New officers named for Alaska ACDA
Richard Moore, President
Margaret Brown, President-Elect
Janna Leight, Secretary
Thane Thomas, Treasurer
Transplanted to Alaska from Texas in 2005, Richard Moore is in his fifth year of teaching at Juneau Douglas High School.
Before moving to Juneau he taught seven years at the junior high level in the Duncanville ISD (a suburb of Dallas). His years at JDHS have been the best of his career because of his outstanding students and their parents. Richard would like to thank the JDHS faculty for their support in helping to make a great music program possible.
He and his wife, Michaela, JDHS Drama Director, have two daughters, Shanae’a and Aria. They enjoy combining family time and activities with teaching responsibilities.
AkCDA Meeting Synopsis from the meeting of November 18, 2009 at Chugiak High School
Introductions
A Year in Review – Rebecca Nelson
Financially we are in good shape and we received support from NWACDA for the upcoming AMEA conference
Octet testing gets smoother each year
We don’t have a solo/ensemble list yet – we don’t seem to need one. We can look at other state lists.
Rehearsal recordings from Bruce Hanson are wonderful
First Chair decisions made by adjudicators were helpful this year
Membership – there are many benefits to joining, go online to www.acda.org
Several Alaska students selected for the Honors NWACDA Conference choirs – congratulations to those directors. The conference is in Seattle, March 8-13, 2010.
The Status of Our Chapter – Rebecca Nelson
Our chapter is lacking in direction and member involvement, thus the consideration of joining with WA. We need a President, President-elect, Secretary and Treasurer. The terms are two years each and my term ended last summer. Basic duties include keeping in touch with national and division chapters, updating the website, keeping in touch with membership, and participating on the AMEA board. We could also use R&S chairs to contribute to our website. All job descriptions can be found online.
Discussion Items
The AMEA conference will feature Audrey Snyder, Barbara Geer and many others. It is a solid line-up and I encourage you to attend. I need assistance at the conference for the AkCDA booth and hosting duties.
Website review – we agree its worth keeping since it is still new and we are not all using it yet.
Sight-Reading for All-State auditions – Some think we need to incorporate it as a beginning step leading to live auditions which would have sight-reading, and to increase the overall musicianship level in Alaska choirs. It is suggested to have very basic step-wise and simple rhythm exercises for the students to sight-sing on the audition, with plenty of teacher notice ahead of time of the type of material, and without it counting on their audition score the first year. Some think that sight-reading won’t change which students get into All-State and that All-State is not the right venue for a sight-singing component. Perhaps a state school-choir festival would be a better place for it.
Cam Bohman (ASAA) shared from her experience at a National HS Activities conference - every state runs things a little differently. Some states have each school send their top one S-A-T-B singers and then the rest are by audition. We like that idea, though the ratios would need to be worked out for how many students come from each school.
Middle School Honor Choir – we would like this, but it would have to be done on a region level (not by ASAA) or coordinated entirely through AkCDA.
Solo/Ensemble – Discussion on whether or not recorded accompaniment should be allowed at State Solo/Ensemble. Many opinions both ways, largely due to the cost and availability of accompanists.
Live Auditions - We hope to eventually have live auditions for All-State
Men’s Chorus at All-State – many are in favor of this idea
Solo/Ensemble – category specifications needed for what counts as jazz, show, or musical theatre. Mark Robinson, Homer, and Stan Harris Palmer, agreed to address that issue.
Action Items –
Volunteers for AkCDA offices:
Richard More – Juneau, President
Margaret Brown – Anchorage, President -Elect
Janna Leight – Anchorage, Secretary
Thank Thomas - Cordova, Treasurer
Thank you!!
Adjournment 1:30ish
Renew your login ID with national ACDA; here's how...
Due to some updates to the national webiste - you may want to renew your Login ID so you can access the resources. Here's how:
Go to acda.org/user - the ACDA login page Go to Account Recovery Enter your first and last name, ACDA number, and expiration date. Click LOGIN and an e-mail will be sent to you with a link so you can login with a temporary password and then change your password. Please note, your username should be First_Last
We have openings for President-Elect and for Secretary! We would also like to fill our R&S Chair positions. (Click here for a description.)
Contact Rebecca Nelson if you are interested.
Would you like to submit an article for our website? Please let me know if you would like to contribute.
Have a say in the state Solo/Ensemble list – stay involved with AkCDA!
I urge you to greater use of the national ACDA website. It just keeps getting better every time I open it. For example, you can get all the handouts and concert recordings from the last national convention in the "members only" area of the site. If you need login information, simply contact the national office. They are friendly and very helpful.
Here's another service for you. We have our own calendar for choral activities in Alaska. It really isn't limited to ACDA events. Put your own concerts, festivals, choral events of all kinds on it. Click here and see. You then will simply find the month and date of interest, click on the actual number of that date on the calendar and be taken to a box that provides a way of inputting your event information. It is not passworded, so don't be placing your birthday on it. (It won't get you any gifts, we're betting!) Sure, it may seem unlikely that a Juneau director would attend your high school concert in Nome or vice-versa, but it's still fun to see what's going on around the state!
Not sure of your membership status? Check then national website at: www.acda.org or contact Rebecca Rhodes.
Just what does an R&S Chair do?
Prepared by Nancy Cox, National Chair Repertoire & Standards Committee, November 2003
State R&S Chair Duties:
• Submit a yearly report on all R&S activities within the state, to the Division Chair on or before April 15.
• Take a leadership role in communicating with constituents.
• Communicate regularly with the Division Chair.
• Promote and organize State Honor Choirs, interest sessions, reading sessions, and roundtables at State Conventions.
• Attend State and Division Conferences and State and Division Committee meetings that are called by the State President and Division Chair.
• Submit articles and news briefs to the state newsletter.
• Serve on state level audition panels for State and Division Honor Choirs and choral honor performance recordings submitted by
constituents.
• Take an active part in Division Conference activities including roundtables, reading sessions, interest sessions, and assist the Division Chair with the organizing and executing of Division Honor Choirs.
• Submit web page information to your state website.
• Oversee projects that you and your state constituents deem necessary to assist in enhancing choral education in your area of R&S expertise.
Alaska’s R&S chairs have a simplified version of the above duties. Primarily you are asked to review repertoire, submit your reports, and contribute to the website.
The R&S Chair categories are as follows:
Boychoirs, Children’s Choir, College/University, Community Choir, Ethinc & Multicultural, Jr. High/Middle School, Male Choir, Music in Worship, Show Choir, Sr. High School, Vocal Jazz, Two-Year College, Women’s Choir, Youth and Student Activities
ACDA, THE organization for practical help and friendly colleagues who share your desire for success in simple part singing to professional choral work
by Howard Meharg, Webmaster, NW ACDA
T
he American Choral Directors Association may seem like just one more professional organization...one more addition to a budget stretched a little thin.
Yes, it does cost $85 a year. What do you get for this?
Let's start with knowing that you're part of a network of colleagues who share your desire to do a good job with choirs of every type. Invariably, when members are asked to describe the greatest benefit of being a member of ACDA, they start with the people. By involving yourself in this organization you'll meet and form lifetime friendships with interesting, friendly, energetic, kindly, sharing, and genuinely professional musicians who will help you with literature selection, tips on fund-raising, ideas on dealing with those who can't match pitch yet...you name your issue, ACDA members are willing to talk with you. In short, we're all in it together!
So, make use of the network. Alaska IS big and the next colleague in the business may be many miles away. That may be less significant than you think. That's the beauty of e-mail, blogs, and ACDA Web sites! And you don't need to limit your contacts to colleagues who live and work in Alaska. One of the services NW ACDA will be providing soon is a list of experienced choral directors who can provide answers. We're calling it "The Answer Line." You'll find a long list of colleagues who have promised to provide answers when called upon. Watch for mail on this subject and keep an eye on both the Alaska and the NW ACDA Web sites.
Your membership in ACDA helps support these Web sites and the information and practical help they can be. Sure, they're seldom passworded and you could get to them without being a member. But isn't it nice to know that you're helping pay for this valuable information! Further, you're on the mailing list as a member. You'll get reminders of new articles as they appear.
The Choral Journal is the national publication you'll receive as a member of ACDA. Articles in the CJ range from dissertations on the choral art, composers, etc., to practical reviews of literature, CDs, and books. You'll often find great lists (with descriptions) of songs that will work with children's choirs, middle school groups, etc. Many members write 'em down and contact their music distributor right away for sample copies...for they know that a capable and experienced person has recommended them and that the song will often be a winner.
We're not quite through with the Web as a source of improving your skills. Your colleagues are constantly writing helpful articles. Right now these articles are appearing on Washington, Oregon, and the NW ACDA sites. We're hoping, as the Alaska site develops, to entice Alaska members to write for your new site. Washington and the NW site, particularly, have an archives page that provides links to articles that could easily be a superb book with wonderful chapters of information that can help you become an even better choral director. Again, you don't have to be a member to get to this information, but your membership dues help pay for it being available. It's a little like PBS. Yes, you don't have to be a member to listen, but there is great satisfaction in knowing you're doing your part to make it happen!
You'll hear more of this one soon from the national office. In answer to the need for practical material for those who teach choral music in the schools, a newly revised national Web site will be presenting a new online magazine called "ChorTeach." Watch for it!
The conventions are fantastic ways to network, to get inspired, to absorb yourself in choral sound that will become a part of you and your "inner ear," helping you with a concept of sound that will guide your rehearsals. Again, with some of the conventions you can attend without being a member, although it costs considerably more that way. But it's very satisfying knowing that, even if you didn't have to lift a finger to plan and implement a convention, that your dues are being used for such worthy events.
(As your state president is discovering, there are plenty of NW people who are willing to serve as clinicians in practical workshops. You live with the issue of distance and travel costs. I think you'll find Richard Nance, our current NW president, very interested in connecting with Alaska and making the NW division more than a "convention oriented" group.)
What's even more fun is getting involved in the organization; becoming an officer or an R&S Chair (Repertoire and Standards). As part of your state's leadership committee, you'll develop lifetime friendships. You'll grow. You'll have input into state and regional planning. Of course it's a cliche, but true nevertheless. You'll get a great deal more out of your membership if you put a great deal into it.
Now, let me speak in the "first person" here for a moment. I've been a member of ACDA since 1961...almost from the time the group got started. My college director, Bernard Regier from WWU, called me shortly after I started teaching and said, "you really should join this organization!" "It'll be good for you and it'll be good for your career." I was barely making ends meet, but decided I could do this for I trusted Dr. Regier. It's meant so much to me. ACDA has provided personal friendships, professional growth, contacts with some of the nation's finest choral musicians. I've been president of WA-ACDA twice and on the board, off and on for many years. You can't find a finer group of people with whom to be involved. Frankly, I love this organization.
ACDA has plenty of room for growth and improvement. You can help so much with this. Join! It's easy. Click here and be taken to the national membership pages. It's almost painless...is except for parting with that $85.
Helpful links:
www.asaa.org
www.alaskamea.org