Page 160 - CJJan24

2024 ACDA Eastern Region Conference February 28 - March 2, 2024 Providence, Rhode Island

Interest Sessions
In t er est S essions

sion for the Planet and continues to champion that work. from beauty and gratitude into darkness and out again
As a performer, she has commissioned and premiered into hope. Hudson holds degrees in composition from
dozens of vocal works in Austria and the United States. Oberlin and New England Conservatory and has
Pearson has degrees in vocal performance from Ober- twenty years’ experience as a choral conductor.
lin and Eastman and is manager of concerts, program-
ming, and publicity at Amherst College. Chris Shepard is music director of three
choral ensembles: The Masterwork Cho-
Arianne Abela will be a clinician for this session. Her rus, based in Morristown, NJ; CON-
photo and bio are on page 35. CORA, a professional choir in Hartford,
CT; and the Worcester Chorus in central
Emily Isaacson is fiercely committed to Massachusetts. With these choirs, Shepard has per-
reimagining classical music for today’s formed a wide range of repertoire, including Consider-
audience. She is founder and artistic di- ing Matthew Shepard and A Passion for the Planet. He holds
rector of Classical Uprising, a performing degrees from the Hartt School, Yale, and the Univer-
arts collective serving over 6,000 musi- sity of Sydney. His PhD dissertation won the ACDA’s
cians and music lovers that believes classical music 2012 Julius Herford Prize for outstanding doctoral the-
must rise up, challenge current norms, and re-envision sis in choral music.
where, how, and for whom we are making music. For
this work, Isaacson was named the 2018 Maine Artist
of the Year, one of the 50 Mainers Leading the State,
and the 2022 winner of the American Prize. “Real Talk” in Rehearsal:

Cultivating a Sense of Belonging
Anthony Trecek-King has cultivated an
international reputation as a choral con-
ductor, scholar, pedagogue, and media How can we as choral educators create an environ-
personality over the past twenty years. He ment that is maximally engaging and relevant to our
is passionate about cultivating artistically students in order to cultivate a sense of belonging?
excellent ensembles that explore socially relevant issues This session answers this question by examining ways
through emotionally immersive programs, challenging to implement Paul Hernandez’s innovative “Pedagogy
both artists and audiences to feel and think. Longtime of Real Talk” in the choral rehearsal. By the end of
director of the Boston Children’s Chorus, Trecek-King this session, participants will have a clear understand-
has recently been appointed as both an associate pro- ing of the theoretical underpinnings of the Pedagogy,
fessor of choral music and director of choral activities methods for directly incorporating it into choral re-
at The Hartt School, University of Hartford, and a res- hearsal spaces, and specific successful examples of how
ident conductor with the Handel and Haydn Society. it has been used with choral ensembles.

Geoffrey Hudson’s music has been per- Jonathan Harvey is associate professor of
formed across the United States and Eu- music and director of choirs at Fitchburg
rope. His 2019 eco-oratorio, A Passion for State University (MA), and music direc-
the Planet, blends scientific prose, poetry, tor of the Brattleboro Concert Choir and
and sacred texts from many faiths. Pre- the Brattleboro Camerata (VT). He also
miered by Tony Thornton and the Illuminati Vocal serves on the board of Choral Arts New England as
Arts Ensemble in 2019 and revived by Chris Shepard the Grants Chair. Harvey holds a DMA in conducting
and CONCORA in 2023, the Passion traces an arc and music history from the University of Connecticut,

158 CHORAL JOURNAL January 2024 Volume 64 Number 5