Inside ACDA-MN

By Jamie Andrews

STATE CONFERENCE 2024

Singing Your Way Home

November 22 & 23

The 2024 ACDA-MN State Conference will be held on Friday and Saturday, November 22-23 at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi.

Saturday, November 23 will feature Thomas Søndergård, Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra, giving the keynote address.

Friday, November 22 will culminate with a concert featuring:

A Vision Unfolding

• Prairie Fire Choir and Urban Initiatives High School Choral Festival featuring VocalEssence Singers of this Age (VESOTA) – G. Phillip Shoultz, conductor (with) urban coalition of high school choirs and singers with a clinician and guest conductor

EveryBODY

• See Change Treble Choir – Amy Johnson, artistic director
• Minnesota Valley Women’s Chorale – Judy Sagen, artistic director
• Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus – Gerald Gurss, artistic director

Friday and Saturday will see the following choirs, who were selected from throughout the state, to appear on the conference program.

Friday’s performances include:

• Buffalo High School Unified Music – Zack Carlson-Giving, conductor
• Tonka District Children’s Choir – Melanie McIvor, conductor
• Stillwater Area High School Belle Chanter – Katelyn Sawatzke, conductor
• Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs Cantabile Choir – Michelle Gehrz, conductor
• Stillwater Area High School Vagabonds – Angela Mitchell, conductor
• Minnesota State University Moorhead Concert Choir – Michael Johnson, conductor

The Saturday performances include:

• Northfield Youth Choirs – Michelle Bendett and Zach Kubasta, conductors
• The Journeymen Chorus – Scott Perau, conductor
• Luther College Cathedral Choir – Mark Potvin, conductor
• St. Michael-Albertville High School – Joseph Osowski, conductor
• Youth Chorale of Central Minnesota – Garrett Lathe, conductor
• Valley Chamber Chorale – Daryl Timmer, conductor

In addition, 16 interest sessions targeting all age levels of singers/conductors will be scheduled throughout the two-day event.

Registration for the State Conference can be accessed at: stateconferencemn.info

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STATE HONOR CHOIRS

Inspiring New Generations For Excellence

We are excited to announce the dates for our state honor choir program for 2024-2025:

9-10 Honor Choirs: Saturday, February 15, 2025 (Minneapolis Convention Center, Minneapolis)

4-5-6 Honor Choirs: Saturday, March 29, 2025 (St. Michael/Albertville High School, St. Michael)

7-8 Honor Choirs: Saturday, April 5, 2025 (St. Michael/Albertville High School, St. Michael)

For detailed information on how to audition students for the ACDA-MN Honor Choir program go to: mnhonorchoirs.org

Student participation in the ACDA-MN honor choir program is a direct benefit of current membership in ACDA.

9-10 TBB & SSAA & SATB HONOR CHOIR

Saturday, February 15, 2025
Rehearsals: Hilton Hotel, Minneapolis
Performance: Minneapolis Convention Center • Minneapolis

TBB Conductor

Marques Garrett
University of North Texas – Denton

SSAA Conductor

Adrian Davis
University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

    SATB Conductor

Jasmine Fripp
Nashville Collegiate High School

Schedule:

Friday, October 25 – Auditions Due

Tuesday, November 5 – Director Notification

Wednesday, November 13 – Scholarship Applications Due

Friday, December 6 – Registration/Payments Due

4-5-6 AURORA & POLARIS CHOIR HONOR CHOIR

Saturday, March 24, 2025
Rehearsals and Performance: St. Michael/Albertville High School • St. Michael

Aurora Choir Conductor

Greg Gilpin
Composer & Conductor, Indianapolis, IN

Polaris Choir Conductor

Patti Arntz
Robbinsdale Schools, retired

Schedule:

Friday, January 10 – Auditions Due

Tuesday, January 21 – Director Notification

Wednesday, February 5 – Scholarship Applications Due

Wednesday, February 19 – Registration/Payments Due

7-8 TTB & SSA HONOR CHOIR

Saturday, April 5, 2025
Rehearsals and Performance: St. Michael/Albertville High School • St. Michael

TTB Conductor

Lukas Warren
Red Wing High School

SSA Conductor

Elizabeth Egger
Angelica Cantanti & Scott Highland Middle School

Schedule:

Friday, January 31 – Auditions Due

Tuesday, February 11 – Director Notification

Wednesday, February 26 – Scholarship Applications Due

Wednesday, March 12 – Registration/Payments Due

FEES

Audition fees for 2024-25 are $16 per student, and registration fees for selected students at $135.

Audition and registration fees cover these annual costs: online audition site costs, guest conductor artistic fees and travel expenses, accompanist, instrumentalists, on-site medical staff, rental of performance and rehearsal facilities, liability insurance, food, T-shirt, downloadable audio recording of the concert, and ACDA-MN administrative staff support services.

We want to acknowledge the new and returning Honor Choir Co-Chairs for this school year. They play a key part in the success of this program.

4-5-6 AURORA

Andrew Parr

Deveny Beaton

4-5-6 POLARIS

Melane McIvor

Seth Boyd

7-8 CTB

Susan Snorek

Matt Kiminski

7-8 SSA

Megan Cox

Katie Irvin

9-10 SSAA

Laura Quintance

Wendy Suoja

9-10 SATB

Bri Bergstrom

Zach Kubasta

9-10 TBB

Chris Jacobson

Jim Cox

ANNUAL AWARDS

ACDA-MN will honor the following individuals for their outstanding contributions to our choral music community at a Saturday, November 23 luncheon during the annual State Conference weekend:

Creative Programing Award

Amy Johnson

Emerging Choral Director Award

Jaclyn Schmeichel

Minnesota Choral Director of the Year Award

Michelle Gehrz

F. Melius Christiansen Lifetime Achievement Award

David Cherwien

VOLUNTEER WITH ACDA-MN

If you are interested in offering your time to volunteer with any ACDA-MN event or activity, please contact Executive Director Jamie Andrews at: jandrews@acda-mn.org.

We are looking for volunteers to participate in recently created Membership, Finance, Development, Communications, and IDEA committees.

We are also seeking volunteers with Honor Choirs, State Conference, Summer Dialogue, Interest Session presentations, and future leadership with our Repertoire and Resource (R&R) positions, along with our State Board of Directors.

Make your voice heard! 

Telling Our Story

We are looking for examples of the impact of your work. Everyday ACDA members do extraordinary work in the rehearsal room and on the performance stage. Participating in your ensembles creates a positive change in the lives of your signers. Let’s tell that story!

The examples can be in the form of: short-written testimonials, pictures, or videos. It could be a recording of your ensemble accomplishing a particularly tricky passage from a piece of music, a note from an older adult expressing gratitude for the opportunity to sing in person again, or a picture of a student who recruits his friends to join choir because it’s just so awesome. The impact of your work shows up in many ways.

We plan to use these stories on social media and all of our other communications channels throughout the year.

ACDA-MN’s mission is “to inspire and support a community of choral musicians.” Let’s share stories of our mission in action!

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Send submission to – jandrews@acda-mn.org

About Jamie Andrews

Jamie Andrews (he/him) has over two decades of experience working in the arts, education, and nonprofit administration. He is currently the Executive Director of the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota, and a founding member of PrimeLife Arts Learning, an on-line platform dedicated to Creative Aging. Previously he served as Development Manager for Lakeshore Players Theatre, Recruitment and Events Planning Liaison at the University of St. Thomas, and as the Chief Learning Officer at the Minnesota Opera, where he oversaw an extensive array of programs for all ages, including an industry-leading Creative Aging initiative, Music Out Loud, the first opera-based El Sistema-inspired youth program in the US, and the commission of a youth opera The Song Poet, based on the novel by Kao Kalia Yang with music by Joceyln Hagen. Active in arts advocacy, Jamie serves on the board of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts.

Jamie started his career in the arts, teaching band and choir in Forest Lake and Lester Prairie, Minnesota, after earning a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He also earned a master’s degree in Arts and Cultural Management from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.