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.
Men’s and women’s choirs are often considered beginner ensembles in major choral programs across the country. As a result, singers placed in these groups may view themselves as inferior. Such a perception can be detrimental to the success of these ensembles and should be avoided from the very beginning. This session will explore different approaches […]
Kansas City MO.Teaching singers the vocalisms of a choral masterwork can be assisted by using rehearsal warm-ups crafted from the composition itself. This session will use the choruses from Handel’s Messiah to demonstrate how easy it is to design repertoire-specific exercises and how using them can be much more effective than using generic warm-ups. Participants in this […]
Jason Paulk, Ryan KellyThis session will explore ways to kinesthetically engage and inspire singers in a choral setting. Solfège techniques, kinesthetic movement, a few warm-ups, motivation and management techniques, and word wall and brain break activities will be highlighted. This session is based on the premise that good repertoire selection has occurred, score study has informed the rehearsal, […]
Kansas City MO.With the increased popularity from movies like Pitch Perfect, ensembles such as Pentatonix, and TV’s The Sing-Off; the contemporary unaccompanied ensemble has an opportunity to augment participation, patronage, and education in vocal/choral music. This session will present many of the major factors of establishing or maintaining these ensembles. Topics will include: repertoire, voicing, vocal percussion, […]
Kansas City MO.When guided through a systematic learning process, choirs will produce a quality musical experience and communicate more effectively to the listener. To prepare, inspire, teach voice, and motivate singers in an orderly, step-by-step manner is the foundation of my system of teaching choral music. This session will offer strategies for recruiting, detailed score preparation, and […]
Kansas City MO.Do you avoid programming Baroque repertoire? You can make Baroque music enjoyable for your choir, perform it well, and develop versatile singers. This session will explore stylistic vocal techniques, historical practice guidelines, and use of foreign languages to enhance your performances, and how to make an orchestral-reduction accompaniment more playable. Participants will leave with stylistically […]
Kansas City MO.
