"...to inspire excellence in choral music through 
Education, Performance, Composition, and Advocacy."

March 2015 ChoraLink
Greetings, colleagues!

I trust that those of you who were able to make it to Salt Lake City have all made it back home by now, and are already putting the many fantastic ideas we encountered there to great use. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces as well as to meet so many new members at our Eastern Division reception on Thursday night of the conference. Special thanks to T.J. Harper for coordinating the catering, and to Penny Cruz for choosing some great food offerings for the evening. 

As we leave the winter behind (fingers crossed) and move into spring, I hope you'll find a few things in this month's ChoraLink that will help continue to revive your rehearsal and planning processes, and awaken your choral imagination. We have links on boychoirs, aural training, and online resources for the church musician. And you'll find links to apply for auditioned performing choirs and interest sessions for our Divisional conference in Boston 2016. These, along with your taxes, are due April 15, so make sure you've got both marked on your calendar!
 
As always, we're listening, and we're here to serve.

ACDA Eastern Division President


Boston 2016: Choir and Interest Session applications due April 15
Applications for performing ensembles and interest session presenters for the 2016 Eastern Division Conference in Boston, MA, are due April 15thOur theme for the conference is "Pushing Boundaries," and we'd love to hear how you interpret this idea.
The centerpiece of any ACDA conference are our members--YOU--and we look forward to hearing from all creative, boundary-pushing leaders, conductors, and teachers throughout the Northeast!  
Honor Choir Applications Now Open
The 2016 Honor Choirs and Conductors have been announced, and applications are now open!
  • Elementary: Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, conductor 
  • South American Repertoire: Daniel Afonso, conductor
  • Junior High: Andrea Ramsey, conductor
  • High School: Jeffery Redding, conductor
More information on each conductor, as well as details on how to apply can be found here.

Leadership Links
This month we have recommendations from
Melissa Malvar-Keylock (Division Boychoir R&S), Randy Yoder (ACDA-PA President), and Michael Kerschner (Division Community Choir R&S).
  • Melissa tells us that Chris Eanes and the Cincinnati Boychoir is teaming up with a local hospital to study choir boys and their evolving voices
  • Randy recounts that "at an ACDA conference many years ago, I heard John Goldsmith (Director, Heinz Chapel Choir at the University of Pittsburgh) explain his method of "Developing Tonal Memory - Calibrating the Ear." So, I went home to try it...and it worked! For more information, take a look at Calibrating the Ear, an article written several years ago by Richard Sparks of the University of North Texas." 
  • Michael asks, 'What if, once a week, brilliantly phrased gems of instruction and inspiration appeared on your social media feed? What if we could celebrate the collective wisdom of our family of conductors past and present? Let's make it happen! We are looking for pithy quotes to help singers understand new concepts: turns of phrases that efficiently, beautifully, and memorably spark understanding. We want to keep them specific to the choral art, so please submit quotes related to the tone, intonation, style, voice, ensemble, and diction. To access this collective wisdom, follow The Choral Meme Project on Facebook and share your submissions here.
On-line resources in African American Sacred Music
The internet has positively transformed aspects of the planning that teachers, musicians, worship leaders and others use to frame and/or guide their process that often results in successful programming. Within the African American community there are two organizations that have become my "go to" points of reference as I coordinate repertoire and identify worship resources in African American sacred music:

I. African American Lectionary
A collaborative project of the African American Pulpit and American Baptist College of Nashville has archival planning materials for a wide array of worship services that are celebrated in African American congregations across the USA. Contributions from pastors, musicians, scholars and others occurred from 2008 - 2013. Selected categories include the following: Emancipation Proclamation Day, Holy Communion and Epiphany, A Service of Healing, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday, Baptism, African Heritage Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Lent, MAAFA Service, Contemporary Heroes and Heroines Day, Anti-Incarceration Day, Jesus and Women, Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, Jesus and Economic Justice Sunday, Earth Day, Jesus and Hip Hop Culture, Ecumenical Day of Worship, First Sunday of Advent & World AIDS Day, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Watch Night

For each topic, scriptures, themes, hymns, choral/instrumental repertoire, liturgical dance, video and other resource materials are provided. Additional worship and cultural resources are also listed as separate links. I enthusiastically suggest that if you are seeking materials that may help you in planning worship encounters that have an African American focus, visit the website and be inspired!

II. NTimeMusic.com: NtTimeMusic is a music distributor based in Charlotte, NC. Their print, video, music transcription and audio holdings are vast in African American sacred music. In recent years they have provided downloading services for selected repertoire. Traditional and contemporary gospel, Praise and Worship, Liturgical Dance, Musicals, Children's Choir Resources, Spirituals, Anthems and Hymn Arrangements by African American Composers are some of the broad categories that are available to the consumer. Currently there is a link on their website for compositions by the late Andr� Crouch, composer of 'Soon and Very Soon,' 'My Tribute/To God Be The Glory' and 'Let the Church Say Amen.'

NTimeMusic.com is my "go to" resource for compositions that I perform with all of the choirs for which I provide artistic leadership as well as festival choirs around the world. If you are seeking something that they do not have on site they will probably be able to connect you with the composer/arranger for further guidance.

Division R&S Chair, Music in Worship
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