Jason Holmes

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.