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16th Annual Summer Conference for Choral Musicians
Sunday-Tuesday, August 1-3, 2010
Penn State University School of Music
State College, PA
Immerse yourself in three stimulating, thought-provoking and rejuvenating days of interest sessions and concerts covering all aspects of choral music, from elementary school though to church choirs. Be challenged by inspiring clinicians and make the most of the relaxed atmosphere networking with colleagues from throughout Pennsylvania and beyond. Popular features will include an extensive exhibition provided by Musical Source, repertoire packets for delegates, After Hours social events, and special new offerings.
DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE REGISTRATION FORM (.PDF)
NOTE: Up to 9 delegates will have the opportunity to work with Vance George in conducting masterclasses during the conference. In order to be considered for this wonderful opportunity, please send an email immediately to Chris Kiver, Conference Chair at cak27@psu.edu. In order to be eligible, you must be registered for the full conference.
Draft Conference Schedule (as of 7/17/10)
Saturday, July 31
11:00AM-12:00PM Honor Choir Registration
12:00-9:00PM Honor Choir Rehearsals
Sunday, August 1
4:30PM Conference Registration Opens (note new time due to workshop cancellations)
1:30-5:30PM
Jazz/Show Choir Workshop led by Randi Carp --- CANCELED
Conducting Workshop led by Susan Medley --- CANCELED
So often the last thing we think about in a rehearsal is our own conducting. This session will give us the freedom to focus on gesture, communication, and results. Spend the afternoon in a supportive atmosphere refining your conducting skills. Participants will work on conducting challenges and share conducting tips. Susan Medley will lead this session which will be part workshop, part master class, part lab choir, and part roundtable discussion. All delegates are encouraged to attend this relaxed, supportive masterclass setting.
Honor Choir Rehearsals
6:00PM Men’s and Women’s Student-Director Honor Choirs Concert
7:30PM Conference Welcome
7:35PM
Informance by members of Nittany Valley Children’s Choir, Lou Ann Shafer, director
An informal concert with the Blue Choir and the Concordia Singers of the Nittany Valley Children's Choir. Several alums will be joining as well.
9:30PM After Hours at Champ's
Monday, August 2
8:00AM Registration
8:30AM Conference Welcome
Warm-ups for all (Vance George)
An exciting way to start the day! Move and transition from body to breath to voice. Begin and support the rehearsal process with mindful body, breath and vocal warm-ups.
9:15AM Plenary Session
Discussion on Repertoire Selection
A panel of conductors from various backgrounds will explain how they choose repertoire for their choirs with active participation from delegates.
10:30AM Break
10:45AM Plenary Session
Developing Independent Musicians
Led by Judy Bowers this session will address pedagogy for teaching expressive singing and musical independence in choral rehearsals that involve singers with varying degrees of vocal/choral training.
12:00PM Lunch
1:15PM Repertoire Reading Sessions
Children and Boy Choirs, led by Lou Ann Shafer
Worship, led by Peter deMets
Multicultural, led by Ann Clements & Shaun Cloonan
High School, led by Tim Eck
2:15PM Break
2:30PM Plenary Session
Conducting Masterclass
Led by Vance George. Conducting is an art, it is the art of getting out of the way of the music. Experience you, the conductor, as an artist, from basics of conducting to the performance. If interested, please contact Chris Kiver at cak27@psu.edu
3:45PM Break
4:00PM Junior High Honor Choir Concert
5:00PM Interest Sessions
Literature Selection to Accommodate Needs of Changing Voice and Developmental Singers - Judy Bowers. Using a literature hierarchy, this session will address methods for successful pitch matching by changing voice boys. In addition, sequential steps for part singing success will be presented.
Video Game Technology: Playfulness and Popular Culture in the Choral Rehearsal - Ann Clements
This session will focus on how musical video games can be used within the choral rehearsal to increase pitch and rhythm reading skills, vocal intonation, and the development of internal pulse/beat. During this session, multiple games will be experienced and discussed. Each game is highly motivational to all age groups and can turn basic skill building tasks into some of the most exciting moments of the rehearsal.
Capturing Your Choir: Tips for Recording Your Ensemble Whether You're Operating on a Shoestring Budget or with Unlimited Funds - Frank Albinder
Some groups have unlimited resources and can afford to spend tens of thousands of dollars making "perfect" recordings to market their groups. Others rely on the kindness of volunteers to record their concerts with basic equipment, and then they duplicate the discs on their computers and hope they've captured an approximation of the sound of their choir. Where do you fall on the continuum between these two extremes? We'll talk about venues, equipment, CD production, mechanical licenses, producers, engineers, editing and other things to take into consideration when you're recording your group.
Conducting masterclass continuation - Vance George
Commissioning a New Work: Demystifying the Process: PART ONE
Part one of the session will be an overview of the process of commissioning a new work from the point of view of the composer. Composers Peter de Mets and Rollo Dilworth will share their commission experiences with conductors of all types of choirs.
6:15PM Break
6:45PM Cocktails at the Nittany Lion Inn (cash bar)
7:30PM Gala Banquet and Awards Ceremony at Nittany Lion Inn
9:30PM After Hours at Rotelli's
Tuesday, August 3
8:00AM Registration
8:30AM Warm-ups for all (Vance George)
An exciting way to start the day! Move and transition from body to breath to voice. Begin and support the rehearsal process with mindful body, breath and vocal warm-ups.
9:00AM Break
9:15AM Repertoire Reading Sessions
Community and College, led by Vance George
Women, led by Jayne Glocke
Men, led by Frank Albinder
Jazz/Show Choir, led by Randi Carp
Junior High, led by Eileen Hower
10:15AM Break
10:30AM Interest Sessions
Our Youngest Singers -- Nurturing the Future – Lou Ann Shafer
This session will feature a demonstration group from the White Choir, ages 4-7, of the Nittany Valley Children's Choir. Participants will observe a short rehearsal; then there will be time for question, answer and dialogue on techniques and philosophy relating to choirs for young children.
New Directions for Changing Voices: Looking Beyond SAB and Three-Part Mix - Eileen Hower
New evidence reveals that boys with changing voices can sing beyond the parameters of the few notes allotted them in published literature geared toward middle school choirs. This session is a mix of history, current research, and hands-on “arranging” and singing, and is designed to
encourage directors to approach the selection of literature from a 21st century perspective. If you’re a middle school choral director, you won’t want to miss this important, timely session.
Title to be confirmed – Josh Dearing
Technology in the choral classroom
Commissioning a New Work: Demystifying the Process: PART TWO
Part two of the session will be a brief review of the materials covered in part one and then time for Questions and Answers with composers Peter de Mets and Rollo Dilworth. Peter and Rollo will answer your questions about the process of commissioning a new work for your choir from the composer's point of view. Dr. Joseph Ohrt, champion of commissioning new works, will provide the conductor's point of view of the process.
Conducting masterclass conclusion - Vance George
12:00PM Lunch
1:15PM Interest Sessions
Double Duty: Warm ups that build choral tone and teach the music! - Joy Hirokawa
Not enough rehearsal time? Use your warm up time to efficiently prepare your singers vocally as well as tackle important musical tasks to be rehearsed. Come prepared to sing, analyze, and create. Bring a favorite octavo with a problem spot for us to tackle as a group!
Incorporating Gregorian Chant: how an ancient repertoire might be programmed with concert choral repertoire - Fr. Stephen Concordia, O.S.B. Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, PA
This interest session will begin with an overview of the vast repertoire known as "Gregorian" chant, including its genres, forms, and compositional styles. Produced over the course of fifteen centuries or more, chants were created for a variety of ritual situations resulting in an immense choral resource. In the last 60 years there has been extensive scholarship aimed at recovering an interpretive approach to this choral music based on the most ancient manuscript sources, and central to this approach is appreciating what is sometimes called "melodic-verbal rhythm". The heart of the presentation, then, will be a description and demonstration of "melodic-verbal rhythm", i.e., how text, melody and rhythm interact in Gregorian repertoire.
Community Choirs Roundtable Discussion
A chance for those involved with all types of community choir to come together and share information. The Roundtable will be led by Donna Knott, Lou Ann Shafer, Linda Tedford, and Randy Yoder.
2:15PM Break
2:30PM Plenary Session – Choral Colors
Led by Vance George. Have fun singing a wide range of choral excerpts. Explore natureal text accentuation, phrasing, and vocal registration. Sing it like you say it.
3:45PM Conference Wrap-up
4:00PM Conference Concludes
Monday, August 2
From High School to Future Music Educators
8:00AM Registration
8:30AM Conference Welcome
Warm-ups for all (Vance George)
9:15AM Plenary Session
Discussion on Repertoire Selection
A panel of conductors from various backgrounds will explain how they choose repertoire for their choirs with active participation from delegates.
10:30AM Break
10:45AM The Life of a Music Educator
A look at both the highlights and hard work that come with the profession
12:00PM Lunch
1:15PM Preparing to be a Music Educator
Students will be given ideas as to how best to prepare to become a music educator, both before and during college
2:15PM Break
2:30PM Voice Lesson/Introduction to Conducting (to be confirmed)
3:45PM Break
4:00PM Junior High Honor Choir Concert
Bonus Features:
Comprehensive Music Exhibit provided by The Musical Source An exciting day aimed at high school students who are considering a career as a music educator.
Resources Room for delegates to peruse recommended repertoire, recordings, texts and much more…
NEW FOR 2010: PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
Conducting Masterclass -- CANCELED
Sunday, August 1, 2010—1:30-5:30PM
A Chance for conductors (university students and above) to have hands-on experience refining gesture in a supportive, masterclass setting. Class members will form a choir and conductors will have a chance to record their conducting.
Spotlight on the Show Choir -- CANCELED
Sunday, August 1, 2010—1:30-5:30PM
More details to come on this session highlighting all that goes in to producing and maintaining a quality show choir program.
From High School to Future Music Educator
Monday, August 2, 2010—9:15AM-5:00PM
An exciting day aimed at high school students who are considering a career as a music educator. Participants will attend a plenary session at the conference as well as specific sessions on how to become a music educator, the life of a music educator, an introduction to conducting and working with the voice. The day will conclude with the Middle School/Junior High Honor Choir concert.
For further details, contact Christopher Kiver at cak27@psu.edu
Headliners include:
Vance George
Director Emeritus San Francisco Symphony Chorus
Judy Bowers
Florida State University
Director of Women's Student-Director Honor Choir
Frank Albinder
Washington Men's Camerata and National R&S Chair for Men's Choirs
Director of Men's Student-Director Honor Choir
Eileen Hower
Bloomsburg University
Director Junior-High Honor Choir
Honor Choirs Featured:
Women's Student-Director Honor Choir
Saturday July 31 - Sunday August 1
Festival Host: Craig Cannon, Craig_Cannon@fcasd.edu
Men's Student-Director Honor Choir
Saturday July 31 - Sunday August 1
Festival Host: Joe Ohrt, JOHRT@CBSD.ORG
Junior-High Honor Choir
Sunday August 1 - Monday August 2
Festival Host: Christie McKinney, christiemckinney@gmail.com
HOUSING/TRAVEL INFORMATION
Where to Stay in State College
Lodging accommodations for the conference should be arranged directly with local properties. A block of rooms has been held for Sunday-Tuesday, August 1-3 at the Nittany Lion Inn on campus. This hotel is just steps away from the conference site and staying here allows you to park for FREE! Please identify yourself as an ACDA member to receive conference rates.
Nittany Lion Inn
202 W. Park Avenue
State College, PA 16803
814-865-8500
Other nearby properties include
Sleep Inn: 111 Village Dr. - 814-235-1020
Days Inn: 240 Pugh St. - 814-238-8454
The Atherton Hotel: 125 S. Atherton - 814-231-2100
Ramada Inn: 1450 S. Atherton - 814-238-3001
Motel 6: 1274 N. Atherton - 814-234-1600
MAKE ACCOMMODATION RESERVATIONS EARLY TO GUARANTEE HOUSING.
Where is State College?
From I-80:
Take I-80 in PA to Exit 161 (Bellefonte), Follow PA 26 South to US 220 South. Take exit 74 for Penn State University/ Innovation Park. Stay in the left lane of the exit and follow the sign for Penn State University. This will become Park Avenue.(Go to Final Steps) below.
From the Philadelphia Area:
Take PA Turnpike West to Exit 19, Harrisburg East and follow signs for the next 15 miles to Route 322 West. Take 322 West, past Lewistown, to State College and take the Penn State University/ Innovation Park Exit. Turn right at the stop light and follow Park Avenue.
From the West:
Route 22 East to Duncansville. Then take Route 220/I-99 North bypassing downtown Altoona and Tyrone. After Port Matilda, take Route 322 East to State College. For The Nittany Lion Inn, stay on Business Route 322/ North Atherton Street, past a variety of businesses. At the light at Park Avenue, turn left.
Final Steps:
Travel Park Avenue to the stop light at Allen Street. Turn left on Allen Street and then right on Fischer Road enter the Nittany Lion Parking Deck on your left. The School of Music is within a five minute walk from the Parking Deck.(Detailed maps at www.psu.edu)
