FAQ Filter — Select “ALL” to see all of the FAQ topics together, or select individual categories to see Questions & Answers about that category alone.
Thank you for your interest in volunteering with ACDA of Minnesota.
Our ACDA-MN organization relies on the work of many volunteers. If you would like to help out in any way, please let us know! Someone on the leadership team will be in touch!
We always need help with:
- State Conference
- Honor Choirs
- Summer Dialog
- and Others
For more information and to get the ball rolling please fill out our contact form.
Thank you!
In 1996, the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota (ACDA-MN) created the F. Melius Christiansen (FMC) Endowment Fund to foster Minnesota’s reputation for choral excellence by awarding scholarships to undergraduate and graduate choral conducting students from private and public Minnesota colleges and universities.
The Endowment Fund is named after F. Melius Christiansen, founder of the St. Olaf Choir, who believed his contribution to music was not one of instinctive genius, but instead an ethic of hard work used to achieve perfect intonation, seamless blend and crisp diction. Today, choral musicians in Minnesota pride themselves on a tradition of excellence built on the Christiansen foundation; this evolving tradition continues to inspire talented young people throughout Minnesota to pursue their ambitions in the field of choral music. The future of choral music — in classrooms, churches, synagogues and communities — rests squarely in the hands of these promising young and aspiring directors.
Gift to the FMC Endowment Fund will:
- Provide financial support to Minnesota choral directors for professional development and graduate education
- Encourage young musicians in the state of Minnesota to pursue choral conducting as a career
- Provide need-based financial support for students of ACDA-MN members who are selected for the ACDA-MN state honor choir program
- Provide financial support for administration of the FMC Endowment Fund Committee activities
You can read more about the history of the FMC Endowment Fund in an article authored by Mary Kay Geston, past president of ACDA-MN.
To support our scholarship programs, you can donate to the FMC Endowment.
To learn more and apply for one of the FMC Endowment Fund Scholarships, please go to this page.
We are deeply grateful for your support! There are variety of ways to donate to the FMC Endowment Fund:
Give Online
Make a monthly sustaining donation or a one-time donation.
Make a Tribute Gift
Honor someone special by giving a gift in his or her name or memory.
Give by Phone
Call 952-270-7489 with your credit card information.
Give by Mail
Download a printable donation form and send it with payment to:
ACDA-MN / FMC Endowment Fund
13288 Downey Trail
Apple Valley, MN 55124
Make a Planned Gift
Leave a legacy Planned Gifts for outstanding choral music.
Other Ways to Give
> The Alice T. Larsen Memorial Scholarship
> Workplace Matching Gift Programs
- ACDA-MN’s FMC Endowment Fund Committee awards scholarships annually to ACDA-MN members to attend ACDA division and national conferences, the Summer Dialogue conference, and graduate school.
- Each year, the Alice T. Larsen Memorial Scholarship is awarded to an ACDA-MN female conductor/educator who is pursuing a graduate degree in choral conducting or music education.
- Every three years an ACDA-MN member is awarded a scholarship to attend the World Symposium on Choral Music.
- We provide needs-based financial support for students of ACDA-MN members who are selected for the ACDA-MN state honor choir program each year.
- First supported in 2018 with a scholarship, the ACDA Next Direction Student Leadership Conference brings together talented and engaged high school students from all across the country who are interested in pursuing a career in choral music
As we continue to offer more scholarships, your gift can truly make a difference! Contribute now.
To learn more and apply for one of the FMC Endowment Fund Scholarships, please visit Scholarships page.
FMC Endowment Fund provides annual scholarships to the national and division conferences hosted by National ACDA and North Central ACDA across the U.S. in alternate years. These conferences feature choral performances, workshops, choral reading sessions, and many opportunities for professional growth.
Graduate students and collegiate juniors and seniors who are pursuing a career in choral conducting may apply for national conference scholarships of up to $1,000 and division conference scholarships of up to $750 to assist with registration, lodging, meals, and transportation.
Note: Applicants must be ACDA student members in Minnesota.
FMC Endowment Fund provides annual scholarships to ACDA-MN Summer Dialogue, an annual professional conference held every August in conjunction with the Minnesota All-State Choir camps. Membership in ACDA is not required. Undergraduate students and previous recipients are ineligible. Scholarships are awarded to Minnesota conductors in the following categories:
- Scholarships (registration and shared lodging) for conductors with 0-2 years of experience, including recent college graduates
- Scholarships (registration only) for experienced conductors who have never attended Dialogue Conference Scholarships
FMC Endowment Fund provides a scholarship to the World Symposium on Choral Music (WSCM), a prestigious international choral festival, hosted by the International Federation for Choral Music every three years.
ACDA members who have been active choral conductors in Minnesota for at least five years may apply for a scholarship of up to $3,000 to attend the WSCM.
ACDA-MN’s F. Melius Christiansen (FMC) Endowment Fund provides support for the continuing education of Minnesota choral conductors by offering scholarships for graduate study in choral conducting.
ACDA members who have at least two years of conducting experience in Minnesota may apply for a $1,400 scholarship for part-time graduate study or a $4,000 scholarship for full-time graduate study.
On the 85th anniversary of Alice T. Larsen’s birth, a scholarship was established in her memory through the ACDA-MN’s F. Melius Christiansen (FMC) Endowment Fund. The Alice T. Larsen Memorial Scholarship is awarded to an ACDA-MN female conductor/educator who is pursuing a graduate degree in choral conducting or music education.
Donate to the Alice T. Larsen Memorial Scholarship today.
Click here to apply for the Alice T. Larson Memorial Scholarship.
FMC Endowment Fund provides need-based financial support for students of ACDA-MN members who are selected for the ACDA-MN state honor choir program each year. Scholarships pay partial honor choir registration fees from a minimum award of $50, up to a maximum award of $100.
Please visit Honor Choirs website for information and to apply for a Student Honor Choir Scholarship.
An endowment fund is a permanent source of funding. Endowment assets are invested. Each year, a portion of the value of the fund is paid out to support the fund’s purpose – our scholarship programs – and any earnings more than this distribution are used to build the fund’s market value. In this way, ACDA-MN’s FMC Endowment Fund can grow and provide steady support for our scholarship programs for many years to come.
When you donate to ACDA-MN’s F. Melius Christiansen (FMC) Endowment Fund, you help create a permanent legacy of support for ACDA-MN, your fellow ACDA-MN members and your students, and this community of choral musicians.
To support our scholarship programs, you can donate to the FMC Endowment.
To learn more and apply for one of the FMC Endowment Fund Scholarships, please visit this page.
Building a permanent endowment provides ACDA-MN and our members with future stability and a foundation from which to grow, not contingent on the success of current or future fundraising or sponsorship efforts. Having an endowment fund provides a constant source of annual income for our scholarship programs and administration while demonstrating security and long-range financial planning.
They do lower membership dues. Without the endowment, membership would be higher because our annual endowment income pays for our scholarship program and pays for portions of administrative salaries and other expenditures.
Annual membership helps ensure that the ACDA-MN is strong each year, while the endowment builds a strong foundation for coming years.
Membership
- Annual membership supports the operating budget and, thereby, benefits current ACDA-MN members and your students each year.
- Membership creates and supports a vital community for choral musicians in Minnesota.
Endowment
- Endowment giving benefits current and future ACDA-MN members and your students. The original gift is invested in the endowment fund.
- 5% of each endowed fund’s market value is paid out each year for our scholarship programs that support members and their students.
- That income supports the administrative budget, taking pressure off membership dues to fund the entire cost of ACDA-MN programs.
The spending distribution from the FMC Endowment Fund — 5% annually pursuant to current ACDA-MN policy — is used to:
- Supporting and sustaining a vibrant future for choral music in Minnesota
- Providing financial assistance to young and emerging choral conductors to pursue relevant educational programs to advance their professional careers
- Providing needs-based financial support for students of ACDA-MN members who are selected for the ACDA-MN state honor choir program
- Providing financial support for administration of Committee activities
Read more about ACDA-MN’s FMC Endowment Fund.
To support our scholarship programs, you can donate to the FMC Endowment.
To learn more and apply for one of the FMC Endowment Fund Scholarships, please visit this page.
Our endowment assets are managed by JNBA Financial Advisors, a professional wealth management firm, under the direction of the FMC Endowment Fund Investment Subcommittee, a standing subcommittee of ACDA-MN.
The F. Melius Christiansen (FMC) Endowment Fund is indebted to members of ACDA-MN and other supporters of choral music whose faithful giving has allowed us to invest in the choral life of Minnesota. Since its inception in 1997 the endowment fund has received countless gifts from members and friends, and many members have made a commitment to the endowment in their wills and estate planning.
Behind each endowment gift is a personal motivation — to honor a loved one, to share love of choral music and this community of musicians, to repay a debt of gratitude for the donor’s own receipt of an FMC Endowment Fund Scholarship, or to ensure the legacy of outstanding choral music in Minnesota.
We are deeply grateful for the support of each and every donor to ACDA-MN’s F. Melius Christiansen (FMC) Endowment Fund. Our supporters — people like you — make all the difference.
Give Online
Make a monthly sustaining donation or a one-time donation.
Make a Tribute Gift
Honor someone special by giving a gift in his or her name or memory.
Give by Phone
Call 952-270-7489 with your credit card information.
Give by Mail
Download a printable donation form and send it with payment to:
ACDA-MN / FMC Endowment Fund
13288 Downey Trail
Apple Valley, MN 55124
Make a Planned Gift
Leave a legacy Planned Gifts for outstanding choral music.
Other Ways to Give
> The Alice T. Larsen Memorial Scholarship
> Workplace Matching Gift Programs
Stock market values go up and down. ACDA-MN’s FMC Endowment Fund Committee and our endowment fund manager, JNBA Financial Advisors, manage stock market volatility by maintaining a diversified portfolio. Our 5% endowment distribution policy also helps to insulate our budget from short-term fluctuations in the financial market.
The FMC Endowment Fund is an ACDA of Minnesota’s endowment and is managed by the FMC Endowment Fund Committee, a standing committee of ACDA-MN. The policies of the FMC Endowment Fund are ratified by ACDA-MN’s Board of Directors.
FMC Endowment Fund Committee Members are listed on this page.
Meet Nicole Thietje,
Following her graduation from the University of West Florida she moved to Minnesota and was hired as a choral director in New Prague, Minnesota. Nicole joined ACDA-MN and applied for a scholarship to attend ACDA-MN’s Summer Dialogue, an event that proved to be life-changing for her:
After moving to Minnesota following the completion of my undergraduate degree, one of the first things I did was join ACDA-MN. I found out about Summer Dialogue and other events via the ACDA-MN website. I applied for a FMC Endowment Summer Dialogue scholarship and was incredibly grateful to be awarded one. Attending Dialogue was an invaluable experience. As a new resident to the state of Minnesota, it was wonderful to meet so many directors from all over the state. I had a wonderful and enlightening experience and gained a great sense of pride to be a part of the ACDA-MN organization. I feel that the scholarship was not only an incredible gift, but also a show of support and encouragement from the organization, which as a new conductor, was greatly inspiring. The FMC Endowment Fund afforded me a unique opportunity to grow and learn, and then take that knowledge back to my students, and for that I am deeply grateful.
I feel blessed to be in a state with such a rich and vibrant choral community and to be a part of an organization that supports its members and choral music in many different ways, including the FMC Endowment Fund.
Meet Mark Potvin,
A Graduate Study Scholarship from the F. Melius Christiansen Endowment Fund allowed Mark to work on a master of music degree in choral conducting at St. Cloud State University where he conducts the Men’s Choir. He received his undergraduate degree from Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, and is currently the director of choral activities at Princeton High School, Princeton, Minnesota. He is also the artistic director and conductor of the East Central Minnesota Chorale in Cambridge, Minnesota. Mark was named ACDA-MN’s Outstanding Young Choral Director in 2008 and has served as editor of ACDA-MN’s award-winning newsletter, Star of the North. He eloquently states the case for the F. Melius Christiansen Endowment Fund:
The FMC Endowment Fund is an immeasurable gift to Minnesota’s choral community. By promoting lifelong learning for ACDA-MN members through various scholarships, its impact is powerful, substantive, and enduring. As a recipient of a graduate study scholarship I was able to immerse myself in full-time studies at St. Cloud State University and take a temporary hiatus from the day-to-day business of teaching and managing a high school choral program. The result was a more meaningful learning experience that included time to process and to reflect upon my coursework. I returned to teaching eager to share my new discoveries with students and to incorporate a deeper understanding of choral music into all my conducting and teaching endeavors.
The experiences of Nicole and Mark exemplify the way in which ACDA-MN and the FMC Endowment Fund assist young Minnesota choral directors through scholarships and learning opportunities.
To support our scholarship programs, you can donate to the FMC Endowment.
Simply contact your advisor with the following information to designate a gift in your estate plan.
Beneficiary Designation
Legal name: F. Melius Christiansen Endowment Fund of the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota
Phone: 952.270.7489
EIN: 41-1816497
Charitable Bequest
Just the following few sentences in your will or trust are all that is needed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I give (select one)
___________ percent of my residuary estate
___________ dollars
the rest and residue of my estate (after other bequests or designations are named)
to the F. Melius Christiansen Endowment Fund of the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota
Apple Valley, MN (EIN: 41-1816497), for its general tax-exempt purposes, but without other restriction as to use.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ End ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Talk with us about your legacy
When you inform us of your decision, we can arrange for your gift to be stewarded according to your wishes, and we can discuss how best to recognize you for your generosity.
For more information
Please call us at 952.270.7489
or click here to download the Bequest and Estate Planning Form in PDF format.
Yes, ACDA-MN is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and your donations to ACDA-MN and our FMC Endowment Fund are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.
You try to register but the system says that “An account is attached to that email already”
That means that you are most likely already registered!
Go Login Page and click on “Forgot your password” that will take you to the Password Reset page.
Enter your Primary Email Address in the text box and click on the Reset My Password button.
Then the system will send an email with password reset instructions to that email address.
- If you are not sure that you have registered or
- You try to register but the system says that “An account is attached to that email already”
Go Login Page and click on “Forgot your password” that will take you to the Password Reset page.
Enter your Primary Email Address in the text box and click on the Reset My Password button.
- If the system does not recognize the email then you have not registered under that email address.
- If the system recognizes the email address then it will send reset instructions to that email address.
If you do not remember your password then you would need to reset your password. Simply go to Password Reset page and enter your email address that you used to register and hit the “Reset My Password” button. You will receive an email that has link and instructions to create your new password.
NOTE: The password that you newly create has certain minimum requirements. It has to include:
- Minimum of 10 characters
- At least one small letter
- At least one capital letter
- At least one number
Your District is based on the county that you work in (not your residence). To find your Work District please go to this page and use the search text box. Enter the name of the county that you work in and your District will show itself.
Best place to learn about Google Apps and how to use them is the Google’s G Suite Learning Center.
This website’s calendar is automatically populated by the ACDA-MN Master Calendar. The Master Calendar is a Google calendar that is open to public for view only. ACDA-MN Leadership has access for entering new events or modifying the existing events.
Any event that is entered or modified on the Master Calendar automatically will be displayed on this website’s calendar.
If you wish you can view the ACDA-MN Master Calendar on Google.
In the past, most ads that were submitted in PDF format were at a large size (like a full page 8.5″ x 11″). They looked great when viewed at that large size. However they needed to be reduced in size to fit the 300 x 300 pixel format. Once shrunk they did not look so well and were not very legible to the point that they needed to be to attract the attention of the viewer.
By submitting the actual size in JPG, GIF, or PNG formats then you will see how well your ad will look before uploading them.
- First you will need to be logged in
- Then go to your Profile page:
- Once you are logged in, on the very top of each page on the gold bar you should see your name. If you don’t see your name then you are not logged in, please do so.
- Click on your name that will take you to your profile name
- You could also click on this link to go to your profile
- On your profile page, to the right of your photo and name you will see a gear symbol
- Click on the gear and you will see a drop down menu appear.
- Click on the “Edit Profile” of the menu.
- That should take you to your profile page to change your information (email address, phone number, address, etc.)
- Once done with the changes then click the “Update Profile” button at the bottom of the page.
- First you will need to be logged in
- Then go to your Profile page:
- Once you are logged in, on the very top of each page on the gold bar you should see your name. If you don’t see your name then you are not logged in, please do so.
- Click on your name that will take you to your profile name
- You could also click on this link to go to your profile
- On your profile page, to the right of your photo and name you will see a gear symbol
- Click on the gear and you will see a drop down menu appear.
- Click on the “Edit Profile” of the menu.
- That should take you to your profile page to change your email address or some other information like your phone number and address, etc.
- Once done with the changes then click the “Update Profile” button at the bottom of the page.
If you do not remember your password then you would need to reset your password. Simply go to Password Reset page and enter your email address that you used to register and hit the “Reset My Password” button. You will receive an email that has link and instructions to create your new password.
NOTE: The password that you newly create has certain minimum requirements. It has to include:
- Minimum of 10 characters
- At least one small letter
- At least one capital letter
- At least one number
Not every member of ACDA-MN needs to pay the Annual MN State Dues. Only the following types of membership are required to pay the annual fee:
- Active Members
- Retired Members
- Life Members
Payments can be made online on the ACDA-MN State Dues page.
ACDA-MN Member Directory is only viewable by logged in registered members of the ACDA of MN. To join the ACDA organization:
- First register in the ACDA organization by visiting National ACDA Website’s registration page.
- You will receive your ACDA Membership number form National organization and then you can register with ACDA-MN.
If you have a question and can not find the answer here please contact us using the following form: