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

about developing young voices, Blanton selects diverse Music Educators Journal, and the Bulletin for the Council for
repertoire to enrich student growth and expression. He Research in Music Education. His choral compositions and
previously served as artistic director of the New Jer- arrangements are published by Santa Barbara Music,
sey Youth Chorus’s Coro Vivo, leading performances Carl Fischer, Boosey & Hawkes, Hal Leonard, and
at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Madison ECS Publishing and have been performed by all-state
Square Garden. He has guest conducted the ILMEA and national honors choruses in the United States.
District 1 Honor Choir and presented at NJMEA,
TCDA, SWACDA, and TMEA. He holds degrees from
Lincoln University (BS/BA) and The Florida State
University (MME). Something Old, Something New:
Literature for Treble and Bass Clef Choirs

This reading session features tried-and-true favorites
Rethinking the Sacred/Secular Dichotomy and exciting newer works for treble and bass clef en-
in Choral Music sembles. Attendees will explore music written for two-,
three-, and four-part treble and bass clef voicings suit-
Choral music has deep roots in religious traditions, able for high school, collegiate, and community ensem-
especially within Judeo-Christian contexts, yet also bles. The session includes a diverse selection of genres,
thrives outside them. Over time, repertoire has been styles, and difficulty levels with varied instrumental ac-
placed into “sacred” and “secular” categories, a binary companiments.
that continues to shape programming. This divide can
limit how choirs engage with music’s spiritual aspects. Brandon Williams serves as associate
In this session, participants will explore the history and professor and director of choral activities
effects of these labels and consider how choral singing at Rutgers, The State University of New
can make room for diverse spiritual expressions and Jersey. In this role, he conducts the Rut-
find common ground. With seven in ten adults in the gers Kirkpatrick Choir and Rutgers Glee
United States identifying as spiritual in some way, cho- Club while also leading the graduate choral conducting
ral singing remains a vital means to explore this aspect program. Williams holds degrees from Western Illinois
of the human experience. Attendees will examine in- University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Cham-
clusive programming strategies that transcend religious paign, and Michigan State University. He regularly
boundaries, align with ACDA’s call to include a multi- appears as a guest conductor, clinician, and present-
plicity of cultural traditions, and highlight music’s po- er at festivals, conferences, and workshops throughout
tential to unite across worldviews. the United States and abroad. Williams curates The
Brandon Williams Choral Series with Gentry Publica-
Philip Silvey is professor of music teach- tions and a tenor-bass choral series with MusicSpoke.
ing and learning at the Eastman School His own compositions and arrangements are pub-
of Music, where he teaches the Tre- lished with Hal Leonard, Oxford University Press, G.
ble Chorus, choral arranging, and oth- Schirmer, Mark Foster, Colla Voce, MusicSpoke, and
er courses in music education. He has Morningstar Publications.
served as clinician and adjudicator in numerous states
and directed state honors choruses in Maryland, Vir- Kelly S. Rocchi has been the choral direc-
ginia, New York, New Jersey, and Georgia. He has pre- tor at Nazareth Area High since 2006. A
sented interest sessions at national, regional, and state graduate of Penn State University, she
ACDA and NAfME conferences. His writings appear has also earned a master’s in vocal per-
in Choral Journal, Journal of Research in Music Education, formance from West Chester University.

CHORAL JOURNAL January 2026 Volume 66 Number 5 39