Canovas and Muehleisen to Join National Composition Initiatives Committee

Alex Canovas and John Muehleisen have been appointed to serve a two-year term on the ACDA National Composition Initiatives Committee.

The National Composition Initiatives Committee encourages the creation of quality new music for choruses of all sizes, ages, and abilities by actively supporting the work of living composers. The committee advocates for the composer membership of ACDA and seeks to foster increased collaboration and awareness between conductors and composers.

Alex Canovas is a Brooklyn-based vocal artist, conductor, administrator, and teacher committed to exploring and celebrating the human voice through the power of choral music. He is the General & Artistic Director of the Young New Yorkers’ Chorus (YNYC), leading both their Mixed and Treble Ensembles. YNYC’s 2024-2025 programming includes Holiday Modulations, a holiday-themed program featuring both YNYC Ensembles; the East Coast Premiere of “From Wilderness” by Jeffrey Derus in collaboration with NYC-based Bloom Sound Collective; and “To The East”, a program all about the beauty of nature and the East Coast. Previous highlights with YNYC have included an appearance by the Treble Ensemble at the Ensemble Showcase for the Connecticut American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Fall Conference in 2023, a Mixed Ensemble performance at the ACDA Eastern Region Conference in February/March 2024; an appearance at Carnegie Hall with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and four German choirs in a premiere of Sean Shepherd’s “On A Clear Day”; and Metropolis, a concert series featuring music by, for, and about New York City which featured seven world premieres. In 2023, YNYC was named the winner of The American Prize in Choral Performance — Community Division, 2023, and Alex has been a two-time finalist for The American Prize in Choral Conducting.

An ardent supporter of new music, YNYC has given the world, regional, or NYC premiere of over 30 works over six seasons under Alex’s direction. Alex also oversees YNYC’s celebrated Competition for Young Composers, now in its 19th year. The Competition has led to the commissioning of over 55 new works by young composers, many of whom have gone on to become some of the most influential voices in choral music.

Alex has previously collaborated on projects with artists such as John Luther Adams, Sxip Shirey, Paul Pinto, David Bloom, and Caroline Polachek. In 2019, he began a choral collaboration with Tina Roth Isenberg & Creative Mornings, the world’s largest face-to-face creative community. He has extensive experience in church music, most recently serving on the music staff of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn for nine years, where he was named Director of Music & Choirmaster in 2018. He previously served as Associate Conductor of the critically-acclaimed vocal ensemble Choral Chameleon, which has held residencies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Brooklyn’s National Sawdust, and worked on projects with artists such as Chanticleer’s Adam Ward, Philip Glass, R.B. Schlather, and others. In this role he also served as Singer-Faculty at Choral Chameleon’s annual Summer Institute, where he worked with a number of leaders in the choral world such as Matt Oltman, Dale Trumbore, Mark Shapiro, David Conte, and Vance George. Other previous positions included Operations Manager and Assistant Conductor of the Empire City Men’s Chorus, and Assistant Conductor of the Ridgewood, NJ-based Ars Musica Chorale.

He is an active member of Chorus America and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and currently serves as the New York ACDA Repertoire & Resources Co-Chair for Lifelong Community Singing. Alex is a graduate of Ithaca College, where his teachers included Dr. Brad Hougham, Lawrence Doebler, Dr. Janet Galván, and Brian DeMaris.

John Muehleisen’s more than 150 vocal and choral works have been variously described as “masterful writing…imaginatively harmonized…beautifully realized…and brilliantly crafted.” In addition to more than 25 sacred choral works, his varied compositions have focused on topics ranging from humor—Eat Your Vegetables!(two sets), Three Limericks for TTBB choir, and Cantata Caffeinata (commissioned by the American Guild of Organists for their 2022 National Convention)—to the healing power of love & music— Sing to Me, Love is…, Hope, The Stars Still Shine, and Singing Together—to serious social and cultural issues, including spiritual and emotional dimensions of suffering and healing (Pietà); gun violence (Consolation: Requiem for Newtown); immigration (Borders, premiered through DCINY at Carnegie Hall in 2019); hate crime (When All is Done), homelessness and the power of compassion (Pilgrim Beatitudes), and the personal cost of war (the WWI Centennial oratorio But Who Shall Return Us Our Children? – A Kipling Passion, winner of the 2020 American Prize for Professional Choral Composers, Major Works division.)

John has been Composer-in-Residence for Opus 7 Vocal Ensemble for most years since 1996, the Dale Warland Singers (2003–2004), and Choral Arts Northwest (2011-2012 and 2016–2017). Other commissioning organizations include Conspirare, DCINY (Distinguished Concerts in New York), the Donald Brinegar Singers, the Harvard Glee Club, Seattle Pro Musica, and Volti. His works have been performed throughout North America, Europe, and Asia by the Louisville Orchestra and by choral groups including the Ansan City Choir, the St. Olaf Choir, and Yale Schola Cantorum and by esteemed conductors including John Alexander, Anton Armstrong, Robert Geary, Craig Hella Johnson, Deborah Simpkin King, Erick Lichte, Nancy Menk, Kathleen Rodde, Brian Schmidt, Ben Spalding, and Ethan Sperry. His compositions have been featured at the Sixth World Choral Symposium; the 2007 NEA American Masterpieces Choral Festival in Austin, TX; at multiple ACDA conferences; the 2013 Chorus America Conference; and the 2018 and 2022 American Guild of Organists National Conventions.

His membership in professional organizations includes American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), American Composers Forum (ACF), American Guild of Organists (AGO, as composer member), Chorus America, and the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO). John served as Repertoire & Resources Chair for the Northwest Region of ACDA from June 2017–May 2022, establishing a first-ever Composer Track and Composer Fair at the 2020 NW Region conference and is excited to begin serving his first term as a member of the National ACDA Composition Initiatives Committee in Fall 2024. John has presented interest sessions on composition-related topics and participated on panels for various organizations and conferences, including the 2013 Chorus America National Conference; the 2016 ACDA/Northwest Kodaly Educators Workshop; NW Region ACDA Conferences in 2020, 2022, & 2024; and the 2022 National AGO Conference.

Awards include the 1988 Louisville Orchestra Composition Award, the 2014 Chorus America/Dale Warland Singers Commission Award, multiple American Prize awards (2013, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022), and most recently: co-winner of the 2022 American Prize, Social Justice Division (Consolation Requiem for Parkland) and an Honored Artist: Composer Award in 2022 as well. 25 of his choral works have been accepted into Project : Encore, a prestigious online catalog of contemporary choral music anonymously submitted by composers and “reviewed and endorsed by a panel of renowned conductors,” with the goal of “connecting composers with conductors seeking new music of exceptional quality. To qualify for the P:E catalog, a work must exhibit artistic merit, demonstrate insightful use of choral forces, possess exceptional programmability, and have had at least one significant public performance.” His works have been supported with grants from New Music USA, the Jerome Foundation, and several National Endowment for the Arts grants. John also maintains a thriving private composition teaching studio of nearly 20 talented students. Website: https://johnmuehleisen.com

For more information about ACDA Composition Initiatives, visit https://acda.org/composers. For questions for the National Composition Initiatives Committee, Contact Robert Bode, Chair.

ACDA members are invited to take advantage of the resources available from Composition Initiatives and to stay engaged on both the Facebook pages: “New Choral Music” and “ACDA Choral Composers.”