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From the Vice President

Celebrating the Choral Art— ACDA NATIONAL
Past, Present, and Future 2025
2025 ACDA National Conference in Dallas March 18-22 Dallas, TX

Edith Copley
Many years ago, a colleague recommended I attend the 1977 ACDA National Conference
in Dallas. It was my first ACDA conference, and it was a life-changing event for me. After that weekend, I be-
came a lifelong ACDA member. Now, forty-eight years later, I’m honored to serve as the chair of the 2025 ACDA
National Conference in Dallas. Organizing this massive event has been a team effort, and I’m so thankful to the
members of the conference committee, the R&R leadership, and the ACDA national office who have worked with
me over the last two years to put together a conference that will feature outstanding choirs, informative interest
sessions, and a new schedule that will allow more quality time to connect with colleagues.
After the 2023 National Conference in Cincinnati, attendees were sent a survey. Over 800 people responded,
and I read all of the comments. Those thoughtful recommendations have guided my decisions for the Dallas con-
ference:

• select and feature more elementary and secondary school choirs

• allow all attendees the opportunity to experience one or more of the immersion choirs

• offer interest sessions that relate to the preceding R&R forum or deep dive
• choose honor choir conductors who work with that grade level

• put the Composer Fair in a more prominent place

• offer a National Vocal Jazz Honor Choir on Jazz Night

• feature more international choirs

• choose a woman to conduct the major choral/orchestral work

• create time to sing together each day

• feature a wide variety of interest sessions that will be relevant to the entire ACDA membership

I am pleased to say that all these suggestions have been implemented for the upcoming Dallas conference. I also
had one “must have” on my list: all four honor choirs will perform Saturday in one of the world’s greatest concert
halls—the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.
Conference registration opened in October, so I encourage you to register and select the purple or orange per-
forming track. (New colors!) Interest sessions will be single-tracked and located in close proximity to the concert
halls. The January and February issues of the Choral Journal will have all the exciting conference details.
If you’ve attended an ACDA national conference, you already know that you will discover new repertoire, gain
new knowledge, and return home inspired. If you’ve never attended a national conference, I encourage you to
register for Dallas. It just could be a life-changing event for you, too.