again joins Randy for a continuation of the discussion of Adolescent Sanctuaries. In this episode, the continued dialogue will revolve around equipping directors to help students stake out their own private safe places to enrich them and see them through life's difficult stretches. Join us for this down-to-earth conversation between friends addressing the deeper needs of students today.

Katy Lundeen directs a youth choir in San Diego, but her day job is in a large Japanese pharmaceutical company. Her area of expertise (other than directing student choirs) is in neuroscience biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases; which means she searches for and analyzes proteins that can tell us how drugs are interacting with the brain. Like a lot of us, Katy has been working from home for the past several months, and she's looking forward to when she might be able to work in the lab again.

In this episode, a YouthCUE alumna talks about her experience in youth choir and how it has prepared her to be on the front lines battling COVID-19. Erin Kirn was part of her youth choir from the start of 7th grade through the summer following her senior year of high school, and during this time she traveled across the United States participating in mission projects and concerts. Erin recounts her best youth choir memories and recalls some of the music which continues to support her work today.

Babs Baugh was a world-class stateswoman with a heart of gold, a talented musician, a dedicated fan of the arts, and a philanthropist to many deserving causes. She always seemed to have time to minister to friends who were hurting or listen to anyone who needed to talk, and she always knew how to find humor. To the end, she continued to fill her life with relationships old and new, ever thinking forward and giving her best energies to the people she dearly loved and cared about. This special episode, part spoken tribute and part musical salutation, represents some of the best of YouthCUE over the years to honor the woman who has largely made YouthCUE's ministry possible.

Babs Baugh was a world-class stateswoman with a heart of gold, a talented musician, a dedicated fan of the arts, and a philanthropist to many deserving causes. She always seemed to have time to minister to friends who were hurting or listen to anyone who needed to talk, and she always knew how to find humor. To the end, she continued to fill her life with relationships old and new, ever thinking forward and giving her best energies to the people she dearly loved and cared about. This special episode, part spoken tribute and part musical salutation, represents some of the best of YouthCUE over the years to honor the woman who has largely made YouthCUE's ministry possible.