Of Eric Whitacre's national conference keynote, listeners said "We definitely needed to hear this!" "Needed this." "This was a great way to start the conference!" "The best keynote possible for these trying times." Listen [again] for yourself!

Everyone has had a hard year. I think choral directors might have had it a bit worse. We will be dealing with the fallout from this pandemic for the next few years at least, rebuilding our programs from the ground up. We haven’t been teaching “choir” as we have known it to be for our entire professional lives. We have made up our curriculum weekly to keep our students engaged, check on their emotional well-being and maybe learn musical skills along the way, if we are lucky. For me personally, technology has never been my friend. I’ve learned more this year than any other year in my 18 years of teaching. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve had to teach myself some skills to share with my students, and I’ve celebrated each success along the way.

There are positives from this that I will incorporate into my teaching forever. I have given more grace than I ever thought possible. And because of this, I feel I have grown closer to many of my students. There is a different level of trust and respect that I hope to maintain. Without the stress of upcoming performances, there has been more time to check on their individual skill level, mental state, and their understanding of concepts. . . . I am currently thankful for every student who has stayed in choir and I will continue to focus on what’s important, like why I love music and why they love music. Read full post.

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A limited number of conference registrations are still available! By registering now, you can listen to recordings of every conference performance and session through December 2021.

Retired - $169 Student - $99

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J. W. Pepper Reading Packets Available

The ACDA session viewer is now available for 2021 under Editor’s Choice / ACDA / 2021 on the J. W. Pepper site.

If you haven't already, create a login to Editor’s Choice, and once in, you will have access to the PDFs from the session booklets, plus any audio that they have for each title. Click here.

No registration required. View sessions live (all at 6:00 p.m. PST/9:00 p.m. EST) from Western Region’s Facebook page. Recordings posted on Western’s YouTube channel for asynchronous viewing.

Chapter virtual conferences and webinars open to members in other states:

Does your chapter or region have a virtual event coming up that is open to other members? Ask your president to submit your ACDA event here to be included in this list!

Did you know you can find the latest COVID-19 resources inside the app? Be the first to access updated information on how the pandemic is affecting our industry (think planning for a safe return to singing together!) right at your fingertips. 📲 Click here to download!

An exciting new opportunity for emerging women composers, including mentorship and hands-on training in choral composition. More information. Deadline: Apr. 1.

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