Page 110 - Jan.indd

2022 ACDA Southwestern Region Conference

In t e r est S
Interest Sessionsessions

about difficult topics. Let’s work to- ability level and pedagogical needs A New Approach to
gether to begin to heal! while empowering the choir to assist
in programming choices. Mandarin Chinese Lyric Diction
D'Walla Simmons- in Choral Music
Burke is the director CJ Redden-Liotta is the clinician for
of choral and vocal this session. His photo and bio are This interest session presents a
studies at Winston-Sa- on page 79. new approach to the Mandarin-Chi-
lem State University, nese lyric diction in Chinese cho-
where she conducts fi ve ensembles, ral literature, using a method in a
including the Grammy-nominat- combination of the International
ed Winston-Salem State University Music for the High School Choir Phonetic Alphabet System and the
Choir. Her choirs have performed that is Good Enough Chinese Pin Yin System. It is de-

with symphony orchestras around signed specifically for non-native
the world and are sought after for for the Pros Chinese-speaking singers and choral
performances of masterworks, social directors who wish to perform and
justice, spirituals, and world musics. We will explore some standard program choral repertoire in Man-
Simmons-Burke was a national con- works, many available for free down- darin Chinese and learn more about
ductor for the 105 Voices of History load, that will let your students really lyric diction beyond the traditional
Concert Choir for performances at touch the hem of some great master Western European lyric diction lan-
the Kennedy Performing Arts Cen- composers that are often forgotten in guages.
ter, the Grande Ole Opry, and in our never-ending hunt for the new
Nassau, Bahamas. great piece. They are here with us, Pingyi Song is the clinician for this
largely buried under heaps of music session. Her photo and bio are on
that is much less worthy of our col- page 24.
lective time.
More than a “Treat” –
Making Broadway, Pop, and Jazz Richard Bjella is the
artistic director of the Performing Together:
a Part of Your Curriculum San Antonio Cham- Adding Instruments in

ber Choir. His 25-year
What if you could integrate pop, tenure at the Lawrence Renaissance Choral Music
jazz, and musical theatre repertoire Conservatory of Music and eight
into your entire program instead of years at Texas Tech was punctuated Renaissance choral music is ped-
just one selection or concert? We can with major performances at Carne- agogically valuable and aesthetically
teach transferrable skills to our sing- gie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Orches- beautiful repertoire, but it is often
ers while ensuring they know how to tra Hall, TMEA, and two national viewed today through a narrow per-
sing in these styles with healthy tech- ACDA Conference appearances. formance practice lens. In reality,
nique. During this session, we will Bjella has presented workshops at historical performance practices—

explore selections from these genres ACDA national and region confer- specifically instrumental collabora-
and show how proper vocal tech- ences and at 450 festivals and work- tions—can help make this repertoire
nique for these styles can be applied shops. He is a contributing writer for accessible and exciting, taking the
to our traditional concert repertoire. The Oxford Handbook of Choral Pedago- music beyond its “acappella” tradi-
We will also discuss how to choose gy (2017). tion. This session will present guid-

repertoire to best fit your choir’s ance for collaborating with modern

108 CHORAL JOURNAL January 2022 Volume 62 Number 5