Latest Blog Posts

“……..Bet your bottom dollar you lose the blues in Chicago, Chicago, The town that Billy Sunday couldn’t shut down…..,” Fred Fisher, 1922 I am very excited to be attending the ACDA Central Division Conference “,Lift Every Voice,” in Chicago next week. And yes, Chicago IS my hometown though I do reside in a suburb. Like […]

COMPOSITION SPOTLIGHT ~ by Jack Senzig (The Composition Showcase is a unique resource for conductors. Choral composers are allowed to share only a few of their best works. Each week we offer you the best of the best on a silver platter. The Silver Platter Award winners are works that your choirs will love to […]

In this series of seven posts highlighting 2016 ICEP introductions, I am pleased to introduce Dr. Zebulon Highben, Assistant Professor of Music at Muskingem University and Mr. Jihoon Park, conductor of the Gunsan Civic Choir from South Korea. Please join me in congratulating these individuals on their selection as 2016 ICEP Conducting Fellows. Dr. Zebulon […]

Good morning, Colleagues, It is almost time for the spring annual Adjudication/Assessment/Festival. Here in Virginia we are headed that way next month, perhaps some of you are even headed there in late February. As someone who lived for many years as the conductor on the stage I empathize with you from that perspective. As a young teacher I was […]

  I want to give a big shout out for INNOVATION to the Ithaca College ACDA Student Chapter for their innovative work in advancing the mission of ACDA, while advanciing the resources for their own Student Chapter. The student ACDA members created a "favorite warmup" book, with choral warmups submitted by experienced choral conductors and […]

When I started my work as Executive Director of the American Choral Directors Association in 2008, I began with a vision for ACDA I have not varied from since the start: I envision an ACDA that establishes the opportunity for every child in the United States to sing in a choir; I envision an ACDA that is […]

“……..Bet your bottom dollar you lose the blues in Chicago, Chicago, The town that Billy Sunday couldn’t shut down…..,” Fred Fisher, 1922   I am very excited to be attending the ACDA Central Division Conference “,Lift Every Voice,” in Chicago next week. And yes, Chicago IS my hometown though I do reside in a suburb. […]

        “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…” Ecclesiastes 3:1    Today—Ash Wednesday—begins another season. If we are church musicians, Lent begins today….ready or not….even if we have not recovered from the Christmas Season. If we are not church musicians but in academia, we are probably […]

COMPOSITION SPOTLIGHT ~ by Jack Senzig   (The Composition Showcase is a unique resource for conductors.   Choral composers are allowed to share only a few of their best works.  Each week we offer you the best of the best on a silver platter.   The Silver Platter Award winners are works that your choirs will love to sing […]

It is my pleasure to introduce 2016 ICEP Conducting Fellows, Dr. Timothy Westerhaus, Director of Choral Activities at Gonzaga University, and Dr. Kee-Tae Kong, Conductor of the Joyel Choir and Joyel Master’s Ensemble. Please help me congratulate these two outstanding representatives of our international exchange program and welcome them to our division conferences this spring. […]