2010 Conference - High School Men's Honor Choir

2010 Eastern Division ACDA
High School Men’s Honor Choir
Dr. Jerry Blackstone, Conductor
Michael  E. Copps, Accompanist
February 10-13, 2010
Philadelphia, PA

Eligibility and Expectations

• Men who are in grades 8-11 (grades 9-12 in February, 2010) may apply. 
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• Singers must be members in good standing of their sponsoring musical organizations. 
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• Singers are responsible for all expenses incurred, including the application fee ($30.00), registration fee ($270.00), hotel costs (see housing information) and personal transportation costs. 
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• Singers must be well-prepared on all music prior to arrival.  Re-auditions will take place before the first rehearsal on Wednesday, February 10.  Singers who are not prepared will not be allowed to participate in the honor choir. 
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• Singers must have an ACDA sponsor (or a representative named by the sponsor) staying at the Marriott or Courtyard who can provide ACDA with a working cell phone number. 
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• Singers are expected to abide by all ACDA Honor Choir policies. If rules are broken, singers will be sent home at their personal expense. 
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• Accepted singers are expected to register online and make online hotel reservations.  
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• All information regarding the Honor Choir experience will be communicated through the ACDA Sponsor. Singers should check regularly with the sponsor and on the Honor Choir Announcement webpage (acdaeast.org) for updated information.

Important Dates

• Results of the audition will be emailed to ACDA sponsors on or before September 1, 2009. Rosters will be posted on the ACDA website. Singers should check with their sponsors for results.

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Dr. Jerry Blackstone, Conductor

Jerry Blackstone is Director of Choirs and Chair of the Conducting Department at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance where he conducts the Chamber Choir, teaches conducting at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and administers a choral program of eleven choirs. In February 2006, he received two Grammy Awards (“Best Choral Performance” and “Best Classical Album”) as chorusmaster for the critically acclaimed Naxos recording of William Bolcom’s monumental Songs of Innocence and of Experience.  In 2006, the Chamber Choir performed by special invitation at the inaugural conference of the National Collegiate Choral Organization in San Antonio, and in 2003, the Chamber Choir presented three enthusiastically received performances in New York City at the National Conference of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). In addition to Professor Blackstone’s choral conducting work at the University, he has conducted operatic productions with the University of Michigan Opera Theatre, including productions of Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen and Strauss’s Die Fledermaus.

Professor Blackstone has appeared as festival guest conductor and workshop presenter in thirty states as well as New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Australia. Guest appearances for 2007-08 include festivals and conference presentations in New Zealand, New York, Hawaii, Texas, Ohio, Delaware, Florida, California, and Michigan. 

As conductor of the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club from 1988-2002, Professor Blackstone led the ensemble in performances at ACDA national and division conferences and on extensive concert tours throughout Australia, Eastern and Central Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States. The recently released UM Men’s Glee Club CD, I have had singing, is a retrospective of his tenure as conductor of the ensemble.

Santa Barbara Music Publishing distributes Dr. Blackstone’s acclaimed educational video, Working with Male Voices and publishes the Jerry Blackstone Choral Series, a set of choral publications that presents works by several composers in a variety of musical styles.

As a strong advocate for the training of young musicians, Professor Blackstone serves as Director of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance’s summer programs for high school students and adults.  This includes MPulse Ann Arbor, a series of music and performing arts camps for high school students from around the world held on the Ann Arbor campus.  He also leads the Michigan Youth Ensembles Program, offering advanced instrumental and choral ensemble opportunities in Ann Arbor during the academic year for talented high school students from throughout the state of Michigan. 

Michael E. Copps, Accompanist

Michael E. Copps is a graduate of the Crane School of Music at Potsdam State University in New York. He received his Bachelor of Music degree while studying Piano and Voice. He received a full assistantship for piano accompanying at the Saratoga-Potsdam Choral Institute working with Brock McElheran and Eugene Ormandy.

He has an extensive background in piano accompanying, including many years playing for the New York All-State Choirs. He served as pianist for the 1996 ACDA Senior Honors Choir in Philadelphia and the 2004 ACDA Junior High Honors Choir in Boston.

Mr. Copps is the Lower School Vocal Music Teacher and choral accompanist at Manlius Pebble Hill School, and also serves as organist and accompanist for the Eastwood Baptist Church in Syracuse. He has also been director and pianist for the summer theater programs at the school for over fourteen years, working with the Syracuse Opera Company, the Syracuse Childrens' Chorus, and the Syracuse Symphony Pops Chorus. He has been the pianist and Musical Director for Theater 90, and the Wits End Players.

A member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, MENC, NYSSMA, and ACDA, Mr. Copps also serves as a board member for the Onondaga County Music Educators Association. He currently resides in Liverpool, New York with his wife, Susan.

For more information, you may contact Jeff Welcher, High School Men’s Honor Choir Coordinator, at jwelcher@twcny.rr.com 

Last revised June 26, 2010