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General Information:
American Choral
Directors Association
Contact: Craig A. Gregory, Ed.D.
545 Couch Dr. / Oklahoma City, OK 73102-2270
405-232-8161 phone / 405-232-8162 fax
www.ACDA.org
Registration for the American Choral Directors Association’s (ACDA)
biennial National Conference opens October 2010.
We return to Chicago, Illinois the week of March 9-12, 2011. Chicago
was home to our 1999 National Conference, the highest attended event in
ACDA’s history. ACDA has learned important lessons from the past that
are now a strong part of our planning: the Conference will consist
of two tracks; the Conference will be overwhelmingly walkable;
the Chicago Hilton will house the majority of our attendees, exhibits
and sessions; the Chicago Palmer House will host Honor Choir rehearsals
and singers; performing venues are world-class.
One programmatic feature that does not change from ACDA Conference to
Conference is the utmost quality in choral performance. This year in
Chicago we will hear Maestro Helmuth Rilling conduct the Chicago
Symphony Chorus and Orchestra in Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah, with
soloists Annette Dasch, Birgit Remmert, James Taylor, and Markus Eiche.
58 choirs from 27 states in performance, including 5 International
Choirs (China, Canada, Latvia, Norway, Taiwan), Children/Youth,
Community, College/University, 2 Year College, High School, Junior
High/Middle School, Jazz, Men’s, Women’s, Church, and Synagogue choirs.
We will have 45 Interest Sessions enhancing professional development.
There will be 13 ACDA sponsored Choral Reading Sessions, and 18 ACDA
Industry-Member Publisher sponsored Choral Reading Sessions, multiple
Industry showcases, with all of the above featuring new technology as
well as new and proven choral literature for review. We will enjoy and
support 5 Honor Choirs consisting of Children/Youth (Henry Leck),
Middle School (Rollo Dilworth), Men’s Chorus (Peter Bagley), Women’s
Chorus (Lynne Gackle), and Collegiate Reading Chorus (Rodney
Eichenberger); and we will hear choirs perform in Chicago Symphony Hall
and Chicago Auditorium Theater, along with 8 additional unique Chicago
performance venues.
A strong feature of this year’s National Conference will be Friday’s
Jazz Night hosted at the Swissotel. The size and scope of the Jazz Choir
offerings has commanded its own hotel and concert space, featuring six
jazz ensembles—Gold Company, A Slice of Jazz, Pacific Standard Time,
Eleventh Hour, Central Washington University and American River
College.
The planning for various repertoire areas includes a “Music in
Worship” Immersion Day on Saturday, including a full day of unique
programming such as “I’m a Traditional Church Musician doing a
Contemporary Service” and “Helping Seniors Sing Well”. This immersion
day concludes with a “Music in Worship” concert in Chicago’s Rockefeller
Memorial Chapel on the campus of the University of Chicago, led by John
Ferguson and Anton Armstrong. In addition to this longstanding and
signature ACDA event, we will have ACDA’s premiere Shabbat Service at
the Anshe Emet Synagogue, with Cantor Alberto Mizrahi, Tenor, and
additional featured choirs. ACDA repertoire leaders have planned
innovative and interactive Roundtable events along with intentional
resource areas unique to ACDA’s Repertoire and Standards focus areas.
Youth and Student Activities Track for Chicago 2011 features
conducting Masterclasses with Maestro Helmuth Rilling, Maestro John
Nelson (with demonstration orchestra), and Maestro Rodney Eichenberger.
Once again, ACDA’s undergraduate and graduate Conducting Competition
will be a feature of the National Conference for our student
participants, with adjudicators Simon Carrington, Sandra Willetts, John
Nelson, William Hatcher, William Dehning, and Joseph Flummerfelt.
The uniqueness of the 2011 Chicago National Conference location
offers our attendees special presentations at the Spertus Institute of
Jewish Studies on “Choral Music in Germany: 1928-1948”. Similarly, we
will have the opportunity to explore resources for choral directors
through an Ethnic and Multicultural Perspectives’ Interest Session at
Chicago’s Center for Black Music Research. Additional international
explorations include Chinese and Latin American choral literature
sessions. And, in tribute to one of our past legends, Conference
attendees will have the opportunity to view the archival holdings from
the Margaret Hillis Collection held by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
As the American Choral Directors Association continues to think about
our collaboration with other organizations in the working out of our
ongoing mission and purposes, Conference attendees will enjoy
presentations from members of the National Association of Teachers of
Singing (NATS) in sessions such as “Choral Directors are From Mars, and
Voice Teachers are From Venus.” Robert Lynch, CEO of Americans for the
Arts, will bring a word from our national advocacy group on our opening
evening. The 2012 World Choral Music Symposium will be further advanced
at our Conference by the International Federation of Choral Music, and
our ACDA co-sponsored World Choir Games will be represented by the city
of Cincinnati and Interkultur, further advancing our world choral
initiative.
The Conference hotel for the 2011 National Conference is the Chicago
Hilton, convenient to all concert and educational events and in the
heart of Chicago’s arts district. The Chicago Hilton features three
Exhibit Halls, with over 250 choral industry exhibitors showcasing for
you. ACDA’s Repertoire and Standards areas will sponsor Resource Areas
placed among industry exhibits, and publisher-sponsored reading
sessions.
Founded in 1959, the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) is
a nonprofit music-education organization whose central purpose is to
promote excellence in choral music through performance, composition,
publication, research, and teaching. In addition, ACDA strives through
arts advocacy to elevate choral music's position in American society.
ACDA membership consists of choral directors who represent more than one
million singers across the United States. ACDA members teach choral
music in public and private schools - kindergarten through senior high
school - and at the college and university levels. They conduct a
variety of choral groups, including boychoirs, children's choirs, men's
and women's choruses, junior and senior high school choirs, college and
university choruses, ethnic choirs, vocal-jazz ensembles, and symphony
choruses. They also conduct choirs in their communities and in their
places of worship. Membership is established by submitting a membership
application and annual dues.
Here are some very important links explaining the process for submitting applications for the Honor Choirs which will be performing at ACDA's 2011 National Conference in Chicago.
Concordia Singers of the ittany Valley Children's
Choir (PA)
Lou Ann Shafer
Young People's Chorus of New York City (NY)
Francisco J. Núñez
Young New Yorker's Chorus (NY)
Michael Kerschner
Penn State University "Essence of Joy" (PA)
Anthony T. Leach
(Interest Session) "Joyful Noise" (NJ)
Allison Fromm and Alice Parker
Last revised May 01, 2012