Page 163 - CJJan24

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

ties, providing space for those who may otherwise not to social change. We make connections between the
be heard. Dumont is committed to a process-oriented actions taken by these choruses and how such actions
approach of music making, which allows for artists to might apply in K-12 and community choral settings.
explore broad themes within the topics of equity and
justice. He serves as director of choral activities at As- Cara Bernard is associate professor of
sumption University, artistic director of the Salisbury music education at the University of
Singers in Worcester, and as artistic projects manager Connecticut. Currently, she is president
for Emmanuel Music in Boston. of CT-ACDA. Bernard has conducted,
performed, and prepared choruses for
performances at some of the most prestigious venues
throughout the Northeast. Bernard was the director
and conductor of the Count Me In program at Carn-
egie Hall, where she created a choral curriculum for
beginning-level middle school music students. Addi-
tionally, she worked with the Young People’s Chorus of
New York City in their School Choral Program, bring-
ing a choral experience to over 1,000 children through-
out the city.

VOICES 21C is an artists’ collective that is devoted to Kelly Bylica serves as assistant professor
exercising the choral art in pursuit of human rights and of music education at Boston University,
justice, dedicated to a mission of global understanding where she teaches in both the under-

through music. We explore improvisational and inter- graduate and graduate programs. Origi-
disciplinary modes of music making and collaboration, nally from Chicago, Bylica taught middle
through co-creating and utilizing an egalitarian con- school choral music and has served on the teaching
sensus model. V21C has been performing since 2016 faculty and board of directors of several community-
through collaborations in Palestine, Israel, Sri Lanka, based choral programs in both Canada and the United
France, Mexico, and across the United States. States. She has presented and published her work on
critical pedagogy, curriculum and policy, project-based
learning, and music teacher education both nationally
and internationally. She holds a PhD in music educa-
Singing Social Change: tion from The University of Western Ontario.
An Investigation of Two
U.S. Children’s Choruses

Teaching, Singing, and “Being”
Scholars have frequently linked social change to
choral music education, arguing that the arts can play in the Aural-Oral Tradition
a substantial role in transforming communities. Chil-
dren’s choruses may offer an avenue for choral music Participants will explore, experience, and “be” in
educators to explore social change in practice. In this the aural-oral tradition as a framework for learning
presentation, we draw from a case study of two chil- vocal music informed by the presenter’s research im-
dren’s choruses in order to highlight findings relevant mersed with three experts of Black Gospel music in
to how choral music educators might learn with and Philadelphia and her work over many years learning
from these organizations as models for commitment in this tradition from her own students, colleagues,

CHORAL JOURNAL January 2024 Volume 64 Number 5 161