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I am Robert Sinclair from VanderCook College of Music and I am recruiting and organizing student workers for the 2027 National ACDA Conference in March of 2027. Student volunteers assist with guiding choirs from their arrival through sound check at the performing halls, support stage setup, help with registration, and other important conference duties. As a student volunteer, you can earn up to 100% free conference registration for your service! Here’s what to know: The conference is held Sunday, March 7 through Wednesday, March 10. We will need volunteers as early as 11 a.m. on Sunday and all the way through the close of the conference at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10. You have to apply to be a volunteer and before you apply, you need to know your travel…

The Steven M. Demorest Award was established in 2019 to recognize the highest scoring poster proposal at the American Choral Directors National Conference. In 2026, the Research and Publications Committee has recently redesigned the award as a grant for choral music research projects. The purpose of the Demorest Research Grant is to support meaningful and rigorous choral music research by defraying costs relating to participant recruitment, compensation, or incentivization, data collection, management and/or analysis, or other research needs. Steven Demorest was driven by the belief that singing should not be an elitist activity for the chosen few; rather, singing was a way for everyone to build community and find joy. A prolific researcher, Demorest studied the assessment and remediation of inaccurate singing, cross-cultural music understanding, and sight-singing pedagogy. He authored…

Deadline for Nominations: September 30, 2026 The Robert Shaw Choral Award is given to a choral leader who has made unusual contributions to the art of choral music. The recipient is chosen by the ACDA Past Presidents Advisory Council. The Robert Shaw Choral Award is presented during each national conference. The following criteria for selection were approved by the Past Presidents Advisory Council in November 1990. 1. The recipient should be a member of ACDA (though there may be exceptions).2. The recipient should be someone whose primary career is/was in the United States.3. The recipient has made a significant contribution to the cause of the choral art in America.4. Such contributions made may have been through teaching, conducting, or leadership. Nomination Period The nomination period is currently open and the deadline for…

Are you planning to have students audition for any of the 2027 ACDA National Honor Choirs? If so, there are some critical updates to the application process that warrant your immediate attention.  We’ve gone through another update since the 2026 Region Conferences. We want to ensure you can navigate the system without any hiccups. To have a successful application process, you need to start planning TODAY for your submissions. All Honor Choir Applications now require that you log-in through your ACDA member portal account. There are two ways to access the application: Go to www.acda.org; Click Sign In in the upper right. Sign in. Click “My Profile” in the upper right. Click “Calls” on the left navigation. Go to https://my.acda.org/s/calls. Follow the same sign in process. You will only be able to see…