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2024 ACDA Southwestern Region Conference February 27 - March 2, 2024 Denver, Colorado

Interest Sessions
In t er est S essions

mittee. Murdock holds a BME and an MM from the Program in Germany. He received degrees from the
University of Southern Mississippi, and a PhD in mu- University of Missouri-Kansas City, East Carolina
sic education from the University of Memphis. University, and Middle Tennessee State University.

Ryan Sullivan is the director of choral Meg Stohlmann will be a clinician for this session. Her
activities at Arkansas State University, photo and bio are on page 31.
where he conducts the Concert Choir,
Jonesboro Chorale, and Singing States-
men, and teaches coursework in conduct-
ing and music education. Sullivan previously served as Developing Black-Belt Choral Musicians:
associate conductor for the Dallas Symphony Chorus Transferable Lessons and Methods
and the conductor of Collegium Singers and Baroque
Orchestra at the University of North Texas. As a fellow from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
for the 2023 ICEP in Germany, he was an instructor
and lecturer at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstel- Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is a grappling martial art that is of-
lende Kunst in Stuttgart and the Hochschule für Kirch- ten used as a vehicle to impact practitioners positively,
enmusik in Rottenburg. Sullivan serves as current past building resilience, patience, confidence, and discipline
president for the Southwestern ACDA Region. through terraced skill-building in a community of in-
dividuals from all walks of life. The benefits of this art
Erin Plisco is the associate director of form deserve our attention in the choral music world.
choral studies at Missouri State Univer- We will explore the transferable lessons and methods
sity, where she conducts multiple choirs from the jiu-jitsu mats and how they can be effectively
and teaches undergraduate and graduate applied in rehearsals. Not only are these skills musically
choral conducting and literature. She is a and practically applicable, but they are also valuable to
frequent guest clinician across the United States and combat mental stress, hyper-anxiety, and other mind-
abroad. She serves as the ACDA National Women’s/ body barriers in ourselves and our singing musicians.
SSAA Choirs R&R Chair and is a conducting fellow
for ACDA’s International Conductor Exchange Pro- Jeffery Wall serves as professor of music
gram. Choirs under her direction performed at the and director of choral activities at North-
2022 ACDA Southwestern Region Conference, the eastern State University in Tahlequah,
2022 Missouri MEA Conference, the 2023 National Oklahoma. He is the co-founder and ar-
ACDA Conference and Carnegie Hall. Plisco complet- tistic director of Vox Solaris, a chamber
ed a DMA in choral conducting from the University of choir in Tulsa. He holds a BM in vocal music educa-
Arizona. tion from Texas Tech University, an MM in choral con-
ducting from the University of Tennessee, and DMA
John McDonald is director of vocal stud- in choral conducting from the University of South
ies and director of choir at Washington Carolina. Relevant to this session, Wall is a Brazilian
University in St. Louis and director of the Jiu-Jitsu black belt with over thirty years of martial arts
tenor-bass ensemble, Cantus, for the St. experience.
Louis Children’s Choirs. He serves on the
ACDA National Standing Committee for Education
and Communication. In 2023, McDonald was select-
ed for the ACDA International Conductors Exchange

116 CHORAL JOURNAL January 2024 Volume 64 Number 5