Collegiate Festival Chorus
The North Carolina Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (NC ACDA) invites collegiate conductors to select students to participate in the second annual Collegiate Festival Chorus on Friday, October 4, 2024 in conjunction with the Fall NC ACDA state conference at Queens University in Charlotte. The chorus will rehearse starting at 9 am on Friday morning, with the day will concluding with a concert in Myers Park Baptist Church.
Conductors should do their best to nominate balanced quartets within the following guidelines:
2-year and single-gender schools - 4 students (SATB or SSAA / TTBB)
4-year small* schools - 8 students (two SATB quartets preferred)
4-year large* schools - 12 students (three SATB quartets preferred)
*conductor should determine what classification they feel best represents their program when deciding on small or large school status
GUEST CONDUCTOR: Dr. Diana Saez
Dr. Diana V. Sáez is the Director of Choral Activities at Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland, directing the University Chorale, Women’s Choir, and Choral Society. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Sáez served as Visiting Choir Director at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois and Visiting Choir Conductor at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. Dr. Sáez also directed the Catholic University Women’s Choir for six years and served as artistic director of the World Bank-IMF Chorus for sixteen years.
As a leading specialist in the field of Latin American music, Dr. Sáez is a frequent guest conductor, adjudicator, and lecturer in both the United States and abroad. In the past five years, she has presented at American universities, national and regional ACDA conventions, and various engagements in North and South America. She has also guest conducted at the Festival Distrital de Coros en Bogotá, Colombia and directed regional honor choruses in Virginia, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Dr. Sáez is perhaps best known for serving as artistic director of Cantigas, an award-winning chamber choir that she founded with the mission to increase awareness and appreciation of Latin America and Spanish choral music. For 25 years, Cantigas was a principal performer of Latin American music in North America, with appearances at the ACDA Eastern Division Convention, Kennedy Center, and Strathmore Center, as well as international tours in Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. In 2014, the choir was awarded the Choral Excellence Award for Most Creative Programming by the Choralis Foundation in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Sáez began her musical education at the Escuela Libre de Música in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She earned a Master of Choral Conducting from Temple University and a Doctorate in Musical Arts at the University of Maryland, College Park. She also holds a Master of Education from Harvard University.
Her compositions for choir are published by Hal Leonard, Boosey and Hawkes, and the Roger Dean Publishing Company, a division of The Lorenz Corporation. Her academic writings have been published in Maryland Music Educator Journal and in an anthology, Choral Perspectives: Insights from American Choral Conductor-Teachers.
MUSIC
Dr. Saez has chosen the following works to perform with our third annual choir:
Hanacpachap Cussicuinin
https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/e/e5/Ws-anon-han.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ebaAS2UVPY&ab_channel=LaCappellaNovohispana%26ConcentusHarmonicus
Salmo 150 - Suzzette Ortiz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m45tGY1Kr4&ab_channel=LamontSchoolofMusic-UniversityofDenver
https://www.jwpepper.com/Salmo-150/10880455.item
O Meu Maracatu - Daniel Afonso
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=435mEfPl5q0&ab_channel=HubbaBiggums
https://www.jwpepper.com/O-Meu-Maracatu/10292127.item
Temporal - Diana V. Saez
https://www.lavozmusicpublishing.com/catalogue/p/temporal
Practice tracks will be available for the language pronunciation.
SCHEDULE
The schedule of the day will be as follows:
8:30-9:00 Check-in at Belk Chapel at Queens University
9:00-12:00 Rehearsal at Belk Chapel with Dr. Saez
12:00-1:30 Lunch
1:30-3:45 Afternoon rehearsal
4:00 “Dress rehearsal” / line-up / run through in Myers Park Baptist Church
5:00 Dinner, change into concert attire, move belongings, etc.
6:20 Be seated in Myers Park Baptist Church
6:30 Concert in Myers Park Baptist Church
REGISTRATION
To register your students, please fill out this registration form.
In the registration form, you will be asked to attach a document listing student names, voice parts, and divisi.
Please aim to register singers by September 6. The last day we will accept registrations is September 13.
Cost per singer - $60 (includes lunch and dinner, music, clinician and pianist fees). Students do not need to be members of ACDA to participate in the festival chorus. If students and/or directors wish to attend the full conference, please go to the conference registration page.
Last year, we had over 150 singers register for the festival! This year, because of the change in venue, registration is capped at 120 singers, so registering early will secure your students’ spots in the festival chorus.
If you have further questions, please contact our event coordinators:
Dr. Aaron Peisner (peisnera@uncw.edu)
Dr. Linsey Bruner Woodcock (lbrunerwoodcock@meredith.edu)