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Another Step Forward – Online Honor Choir Application

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ACDA makes another technological step forward this month with an online application process for the 2011 National Conference in Chicago, IL.  Read all about it here.
 
 
ACDA partnered with “OpusEvent,” a company that also hosts online auditions for the MENC Honor Choirs and the All-American Marching Band.  Here is the press release for ACDA, as seen on the website:
Snail mail, CDs and cassettes have served their time well in the Honor Choir application process. We are proud to announce the online Honor Choir application as a collaborative effort between the Honor Choir and Technology Committees in conjunction with OpusEvent. OpusEvent also hosts online auditions for the MENC Honor Choirs and the All American Marching Band. Likewise, judging will no longer require being held up in a hotel room with CD and cassette players along with stacks of recordings and paperwork. It’s all paperless and on line. Visit www.acda.org/honor-choirs for a full listing of videos, instruction aids and the technical help desk ‘panic button.’
Ryan Holder, a member of the ACDA Technology Committee, created two instructional videos to aid in the process:
 
 
 
 

I was privileged to help with the process with a video explaining the process of uploading the MP3 file.  Make sure you begin the application process after logging into the ACDA site!
 
 
 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. All interesting insights, Tom!
     
    I’d be interested in what the rest of the choral community thinks about this, especially those who are interested in singing at ACDA Conferences.

  2. Philip,
     
    By “blind,” do you mean such that the identity of the group would be hidden — that they’d be anonymous (to prevent un/conscious bias or favoritism)? I can see why this would be important, so would suggest the following:
     
    1) The videos could be shot without the director in the frame
    2) In a neutral location (no famous landmark associated with the choir’s school…)
    3) With the choir wearing neutral clothing (no school-associated outfits or costumes)
     
    If that weren’t enough to insure impartiality, there could be two sets of “ratings.” The judges first just listen (blindly) to the recordings and pick their top 30, let’s say. Then they turn the video on and watch the groups (filmed as suggested above), selecting the most expressive/engaging 15 from their 30 which ranked highest in terms of sound.
     
    I’m just brainstorming, here. I’m sure other people could come up with more ways to do it. One thing I’m confident about, though — this would have the potential to raise awareness and evolve the rehearsal/performance paradigm more powerfully than anything else I can think of.
     
    Warm regards,
     
    Tom

  3. Tom,
     
    Wouldn’t that make it impossible to have blind auditions?  That has always been a crucial component to every ACDA conference.
     
    philip

  4. Peter,
     
    First of all, I confess that I’ve been thinking of CHOIR applications rather than individuals applying for honor choirs this whole time!! Yikes! 🙂
     
    So, if anyone is reading this, please disregard and/or reframe my main point: Those choirs interested in performing at ACDA conventions should submit a video audition.
     
    I completely agree that individuals should only be required to submit an mp3.
     
    Do we still have anything to discuss?
     
    Cheers!
     
    Tom

  5. Tom,
     
    My “prejudices and assumptions” comment was an overly wordy of saying that expression is really subjective; one person’s “over the top” may be another person’s “dull.”  
     
    My concern for the video comes when I consider the singers that have no such training in expressing themselves, and suddenly are expected to produce for an audition. Are they to be punished in the form of not making the choir if their talent is comparable to a peer but they don’t exhibit the same expressionistic tendencies in their video?  

  6. Peter,
     
    Your experience of how young singers have been “conditioned to stand rigidly at attention and focus on making the best sound” resonates with my own. While more than a few choirs are now moving beyond that, I agree that many (if not most) choirs are still living within that paradigm.
     
    As to the rest of your points, I’m a little confused because I AGREE with you that the “training” for expressiveness should be started at the local level. What better way to encourage and motivate that training than to raise the bar via the video application for honor choirs?
     
    I’m also not sure what you mean when you say we must “put our own prejudices and assumptions aside when evaluating singers.” Could you say more about this?
     
    The irony is that it takes about an hour to empower choirs to “sing with expression,” so this goal is not one that should take decades or even centuries to achieve. We can do it in a very short time, if we collectively raise the awareness. And again, what better way to do this….
     
    All my best,
     
    Tom

  7. Tom,
     
    While well-intentioned, I think your idea is a bit flawed; it has been my experience that pre-collegiate singers have been conditioned to stand rigidly at attention and focus on making the best sound, leaving little credence for expressivity through facial and bodily expression.  To use a video as a means of judging a 17-year-old’s expressive potential is to also put our own prejudices and assumptions aside when evaluating singers.  The training should not be left to the clinicians at ACDA conferences, but rather started at the local level. One must also consider the mindset of a singer as a soloist, as opposed to being a chorister.  I myself am more comfortable expressing myself within the confines of a group than onstage by my lonesome.  Just some things to consider.

  8. Austen,
     
    I hear you, but I’m thinking that technology, availability, and pricing is such that this wouldn’t be a burden in the slightest. Most choirs have members whose families own video cameras, and those that don’t can rent them cheaply. And surely the vast majority of schools have access to video cameras — at the local or district level.
     
    Even an iPhone would do the trick — Eric Whitacre posted an iPhone video of his recording session in London a few days ago, and both the sound and picture quality was EXCELLENT!
     
    Cheers!
     
    Tom

  9. Tom –
     
    I completely agree with your thoughts on the 2009 National ACDA Convention and the idea of sending in video auditions is an intruiging one.
     
    My concern is that with budgets being cut left and right, only certain organizations with the right resources would be able to afford the equipment and technology to make videos of honor choir applicants.
     
    Austen

  10. Congrats and thanks to all in the ACDA leadership who continue to advance both technology and best practices. This will surely make the entire honor choir application process so much more user-friendly!
     
    And speaking of moving forward…
     
    I could just be wishfully thinking, but there seems to be a burgeoning movement toward choirs which are not only technically excellent, but also much more engaging and engaged (facially, physically, mentally, emotionally…). Many of the choirs at ACDA national 2009 were “out of the box” in this regard, and delighted those of us who got to experience them.
     
    I can think of no better way to motivate this paradigm shift than to require videos of honor choir applicants. I believe this would precipitate a hyper-speed evolution, leading to “survival of the most authentically expressive” groups. Not only would directors be inspired to front-load their thinking if they were going to apply, but once they got to the conventions all the choirs would be modelling this ideal.
     
    It would only be a matter of years before the national choral consciousness would turn on its head, and singers, directors, and audience members would reap the benefits.
     
    Anybody else talking about this? Directors? Policy makers?
     
    All my best,
     
    Tom
     
    Tom Carter

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