Seminar Sessions

2009 ACDA National Conference - March 4-7, 2009 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Wednesday, March 4

2:00pm -  Discover the Music of Karl Jenkins in the composer's own words, Jonathan Griffith, moderator, including the music The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, Requiem and Stabat Mater.  This session will feature multi-media commentary by the composer, live musical demonstration, and music packets and complimentary CDs.

A collaborative Choral Seminar  co-hosted by Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY), Boosey & Hawkes, Hal Leonard Corporation, EMI Records, and the choral department of Oklahoma City University.

2:30 pm - Music from "Down Under" - An introduction to the works of Australian composer/conductor/teacher Sandra Milliken, offering an insight into the driving forces behind her emergence as an acclaimed composer and the various influences from both Australia and abroad, that have influenced her creative endeavours. The session will be supported by a multi-media presentation, including musical excerpts and a printed catalogue of her works.

3:00 pm - Going From Good to Great with a Fund Development Concert Tour - presented by Patrick Sciarratta, Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, Executive Director. Fund raiser; university speaker; formerly Associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information and UNESCO.

President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Secretary of State Clinton have all stressed the necessity for a larger, re-engaged, positive cultural ‘footprint’ abroad. ACDA choral ensembles have always been in the forefront of the effort to present the best of what America has to offer around the world. How is this accomplished in lean financial times and how can the tour contribute to overall organizational or institutional success? From 2010 to 2012, where will be the key development and mission opportunities? How can a ‘historic moment’ become and opportunity for academic, artistic, and even peace-building goals in the years ahead? Mr. Sciarratta was President Clinton’s representative during the first-ever White House Conference on Travel and Tourism and serves on several nonprofit arts boards which utilize travel as program and fund development tools.

Outline of the goals, themes, or topics to be covered

• Doing What Comes Naturally: Practical ways to elevate average choral tours strategically and achieve diplomacy, service, and use as media/membership/fund development projects
• Good Money Follows Good Projects: Inbound or outbound, concert tours and even group-based  cultural travels can be fund development tools in a globalized marketplace.
• From Good to Great: Using cultural exchange in the present climate to grow long-range programming that integrates choral ensemble touring and hosting, year round.

3:30 pm - The Singing Revolution - discussion of a recent documentary film presented by Jim Tusty.  

4:00 pm - Barbershop Harmony Repertoire and Song Selection for Male and Female Choral Ensembles - Discover the benefits of using four part a cappella arrangements in the barbershop style for both your Women’s and Men’s groups.  This American art form lends itself to a variety of approaches, providing a wide variety of material suitable for all ages. Sample sheet music will be available at this session.  Presented by Sweet Adelines International (Peggy Gram, International President) and Barbershop Harmony Society (Rick Spencer, Director of Music and Education).

4:30 pm-6:00 pm, Cox Center, Room 9-12 - DISCOVER THE MUSIC OF KARL JENKINS.  Includes the music THE ARMED MAN: A MASS FOR PEACE, REQUIEM, and STABAT MATER.

This session will feature multi-media commentary by the composer, live musical demonstration, and music packets and complimentary CDs provided by Hal Leonard and Boosey & Hawkes and EMI New York. Jonathan Griffith, DCINY Artistic Director, will moderate.

A collaborative Choral Seminar co-hosted by Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY), Boosey & Hawkes, Hal Leonard Corporation, EMI Records, and the choral department of Oklahoma City University, Dr. Judith Willoughby and Dr. Randi Von Ellefson, Directors.

4:30 pm - Got Choralography? Get tools you can apply to your teaching/performing situation.  Learn tips to visually enhance your choral programming. Create new marketing ideas and touring possibilities.  Experience first hand moving and singing.

Thursday, March 5

11:00 am - Choral Conducting/Teaching: Real World Strategies - An introduction to improving perceptive listening skills within the context of a choral rehearsal presented by Sandra Snow, Michigan State University & sponsored by GIA Publications.

11:30 am - Moveable Tonic: How to Teach Sight-Singing.  A quick introduction to basic, sequenced sight-singing techniques designed to help your choir members become independent music readers, presented by Alan C. McClung, University of North Texas & sponsored by GIA Publications.

12:30 pm - Going From Good to Great with a Fund Development Concert Tour - presented by Patrick Sciarratta, Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, Executive Director. Fund Raiser; University Speaker; formally Associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information and UNESCO.

President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Secretary of State Clinton have all stressed the necessity for a larger, re-engaged, positive cultural ‘footprint’ abroad. ACDA choral ensembles have always been in the forefront of the effort to present the best of what America has to offer around the world. How is this accomplished in lean financial times and how can the tour contribute to overall organizational or institutional success? From 2010 to 2012, where will be the key development and mission opportunities? How can a ‘historic moment’ become and opportunity for academic, artistic, and even peace-building goals in the years ahead? Mr. Sciarratta was President Clinton’s Representative during the first-ever White House Conference on Travel and Tourism and serves on several nonprofit arts boards which utilize travel as program and fund development tools.

Outline of the goals, themes, or topics to be covered

• Doing What Comes Naturally: Practical ways to elevate average choral tours strategically and achieve diplomacy, service, and use as media/membership/fund development projects
• Good Money Follows Good Projects: Inbound or outbound, concert tours and even group-based, cultural travels can be fund development tools in a globalized marketplace
• From Good to Great: Using cultural exchange in the present climate to grow long-range programming that integrates choral ensemble touring and hosting, year round.

1:00 pm - The Singing Revolution - discussion of a recent documentary film presented by Jim Tusty.   

1:30 pm - Empowering your Singers - In this interactive session, Certified McClosky Voice Technicians provide tips for encouraging more vocal development in choral singers.  Participants will learn ways to free the voice for better tonal awareness through relaxation of six areas that typically cause tension in singers.  For more than fifty years, the simple, gentle guidance of the McClosky technique has brought new life to countless singers.  These healthy ideas, developed by David Blair McClosky and described in his book Your Voice at its Best, have proven to be practical and physiologically sound.  Help give your choir the skills to be vocally ‘fit’; take your choir’s sound to a new level!    Presented by the McClosky Institute of Voice in anticipation of summer seminars at Northwestern State University, Columbus State University, and Emmanuel College.

2:00 pm -  I don't have the budget to tune our pianos let alone replace them! (Why does the Choral Department get second choice of new pianos?) -This discussion lays out how to obtain the comprehensive plan to create a "Long Term Piano Replacement Program for any performance or learning institution. This program includes the introduction of the new "American" Knabe Pianos.

The goal of this discussion is to introduce solutions to addressing the specific needs of pianos voiced specifically for accompaniment. How to get new replacement pianos for your performance or learning institution in a down economy (how did they do it in the great depression?) and how to obtain the funding.

Presented by: Mike Bennett, Saied Music Company / Knabe Piano Company Division of Samick Music and Tony Mastadonna - National Director, Institutional Sales

2:30 pm - Teaching Music through Performance in Choir - Learn how to effectively use teacher resource guides on standard choral repertoire to educate your singers and bring the maximum musicianship to your choral performances,  presented by Matt Mehaffey, University of Minnesota & sponsored by GIA Publications.

3:00 pm - Building a Strong Relationship With Your Voice Colleagues - Do your voice and choral colleagues misunderstand each other’s efforts to improve the singing of students?  How can you start a conversation with your voice faculty to understand the common ground between the voice studio and choral rehearsal?  Join a panel of voice teachers and choral directors as part of a national conversation on developing a “common language” between the choral rehearsal and voice studio for the benefit of your students.

Goals:

1.  To start a national conversation on developing a common language between the voice studio and choral rehearsal.
2.  To provide tools for choral directors and voice teachers to start such a conversation.
3.  To gauge interest among attendees in such a conversation
4.  To bridge perceived schisms between the voice faculty and the choral faculty at institutions and foster understanding of the unique settings in which each group operates.

Presented by Allen Henderson, Executive Director, National Association of
Teachers of Singing (NATS), Scott McCoy, President,Donald Simonson,
President-elect, Brenda Smith, NATS & ACDA member, Sharon Hansen,
Choral Journal Editorial Board member. 

3:30 pm -  Shine, Sparkle, Glitter - The Dynamics of Words
and Music - Denise Schafer, music clinician presents simple techniques
acquired from her professional singing career that really put the
"Shine, Sparkle, Glitter" into singing groups or soloists of any age.
Examine various techniques of vocal interpretation.

4:00 pm - Touring in Tough Economic Times - In difficult economic times, some choirs still find a way to tour. How do they do it?  - Ideas presented will allow attendees to plan an economically feasible and artistically successful tour in these challenging times.  Topics discussed will include steps others are taking to continue to make touring possible:
Aligning a tour with the mission of the organization, New destinations, cost-cutting measures, shared expenses and income, currency management, and much more.

Presented by Frank Stubbs and Sara Casar of Classical Movements, Alexandria, Virginia. Mr. Stubbs has toured extensively with ensembles throughout the world. He was treasurer of the Sixth World Symposium on Choral Music held in Minneapolis, which brought over 40 choirs from around the world to the U.S. in 2002, the year following the terrible World Trade Center disaster.  Ms. Casar is Business Manager for Classical Movements and has prepared tours and proposals for professional, community, children’s and university choirs and orchestras. 

4:30 pm - Introducing music to your choir through the “front door” – text! - Using choral works form the Paraclete catalog, clinicians will demonstrate and teach methods that composers use to illuminate various points in a text in such a way that choir members may start to discover points of interpretation themselves!  Conductors know that if a choir or at least some choir members are “in love” with a text or some aspect of it,  they can find a vision for a new piece and thereby make the learning process more enjoyable and, in the end, have a much more meaningful performance.  Presented by Jim Jordan, Music Development Consultant, Paraclete Press and David Chalmers.

5:00 pm - Choral Intonation -  Gary Graden introducting the book by P. G. Addahl.  Presented in the Skivin Hilton Venitian Ballroom

Friday, March 6

10:00 am - Building a Strong Relationship With Your Voice Colleagues -Do your voice and choral colleagues misunderstand each other’s efforts to
improve the singing of students?  How can you start a conversation with your voice faculty to understand the common ground between the voice studio and choral rehearsal?  Join a panel of voice teachers and choral directors to be part of a national conversation on developing a “common language” between the choral rehearsal and voice studio for the benefit of your students.

Goals:

1.  To start a national conversation on developing a common language between the voice studio and choral rehearsal.
2.  To provide tools for choral directors and voice teachers to start such a conversation.
3.  To gauge interest among attendees in such a conversation
4.  To bridge perceived schisms between the voice faculty and the
choral faculty at institutions and foster understanding of the unique
settings in which each group operates. 

Presented by Allen Hderson, Executive Director, National Association of
Teachers of Singing (NATS), Scott McCoy, President,Donald Simonson, President-elect, Brenda Smith, NATS & ACDA member, Sharon Hansen, Choral Journal Editorial Board member. 

10:30 am - The Choral Challenge - Conductor Michael Kemp (Germantown Academy) presentes quick-fix solutions to common "choral challenges" gathered from a lifetime of living and working with choirs. Sponsored by GIA Publications.

11:00 am - The Anatomy of Conducting Gesture - This session will provide conductors with valuage insights into the structure of the body and its affects upon choral sound - presented by James Jordan, Westminster Choir College & Sponsored by GIA Publications.

11:00 am - 1:00 pm Meet composer Eric Whitacre; Signing DCINY booth (620) - An accomplished composer, conductor, and lecturer, Eric Whitacre has quickly become one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation. His music has been featured on dozens of commercial and independent recordings, and his published works have received thousands of performances. A full collection of his a cappella music, Cloudburst and Other Choral Works, earned a 2007 Grammy nomination for Best Choral Performance.

12:00 pm - Singing in Russian Using the Russica™ Transliteration System -  The Russica™ phonetic transliteration system, developed by Musica Russica expressly for choral singing, has made the vast repertoire of Russian choral music accessible to non-Russian choirs of every age and level. This seminar offers participants a unique opportunity to hear Musica Russica President Vladimir Morosan explain in person the system and its advantages. In addition, Morosan will present some special exercises and techniques that will further enhance your experience and confidence with respect to singing in Russian. Sponsored by Musica Russica.

12:30 pm - One Minute Theory for the Choral Music Classroom - Based on the “bell work” principle by master educator, Harry Wong, this workshop highlights the format of the newly published student workbook, “One Minute Theory for the Choral Music Classroom.” Teachers will learn the quick and easy steps in implementing this collection of one-minute lessons and be able to “teach theory in a quiet classroom while taking roll.” Presented by Ronald Slabbinck, Christian Brothers High School, Sacrament, CA & Neil A. Kjos Music Co.

1:30 pm - Empowering your Singers - In this interactive
session, Certified McClosky Voice Technicians provide tips for
encouraging more vocal development in choral singers.  Participants
will learn ways to free the voice for better tonal awareness through
relaxation of six areas that typically cause tension in singers.  For
more than fifty years, the simple, gentle guidance of the McClosky
technique has brought new life to countless singers.  These healthy
ideas, developed by David Blair McClosky and described in his book Your
Voice at its Best, have proven to be practical and physiologically
sound.  Help give your choir the skills to be vocally ‘fit’; take your
choir’s sound to a new level!    Presented by the McClosky Institute of
Voice in anticipation of summer seminars at Northwestern State
University, Columbus State University, and Emmanuel College.

2:00 pm  - Texts That Inspire -  Joseph Martin, composer of “The Awakening,” leads a discussion about repertoire with texts that inspire and encourage the lives of young choristers. Most of the students and singers we train in our rehearsals will not go on to music careers, yet music will remain a vital part of their wholeness as human beings. Singing in choirs builds a sense of community and the messages in the music can help singers to understand the journey of life in a deeper, more meaningful way. From Tennyson to Rossetti and contemporary bards that speak to the heart of the modern experience, this discussion will remind us that choral music is a word-based art form. A suggested repertoire list will be provided. Sponsored by Shawnee Press, Inc. and Chester/Novello.

Introduction to Contemporary British Composers - Simon Carrington, one of the original members of the world renowned King’s Singers and currently Professor of Choral Conducting and Conductor of the Yale Schola Cantorum at the Yale School of Music and Yale Institute of Sacred Music will give an introduction to contemporary British choral composers.  Simon Carrington will give firsthand experience of these composers’ music, including composers such as John Tavener and Tarik O’Regan, and also show how some works are influenced by much earlier composers.  His many years as both a singer and choral director will give an invaluable insight into the music of British choral composers.  A suggested repertoire list will be provided.

2:30 pm - Tips for a Wonderful Performing Tour -  Whether you arrange your performing tour yourself or use an outside agent, there are specific things that need to be done at specific times for best results.  This presentation will outline these crucial events that will facilitate a hassle-free and memorable performing tour.  Some of these are obvious, but others are less so.   There’s something for everyone from planning the first performing tour to repeaters. Presented by Don Harper of Arts Bureau for the Continents.

3:00 pm -  Shine Sparkle Glitter - The Dynamics of Words
and Music Denise Schafer, Music Clinician presents simple techniques
acquired from her professional singing career that really put the
"Shine, Sparkle, Glitter" into singing groups or soloists of any age.
Examine various techniques of vocal interpretation.
Presented by Denise Shafer.

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm Meet composer Eric Whitacre; Signing
DCINY booth (620) - An accomplished composer, conductor, and lecturer,
Eric Whitacre has quickly become one of the most popular and performed
composers of his generation. His music has been featured on dozens of
commercial and independent recordings, and his published works have
received thousands of performances. A full collection of his a cappella
music, Cloudburst and Other Choral Works, earned a 2007 Grammy
nomination for Best Choral Performance.

3:30 pm - Barbershop Harmony Repertoire and Song Selection for Male and Female Choral Ensembles
- Discover the benefits of using four part a cappella arrangements in
the barbershop style for both your Women’s and Men’s groups.  This
American art form lends itself to a variety of approaches, providing a
wide variety of material suitable for all ages. Sample sheet music will
be available at this session.  Presented by Sweet Adelines
International (Peggy Gram, International President) and Barbershop
Harmony Society (Rick Spencer, Director of Music and Education).

4:30 pm - Got Choralography? Get tools you can apply to your teaching/performing situation.  Learn tips to visually enhance your choral programming. Create new marketing ideas and touring possibilities.  Experience first hand moving and singing.