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2026 ACDA Eastern Region Conference February 25-28, 2026 Providence, Rhode Island

pre-service music educators and music therapists, with Ithaca College
a mission to center process over product and equity Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers
over elitism. We emphasize culturally responsive teach-
ing and cocreate musical meaning through dialogue,
identity reflection, and repertoire by living composers.
Our work extends beyond traditional performance
goals to empower student voice, challenge dominant
norms, and reflect the diversity of our campus and
broader community.

Timothy Little Trần is a Louisiana native
singer/songwriter, conductor, church mu-
sic minister, and educator. He serves as
director of choral studies and associate
professor of music at Slippery Rock Uni- This ensemble brings together college students and
versity, where he conducts the Chamber Singers and community members from diverse racial, cultural, and
Concert Choir and teaches music education and theory. socioeconomic backgrounds to preserve and perform
Formerly executive director of performing arts at Notre African American sacred music, particularly Negro Spir-
Dame College, he developed programs in music, the- ituals. Rooted in a mission of social justice, the group
atre, and dance. He has held leadership roles at Oberlin honors the resilience and artistry of Black ancestors
Conservatory, SOCAPA, Interlochen Arts Academy, through historically informed performance and commu-
Shenandoah Conservatory, Columbia Choirs, and Loui- nity engagement. The ensemble provides an inclusive
siana State University. Little Trần holds a DMA from the space for learning and healing, often collaborating with
University of Washington, an MM from Louisiana State local organizations and schools to uplift underrepresent-
University, and a BM from Shenandoah Conservatory. ed voices and connect intergenerational experiences
through music.

Free at Last: Baruch J. Whitehead is a professor of mu-
sic education and world music at Ithaca
Exploring a Forgotten Masterwork College specializing in elementary music

through the Orff-Schulwerk approach. He
This session serves to advance awareness of the studied at the Orff Institute in Salzburg,
cantata “Free at Last: A Portrait of Martin Luther Austria, and founded Orff-Schulwerk certification pro-
King, Jr.” by African American composer Lena McLin grams at both Ithaca College and Marshall University.
with a thorough discussion of the composer’s life and He also serves as a lead teacher in Boston University’s
work, textual and musical analysis of the piece, and a Orff certification program. Whitehead is a national
full performance for SATB choir, strings, and piano. specialist in gospel music and committed to preserving
Undeterred by its lesser-known status among choral its legacy within mainstream music education. He per-
masterworks in the canon, the Dorothy Cotton Jubi- formed at the Gospel Music Festival in Prague, Czech
lee Singers’s performance of “Free at Last” will allow Republic, and is the founding director of the Ithaca Col-
the work to be heard and considered as a repertoire lege High School Gospel Invitational. He also founded
resource by present and future generations of choral and directs the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers, a group
musicians. of college and community singers dedicated to the pres-
ervation of Negro Spirituals at Ithaca.

CHORAL JOURNAL January 2026 Volume 66 Number 5 17