American Choral Directors Association
The mission of ACDA is to inspire excellence and nurture lifelong involvement in choral music for everyone through education, performance, composition and advocacy.
Many choral conductors work with a wide range of singers. The sounds and functions of voices change throughout a lifetime. This session will explore the natural and variable vocal, musical, and personal qualities for different age brackets and appropriate and age-optimal techniques to nurture singing. We will outline goals and drawbacks for a variety of […]
Chicago IL.Takadimi rhythm syllables, developed by Hoffman, Pelto, and White of Ithaca College, present a viable alternative to more traditional methods of teaching rhythmic literacy. This session will include an introduction to the syllables, step-by-step methods for incorporating them into a choral rehearsal, and hands-on practice with the syllables.
Pasadena CA.Vocal pedagogues and choral conductors share goals for their students: guide them in healthy vocal production; help them mature as intelligent, thoughtful, sensitive musicians; and prepare them for lives rich with music in various forms. Nevertheless, the private teacher/conductor relationship can be derailed and distract us from our students’ best interest. This session presents strategies […]
Pasadena CA.Venture into the past on this inspiring journey through the architecture and beauty of a unique style of music and see how we will shed light on the roots of polychoral music, follow its highlights through time, and gain a deeper understanding of its historical significance. We will rehearse well-known musical pieces such as The […]
Pasadena CA.In 2015 we traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, to begin implementing an innovative new program of therapy based on music education for orphans with attachment disorders. The prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) among these orphans was eight times the worldwide aver-age. FAS links directly to attachment disorders, which surface at alarming rates among Russian […]
Pasadena CA.
