Massachusetts ACDA
Serving Massachusetts choral directors with workshops and clinics, festivals, conferences, publications, repertoire lists, networking opportunities, and advocacy to promote excellence in choral music throughout the Commonwealth.
MassACDA Summer Conference July 9-12 in Worcester!
Registration open now! Click this link to register and for more information.
We’re also seeking applications for interest sessions and youth chorus participants.
The 2023 Massachusetts ACDA Conference will be held July 9th – 12th on the Assumption University campus in Worcester, MA. The conference will feature distinguished clinicians Dr. Jeffrey Douma, the Marshall Bartholomew Professor in the Practice of Choral Music at Yale University, in New Haven, CT, and Dr. Lesley Maxwell Mann, Associate Professor of Music a Belmont University, in Nashville, TN. Registration is open now, and early bird pricing is in effect until June 15th.
Click here to register for the conference!
The conference will also include 8-10 one-hour interest sessions, featuring the expertise of area professionals, including many from our own Massachusetts ACDA membership. We welcome your application to lead a session on a topic of your own choosing, bearing in mind that Drs. Douma and Mann will be offering sessions on conducting, developmental choirs, and the adolescent voice. A committee of MassACDA Board members will review the applications and choose sessions to complement the offerings. We are looking for sessions that will further stimulate, challenge, and educate our colleagues, and contribute to choral excellence in the Commonwealth and beyond. Interest session leaders are not paid, and they must register for the Conference, but they will receive a $100 discount. The deadline for submissions is April 30, 2023. If you have questions, please contact Dr. Felicia Barber at felicia.barber@yale.edu
Click here to submit your proposal!
In addition to our annual Conference Chorus for conference participants, which will be conducted this year by Dr. Douma, for the first time we will feature a 7th -9th Youth Honor Chorus. This ensemble is for individuals who will be rising into 7th – 9th grade Fall of 2023. For this one-day festival chorus, we are looking for schools and community youth ensembles to nominate singers, preferably in SATB quartets. We are excited to be able to offer this opportunity for our young singers to perform this summer, under the direction of Dr. Lesley Maxwell Mann.
The MassACDA board would like to congratulate Dr. Lisa Graham, who has been elected to serve as our next President for the 2023-2025 term. Dr. Graham is the Evelyn Barry Director of the Choral Program at Wellesley College, a post at which she has served for the past twenty years. She is also in her seventeenth season as Music Director of the Metropolitan Chorale. Dr. Graham will immediately begin her term as President-Elect on the current board.
In addition, the board would like to take this time to thank both of our talented candidates, including Matthew Cunningham, who volunteered to run for president.
Congratulations again Lisa!
Sincerely,
Felicia Barber
Massachusetts ACDA President
The Massachusetts American Choral Directors Association is committed to several initiatives in regards to diversity, equity, and inclusion as it pertains to the following areas of our organization:
Membership: We are committed to increasing our membership to include more teachers, conductors and singers of color and from areas of our state less represented in our organization to date.
Mentorship/networking: We are committed to creating a network of teachers, conductors, and singers willing to volunteer their time to serve as mentors for new teachers and collegiate students.
Events: We are committed to re-imagining our regular events while also encouraging participation from more teachers, conductors, and singers of color leading us to learn about and hear various experiences and perspectives.
Resources: We are committed to providing resources for our membership regarding diversity, equity and inclusion comprising of:
Repertoire lists including a number of works from composers of diverse backgrounds and works beyond those of the Western classical idiom.
Databases to explore music of composers of diverse backgrounds.
Media such as articles, blogs, podcasts, interviews, books, and virtual events on the subject of diversity in the choral realm.