Testimonials

ACDA helped to affirm my vocational choice in graduate school: I knew then that I wanted to be a choral conductor.

I have always loved to sing.  When I learned how much I loved to share in the leading of song, however, it was a bit of a shock.  My first outings conducting a large choir at Ithaca College under the tutelage of Janet Galván further confirmed this immense joy.  Dr. Galván encouraged me to enter the ACDA Undergraduate Student Conducting Competition, where I was a finalist in Los Angeles in 2005.  Through this event, ACDA helped to affirm my vocational choice in graduate school: I knew then that I wanted to be a choral conductor.  Since enrolling at Yale in 2006 to study with Marguerite Brooks and Simon Carrington, I have attended the regional and national conventions of ACDA each year.  A major highlight was the performance of my work "The Soul's Passing" at the 2007 Miami convention, as it was the Brock Student Composition Competition winner that year.  Hearing the work performed by the Florida State University Singers and Dr. Kevin Fenton was wonderfully humbling and inspiring.  As my time at Yale comes to a close and I prepare to serve the profession through employment, I am grateful to ACDA for all of the opportunities it offers for students like myself--those with a passion for music that every now and then need a little nudge in the right direction.

Photo: Dominick DiOrio conducts the Yale Recital Chorus and Orchestra in a performance of Arvo Pärt's "Te Deum" for three choirs, string orchestra, prepared piano and tape (October 2008). Photo by Mateusz Zachowski - studioteo.com

Joining ACDA has been the single most important event of my career that has led me through the professional path I am on today.  I cannot imagine teaching without this organization. I became a member of ACDA during my student-teaching experience.  My cooperating-teacher told me of this wonderful organization of choral directors that I had to be a part of.  He did not make it an option – it was something that I was expected to do.

It was this push as a young teacher that opened up a whole new world.  ACDA has impacted my life greatly.  I have been part of the Iowa ACDA board 12 of the past 14 years in various capacities, serving through the ranks all the way to my presidency.  I have a strong passion to give back to the young teachers to give them the opportunities that I was given. 

My teaching has been impacted immensely from the wealth of information I have received by attending various state, regional, and national ACDA conventions.  Having the opportunity to witness live performances, being part of interest sessions, and experience new music through reading sessions has impacted not only myself, but also the thousands of students that I have had the opportunity to work with.  To grow as a teacher - one must seek growth opportunities.

To say that I appreciate ACDA would be a dramatic understatement. I joined in 1997, which seems like yesterday, and the minimal cost of membership is worth every penny.  Membership in ACDA results in many desirable outcomes, but perhaps most important are the opportunities for genuine inspiration and meaningful inquiry.  Writing for the Choral Journal continues to be a distinct honor and attending conferences at the state, divisional, and national levels has directly connected me with so many outstanding colleagues in a personal way.  Bravo ACDA as we celebrate our 50th anniversary – here’s to 50 more – at least.

The amazing thing to me about ACDA conferences is the long-lasting charge that I take with me from the experience. The 5 day conference schedule is so packed with interest sessions, concerts, trips to the exhibit hall, and chances to run into old friends and teachers, that I would expect to return home exhausted.  Instead, I'm invigorated--I'm ordering new music, going into my rehearsals with fresh ideas and perspective, and talking on the phone several times a week with old friends with whom I am reconnected!

-Will Breytspraak, Presenter
Sight-Singing and Ear-Training in the Choral Rehearsal
Presenter at the 2009 National Conference

BRAVO ACDA!  For a conductor this remarkable organization, through its conferences, journals, and talented people, is a generous, rich, replenishing resource. Here one finds solid connections with other conductors from all over the world, firm validation in what we do, renewed inspiration to go on, and the absolute affirmation of choral music’s ability to change lives.  

To be invited to perform at an ACDA conference is both terrifying and exhilarating.  Here is where conductors and their choirs have the opportunity to share their art, to learn, to demonstrate, and to be inspired.  No conductor or choir could possibly walk away from this experience without positive impact on their future, their newly determined goals for themselves and their continuing, eager participation in the choral art.  Thank you, ACDA.

Diane Loomer, C.M., Artistic Director,
Chor Leoni Men’s Choir

ACDA has been the most important professional development and networking organization for me throughout my career.  If only I had found it sooner!  I taught ten years before being invited to join, and five years later I finally became actively involved.   I regret those lost years, and I urge others to not put off joining. My somewhat average choral program took the turn into becoming accomplished enough to be selected to perform at our divisional ACDA convention only after I attended a national ACDA convention.  I heard the most amazing middle school choir performing wonderful music at an incredibly high level of musicality.  When I discovered it was a non-auditioned public school choir, the scales fell off my eyes.  I knew I could do the same thing, and was determined to find the resources and develop the skills it required.  ACDA supplied those resources, models, and mentors.

ACDA members are pretty much universally terrific people.  I find that interactions come easily among this group, without feelings of competition or fear of judgment, but rather of affirmation and encouragement.  ACDA is for choral directors of every level and genre who care about professional growth and pursuing excellence.  

Words cannot describe the importance of ACDA to my professional life. I learned, literally, about using fingers for consonant articulation in conducting by watching Lloyd Pfautsch demonstrate the technique at an ACDA convention.  Watching Weston Noble match voices at a Western Division Convention completely changed the way I seat singers and rehearse. Recently I learned from a Choral Journal article on the Voice that my sopranos' high tones would be improved if they warmed up in their chest voice.  Anyone who wants to improve their effectiveness as a choral conductor/teacher must be a member of ACDA--attend conventions, read the Choral Journal, go to summer conferences and workshops, learn from each other, watch the masters in the field, make life-long friends, hear and observe great choirs, BE INSPIRED!

A great many conductors I respect are members of ACDA, and I look forward to seeing them at conventions.  It was ACDA that first introduced me to the breadth of the choral field, from scholarship to treble choirs to conductor education to curricula, and everything in between. Anyone considering a career in choral music should join ACDA...those starting out have the most to gain through access to thousands of conductors at every age and stage.  Anyone currently in such a career should join ACDA...it provides an instant network of peers, many of whom will understand exactly what you are going through.  Anyone at the peak of their career should join ACDA... to enjoy the blessings that come from sharing one's knowledge, experience, and wisdom.

I value the opportunity to interact with conductors I greatly respect but who live too far away for me to visit them regularly. I also enjoy hearing many choral performances each day: each represents a different perspective on the choral art, and the resulting cross-pollination never fails to revivify my own aesthetic and goals, sometimes in a surprising way.

In retrospect, I can see that the Student Conducting Competition in 2006 was an important moment in my career.  The result I was fortunate to obtain there has since opened doors for me: I have benefitted from significant professional opportunities and invitations, and have been able to access further advanced conducting training opportunities internationally.

I love being connected with other conductors and choral musicians. As a young conductor, their wisdom is invaluable to my own success. It's also great to know that I'll receive Choral Journal every month.  This is a wonderful resource to help me keep on top of the happenings in the choral world.

ACDA has helped me know that I can indeed have a life full of choral music. I'm sure that information I've gained from ACDA publications and conferences has only made my own music-making more fulfilling and meaningful to myself, the choirs I've had the pleasure to be a part of, and the audiences that enjoy the music we make. On a very practical note, being able to indicate on my resume that I am a member of ACDA helps potential employers know that I have an ongoing interest in this field.

Participating in the National Student Conducting Competition was an exciting opportunity to learn a little more about myself as a conductor and to learn from my colleagues in the competition. Even though we all knew it was a competition, we were willing to discuss our musical and gestural choices with each other. This is so important for us novices, seeing how other conductors interpret a score and how they choose to communicate it to an ensemble. I learned a lot about fixing problems very quickly and developing a rapport with people in the choir as soon as you're in front of them.