Our Services

Choral ensembles can create powerful experiences of artistry, connection, and belonging, but often times their traditions and structures do not serve every singer equally. Blurring the Binary helps conductors, schools, community ensembles, arts organizations strengthen their programs through intersecting lenses of musical excellence, inclusive pedagogy and programming, and creative output. 

Melanie Stapleton is available for guest conducting engagements across a wide range of choral contexts, including K–12 schools, colleges and universities, honor choirs, community ensembles, and professional organizations. Her work on the podium is informed by her years as a Texas choral educator, during which her ensembles consistently achieved Sweepstakes at UIL, as well as her extensive study and performance under the batons of directors such as Dr. Ken Fulton, Dr. Allen Hightower, Dr. Jessica Nápoles, and Dr. Donald Nally. 

Her knowledge of vocal pedagogy and research on the voice--particularly the adolescent voice--underpin a rehearsal style that pairs musical rigor with a warm and joyful podium presence. 

An experienced choral adjudicator, Melanie is also available to evaluate festivals, lead ensemble clinics, and serve in related adjudication settings. Her feedback combines accuracy, specificity, and high artistic expectations with compassion, encouragement, and a realistic understanding of singers' developmental, musical, and educational contexts. 

We offer customized learning experiences for music educators, conductors, students, ensembles, and professional organizations. Sessions may address: 

• Supporting transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive singers or musicians
• Building inclusive and responsive ensemble cultures
• Voice classification and gendered assumptions about singers
• Navigating policy and restrictive educational environments
• Approaching social change responsibly through concert programming and classroom pedagogy
• Understanding LGBTQ+ identity and experience in choral settings
• Recruiting, retention, and effectively building relationships with choral students

Sessions are adapted to the needs and experience of each audience and grounded in current research, practical application, and lived experience.

Sometimes the directors of an ensemble want to become more inclusive but don't know where their current practices create barriers. We help programs examine the structures that influence singers' daily experiences, from auditions, pedagogical choices, voice placement, and section labels, to dress codes, names and pronouns, facilities, performance travel, and communication with ensemble stakeholders.

This work can include consultation, review of existing materials and procedures, facilitated conversations, or recommendations tailored to the realities and constraints of the partnering ensemble.

We advise conductors, schools, and organizations as they develop programs that are musically meaningful and aligned with their communities and missions. Areas of support may include repertoire and season planning, program themes, ensemble culture, audience engagement, artistic vision, and the contextual framing of performances. 

Rather than prescribing a single model, we help clients make intentional artistic and educational decisions that reflect their goals, singers, and available resources.

Blurring the Binary works with schools, universities, and community programs to review and strengthen choral curricula, course materials, ensemble handbooks, and program policies. Services may include curriculum development, assessment review, instructional resource creation, and recommendations for integrating gender diversity, inclusive pedagogy, and responsible social change into existing programs.

Our choral consulting is grounded in the belief that musical excellence and human dignity strengthen one another. We partner with clients who are prepared to move beyond symbolic inclusion and build practices that meaningfully support all of their stakeholders, not just some.