Recap of the ACDA 2013 National Conference in Dallas

Recap of the ACDA 2013 National Conference in Dallas

DAY ONE: TUESDAY

Last Tuesday I left the delightful 35 degree and drizzly mecca of Chicago to go to the ACDA National Conference in Dallas. After landing there I discovered that it was about 72 degrees and sunny in Dallas, a horrific environment which we all had to endure during the entire conference- in fact, by Friday the thermometer was flirting with 80 degrees and actual flowers were blooming. I was happy to leave Saturday morning so that I could get back to Chicago for a commission premiere and my city's lovely 20 degrees and delightfully gray skies. Despite the awful weather in Dallas, I did discover one natural element I liked, namely the brown-headed cowbirds which flitted around downtown. I wasn't familiar with these feathery fowls and their love of screeching and imitating sounds in their environment. In fact at one point one of these birds did a perfect (and quite loud) imitation of the Dallas trolley car bells plus the screeching of brakes!

As many of you know, when I do these recaps it is admittedly my personal take and experience, I don't try to be all-encompassing and so on. And this particular conference was a bit weird for me- I came nowhere near to hearing all the choirs since I chose some other activities to try out, plus I had a number of formal and informal meetings with publishers, conductors and so on. I also missed all of Saturday (as mentioned above) and thus my posts will be incomplete, although I think I may have a guest blogger covering events from Saturday.

On Tuesday after checking in at the Sheraton (a nice hotel) I walked west about a mile to the Sixth Floor Museum, the infamous Texas school book depository where Lee Harvey occupied the 6^th floor in order to assassinate JFK. The museum was very busy and the audio/headphone guide plus all the wall placards and video displays were excellent. Even now I can't quite find the adjectives to describe how it felt to be there on the sixth floor, seeing the corner where Oswald shot from (it is plexiglassed off) and looking out the windows to see where JFK's car was when this all happened. I was also surprised to see that the grassy knoll is a tiny area, and it is obvious that this was, unfortunately, a perfect killing zone. My belief is that there was a second shooter, that Oswald was a shooter too, but that he was set up. Anyway, to stand either in the building or be outside right there by the street where Kennedy was shot felt eery, sad, burdening, oppressive, and who knows what other adjectives other people would add. If you ever are in Dallas I do believe you owe it to JFK and your sense of belonging to our shared American history to visit the Sixth Floor Museum.

After this experience I walked back east toward the fancy hotels and the arts district, met up with my Washington State roomie and pal Reg Unterseher, and grabbed a light dinner. We then attended the Tuesday evening performance by the Pan-Asian Youth Chorale. They were led by four conductors, including my South Korean friend Hak-won Yoon. The concert went very well, and I must say that Hak-won, who led them in their last set, really unified their sound and tuning, brought drama and a wider dynamic range to their singing, and had gotten them to the point of memorization on two of the four songs he led (none of the other conductors had gotten this far in developing and polishing the pieces they led). So I was proud to be there to hear Hak-won lead these excellent young singers from all over Asia. The event was sponsored by a number of organizations from the Asian business community in Dallas plus support from ICFM. It was wonderful to see the pride among all the participants both during and after the concert. I saw Hak-won and Mrs. Yoon after the concert (and also during the other days of the conference) plus got to chat with Ryan Goessl, a fine young conductor who studied at Luther and USC and currently conducts excellent choirs in South Korea. 

Me with one of the greatest living conductors, Hak-won Yoon

 

That was it for Tuesday for me- I knew I could use a good night's sleep since the next day, Wednesday, would provide opportunity to hear and talk about choral music for 16 hours straight if you would choose to do so!

COMING UP: WEDNESDAY AT DALLAS ACDA

After this experience I walked back east toward the fancy hotels and the arts district, met up with my Washington State roomie and pal Reg Unterseher, and grabbed a light dinner. We then attended the Tuesday evening performance by the Pan-Asian Youth Chorale. They were led by four conductors, including my South Korean friend Hak-won Yoon. The concert went very well, and I must say that Hak-won, who led them in their last set, really unified their sound and tuning, brought drama and a wider dynamic range to their singing, and had gotten them to the point of memorization on two of the four songs he led (none of the other conductors had gotten this far in developing and polishing the pieces they led). So I was proud to be there to hear Hak-won lead these excellent young singers from all over Asia. The event was sponsored by a number of organizations from the Asian business community in Dallas plus support from IFCM. It was wonderful to see the pride among all the participants both during and after the concert. I saw Hak-won and Mrs. Yoon after the concert (and also during the other days of the conference) plus got to chat with Ryan Goessl, a fine young conductor who studied at Luther and USC and currently conducts excellent choirs in South Korea. 

 

That was it for Tuesday for me- I knew I could use a good night's sleep since the next day, Wednesday, would provide opportunity to hear and talk about choral music for 16 hours straight if you would choose to do so!

COMING UP: WEDNESDAY AT DALLAS ACDA