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2024 ACDA Midwestern Region Conference February 7-10, 2024 Omaha, Nebraska

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Overview Headliners

Your Midwestern Region of ACDA is gearing up for Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble
its celebration of choral music in Omaha, Nebraska!
From February 7 to 10 we will gather to reflect on our
work in choral music, finding rejuvenation through in-
spirational performances and speakers, and rejoicing
together in song and spirit.
The Midwestern Region Conference will feature
headline performances by the professional vocal en-
semble Kaleidoscope, a showcase of varied ensembles
from Nebraska, and a performance of John Rutter’s
Gloria on the 50th anniversary of its 1974 world pre-
miere in Omaha. Additionally, the conference high-
lights fifteen of the top choirs from across the region,
twenty-five engaging interest sessions, reading sessions,
and four honor choirs. The Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble presents vocal
The conference will also host the R3 Choirs, a ref- music with artistic excellence while celebrating racial,
erence to the conference theme: Reflect, Rejuvenate, ethnic, and gender diversity. The group of profession-
Rejoice. These choirs will engage you, the conference al singers from around the United States have thriving
goer, in performance! Three of our region’s finest national and international solo careers, and focus pri-
conductors—Aimee Beckmann-Collier, Ann Howard marily on presenting early and new music. In addition
Jones, and Tom Trenney—will lead the entire confer- to performances and artistic residencies, the ensemble
ence in rehearsals culminating in a gala performance: engages in creative educational outreach, particularly
a chance for all of us to engage with, rather than sim- in communities of color, and promotes the study, re-
ply listen to, great choral music with master conductors search, performance, and recording of music from
during the conference. various eras with special attention to the intersection
Aimee Beckmann-Collier’s R3 Choir will perform of arts and social justice.
choral gems of the modern era; Ann Howard Jones’s
R3 Choir will present masterwork choruses; and Tom Arianne Abela is director of choral ac-
Trenney’s R3 Choir will focus on sacred choral reper- tivities at Amherst College and is found-
toire. The Omaha conference will be an opportunity er and artistic director of Kaleidoscope
for all of us to Reflect, Rejuvenate, and Rejoice togeth- Vocal Ensemble. She is a sought-after
er, with one voice! clinician in composition, conducting,
and DEIA initiatives. Kaleidoscope has performed as
a headliner at ACDA, Podium in Canada, and other
renowned festivals and conferences. Abela founded
the Detroit Justice Choir and Detroit Women’s Cho-
rus, as well as guest-conducted with Detroit’s Op-
eraMODO and Vancouver-based opera company,
Re:Naissance. Abela holds a doctorate from the Uni-
versity of Michigan, master’s from Yale University,
and bachelor’s from Smith College.

CHORAL JOURNAL January 2024 Volume 64 Number 5 35