The American Choral Directors Association is holding this year’s ACDA 2023 National Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio! At ACDA 2023, (February 21st-25th), you can enjoy a community of diverse, passionate, and committed choral talents all gathered together in one place. The conference presents a unique opportunity to witness groundbreaking choral performances across a number of amazing venues, including the Cincinnati Music Hall, Aronoff Center Theaters, Plum Street Temple, and the Duke Energy Convention Center. Any choir is a community, and by drawing all those committed to choral music together, ACDA 2023 presents the unique opportunity to participate in the greater community of the world’s most communal form of music. Any ACDA conference is a special place to meet like-minded artists, inspire and be inspired, network, learn and grow, and witness good music, all ready-made by an association championing equity, inclusion, diversity, and a place of belonging. Nothing brings people together like music.
Among other things, the conference consists of performances to enjoy (and even to participate in—but more on that later!) and interest sessions, which will be held in the Duke Energy Convention Center.
ACDA National Conference Choral Performances
You can find the choral performances in
- The Duke Energy Convention Center.
- The Aronoff Center for the Arts (650 Walnut St, Cincinnati, OH 45202)
- The Cincinnati Music Hall (1241 Elm St, Cincinnati, OH 45202)
- The stunning Plum Street Temple will hold an interfaith event of worshipful music.
The conference also has masterclasses, abundant interest, and insight choir sessions, and a pre-conference Welcome Concert highlighting the talents of local Cincinnati youth. But don’t forget about the Composers Fair. This fair, along with the Composer Room, provides a unique and irreplaceable opportunity to network directly with your favorite composers.
Immersion Choirs
The 2023 ACDA conference features Immersion Choirs that can be experienced completely for free. The Immersion Choirs give anyone interested a direct way to actively participate in the conference, and an opportunity to learn through new cultural and artistic experiences.
There are four Immersion Choirs:
- the Black Diaspora Immersion Choir,
- Indigenous People’s Immersion Choir,
- Latinoamérica Immersion Choir,
- Vocal Jazz Immersion Choir.
The immersion choirs exist to actively bring people together through music, and demonstrate the overabundance of diversity, talent and history that richly spans choral music of every tradition. Participation is optional, but the experience is invaluable.
Choir Performances
The performances of the American Choral Directors Association’s National Conference are unmissable. Headlining choirs for the 2023 Conference are:
- The May Festival Chorus & Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Juanjo Mena and featuring James Lee III’s world premiere
- The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers
- The Crossing, conducted by Donald Nally and featuring Jennifer Higdon
The premier of the Brock Commission.of the ACDA National Honor Choirs 2023 include Elementary, MS/JH Mixed, HS SATB, and HS SSAA, conducted by:
- Fernando Malvar-Ruiz,
- Andrea Ramsey,
- Eugene Rogers,
- and the Fred Bock Publishing Group’s own Pearl Shangkuan, respectively.
The Immersion Choirs, uniquely featuring conference attendees, are conducted by
- Maria Guinand (Latinoamérica Immersion Choir),
- Donald Dumpson (Black Diaspora Immersion Choir),
- Jace Saplan (Indigenous People’s Immersion Choir),
- Matt Falker (Jazz Immersion Choir).
The American Choral Directors 2023 National Conference will be a richly rewarding experience, to say the least. It’s a staple in the heart of the choral community, and this year’s is brimming with almost more performances, choirs, insight sessions and conductors than can be kept up with. Choir Directors from all over the United States will be traveling to Cinancianti to attend! ACDA 2023 calls itself “a place of belonging” for all those in the community. Starting on Tuesday the 21st of February, and continuing until Saturday the 25th, ACDA’s conference offers a special opportunity to meet others with the passion of choral music.
Stop by Booth 501 and say hi to everyone for us! Tell them you saw this on the website!
By bringing the community together into one place, ACDA makes it easy to get inspired, inspire others, and find a place of belonging.
You can find the full schedule of the aca national conference 2023 here:
https://acda.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2023-ACDA-Conference-Schedule-for-web.pdf