Clinton Hardy Named ACDA Junior High/Middle School Choirs Chair

ACDA has named Clinton Hardy to the position of Repertoire and Resources (R&R) Chair for Junior High/Middle School Choirs. In announcing the appointment, National R&R Chair, Gretchen Harrison, commented that the pool of applicants for this position was “absolutely stellar,” but that Hardy’s skills, experiences, and leadership potential rose to the top.

Clinton Ray Hardy has directed choral music since 2009 and is currently choral director at Trinity Spring Middle School in Keller ISD, Texas. He began his career in middle school and then transitioned to high school for two years before returning to middle school. He notes, “Though I enjoyed my time at the high school level, I knew that my true calling was as a middle school choir director.” He says that he is regularly asked about when he plans to return to the high school level, with the assumption that high school is a more desirable level. He counters, “I want this perception to change for good. I’ve discovered that middle school is a place where choral music education begins for a lot of students. Middle school choir directors are in the trenches teaching all of the basics to students to prepare them for upper level singing at the high school and collegiate levels.”

He continues, “My number one priority is to focus on students’ humanity and help them grow as people. In that process you can focus on building their character through the music that you select. . . . As a gay man, I have not always been confident in who I am. It took a lot of personal work to discover that I can be successful while also being true to myself. I never had a queer mentor or role model. I grew up in a small country town where I needed to blend in for the vast majority of my early education. When I decided to become an educator, I knew that I needed to meet the needs of the students in front of me. There would eventually be a queer student in my room, and they needed to see that someone like them could be successful and accepted. All students are different, but we must educate kids to be accepting of others and to see the world outside of the town that they live in. We need to find pieces that the kids can relate to and meet them where they’re at. Once you do this, you can move them along the continuum.” He continued, “I want to help connect people from across the nation to broaden everyone’s perspectives. Creating diverse and inclusive lists of literature for our membership is imperative to the survival of choral music education in America.”

Hardy received his bachelor’s degree in music education from Texas Christian University and most recently earned his master’s degree in music education from the University of North Texas in 2018. He just finished serving as the Middle School/Junior High Vice President of Texas Choral Directors Association.

At Trinity Springs, Mr. Hardy directs seven choirs and serves as the head of the fine arts department.  His choirs consistently earn awards for superior ratings and have received the distinction of being invited as the select performing honor choir at the National Cambiata Institute Convention and named Grand Champion at the annual Hurricane Harbor Choral Festival.  The Keller Honor Choir, under the co-direction of Clinton Hardy, received the prestigious honor of being invited to perform for the Texas Music Educators Association convention in February 2017, after only three years as a select ensemble in Keller ISD. Most recently, Mr. Hardy’s Varsity Treble Choir was invited to perform at the 2019 Texas Music Educators Association Conference.

ACDA’s national R&R chairs are members of the national Choral Repertoire and Resources Committee, which fosters and promotes the performance of quality historical and contemporary repertoire. Each chair is an expert in their area and serves as a national resource for choral pedagogy and instructional strategies. American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) is made up of approximately 15,000 members who represent more than 1 million singers across the country. ACDA members conduct and teach a range of choirs, including school and university-based choirs, community choral groups, professional ensembles, and music in worship. ACDA’s mission is to inspire excellence in choral music through education, performance, composition, and advocacy. Learn more at https://acda.org.