The biannual ACDA 2019 National Conference starts tonight in Kansas City. Although I won’t be attending this year, I have many friends and colleagues who are, so I’m sharing some previews.
I’ve prepared a cheat sheet of conference offerings that appeal to my particular interests: vocal jazz, TTBB Choirs, and composing/arranging. I’ll offer separate posts with each area, as well as a general set of don’t-miss sessions.
In this post: Composing/Arranging
There’s so much to offer the Composer or Arranger attending the ACDA National Conference. In addition to these highlights, you can interact with many of the finest choral composers in the world, meet the publishers in the Exhibit Hall, connect with frequent commissioners, and more!
There are also many World Premieres happening as part of this conference. It’s too hard to determine them from the conference program, so keep your eyes and ears out! (I will point you to one I’m excited about near the end.)
Wednesday
8:30 AM A Conversation with John Rutter (Interest Session) Tim Sharp will be a marvelous moderator for this conversation with leading choral light John Rutter. This is the first of several special moments with John Rutter, which will be of particular inspiration to the composers in the audience.
11:00 AM Making it Plain: Transcribing Contemporary Gospel for the Mixed Chorus (Interest Session) Experts presenting on how to arrange/transcribe/score Gospel music, focusing on cultural integrity.
9:00 PM (Gold)/Thursday 8:30 PM (Blue) President’s Concert For the 60th ACDA Jubilee, the organization has commissioned Fanfare from John Rutter, which will be premiered at these concerts, performed by the Kansas City Symphony and Symphony Chorus (Mike Stern, conductor/Charles Bruffy, chorus master). Don’t miss this high profile premiere performance!
Thursday
9:00 AM MusicSpoke Reading Session I think MusicSpoke is doing remarkable things as an artist-owned publishing house. Don’t miss this chance to hear what Kurt Knecht and his merry band are up to.
10:00 AM/11:00 AM Choosing, Adapting, Composing, and Publishing for the Middle School Choir (Interest Session) Emily Holt Crocker, longtime Vice President of Choral Publications for Hal Leonard, will lay it out for you.
10:00 AM/11:00 AM Tarik O’Regan: Orchestrating Voices (Interest Session) An excellent and lauded composer, O’Regan will explain his concepts applying instrumental orchestration techniques, with some modification, to vocal writing.
Friday
10:00 AM & 11:00 AM Programming for the Twenty-First Century: Quality, Inclusion, and Diversity (Interest Session) What better for 21st Century composers than to hear about programming logic from three leader in new repertoire: Hilary Apfelstadt, Eugene Rogers, and Jo-Michael Scheibe. Don’t miss this, composers!
Saturday
8:00 AM & 9:00 AM It’s All About Us: The Collaborative Future of Choral Music. (Interest Session) Geoffrey Boers moderates a panel of Clara Osowski, Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, and Paul John Rudoi, talking about crafting transformational choral music experiences. This is the kind of experience composers should be hoping to collaborate in creating. (And part of what I think makes MC3 connect so well with my colleagues in Michigan.)
12:45 PM Middle School/Junior High SATB Honor Choir Concert. (Derrick Fox, conductor) Speaking of MC3, this National Honors Choir will be featuring a piece original commissioned and premiered by the 2018-19 members of the Michigan Choral Commission Consortium. Don’t miss On This Road by Andrea Ramsey, performed at this concert. Now available from MusicSpoke!
It’s truly an embarrassment of riches for composers and arrangers attending the 2019 ACDA National Conference…but there’s more to attend, including Vocal Jazz, TTBB Choirs, and these Don’t-Miss sessions!