Brenda Winkle and members from the NWACDA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee will use a DEI lens to discuss intentional programming for children and youth repertoire. Topics explored will include: one DEI mistake that you may inadvertently be doing, one thing that you may think is a mistake but isn’t, providing resources towards intentional programming and Q & A with members from the DEI Committee.

Choirs in our places of worship provide rich opportunities for multi-generational music-making and social and spiritual interaction. By learning how to effectively work with senescent (aging) singers, we preserve the tremendous impact they can have on the following generations. Part reading session and part interactive workshop, this session will provide both new and tried and true repertoire for church choirs and give practical tips for working with senescent singers both from a psychological and a technical point of view.

Come sing choral pieces in various voicings from Eastern Europe! We will explore the pitch material, complex meters, and characteristic rhythms of music from this region as we sing through pieces in the reading packet. Where applicable, we will learn about folk traditions that inspired the choral compositions and investigate how we might introduce these pieces to our choirs. Countries represented may include the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania.

In collaboration with the Gonzaga Glee Club, Dr. Stohlmann will share repertoire, resources, and experiences regarding intentionality about our language, uniform choices, and how we create a safe space for all singers in our voice specific choirs.

Many choirs perform Jewish choral music in December, but the repertoire is vast and just waiting to be programmed year-round. Jewish music comprises disparate cultural traditions: this session will address how to select literature and perform it with sensitivity. Attendees will learn some chestnut and contemporary Jewish choral selections and discuss how to avoid tokenism.

Along with demonstration group Pacific Northwest Voices, jazz musician and music educator Kirk Roa will engage participants in rehearsal strategies, jazz concepts, and techniques for improving your ensemble using varied literature from today's top arrangers. Many new and diverse selections will be included.

Kurt Knecht

This reading session will examine how we can develop literacy through rehearsal of repertoire with emerging, intermediate, and advanced middle school and junior high ensembles. Anchored in score analysis techniques inspired by secondary Kodály practices, we will explore varied methods of designing, preparing, and practicing literacy activities that can be embedded within a choral rehearsal.

Join us for this special screening of Choral Singing in America: Nurturing the Country’s Soul. Choral Singing in America is a visual representation of the breadth and depth of choral singing today. The film beautifully tells the myriad stories and sounds of American choral singers and leaders–stories that inspire, build community, foster hope, and showcase the tremendous social capital and community building of singing together. America sings in schools, in communities, in concert halls, on the streets, in churches and synagogues, in prisons, in hospice centers, and wherever hearts are moved to join in song.

Several directors with experience having choirs accepted to perform at NW ACDA will share a handful of repertoire suggestions for beginning high school choirs. A variety of voicings will be included.

Throughout history, singing has been a unifying element in society. It is especially so for those moments on the precipice of change. Our spotlight reading session will explore Soprano/Alto repertoire that stands up to injustice, defies the status quo, and empowers agents of change for all stages of vocal and musical development.