Page 122 - CJJanuary2026

2026 ACDA Southern Region Conference March 4-7, 2026 Memphis, Tennessee

In
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Interest Sessions
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inclusive pedagogy, accompanying choirs, composing director and music teacher at public high
and improvising, predictive sight-reading, and building schools in Louisville and Shelbyville,
a collaborative culture in your choral program. KY. He has held several part-time or in-
terim church positions, most recently as
Michelle Folta is professor of choral/ director of contemporary music at First
general music education at Columbus United Methodist Church in Frankfort, KY. Powell
State University and the artistic director has led interest and reading sessions at the KMEA’s
for the Voices of the Valley Children’s annual conference and has served multiple times as
Chorus. Folta earned her master’s and all-state choir and large ensemble assessment judge.
PhD in music education at the University of North He has been a guest clinician/director at all-district or
Texas and a BM from the University of Texas at Aus- all-county choirs across the state of Kentucky. He holds
tin. Graduates of Folta have earned the title of teacher a BME and MME from WKU and UK and is a DMA
of the year on their campuses and have been named fi- candidate in choral conducting at UK.
nalists for their district’s top educator award. The Voic-
es of the Valley Children’s Chorus has performed in-
ternationally, at Georgia MEA, and Southern ACDA. KoroNation:
Folta has served as the guest clinician nationally and
serves on the Georgia ACDA board of directors and is A Culturally Informed Filipino Reading Session
president-elect for Georgia ACDA.
As Filipino choral music becomes more visible in
conference concert setlists and all-state programs, shar-
ing Filipino geographic and historical context, language
Just Sing! pronunciation, and composer knowledge becomes nec-
Informal Choral Music for Non-Performers essary. Session presenters will lead participants as they
explore various Filipino works through the Choral Al-
To the outside world, choral music is practiced with lyship Framework, applicable to music from any bor-
the end goal being a performance. But this is not al- rowed culture, aiming for a more informed approach
ways the case, and informal singing experiences that and process from programming to performance. At-
lack the expectation of a performance can create spe- tendees will read a selection of accessible Filipino cho-
cial moments for participants. This session will explore ral pieces from traditional folk songs to contemporary
why singing for singing’s sake is important and why we compositions and immerse themselves in the unique
should create more opportunities for people to do it. musical idioms of the Philippines. Each piece will be
This session will also provide methodology for creating accompanied by insightful commentary on its place
these opportunities based on the tried-and-true meth- within the Filipino choral space and live diction coach-
ods of sacred harp singings as well as newer informal ing from a Tagalog speaker.
singing organizations. These techniques help establish
a welcoming choral environment for singers of any age Roger David Jr. is a Michigan State Uni-
and skill level. Come and explore the ways we can fa- versity graduate student pursuing a DMA
cilitate growth in our singers as we offer freedom from in choral conducting and is a recipient of
the expectation of performance. a University Distinguished Fellowship.
He serves as assistant conductor for Sing-
Christopher Powell is the director of choirs at George- ing Spartans and assists choral conducting courses.
town College. Powell previously spent ten years as choir David enjoys working with and meeting new people as

120 CHORAL JOURNAL January 2026 Volume 66 Number 5