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2025 ACDA National Conference                                                March 18-22, 2025                                             Dallas, Texas





        denharn Endowed Chair at the University of Louisi-  board-level  participation in NAfME,  Eastern ACDA
        ana Monroe. Bowers has taught music education class-  Region, and NCCO. A recipient of a Surdna Fellow-
        es and choirs, provided honor choirs in Canada, Africa,   ship for her creative work, Jones’s credits include sever-
        and conducted regional ACDA honor choirs. She also   al solo recordings, original musicals and commissioned
        directed the ACDA middle school honor choir in 2009.   works for soloists and choral ensembles. Jones is an in-
        In 2014, Bowers was named a Lowell Mason National   formal  composer-in-residence  with New  Voices New
        Music Education Fellow by NAfME; and in 2023, the   Orleans, the  Crescent City’s  new community-based
        Florida MEA inducted her into the Florida Music Hall   youth chorus.
        of Fame.
                                                                        Robyn Hilger is the national executive di-
                                                                        rector of ACDA. She brings a wealth of
                                                                        experience  in administration, fundrais-
                     The New Canon Project:                             ing, grant writing, and strategic innova-

               When Partnerships Bring New Works                        tion to her work. She is a national board-
          from New Voices to Developing Vocal Ensembles     certified teacher and was named the Teacher of the
                                                            Year for the State of Oklahoma in 2007. Hilger began
                                                            her career as an instrumental music teacher. Prior to
                    Saturday 9:00 am - 9:50 am              joining ACDA, she served as the director of commu-
                                                            nity engagement for ReMerge of Oklahoma County.
                   First United Methodist Church            ReMerge is a leader in developing solutions in crimi-
                     Upper Room (3rd Floor)                 nal justice reform specifically focused on women facing
                                                            felony offenses who are mothers. She teaches advocacy
                                                            and policy, as well as nonprofit finance, as an adjunct
           The New Canon Project is a model for stepping out   professor in the MA in Nonprofit Leadership program
        of silos and joining forces. Through a unique partner-  at Oklahoma City University.
        ship  between ACDA,  the American String  Teachers
        Association, Rising Tide Music Press, and ArrangeMe,
        the  New Canon Project  champions  emerging Black
        and Latinx composers  and will result in  twenty-four    The Score Study and Rehearsal Techniques
        new works in the last two years. Session participants
        will hear Cohort 1 & 2 choral works and learn from                  of Margaret Hillis
        cohort composers  about  this experience. Learn how
        collaboration between composers and mentors, disci-
        plines, and associations fosters community and ampli-         Saturday 10:00 am - 10:50 am
        fies new voices. This work is provided with generous          First United Methodist Church
        support from The Sphinx Venture Fund.
                                                                                 Atrium
                    Allyssa Jones is the  executive  director
                    of Rising Tide Music & Arts, Inc., and    This session will explore the choral methods of Mar-
                    serves as director of vocal ensembles and   garet Hillis, the founder and first conductor of the es-
                    assistant director of the School of Music   teemed Chicago Symphony Chorus. Hillis developed
                    at the University of South Florida. Her   methods of score study and rehearsal techniques that
        thirty-year career in arts education includes positions   have raised the level of choral singing in America to
        with Boston Arts Academy, Boston Public Schools, de-  a refined professional level. Her disciplined approach
        cades of work as a DEIA presenter and consultant, and   to preparing a score provides  the  basis  for rehearsal


        CHORAL JOURNAL  January 2025                                                                                      Volume 65  Number 5           63
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