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.
The science of mirror neurons continues to have strong applications in the choral community. Drawing from this science, research in music education has begun to understand how meaning, empathy, intent, and feeling are communicated through gesture. From this research, a gestural language is created, upon which efficient and meaningful rehearsal pedagogy may be developed. The […]
Kansas City MO.The role of a choral conductor is, at its basest level, to show singers when and how to breathe, release sound, and breathe again. One might consider us Air Port Controllers. There is, however, an oft-overlooked resource with great and immediate musical results: the singers’ own hands. This session will explore a series of exercises […]
Seattle WA.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.The approaches of Dalcroze, Orff, and Kodály (D-O-K) are traditionally utilized in elementary general music classrooms, but the fun doesn’t have to stop there! Explore a variety of strategies incorporating elements of D-O-K to energize and engaging your students in each and every rehearsal. Discover the benefits of eclectic approach as singers of all ages […]
Boston MA.This session will use the latest discoveries on how the brain functions to demonstrate what these implications are for the choral director. Such aspects as changes in placement of singers, physical movement by the singers, varying activities during the rehearsal, application to sight-reading and musicianship, encouraging singers’ own creativity and artistic expression, conductor’s pedagogical gestures […]
Salt Lake City, UT.Using a groundbreaking combination of Laban Movement, Laban Movement Analysis, Harmonic Rhythm, and Body mapping, this session will detail a new pedagogical path for the development of meaningful expressive gesture. Session attendees will gain a working and practical knowledge and application of Laban Movement applied to conducting and revolutionary etudes for the development of conducting […]
Salt Lake City UT.
