Ep #16: Maria A. Ellis: What If Classical Music Is A Pop Secret?

You can feel when a choir rehearsal has real trust, and you can also feel when singers are holding back. Maria A. Ellis, St Louis-based choral conductor, educator, and founder of Girl Conductor, joins us to get practical about how we create rehearsal rooms where singers take risks, learn faster, and actually enjoy the work.We talk through high-impact rehearsal strategies that start with comfort and connection, then build towards excellence. Maria shares her “favourite auntie” leadership mindset, why children often lean into new ideas more easily than adults, and how we can normalise mistakes without lowering standards. One line lands especially hard: make the mistake loud, because we cannot fix what we cannot hear. If you lead a youth choir, school choir, community choir, or chamber ensemble, these ideas translate straight into better pacing, clearer feedback, and stronger sound.From there, we move into inclusive repertoire and genre crossover with integrity: gospel, classical, pop, and musical theatre. Maria’s Bach And Beyoncé approach shows how to make classical music relevant by revealing its fingerprints in modern music, film scores, and sampling culture. We also dig into teaching music theory and intervals using references students already know, treating style as the character of the music rather than a box labelled “genre”, and helping singers connect to lyrics even when the text sits outside their belief system.If you’re ready to sharpen your choral conducting, expand your repertoire choices, and help young singers find confidence and style, press play. Subscribe, share with a fellow choir director, and leave us a rating and review so more conductors can find the show.***More about Maria A. Ellis:website: www.girlconductor.comFacebook: @girlconductorInstagram: @girlconductorContact the StudioSupport the show***Resources:The Choir Director Podcast — helping you build stronger choirs, run better rehearsals, and create outstanding musical experiences.Website: thechoirdirectorpodcast.comMailing List: Join our NewsletterFollow Russell Scott:Website: russellscott.orgInstagram: @russellscottofficialFacebook: facebook.com/russellscottofficialX: @russellscottuk(c) Russell Scott 2026.  All rights reserved.