Page 4 - CJNov_Dec24

NATIONAL OFFICERS
From the

PRESIDENT President
DAVID FRYLING
dfryling@acda.org

VICE PRESIDENT The holiday season is right around the corner,
EDITH COPLEY and the end of the calendar year is in sight. As
ecopley@acda.org
things start to get more hectic for all of us, it’s
PRESIDENT-ELECT the perfect time to take a beat to remind ourselves
PEARL SHANGKUAN what a beautiful and privileged responsibility we
pearl.shangkuan@calvin.edu each have to be able to serve our choral commu-
David Fryling
nities.
SECRETARY/TREASURER It’s the perfect time for this reminder, I think, because it’s also so easy
TOM MERRILL to lose sight of this privilege and beauty amidst the often chaotic and
merrilltg@gmail.com stressful months of November and December. Tightly booked singers

PAST PRESIDENT create even tighter rehearsal schedules. Concerts and services arrive
ANDRÉ THOMAS much sooner than they have any right to. These pressures can result in
athomas@acda.org our feeling powerless in the face of the relentless progression of time,
which can cause us to grasp wildly for more power in areas in which we
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR have no real control.
ROBYN HILGER I truly believe that when we’re at our best on the podium, we act as
executivedirector@acda.org
facilitators of a unified yet deeply personal expression of the people in
NATIONAL R&R CHAIR front of us. We don’t personally make any actual musical sounds; we’re
GRETCHEN HARRISON very simply there to invite others to do so. When we forget this, we can
nationalrr@acda.org find ourselves performing at, instead of with, our ensembles. This can
quickly lead to a false sense of control.
EASTERN REGION PRESIDENT My favorite metaphor to talk about the conductor-choir relationship
AMANDA HANZLIK is the metaphor of dance partners. In a nutshell, it goes like this: We
amandahanzlik@gmail.com
each have essential and mostly separate responsibilities, and though
MIDWESTERN REGION PRESIDENT one of us by necessity must lead the dance, both dance partners must
DERRICK FOX be alive in the moment, striving to express some truth from deep with-
foxderri@msu.edu in—and deeper than—ourselves.
So may we be careful that, in our pursuit of beauty and truth in our
NORTHWESTERN REGION PRESIDENT music making amid deadlines and other pressures, we never (even ac-
STEVEN ZIELKE
stevenzielke@nwacda.org cidentally!) tamp down the most vital part of the joys of being a singer:
creative personal expression, deep community bonds with our fellow
SOUTHERN REGION PRESIDENT singers, and a transcendent connection with the people who have cho-
JEFFERY AMES sen to come listen to our songs.
jefferyacdasouthern@gmail.com May we each remain humbly grounded in the joys of what we do:
The joy of digging deep into the minds of humanity’s most gifted poets
SOUTHWESTERN REGION PRESIDENT
JONATHAN D. OWEN and composers; the joy of creating something meaningful and larger
Jonathano@swacda.org than ourselves; and—perhaps most of all—the joy enabling the singers
in our care to tell their stories together.
WESTERN REGION PRESIDENT
JULIE DANA
jreydana@comcast.com

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATE REPRESENTATIVE
OLIVER SCOFIELD
KI Concerts
oliver@kiconcerts.com

2 CHORAL JOURNAL November/December 2024 Volume 65 Number 4