Dear CT-ACDA:
I truly hope this newsletter finds you well and healthy. As choral artists, this current global pandemic certainly impacts all of us - our communities, choirs and families, in unexpected and difficult ways. As we navigate through the coming weeks and months, please do not hesitate to reach out to the CT-ACDA Executive Board and Repertoire and Resources Chairs for connection, guidance, assistance...or even just someone to talk to. We must lean on each other, encourage each other and look to the future, together.
In this newsletter, you will find:
EASTERN REGION CONFERENCE - Memories and Reflections
RESOURCES FOR DISTANCE LEARNING/TEACHING
FUTURE DATES for CONFERENCE & EVENTS
Please remember to visit, comment and post to our CT-ACDA Facebook and Instagram platforms, as we have a lot of additional information and resources posted from external sources and other ACDA state Chapters.
I am thinking of all of you - Stay healthy and SING ON!
Amanda Hanzlik
President, CT-ACDA
ACDA CONFERENCE REFLECTIONS
ACDA CONFERENCE REFLECTIONS
by Student Conference Scholarship Recipient, Clare Callahan
I feel so lucky to have attended the ACDA Eastern Conference at the beginning of this month. We had a group of 6 students from WCSU that attended the conference along with our advisor and were excited to experience a larger conference. We attended concerts, rehearsals and sessions that really made an impact on us as a whole. Some of the sessions that I really enjoyed were incorporating choral music into the community, the undergraduate/ graduate conducting master classes and the rehearsals for the honor choir. One student said, “The reading sessions were also really important so that educators can be exposed to new music that they might not be familiar with.”
My favorite part of the whole conference had to be the concerts above everything else. As a group, our favorite concerts were the Bobby McFerrin concert the first night and The American Spiritual Ensemble on Friday. TJ Swetz from WCSU had this to say about the groups- “Both groups sang with so much emotion and soul that it was infectious to watch as an audience member.” One other concert that I absolutely loved was Poquessing Middle School, The EO Smith Chamber Singers and The Choir School of Delaware concert. This concert really moved me for several reasons. These choirs ranged in skill level from middle school to community choir but still delivered a wonderful concert individually and as a whole. Overall, the love for music that I could see in all of these performers faces and bodies is what moved me to tears. As a pre-service teacher, that love for music is what drove me to go into music education and want to be a choir director. It was obvious that these conductors have shown their choirs how to create great music but also how to enjoy it. I can’t wait to attend future ACDA conferences with my colleagues for more inspiring moments such as these!
- Clare Callahan
President, ACDA Student Chapter at Western Connecticut State University
REFLECTIONS ON ACDA - ROCHESTER
I cannot say enough how appropriately named this conference was, "Open Ears... Open Hearts". So much of this conference was focused toward calling everyone to an awareness of the world around us, and all the beautiful people in it. We as choral musicians/educators have a responsibility to use our craft to give a voice to all who wish to be heard. This conference reminded us of the importance of welcoming people of all identities into our choirs, and making a difference in their lives through a connection to music and singing. So many of the workshops covered topics on community, inclusion, and communication to bring an awareness of things such as culture, race, and gender to the forefront of our music making. Every concert I attended brought my emotions to the surface, made me feel connected, and left me thinking; thinking about the young people in my choirs, and what I can do to ensure that their voices are heard, and their stories are told. I was reminded frequently of the immense power that music and singing have to bring people together in a way that celebrates differences as well as similarities, and that everyone has the right to be given that opportunity. This conference made me ask myself what kind of world I wish to live in, and what I can do to get a little closer to making that world a reality. I am very grateful that ACDA has taken on the important challenge of cultural awareness and social justice through music, and hope we can all do our part to make ripples of kindness and unity in a divided world."
BrianJones
Choir Director - Canton Middle & High Schools
PERFORMING AND ATTENDING THE ACDA 2020 EASTERN REGION CONFERENCE
The ACDA Conference in Rochester was incredible.
The preparation process and performance experience with my students (The EO Smith High School Chamber Singers) was truly one of the most joyful, evolutionary and fulfilling/mountain-top experiences of my professional life. It is still difficult to articulate how deeply profound it was for me and my students - as a selected choir AND as learners/audience members.
Thank you to my fellow CT-ACDA members and the Executive Board for all of your encouragement and support.
I was deeply honored and humbled to have represented Connecticut, both as a performer...and as President.
My heart is FULL.
FAVORITE HIGHLIGHTS:
VOICES 21C - completely rattled my cage and I’m not sure I will ever recover - and I don’t want to.
The Young People’s Chorus of NYC - inspired my heart and soul in a way that was deeply spiritual...
Rutgers University Glee Club - absolutely stunned me with their tenderness, power and incredible tone color.
The American Spiritual Ensemble - simultaneously DESTROYED and rebuilt my soul - how do they make that sound?
And mostly... the kindness, praise and warmth from other choral directors for my students...and for me.
It was unreal. Choral directors are THE BEST. With Gratitude —
Amanda Hanzlik
Director of Choirs - E.O. Smith High School, President - CT-ACDA
CONNECTICUT STUDENT ACDA HONOR CHOIR PERFORMERS
We often receive joy from watching our student experience music in our ensembles each day, but there is something extremely special when they step away from your choir room and join a community of other musicians to learn and create. It gives a glimpse into what we hope for each of our students.That they will take a lifelong love of music with them and share it with others.
Honor Choirs like this also remind me ofwhat wonderful things choral directors and their students are doing throughout the state and region. When feeling alone in our school district, it helps us remember that we have a musical community in the trenches with us, ready to uplift and support.
Sarah Gleason
Director of Choirs - New Canaan High School, Repertoire and Resources Coordinator - CT-ACDA
DISTANCE LEARNING RESOURCES
CUSTOMIZED THEORY EXERCISES - LINK
Provided/created by Colleen Thompson (Simsbury)
HIGH SCHOOL LEARNING OPTIONS (4 questions) - LINK
Provided/Created by Doreen Fryling (NY ACDA)
CHORAL ONLINE RESOURCE LIST (The BIG ONE) - LINK
Provided/Created by Lauren Peithmann
SIGHT READING FACTORY RESOURCE LIST - LINK
PLEASE SHARE THESE RESOURCES WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES!
SAVE THE DATES
(May 30, 2020 - Spring Conference - CANCELED)
August 24, 2020 - SUMMER SING & SOCIAL (BEACH!) - Location TBD
October 17th or 24th, 2020 (TBD) - FALL CONFERENCE - Location TBD
January 2021 - CT-ACDA Chamber Choir Festival - Hartford
May 2021 - SPRING CONFERENCE
ACDA 2021 NATIONAL CONFERENCE - 3/17-20 DALLAS
ACDA 2022 EASTERN REGION CONFERENCE - 2/9-12 BOSTON
* we hope to have dates and locations set by April!