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

Western Illinois University receive talent grant awards. This award-winning en-
University Singers semble presents six major concerts each year, including
a student choral conductor’s concert and a yearly mas-
terworks concert with the WIU Symphony Orchestra.
The University Singers won the 2021 American Prize
Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of
American Music (College/University Division).

Brian J. Winnie, DMA, is the director of
choral studies at Western Illinois Uni-
versity, where he supervises the gradu-
ate choral conducting program; teaches
courses in graduate and undergraduate
choral conducting, pedagogy, and literature courses;
and conducts the University Singers, Chamber Sing-
ers, and Treble Choir. He has worked with festival
choirs throughout the United States and presented at
The Western Illinois University Singers is the “flag- international and national conferences on the topics of
ship,” auditioned choral ensemble at WIU. University choral pedagogy, gesture, and voice training in the cho-
Singers performs diverse repertoire from Renaissance ral rehearsal. He is also an Estill Mentor and Course
to contemporary commercial music with special focus Instructor and Master Trainer of Estill Voice Training.
on versatility and authenticity of voice quality. Mem- He is the editor and contributing author to The Voice
bership is open to all university students, most of whom Teacher’s Cookbook and The Choral Conductor’s Companion.

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

In t er est S essions
Interest Sessions

Beyond Repertoire Selection: growth should remain a core value for literature selec-
Reimagining Your Whys tion, the need to find text and music that help students
connect emotionally and socially has never felt greater.
Conductors will be invited to reimagine new “whys” in
This session will focus on how repertoire selection their search for music that speaks to broader program-
can help choirs advance goals that go beyond musical matic needs and help students rebuild their ability to
standards. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, conduc- connect and form meaningful relationships.
tors and music teachers of all grade levels have re-
ported new challenges in rebuilding their choral pro- Mariana Farah is the director of choral
grams and helping their singers engage and connect activities at UW-Madison, where she con-
in a group setting. This session will propose strategies ducts the Concert Choir, Treble Choir,
for repertoire selection that will help conductors reflect teaches courses in graduate choral con-
on broader goals and choirs rejuvenate. While musical ducting, and oversees all aspects of a com-

CHORAL JOURNAL January 2024 Volume 64 Number 5 47