American Choral Directors Association
The American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organization with the stated purpose of promoting excellence in the field of choral music. Its membership comprises approximately 22,000 choral directors representing over a million singers.[1]
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Background information
ACDA is organized in seven Divisions, i.e., Central, Eastern, North Central, Northwestern, Southern, Southwestern, and Western. Every year, conferences with topics pertaining to choral conductors are held - in even numbered years, a division conference is held in each division, and in odd numbered years, a national conference takes place in a major U.S. city. In 2009, ACDA celebrated its 50th Anniversary in Oklahoma City; in 2011, the national conference was held in Chicago, Illinois. The 2013 national conference was held in Dallas, Texas. James Madison University was the host for the national chapter for 2011. Each year a different university hosts the yearly ACDA chapter.
Conductors can apply to have their choirs perform at these conferences through a blind audition-CD process. Being accepted to sing at an ACDA conference is considered a great honor, both for a choir and for its conductor. Individual singers may also apply to sing with ACDA National or Regional Honor Choirs. About 300 singers are selected from around the country to sing in each national or regional choir.
Their official publications are the Choral Journal, as well as the scientific research journal International Journal of Research in Choral Singing (online only).
Tim Sharp is the current executive director.[2]
In addition to the division organization, a similar break out is done along specialization lines. The specialties are:
- Boychoirs
- Children's Choirs
- College and University Choirs
- Community Choirs
- Ethnic and Multicultural Perspectives
- Jazz Choirs
- Junior High & Middle School Choirs
- Male Choirs
- Music in Worship
- Show Choirs
- Senior High School Choirs
- Two-Year College Choirs
- Women's Choirs
- Youth & Student Activities
Each specialty is organized under a Repertoire and Standards (R&S) Committee system, with a National Committee, Division Committees, and State chairpersons. The National Chairperson for each specialty is also a member of the National R&S Committee which meets annually to discuss issues common to all specialties.
Brock Commission
Since 1991, the ACDA awards the "Raymond W. Brock Memorial Commission" to "a recognized composer to write a choral composition in an effort to perpetuate quality choral repertoire."[3]
| Year | Composer | Title | Orchestration | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Theron Kirk | O For A Thousand Tongues | |||
| 1993 | Carlisle Floyd | A Time to Dance | |||
| 1994 | Daniel E. Gawthrop | Sing a Mighty Song | |||
| 1995 | Daniel Pinkham | Alleluia for the Waters | |||
| 1996 | James Mulholland | That I Shall Never Look Upon Thee More | |||
| 1997 | Stephen Paulus | God Be With Us | |||
| 1997 | Gian Carlo Menotti | Jacob’s Prayer | |||
| 1998 | Samuel Adler | A Psalm Trilogy | |||
| 1999 | Gwyneth Walker | I Thank You God | |||
| 1999 | Adolphus Hailstork | The God of Glory Thunders | |||
| 2000 | David Brunner | The Circles of Our Lives | |||
| 2001 | Eric Whitacre | Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine | 10 min | ||
| 2002 | Richard Nance | Psalm 36 | |||
| 2003 | René Clausen | Memorial | |||
| 2004 | Z. Randall Stroope | We Behold Once Again the Stars | |||
| 2005 | Morten Lauridsen | Nocturnes | |||
| 2006 | Mack Wilberg | Dances to Life | |||
| 2007 | David Conte | The Nine Muses | |||
| 2008 | Eleanor Joanne Daley | Life's Mirror | |||
| 2009 | Dominick Argento | Cenotaph | |||
| 2010 | Joan Szymko | All Works of Love | |||
| 2011 | Steven Sametz | Three Mystical Choruses | |||
| 2012 | Chen Yi | Distance can’t keep us two apart | A capella mixed choir | 5 min | Text by Wang Bo[4] |
| 2013 | Steven Stucky | Take Him, Earth | SATB choir and 9 instruments | 13 min | |
| 2014 | Alice Parker | The Definition of Beauty | SSAA, unaccompanied | 4:45 min | |
| 2015 | Jake Heggie | Stop this Day and Night with Me | SATBBB, unaccompanied | ||
| 2016 | Ola Gjeilo | The River | choir, piano and string quartet | [5] | |
| 2017 | J.A.C. Redford | Homing | Mixed chorus and orchestra | 28 min | |
| 2018 | Tarik O'Regan | All Things Common | Acapella SATB | 5 min | |
| 2019 | Jake Runestad | A Silence Haunts Me | SATB choir and piano | 11:30 min | Text by Todd Boss |
See also
- John B. Haberlen, a past national President of the Association
References
- "American Choral Directors Association". acda.org. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- Sharp, Tim. "Opinion | The pandemic shut down choirs. We're finding new ways to sing together". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- "American Choral Directors Association". Acda.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2017-02-18.
- Make (2012-02-17). "2012 Brock Commission – ACDAEast". Acdaeast.org. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2017-02-18.
- "Ola Gjeilo (pronounced Yay-lo) is one of the most frequently performed composers in the choral world" (PDF). Olagjeilo.com. Retrieved 1 September 2019.