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Goal: Help Students Find Hope

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With this post, we welcome a new blogger to ChoralNet: middle school choral educator Bethany Perkins Hall, who teaches in a rural community. In her monthly posts (second Wednesdays), she will be sharing thoughts on building a “solutionary” program, including modifications for different types of choirs and ideas for activities and assignments, as well as insights on potential challenges and the joy that can come from this work.

By Bethany Perkins Hall

Even before the pandemic started, I noticed a troubling shift in my middle school students. Many were becoming disillusioned and jaded by the world around them. Climate doom, racism, anti-LGBTQ legislation – they were becoming aware of the issues in the news but felt powerless to fix them. More and more students were falling into depression and anxiety, which of course only increased with the pandemic.

As a chorus teacher, I knew that students found the arts to be an expressive outlet and a safe place. We all know, and have even been, those students/people who sing their hearts out as a soothing balm and a catharsis of sorts. I also knew when students came into our chorus room, many felt they could be honest about how they were feeling or what their struggles were. For these truths, I was glad. However, the hopelessness continued, and I wanted to find a way to help.

How could I help? I’m a mid-thirties music teacher in a rural community. I have no political degree, no science background, no obvious “power.”

If you find yourself nodding along, thinking something like “Yes, I see these issues in my students,” or “Gosh, I’m not some sort of activist who can fix the world for them” – never fear. We are human. We don’t have to have all the answers. But chances are, in some capacity, your students would like to see a change in the world. They would like to have a glimmer of hope. How do we get there from here?

Professor David Orr said, “Hope is a verb with its shirtsleeves rolled up.”

I came up with an idea for my chorus curriculum, which I started enacting this past year. The idea is this to empower the students to create change, using the power and platform of choral singing. In this way the students can create their own hope. Their hope is created not only by solving problems that they see, but also by realizing that they have a voice (pun intended) and the ability to continue solving problems throughout their lives. To become solutionaries. 

Solutionary, noun: a person who identifies inhumane, unsustainable, and unjust systems and then develops solutions that are healthy and equitable for people, animals, and the environment. – from the Institute for Humane Education 

I’ll provide an overview here of how our Solutionary Chorus Curriculum works, and get into more detailed in future blog posts.

My first step, of course, was to run the whole thing by my administration and make sure that I was operating within the parameters of the school rules. One facet of this project that is very important, for the students but also to protect both oneself and the school, is that it must be student-led. If I were to choose a cause for the students, rather than them choosing, the case could potentially be made that I were forcing ideas on the students. I actually wanted the curriculum to be student-led, anyway, so they would really be tackling issues close to their hearts.

After I had the green light, I asked the students for ideas. We covered our white board. Then I took those ideas and made a survey for them to vote on their cause. They chose LGBTQ+ awareness and respect.

After the vote, I shared the results with parents. Students are able to participate in chorus without doing the project part, but only 7 percent of the chorus/parents opted out. I made an assignment for the students to research and share something positive about what had already been done in the area of LGBTQ+ rights. It is important, when working towards a cause, to not feel as though you’re all alone and no one else cares, which is why I started with this assignment. We had a good-news sharing class in October.

The next assignment, in November, was to identify an area in which they would like to see change. This was a wonderful and eye-opening assignment. There was a lot of talk about education, about pronoun respect, general awareness and respect by peers and teachers, and even of legislation. I assure you, through all of this we also were preparing for our winter concert. Starting after holiday break, the students worked in groups based on what they said they wanted to change. They worked on finding a solution. Some students came up with a fully formed educational plan for their peers, which they presented to the principal. Some made awareness and acceptance posters. Some wrote to their local senator. As a result of the students’ efforts, a fellow teacher and myself will be providing teacher training around respect for gender identity and pronouns.

We gave our spring concert, and now we are preparing for our LGBTQ+ themed fundraiser for The Trevor Project. All the songs are either on the theme or by LGBTQ artists. In addition to choral pieces, there will be small groups doing pop numbers they chose. The Trevor Project, again, chosen by students, provides counseling support to LGBTQ youth. I encourage you to check them out. We’ll be promoting the fundraiser through the local news and of course with posters throughout the school.

Did I solve all of my students’ problems? YES! Just kidding. No, but these students have hope. They have a cause to work for, they’re making a difference in their world, and they’re proud of themselves. LGBTQ students feel validated and encouraged.

What will we do next year? Save the walruses? Anti-racism? The options are endless, but whatever it is, it will be what the students want and what gives them the most hope.

Bethany Perkins Hall teaches middle school chorus in Cumberland, Maine. She performs regularly as a soprano with the St. Mary Schola early music ensemble, and is in the Masters of Education program at Antioch University/Institute for Humane Education. In her free time, Bethany enjoys yoga, taking her dog to the beach, conversing with her cats, and getting her husband hooked on Bridgerton.

ChoralEd: Classroom Management, Part 1

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One of the major hurdles in any new teacher’s professional development is classroom management.  If you are a younger teacher who lacks experience disciplining a child, let alone a room full of them, the responsibility of managing a classroom can be a daunting task.  Even though it may be overwhelming at first, through planning and perseverance you can (and will) become a successful classroom manager.

In my opinion, there are two parts to any classroom management plan.  These two parts include proactive interventions (preventative classroom management) and reactive interventions (behavioral intervention).  In proactive intervention—which will be the focus here in part 1—the teacher attempts to proactively prevent all misbehavior from ever occurring.  Of course, preventing all misbehavior is wishful thinking, and thus requires reactive behavioral intervention, which will be discussed in more detail in next month’s post (part 2).

As a starting point for determining your classroom management plan, I encourage you to reflect on the question, “who do you want to be as a teacher?” discussed in last month’s post (ChoralEd: Your Teacher Identity).  For me personally, considering my calm and patient demeanor I discovered that a “Love and Logic” classroom management approach was most fitting for my desired teacher identity.  (As a proponent of the Love and Logic approach I encourage you to investigate it more, but unfortunately we won’t have the time to discuss it here).  However, based on your own teacher identity you may prefer alternative methods.  For example, if your personality is more take-charge or headstrong you may incorporate a more authoritative management style.  If you consider yourself nurturing and kind, a parental approach might be most appropriate for you.  The point here being there are many different approaches to classroom management.  In order to be the most authentic and confident in your teaching I encourage you to first determine your teacher identity and align your management style accordingly.

Despite the different management styles, there are still some tips and tricks that can help you proactively prevent and minimize misbehavior.

Set-up the Learning Environment

Ensure that your classroom is set up to minimize distractions.  For example, are the risers facing the door?  If so, students can become distracted by individuals who enter and exit the room.  Also, space out your folio cabinets to avoid pushing and shoving in one confined location as they pick up and return their music.  (For more specific suggestions check out ChoralEd, Episode 2).

Patience

It’s critical to always remain calm and keep your cool when misbehavior occurs.  You can make things worse by losing your temper, yelling, or jumping too quickly to a harsh punishment.  When you fail to remain calm you lose the respect of your students and elicit negative responses from them.

Clearly Describe Your Expectations

At the beginning of each semester clearly describe your expectations.  These expectations are established through classroom rules and procedures.  It may seem silly, but when discussing classroom procedures have the students practice the desired expectation.  For example, after discussing correct procedures for entering the classroom, I always have the students re-enter the room demonstrating these expectations.  To maintain these expectations, it is critical that you are consistent in enforcing these rules and procedures.

Phrasing of Statements and Questions

If your classroom expectation is for students to raise their hand, then encourage this behavior by starting questions with the phrase, “raise your hand and tell me. . .”  By making this statement your expectations are continually reinforced, discouraging students from openly calling out answers.

Often teacher’s respond to misbehavior with rhetorical questions.  Although we don’t want an answer, we admonish students asking, “What are you doing?” “Why are you chewing gum?” “Why are you leaving the risers?” “Did I give you permission to do that?”  In asking these questions we invite students to respond, which can lead to an unintended discussion or argument.  Instead, it’s best to phrase your behavioral correction as a statement.  “[Student name] I need you to return to the risers.”

Transitions Between Activities

In rehearsal one of the more common opportunities for students to become off task is during transitions.  One option to help alleviate this challenge is to implement mini vocal activities during these transitions.  For example, you might say, “As you turn to measure 20 in The Star-Spangled Banner, please echo me.”  During this vocal exercise you can isolate difficult intervals in the upcoming selection, realign the voice through sighs or humming, among other potential vocal and mental preparatory exercises.

Learning New Music

In addition to transitions, behavior is most often problematic during the learning of new music.  This is because some teachers focus on only one voice part at a time allowing the other sections to sit back and listen.  Of course, during this down time students become restless and begin to talk and move about the room, among other behavioral issues.  Instead, it is ideal to have students continuously engaged in the learning process.  While you are working with one section, have the other voice parts count rhythms, chant solfege/numbers/text, hum, or number measures.

Know Your Music and Look Up

Finally, you can’t prevent behavioral issues if you don’t see them.  Do everything you can to look up from the score and get out from behind the piano in order to actively monitor the classroom.  As a result, this active monitoring often deters misbehavior, and allows you to quickly intervene before a behavior turns into a more significant issue.

To watch ChoralEd, Episode 3, Part 1 on YouTube click here.

Best. Interview. Ever! “Doing whatever it takes” with Superstar Deke Sharon

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Imagine walking onto the set of a potentially epic movie with a seemingly large task ahead of you: create an “award winning” choir out of a collection of humans, none of which have ever sung in choir, in one month, with one hour of rehearsal a day. Go! Daunting? Fun? A bit intimidating? But possible – yes!

While the above scenario may not be your challenge of choice or what you want to do in this choral career field, it is exactly what this month’s Advocacy & Collaboration (A&C) curated series guest, Deke Sharon, encountered when he walked on the “low budget” set of the first Pitch Perfect movie. And you know what happened . . . a major motion picture, a sequel, and so much more! How? That’s what this blog post will give insight into. Along the way you’ll gain some tangible tools you can use to, as Mr. Sharon says, simply “do whatever it takes.”

This content comes on purpose at this time of the year. It’s that post concert, post testing, the smell of summer is in the air time when things are getting even more challenging for most of us. In fact, just before writing this, an Instagram story flashed with a quote: “stop telling teachers to remember their why and start helping teachers figure out why to stay.” Perfect, that’s the point of this blog post and the central idea to this entire A&C podcast series: advocacy, endurance, motivation, and all the things needed to keep showing up and continue “doing whatever it takes” to keep choral music alive and thriving. Let’s dig in!

First, we have to get on the “Deke Sharon Soapbox” – yes, we are preaching to the choir, literally, but what really is the point of our day-to-day life? According to Mr. Sharon: “Get as many people singing and back to the way it was before recorded music.” What did that prerecorded music world look like and why should we care?

Before recorded music, everybody sang. People got together and sang, it was simply the way things were. If you wanted music, you made it. It was part of the culture; music was everywhere because we were making it.

Now, music is everywhere, but we aren’t the ones making it. Thus, the respect for and the importance of music education has been slipping ever since. Yes, we have the advocacy research as why people should participate and need music in their lives, but respect is still slipping. It’s why we are often the only music educator in our school or why districts cut music programs altogether.

Where’s the solace in this and the point of this seemly sad reality? When students come back to visit their schools, when they talk about growing up or memorable moments, who and what do they talk about? Music, theater, musicals . . . us! It’s in the music spaces where the holistic teaching happens. It’s that incredible life-long impact we get to have on our musicians; it’s the making music together that matters and changes lives. And it’s from this point that Mr. Sharon steps on his soapbox about the need to “get as many people singing and back to the way it was before recorded music.”

So how do we fight for our programs and advocate for getting more singers involved and invested and engaged? According to Mr. Sharon, stop thinking about the why music, and instead look at why should I stay?

Now that we understand Mr. Sharon’s soapbox, let’s explore ideas for “doing whatever it takes.” Mr. Sharon’s ideas can be organized into three big pieces: Build. Be Seen. Shift Focus.

1. Build – Connect and Teach

“Nobody listens to music because it is perfect. At the end of a long day you listen to it because of the way it makes you feel.” People run to technical precision because of our traditional training/schooling, and that’s important, but not to be obsessed over! If you want to change the world, if you want more people in your program, stop focusing simply on perfection. “Focus and energy should be on reaching your community and getting in front of people.”

Know what your singers and community need and make it happen. Stop teaching to the test and make it all about the outside world. “It’s not about avoiding the likes of Bach, there’s a time and place . . . You don’t teach people to read by reading Shakespeare,” instead, start from the beginning and connect with them where they are, meet them halfway and get them in, make them want to stay!

2. Be Seen – Connect and Perform

Pick songs that overlap something your group does well and something that connects with your community, make that meaningful music for people.

Change the metric. Move away from simply technical precision and instead think of your own value as an ensemble. How can we put music out there that gets more people excited? How can we use recordings, videos, social media, concerts, radio, TV, the list goes on. How can we get creative to get in front of more people. Again, the point: more people making music together (or enjoying live music) together.

3. Shift Focus – Connect and Transfer

“Music is not about perfection, but how it makes one feel.” We are connected to the arts through the story it tells and the meaning it has; the purpose behind the music should come first. Help your singers, your audience, your community feel and see that connection. Get them involved in it too!

No words can really express the power of this interview and full episode, but hopefully this blog post has offered you some ideas and some hope for why we are sincerely needed in our incredible profession. You are doing great things, and if you’re feeling like you can’t “do whatever it takes,” let your ACDA community help and support you! Just as it’s connecting and community that keeps our singers and audience coming back, you have a community and we would love to connect and help you figure out what you need to successfully and enjoyably, “do whatever it takes!”

Learn more about and connect with Mr. Deke Sharon: https://www.dekesharon.com/bio-2/ or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deke_Sharon.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vUFgsfQl3Tc (or episode 103 on the “Music (ed) Matters” Podcast where ever you listen to pods).

Connect with your Advocacy and Collaboration Committee: .

Dr. Emily Williams Burch chairs ACDA’s Advocacy & Collaboration Committee. Dr. Burch has served in various positions for ACDA at the state, regional, and national level in a variety of roles, including co-programming chair and honor choir coordinator for the Southern Region ACDA conferences since 2014. You can subscribe to her podcast for music educators wherever you get your podcasts, or at EmilyBurch.org/podcast.

ChoralEd: Your Teacher Identity

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With this post, we would like to both thank Brian O. Ackles and welcome Micah Bland. Since February 2020, Brian Ackles has authored a monthly blog on his approach and experiences with AGILE, a student/learner-centered music education program – even during a time when he was unable to meet with his classes in person. We thank him for sharing important insights into the choral music classroom. Taking this monthly spot is Micah Bland, director of choirs at Ranger College. He is an active author, clinician, and host of the ChoralEd video podcast. He introduces his podcast in this post, and we are delighted to welcome his contributions on choral education in the middle and high school classroom, which will be of particular interest to beginning and early career choral educators.

By Micah Bland

Welcome to the ChoralEd blog, a new series based on the ChoralEd podcast.  ChoralEd is a video podcast dedicated to providing pedagogical techniques and strategies for secondary choral educators.  New episodes are released the first of every month with episode summaries posted here on ChoralNet.

When it comes to being a choral educator, one of the most important features contributing to your success in the classroom is your teacher identity.  In establishing your teacher identity, you should ask yourself three fundamental questions:

  1. Who do you want to be as a teacher?
  2. What is your desired choral sound?
  3. What are the goals you have for your students?

Many new teachers just starting out may lack clarity when it comes to these questions.  For some, this lack of clarity results in the imitation of their past teachers or colleagues copying their teaching style, preferred tone, and classroom demeanor.  There’s nothing wrong with imitation.  However, by copying others we present an inauthentic version of ourselves to our students.

Several years ago, as a new teacher, my teacher identity lacked clarity.  Having observed successful teachers throughout my musical development I believed my teacher identity should emulate their classroom persona.  For those reading this, you may feel like you need to be exuberant, eccentric, authoritative, commanding, entertaining, etc.  In my own experience I felt a disconnect between the false eccentric persona I was trying to portray, and who I was as a person.  Over time I came to realize that my persona of calmness and patience was a perfectly acceptable and effective teaching persona.  And my faux exuberance was only preventing me from achieving optimal success as a teacher.

In terms of your desired choral sound, new teachers are more often guilty of imitating their past teachers and current colleagues. Again, it’s perfectly acceptable to imitate the tone of your teachers.  But it’s also important to carefully consider the tone you want from your singers, and fully understand the methods used to achieve that desired sound.  For some, the tone asked of you in your collegiate ensemble may not be appropriate for a middle or high school ensemble.  Knowing how to achieve your desired choral tone is a challenge and takes time.  As you begin your career in choral music continue to expand your knowledge of tone development through reading, listening to podcasts, and attending seminars.

Finally, consider the goals you have for your students.  This is significant as it will determine the focus of your class, as well as the activities you choose to implement.  For example, as a teacher do you care about music literacy, diverse repertoire, auditions, solo literature, small ensembles, composition, improvisation, musical theater productions, madrigals, show choirs, jazz ensembles, among other vocal styles and possible choral activities.  When it comes to the classroom we have a limited amount of time in rehearsal.  As a teacher, you may decide you want to implement as many of these previously listed activities as possible.  While this approach may seem ideal at first, the focus of instruction is so vast that the learning lacks depth, resulting in mediocre experiences and quality of instruction.  In contrast to this, intently focusing on specific areas provides students with a deep and meaningful experience, but can result in a lack of diverse instruction.  By determining the goals you have for your students you can refine your instructional strategies providing students with an optimal learning experience.

When it comes to your teacher identity, ideally it is an authentic representation of yourself.  During your next break from teaching, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on these three questions, and carefully evaluate your teacher identity to determine if it is who you want to be as a teacher.

To watch ChoralEd, Episode 1 on YouTube click here.

Dr. Micah Bland is director of choirs at Ranger College and an active author, clinician, and host of the ChoralEd video podcast.  

Legislative Update and Actions We Can Take Now Based on the Recent National Arts Action Summit

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Teachers. Choir director. Singer. Manager. Stage crew. These are just a few of the many hats we all learn to wear as choral educators. The thought of adding another task to our list often seems daunting, and a little intimidating, especially when it includes words like “legislation,” “Capitol Hill,” “lobbyist,” or other congressional lingo.

In its 35th year, the Americans for the Arts National Arts Action Summit (NAAS) provides a place for us to learn about current legislation, how it could impact arts educators like us, and ways we can support their work. But we all know it can be hard to find time at this point in the school year or choir season to step into a three-day virtual summit. That’s where your ACDA Advocacy & Collaboration (A&C) Committee comes in! We attended this year’s summit and are excited to present this overview to you.

In this blog post, you’ll get a quick overview of the summit (and how to access more information if you want to learn for yourself) but then the real focus will fall on the quick action and tangible things you can do right now to support arts education.

The summit featured a variety of speakers and clearly outlined a few objectives, some related to policy and others related to equity and access. Overall, we walked away from the sessions with answers to these questions:

  1. What arts-related bills are on the Hill right now?
  2. What can I do to support those bills and why is it important?
  3. How can I navigate funding opportunities (or earmarks) to support our projects?
  4. In what ways do we get involved and help?

Let’s focus in on #4, as that’s the extra hat we are considering wearing. Great news! It isn’t much different than what we already do – it’s all about building relationships. Phew! A hat we know very well. But with whom are we building relationships? For some of us, that will be our local administration or communities, for others that may be city or state governments, and for some, it could mean reaching out to national representatives and letting them know the actual ask. Let’s talk about these “ask” steps now:

  1. Connect with your state’s arts advocate to stay in the know about when things are happening in your state (https://www.americansforthearts.org/advocate provides a list by state (go to By Location in the navigation bar); send them an email and get on their newsletter for when things are happening in your state or area).
  2. Sign up for the newsletter from your state and national representatives and senators.
  3. Follow your state and national legislators on social media.
  4. Establish a positive relationship by regularly emailing them with updates about your work and the impact the arts are having in your community. Regular updates build trust, especially when you have a specific ask or action.

Not sure what to write? While there were many handouts collected from the sessions, the 2022 Facts and Figures document is our favorite. It gives us hard data to use in conversation. Broken down by state, each page provides figures and hard data we can use to advocate and support arts education. But – Who are we telling these stories to? Who do we need to advocate to and what do we say?

One of the summit sessions included a House representative who serves as the co-chair of the Arts Caucus. They gave us two clear steps when communicating with legislators:

  1. Keep the focus local – specifically how it impacts you and your community.

  2. Use the data on what arts education does for kids especially (attendance, outcomes, etc.) – these are good reminders.

Looking good in your new hat or feeling like you have built a relationship and want to be a part of the asking? NAAS Arts Education 2022 Asks includes specifically what to ask for and why, with data to support. Put on your hat and write that email or schedule that virtual meeting.

There are seven bills arts advocacy folks have been keeping their eyes on – this is the most we’ve ever had on the Hill at one time! Go follow your local representatives on social media, sign up for their newsletters, and if you feel comfortable, send them an email with the asks specifically for arts education outlined in this document.

Looking for more facts and figures to make your case? Here’s the best place to start.

Missed NAAS? It’s not too late to register for on-demand viewing of this year’s sessions. Visit the registration page.

Excited about these kinds of projects? The ACDA Advocacy & Collaboration Committee has a few openings as a few of our members are finishing up their tenure. You should apply to join us! More details: https://acda.org/about-us/leadership-opportunities.

Dr. Emily Williams Burch chairs ACDA’s Advocacy & Collaboration Committee. Dr. Burch has served in various positions for ACDA at the state, regional, and national level in a variety of roles, including co-programming chair and honor choir coordinator for the Southern Region ACDA conferences since 2014. You can subscribe to her podcast for music educators wherever you get your podcasts, or at EmilyBurch.org/podcast.

A Life Filled With Music

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By Robyn Hilger

All the best pieces of my life have been connected to music. Music class is where I discovered where I excelled, learned important skills like work ethic and collaboration, and where I first practiced being a leader. And, as a music teacher, I found that I had the opportunity to impact the journey of many lives so that they too could experience the joy of making music for what I hoped would be a lifetime. This really got me thinking about how every music educator along my musical journey was instrumental (pardon the pun) in creating the person you know today. It truly takes a village, which is why we must acknowledge and support music educators at every level along the pipeline of choral development to life-long music making.

The opportunity to develop a love of music can be a very early experience within our homes, communities, and places of worship. In many non-Western cultures, children participate with the adults in making music from very early in their lives. Children are encouraged to fully engage and contribute their own gifts and know that they belong in these musical settings without any kind of formal training or education. Making music is part of the community and family, not separated from other parts of life. These earliest teachers are family members, friends, and community leaders. What a terrific foundation for life-long music making!

For many children in the United States, one of the first experiences with formalized music education is in the school setting. The masterful teaching of the young child is something to behold. Within five minutes, it is not unusual to see these music educators teach a phrase, model matching pitch, remind a child to stop touching their neighbor, realize a student has just pulled out their tooth, correct rhythms, hear a story about someone’s dog, dry a tear, and still manage to play the accompaniment at the piano. And, the best of them do all of this with a bright smile, welcoming demeanor, and a driving passion for instilling a love for music in these early days. My family did not make music together. I had no way of knowing that this could be my life until I entered a music classroom in elementary school. There are teachers of young children and in elementary schools laying the foundation for lives filled with music every single day. Our profession is grateful for you!

To the middle school and high school teachers, we are indebted to you for the nurturing of technical skill, artistry, and character-building you do each day. While we know that many of our students are not going to become professional singers or choral directors, we do know that their lives will be enriched by the lessons learned in the choral ensemble. Not only the lessons of music, but the lessons in being unselfish, being on time, craftsmanship, worth ethic, empathy, compassion, and the list goes on and on. Lessons that transcend the rehearsal and build people who are ready to be contributors to their communities. And, hopefully, people who continue to sing in their homes, with their children, and in our worship and community ensembles. A constant reminder that music is with us at every juncture in our lives. The future of our communities is in your rehearsals today. We are fortunate to have you in this role!

As a middle school teacher, I was often asked when I was going to “move up” to the high school. “Moving up” was never something I wanted to pursue. My jam all day, every day was 7th grade. I have a high tolerance for pain! I know there is pressure at every level to “move up.” If moving from elementary to middle school to high school or beyond is your dream, by all means pursue it to your fullest potential and you will find many mentors in ACDA to help you along your journey. However, if you are loving your place in life, with no current desire to “move up,” know that the work you are doing every single day is invaluable to our profession’s need to ensure the highest quality experiences for people at every level in their choral journey. We don’t end up with collegiate level singers or adult community choirs without everyone doing their part along the way – a pipeline that often starts first in the home and then in your classrooms and rehearsals. The work you do every day, from the itty-bittys to the accomplished vocalists to the ensembles ensuring there are opportunities for aging voices, each of you ensures that choral music remains a pillar in our communities. American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) is here for each of you, wherever you are on your personal journey as a choral professional. We are #ONEACDA.

Robyn Hilger is the executive director of ACDA. She has a bachelor’s degree in music education from Oklahoma City University and a master’s degree in school administration from the University of Central Oklahoma. She spent ten years as a public school music educator before transitioning into nonprofit administration.

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