Margaret Brown is new Alaska ACDA president for 2011-13
Margaret Brown is the Upper School Choral Director at Grace Christian School in Anchorage, where she has been on the Music Department faculty since 2008.
In her tenure there, Margaret has taught band and choir for grades 6 through 12. Since her arrival in Alaska Margaret has also served as a state Adjudicator for ASAA events and currently serves as the President of the Alaska Chapter of the American Choral Directors’ Association through January 2013.
Mrs. Brown began her career in music education at the High School and Middle School level in Atlanta, Georgia, after receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Music from the University of Southern Mississippi.
She served as a High School and church Choir Director while completing her Master’s degree at Georgia State University in Atlanta. Margaret served on Georgia’s MENC State Board, and has been a Georgia Choral Adjudicator for over 23 years.
She is a tireless advocate for the teaching of sight-reading skills, and is a contributing author to a classroom choral sight-reading series.
She has been a guest director for many Elementary and Middle School Honor Choruses throughout Georgia and Alaska, and has served a total of nine years as a member of two different private school boards.
Margaret has resided in Anchorage since 2004, relocating from Atlanta, GA with her husband, Chris, and son, Matthew.
Janet Stotts is an R & S Chair for Alaska ACDA
Janet is a well-known adjudicator for State Solo & Ensemble and the director of the Alaska Children’s Choir. We are pleased to have her serving with us.
She will also be our speaker for Session 4 at the AMEA Conference Jan 13-14 at UAA.
You won’t want to miss this opportunity to learn from her vast knowledge on Singing 7 to 70 and Beyond.
Laura Blackwood takes leadership position with AK ACDA
Laura Blackwood is a lifelong choral musician, singing in and accompanying choral ensembles for over 25 years. She comes to Alaska from Austin, Texas, and is the choir director of Kodiak Middle and High Schools. Laura received her Master of Music degree in Accompanying and Vocal Coaching from the University of Tennessee. In addition to teaching secondary school choirs for five years, she has taught private piano and voice, coached and accompanied for individuals, musicals, and choirs, has done studio work as a pianist and vocalist for several recording projects, and has been a church worship leader. Laura, her husband, Brant, and their two cats had great adventures making the drive up from Austin to Kodiak in August 2010.
AMEA Convention in Anchorage set for January 13-14, 2012; don't miss it!
Our primary focus over the past 5 months has been preparing for the January 13-14, 2012 AMEA Convention in Anchorage, at the UAA Fine Arts Building. We are excited to announce the choral sessions as follows:
Sessio
n 1 and 2: Jing Ling-Tam is returning to Alaska. In 2004 she was the Mixed Choir All-State Director. She has also been a clinician with Region 4. Her energy and creativity are contagious – you will not leave her sessions the same.
Session 3: Solveig Holmquist is our current ACDA NW Division President, and has recently retired as Professor of Music from her successful tenure at Western Oregon University.
Session 4: Janet Stotts
Session 5: Mark Robinson will lead a panel of experienced choral director consisting of Renee Henderson, Rosemary Bird, and Carolyn Soderlund hosting a session on Successful Choral Strategies.
Session 6: Choral Music reading Session led by Ron Lange and Rebecca Nelson
Session
7: Carolyn Soderlund will lead this session on High School Musicals
Session 8: Thane Thomas will bring us into the 21st century with Technology in the Choral Classroom Using Finale and Smart Music
This will be a Convention you won’t want to miss! Request your Professional Leave today and make plans to be in Anchorage Jan 13-14, 2012.
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