PERFORMING choirs
2026
Portland State Chamber Choir
Collegiate Showcase with Tram Sparks
Northwest Sings
Wed, March 4, 7:30-10:00pm
Northwest Boy Choir
Steilacoom HS Adv Treble Choir
Whitworth University
Thurs, March 5, 10:30am-12:00pm
Le Bois JH Improv
West Salem HS Choir of the Titans
Gonzaga University CC
Thurs, March 5, 2:30-4:00pm
Mägi Ensemble (encounter choir)
Pioneer MS Advanced Treble Choir
Lake Oswego HS ACapella
NWACDA Longevity Awards
Evergreen Ensemble
Thurs, March 5, 8:00-10:00pm
Seattle Pro Musica Orpheon
Great Falls HS Delphian
In Medio
Fri, March 6, 10:00-11:30am
Children's & Community Youth Honor Choir
MS Honor Choir
9/10 SATB Honor Choir
11/12 TB Honor Choir
11/12 SA Honor Choir
Sat, March 7, 2:00-5:30pm
OPENING CONCERT
Wednesday, March 4, 2026
7:30-10:00pm
CHAMBER CHOIR
Portland State University
Dr. Ethan Sperry
Classics Today calls The Portland State Chamber Choir “amongst the finest choirs in the world.” They are the only American choir to have won the Seghizzi International Competition for Choral Singing in Italy (2013) and the Bali International Choral Festival in Indonesia (2017). Their 2017 album The Doors of Heaven is the only album by a University chorus to hit #1 on the Billboard Classical Chart and their 2020 release Translations was named an Album of the Year by both Gramophone and Stereophile. In Summer of 2022 they represented the United States at the World Choral Exposition in Portugal.
NORTHWEST SINGS
Collegiate Choir Showcase
with Tram Sparks
The NWACDA conference, “Sing for a Change,” opens with Northwest Sings in the acoustically remarkable Lagerquist Concert Hall, on the campus of Pacific Lutheran University. The evening includes a performance by the Portland State University Chamber Choir, under the direction of Dr. Ethan Sperry, a collegiate showcase featuring each of the participating seven college choirs, and the combined NWACDA Choir with more than 225 singers. The Combined Collegiate Choir will be under the direction of Dr. Tram Sparks, Professor of Practice at USC. The Combined Collegiate Chorus is performing a newly commissioned work by Saunder Choi, with an original text by Brian Sonia-Wallace, entitled, “Citizens of the Neon Republic.” The text, created in conjunction with ChatGTP, imagines a dystopian future where AI reigns. Paired with this new work is Brahms’ lament of the death of beauty, Nänie, and an arrangement of Vienna Teng’s “The Hymn of Axcion.”
CONCERT SESSION 1
Thursday, March 5, 2026
10:30am-12:00pm​
Northwest Boy Choir
Northwest Choirs
Jake Winkler
The Northwest Boychoir, founded in 1974, is a cornerstone of Seattle’s cultural landscape. As part of Northwest Choirs along with Vocalpoint! Seattle, it provides exceptional music education and performance opportunities to boys aged 6–18 from across the Puget Sound region. The choir is renowned for its rigorous training, emphasizing musicianship, discipline, and teamwork. Its members perform regularly with esteemed organizations such as the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, and Music of Remembrance, and have contributed to major film and video game soundtracks. The Northwest Boychoir has also served as the official “Singing Ambassadors” of Washington State, showcasing the rich musical talent of the region. Through its commitment to excellence, the choir continues to inspire and shape the future of choral music.
Steilacoom Advanced Treble Choir
Steilacoom High School
Kasey Eck
The Steilacoom High School Advanced Treble Choir is an auditioned ensemble of 24-30 treble singers in grades 10-12. Steilacoom High School (Steilacoom, WA) is a 2A high school in the Steilacoom Historical School District and serves 950 students from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, DuPont, Steilacoom, Lakewood, and Anderson Island. Advanced Treble Choir is active in their local community through collaborations with community choirs, feeder schools, and universities. Over the past ten years, they have earned Superior ratings at regional large group contests since 2015. Advanced Treble Choir has also placed in multiple recent years at the WMEA/WIAA State Solo and Ensemble Contest (including a 1st place win in 2023 and 3rd place in 2024). Ensemble values include music literacy, vocal technique, artistry, and a warm culture where singers are empowered as individuals to care for one another.
The Whitworth Choir
Whitworth University
Xiaosha Lin
The award-winning Whitworth Choir, regarded as one of the premier university choirs in the Pacific Northwest, continues to build upon a 90-year heritage of fine choral singing. The members of the choir represent a variety of academic majors, commit themselves to daily rehearsals, and celebrate the joy of singing and community through the study and performance of a wide variety of music. The Whitworth Choir has performed by invitation at Northwest Division conventions of the American Choral Directors Association and the National Association for Music Educators; repertoire selection ranges from chamber music to orchestral-choral works. The choir was recently named the winner of The American Prize in Choral Performance (2024).
CONCERT SESSION 2
Thursday, March 5, 2026
2:30-4:00pm​​
Improv
Les Bois Junior High School
Cassie Horner
Improv is an auditioned ensemble of 31 talented 8th and 9th graders and one of three choirs at Les Bois Junior High. The group has earned recognition with invitations to perform at the ID-ACDA Conference (2019), the Idaho Music Educators Association Annual Conference (2023), and at various venues across Boise, Idaho. The Les Bois choral program also includes the Vivace Treble Choir and Bravo Tenor/Bass Choir, providing a rich and inclusive musical experience for students of all backgrounds and voice types.
Choir of the Titans
West Salem High School
Cole Haole-Valenzuela
Established in 2002, the West Salem High School Choir, located in Salem, Oregon, has consistently epitomized musical excellence. Renowned within the Salem community and the state of Oregon, West's choirs have showcased their talent at numerous music festivals, earning accolades for their performances both locally and nationally. Beyond that, the choirs have received invitations to showcase their passion at music conferences and workshops. West is excited to continue performing for others outside of their community and to create relationships with other choirs and music admirers.
Concert Choir
Gonzaga University
Dr. Meg Stohlmann
The Gonzaga University Concert Choir, a distinguished SATB ensemble under the direction of Dr. Meg Stohlmann, presents an eclectic repertoire spanning classical masterworks, contemporary pieces, and global choral literature. Annually, the choir collaborates with other university choral groups, performing both on campus and throughout the local community. In addition, the ensemble embarks on a regional tour of Northwest high schools each year. Every two years, the choir expands its horizons with international travel—most recently touring Italy in 2023, and with plans to visit Germany in summer 2025.
CONCERT SESSION 3
Thursday, March 5, 2026
8:00-10:00pm​
Mägi Ensemble
Heather MacLaughlin Garbes
The Mägi Ensemble is a professional SA vocal ensemble that specializes in music from the Baltic region of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. We perform and record music from these countries and promote new choral works from Baltic women composers. Our vision is to use the power of music to connect with the community and continue to celebrate cultural heritage through the arts. We exemplify the values of cultural understanding, community, quality and commitment. Our philosophy as both a specialized repertoire ensemble and a treble ensemble is to demonstrate the effect that music can have for empowerment, both in social responsibility and gender identity.
ENCOUNTER CHOIR SESSION
Advanced Treble Choir
Pioneer Middle School
Katherine Elshire
The Advanced Treble Choir of Pioneer Middle School (PIO) is located in DuPont, WA. This auditioned choir is made up of 7th and 8th grader singers. This small middle school of 760 students is located within the Steilacoom Historical School District which includes students from Lakewood, Steilacoom, DuPont, JBLM and Anderson Island.
The Advanced Treble choir is an auditioned group of 7th and 8th that sings music ranging from unison to SSAA music. For the past 10 years, under the direction of Mrs. Katie Elshire, the Advanced Treble Choir has earned Superior and Superior plus ratings at their regional Solo Ensemble Contest and Large Group Choir Festivals. In 2015, this group was selected to perform at the WMEA State Conference in Yakima, WA and in 2018, they performed at the NW WMEA Conference in Portland, OR.
A Cappella Choir
Lake Oswego High School
Tara Bamford
The Lake Oswego High School A Cappella Choir is the school's premiere, mixed-voice, advanced choral ensemble consisting of 10th-12th grade students. This auditioned group enjoys learning and performing choral music from a variety of time periods, styles, traditions, and cultures. They perform frequently throughout the year at school concerts and festivals around the state, and have recently enjoyed the thrill of commissioning and premiering new choral works. Under the direction of Tara Bamford, the LOHS A Cappella Choir has earned Superior ratings in both performance and sight reading, earning them 2nd place in 2024 and 1st place in 2025 at the OSAA 6A State Choir Championships. The singers are also active participants and leaders in a variety of school clubs, sports, and other performing arts groups in their community.
Evergreen Ensemble
David Hendrix
Evergreen Ensemble is a professional choir located in the greater Seattle area and led by Artistic Director David Hendrix. Bringing together some of the finest singers in the PNW, as well as from around the country, Evergreen uses choral music to explore a variety of voices and cultures and works to help change the ethics of art consumption in our communities by offering fair and equitable wages to artists for their enriching work at the highest level. Evergreen’s programming focuses on ways to advocate for social causes like environmental care, and to speak to universal human experiences such as grief and the search for community and hope. The ensemble is focused on preserving great works of the western choral cannon and has also highlighted and commissioned works from a variety of modern composers, such as Benedict Sheehan, Alex Berko, John Meuhleisen, Sarah Quartel, and Dale Trumbore.
CONCERT SESSION 4
Friday, March 6, 2026
10:00-11:30am​
Orpheon
Seattle Pro Musica
Karen Thomas
Orpheon, the TTBB ensemble of Seattle Pro Musica, believes in the power of voices joined in harmony to enrich the lives of their audiences, singers, and the community at large, making the beauty of choral music available to as many people as possible. Throughout their 53-year history, they have been recognized for the caliber of their programming and performances. They’ve received the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence and the ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming, and they were ranked as “among America’s very best choirs” by American Record Guide. They’ve received international acclaim for their CD recordings and live performances, and have appeared by invitation at numerous international and national festivals. Choir and Organ writes, “Seattle Pro Musica presents a cappella singing at its best,” and Fanfare Record says, “This is truly an extraordinary choir.”
Delphian Choir
Great Falls High School
Patrick Ryan
The Delphian Choir was incorporated into the music curriculum of Great Falls High School in 1958. The Delphian Choir achieved regional and national acclaim through appearances at three MENC National and five MENC Northwest Division conferences under the conduction of longtime director Paul Ritter.
The choir has also appeared on six Northwest ACDA conference programs, most recently in 2022. Delphian frequently collaborates with the Great Falls Symphony and the Electric City Choral Union, and frequently commissions and premieres works by prominent composers. Their most recent commission was "Luminous" by Thomas LaVoy. The choir has twice been awarded the American Prize in Choral Performance, High School Division 2nd place
The Delphian Choir strives to create literate musicians who create a welcoming space where we can share our musical gifts with each other and our community.
In Medio
John Eisemann
In Medio, “a choir that sings with precision, with passion in every choral line, and a sumptuous choral sound with no vocal constraint” (Oregon ArtsWatch) is a community of accomplished singers who make brave, relevant, and thoughtful music for everyone. Based in NE Portland, In Medio (Latin for “in the midst”) was founded by John Eisemann in the fall of 2019. Entering its fifth season, the 36-member choir has been featured in Oregon Arts Watch, on All Classical Radio 89.9, and regularly commissions new works each year from local Northwest composers. The choir produces four concert cycles per season, one of which, Sing, My Child, is dedicated to sharing the stage with local area high school choirs along with providing scholarships and mentorship for emerging singers. Through our pay-what-you-will ticket model, In Medio is also committed to making choral music approachable and equitable.
CONCERT SESSION 5
Friday, March 6, 2026
2:30-4:00pm
BlueStreet Voices
Dave Barduhn
BlueStreet Voices is a community jazz choir based in Seattle. They were started by Ken Wilson over 20 years ago and have also been led by Dave Cross and since 2021 by Dave Barduhn. They are made up of doctors, lawyers. accountants, business owners, teachers, retirees, and of course moms and dads. Their literature
includes jazz inspired standards, blues, gospel, ballads, bebop, big band, latin, and contemporary jazz. They present 3 anchor concerts yearly including a holiday, an early spring – featuring a guest artist –and their season finale in June at Seattle’s famous Triple Door. They also perform at local high schools, colleges, retirement homes, and jazz festivals.
Bellairs
Bellevue High School
Andrew Jacobson
The Bellevue High School Bellairs is an award-winning vocal jazz ensemble open to high school students (9-12) by audition only. Accompanied by a rhythm section (piano, bass, drums, guitar), this ensemble meets daily before school at 7:00 am and travels frequently attending jazz festivals and workshops throughout the year. This group performs difficult literature ranging from 4 to 12 parts in a variety of styles including swing, blues, Latin, funk, and more. This group is the most demanding of the choral ensembles at Bellevue High School. Students in Bellairs must be enrolled in a large music ensemble at BHS (band/choir/orchestra).
Jazz
Honor Choir
Greg Jasperse
NW ACDA's Jazz honor choir
grades 9-12th
CONCERT SESSION 6
Saturday, March 7, 2026
8:00-9:30pm​
All of Us: Considering Matthew Shepherd
Dr. Leann Conley-Holcom, conductor
University of Washington Chamber Singers
Dr. Geoffrey Boers, conductor
University of Washington Chorale
Dr. Giselle Wyers, conductor
A collaborative performance of Craig Hella Johnson’s three-part fusion oratorio on the murder of Matthew Shepherd, featuring singers from Seattle University and the University of Washington, coaching by the composer, Craig Hella Johnson, staging design by Rod Caspers, and projections by visual artist Camilla Tassi. Composed on the eve of the 20th anniversary of his death, the work was premiered in 2016 by Conspirare and has been performed by 100s choirs around the world, leaving listeners hopeful and joyous, spreading a message of compassion and understanding.
CONCERT SESSION 7
Saturday, March 7, 2026
2:00-5:30pm​
2026 HONOR CHOIRS
Children's & Community Youth
Honor Choir
Maria A. Ellis
%20-%20to%20be%20approved.png)
NW ACDA's Children's & Community Youth Honor Choir ensemble
grades 4-7th
_JPG.jpg)
Middle School
Honor Choir
Victor C. Johnson
NW ACDA's Middle School Honor Choir ensemble
grades 6-8th
SATB
Honor Choir
Dr. Jeffery Redding
.jpg)
NW ACDA's SATB High School Honor Choir ensemble
grades 9-10th
Tenor/Bass
Honor Choir
Dr. Brandon A. Boyd
NW ACDA's TB High School Honor Choir ensemble, grades 11-12th
Treble
Honor Choir
Dr. Lynne Gackle
NW ACDA's Treble High School Honor Choir ensemble, grades 11-12th