Collaboration at Work

One of the strongest affirmations of one of our American Choral Directors Association strategic imperatives came in March of this year at our Biennial National Conference in Chicago as we witnessed collaboration in action. The overwhelming moments of inspiration and invigoration provided by this significant event were due, in large part, to our work in the area of creative collaboration.

The thrilling performances we heard by the Grammy Award Winning Chicago Symphony Chorus and Orchestra resulted from two years of creative collaboration with the administration of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which included artistic collaboration as well as administrative negotiation with the Chicago Symphony organization and Chicago’s Orchestra Hall.

The invigorating performances we heard by our various international choirs were brought about by our experiences through the World Choral Symposium and our network of relationships throughout the International Federation for Choral Music. In addition, IFCM chose ACDA’s Chicago National Conference as the site for their Executive Committee Meeting leading up to this summer’s WCS in Argentina. This collaboration further resulted in over twenty countries represented in the registrants for ACDA’s signature Conference event, and everyone would agree that we were all richer due to these guests honoring us by their presence in Chicago.

The stimulating educational Interest Sessions and other performances were elevated due to ACDA’s collaboration with the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, the Center for Black Music Research, the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the Margaret Hillis Collection in the Rosenthal Archives, Anshe Emet Synagogue, Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at the University of Chicago, VanderCook University, DePaul University, Roosevelt University, and First United Methodist Church. As a result of their cooperation and collaboration, Chicago became much more than simply a vehicle for us to do our business and hold our event; Chicago contributed to our learning and artistic understanding due to our mutual investments made in art and education.

Our choral industry partners collaborated in an unprecedented way, as choral reading sessions, resource centers, technological innovations, and additional choral performances were made possible by their expertise, generosity, and dedication to our shared mission. Those of us that arrived early were treated to Eric Whitacre’s choral opera Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, made possible in a conference prelude program by industry collaboration. Our collaboration with publishers resulted not only in our ACDA sponsored choral reading sessions, but also for the first time in collaboration, publisher sponsored reading sessions. Our delight in our daily activity was also enhanced by industry sponsored ACDA awards, conference amenities, services, food, drinks, and receptions due to collaboration.

Due to ACDA’s collaboration with Americans for the Arts, our first night’s concert session began with a stirring presentation by Robert Lynch, challenging us to continue our hard work in the area of arts advocacy. Lynch encouraged ACDA to continue this partnership through the Arts Action Fund and other Americans for the Arts initiatives. ACDA is a proud National Cosponsor of the Americans for the Arts Advocacy Day activities in Washington, DC this month.

The ongoing internationalization of ACDA’s program offerings has been enhanced by collaboration with our travel and festival members. For the first time, ACDA will be able to let our Honor Choir efforts live beyond a Conference through the first ACDA National Youth Choir tour to London In 2012. In addition, the World Choir Games will take place for the first time in a U.S. city due to ACDA’s creative collaboration with Cincinnati and INTERKULTUR. It is invigorating to witness the energy created with our young choral singers as these programs take shape.

Collaboration is the key to making relationships align toward the accomplishment of a shared vision. Motivational forces drive everything we do, and to achieve a vision, these motivational forces must overlap. Businesses are motivated by profit; educational institutions, at their core, are motivated by the search for truth; faith communities are motivated by a core belief; sports teams are motivated by a scoreboard; associations such as ACDA are motivated by a mission, and ours is to foster and promote a finer performance of a finer quality of choral music.

All of our collaborative entities are motivated by a different driving force, and sometimes, those driving motivations can be at odds with each other. However, with hard work and patience, a common thread can usually be found that intersects the various motivational forces. When that happens, a powerful engine is created. It is rarely discernable at first, but once found, will propel initiatives forward. Also, once found, it takes work to sustain the relationship, but sustaining the relationship is not as hard as working to find the overlapping thread of opportunity, and therefore, well worth the effort, and well worth the results, as recently experienced in Chicago.