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

Interest Sessions
In t er est S essions

Rebecca Saltzman is the choral director reading session will aim to address repertoire needs
at Simsbury High School, where she di- for a wide variety of skill levels. With a focus on living
rects five curricular ensembles, supervises composers, our hope is that all choral conductors who
three a cappella groups, and directs the conduct a high school SATB ensemble can take away
extracurricular Gertrude Banks Gospel pieces that will be successful with their students.
Choir. She also serves as the head of the Simsbury
High School Equity Council and is the advisor to the Matthew Chi Lee (he/him) serves as di-
school’s GSA. Additionally, Saltzman is an adjunct fac- rector of choirs at John P. Stevens High
ulty member at the Hartt School, where she teaches School in Edison, New Jersey. The choirs
their course on school choral programs and supervises at JPSHS have been featured at region-
the pre-service educator secondary choral teaching lab al and national ACDA conferences. His
experience. Saltzman holds an MME from The Flor- conducting credits include the central Jersey HS Tre-
ida State University and a BME from Ithaca College. ble Choir, Morris Area Honor Choir, Sussex County
She is a frequent festival adjudicator, festival conduc- Honor Chorus, and the Connecticut Eastern Region
tor, and conference presenter in the tristate area. She HS Festival. He is proud to serve on the Eastern ACDA
is currently serving as the Eastern ACDA Region vocal Region’s Diversity Initiatives Committee as well as the
jazz and a cappella R&R chair. NJMEA Choral Procedures Board. Lee holds a BME
from Northwestern University and an MM from The
Ben Bram (he/him) is a two-time Gram- Florida State University.
my and Emmy Award-winning vocal ar-
ranger, producer, engineer, and educator Moll Brown is the choir director at Lew-
based in Brooklyn, NY. As a cocreator of iston High School in Lewiston, Maine.
the renowned pop a cappella group Pen- He directs the Chorus, a cappella en-
tatonix, R&B outfit Citizen Queen, kids’ music brand semble “Blue Notes,” and the Chamber
Acapop! KIDS, and the summer vocal program A Cap- Choir, which was recently awarded a su-
pella Academy, Bram has been a driving force in the perior rating at the Maine ACDA adjudicated festival.
world of contemporary vocal music. In the realm of Brown is the artistic and music director for Lewiston
film and TV, he has contributed to NBC’s The Sing-Off, High School’s musical theater program and the music
Glee and the Pitch Perfect films, and his arrangements can director for musical theater at Lewiston Middle School.
be heard in commercials for Super Bowl LVII, Honda, Outside of teaching, they also serve as music director
Covergirl, and Lifetime. He is the founder and artistic for shows with local community theater organizations.
director of the New York Vocal Collective, a brand- Brown holds a BME from Connecticut College and an
new pop/jazz/R&B choir bringing together top- tier MME from the University of Bridgeport.
vocalists from various careers and backgrounds in New
York City.

All Mixed Up:
Accessible to Advanced: Musical Theatre Pedagogy
High School SATB Reading Session for the Choral Director

Are you looking for meaningful repertoire selections This session will demystify the multitude of sounds
for your high school program? Whether your choir is students make when singing musical theater repertoire
at the beginner level or preparing for competition, this and encourage educators to use musical theater sing-

26 CHORAL JOURNAL January 2026 Volume 66 Number 5