Stuart Younse

Stuart Younse is the Director of Choirs at Simsbury High School and Adjunct Professor of Choral Music Education at The Hartt School, University of Hartford.  He also serves as the Artistic Director of the Connecticut Children's Chorus.  Dr. Younse was instrumental in forming a partnership between The Hartt School and Simsbury High School where junior choral music education students study choral methods in the high school classroom.  This practical approach to the training of new teachers has been both beneficial to Hartt students as well as the high school students. Dr. Younse received his Bachelor and Doctorate degrees in Music Education from University of North Texas and his Master of Arts degree in Vocal Pedagogy from Texas Woman's University.  Choirs under Dr. Younse's direction have performed for the Texas Music Educators Association, the Eastern Division of the National Association of Music Educators (MENC), and the Eastern Division of the American Organization of Kodály Educators. This spring, Dr. Younse is completing a two year term as President of Connecticut ACDA. He served on the ACDA Eastern Region Planning Committee for the Hartford Conference (2008) and is serving on the Planning Committee for the ACDA Philadelphia (2010) Conference.  In 2008, the Connecticut Music Educators Association named Dr. Younse as the Secondary Music Teacher of the year for Connecticut. 

Service to ACDA

Dr. Younse has held several offices in professional organizations that will serve him well if he is elected.  While in Texas, Dr. Younse served as Region V Chairperson of the Texas Music Educators Association where he organized and administrated the four rounds of All-Region and All-State Competitions.  In addition, he administrated the annual UIL Concert and Sightreading Competition for the Region V, one of the largest and most competitive regions in the state.  He also served on the State Advisory Board of the Texas Music Educators.  Dr. Younse was a member of the conference planning committee and oversaw all accompanists for the 1996 Southwestern ACDA Conference held in Dallas.  Since moving to Connecticut, Dr. Younse has served as President Elect and President of the Connecticut Chapter of the ACDA.  During Younse’s presidency, the annual Connecticut Conference has grown to include seventeen sessions, two honor choirs, and a President’s Concert in a track system where we insure that all Repertoire and Standards areas are equally represented.  He served as local host and arrangement chair for the honor choirs for the Hartford Conference in 2008 helping to make all the Hartford arrangements for buses, food, and other local venues.  He is currently serving as the Honor Choir Coordinator overseeing all aspects of the four honor choirs for the 2010 ACDA Conference in Philadelphia. He has worked to streamline and centralize the honor choir audition and acceptance process, to insure better communication with members and teachers, and to continue to make the honor choir experience an outstanding part of our Eastern Division Conference. In addition, Dr. Younse has served as a department chair and has coordinated many festivals and workshops for various musical organizations. 

Vision for the Eastern Division

ACDA is an organization that I love and that I have been honored to serve in several capacities over the years.  It is through ACDA that I have made life-long friends, have learned much about my own abilities as a choral director, have been inspired by hearing other choirs from around the country and the world, and have been appreciative of the professionalism with which ACDA has helped to make choral music alive in our schools, universities, places of worship, and our communities.  For me, ACDA is the backbone of our profession; I cannot imagine doing what I do without the support and inspiration of ACDA.

ACDA is made up of several constituencies for whose varied needs must be met: public and private school music teachers; college and university professors; directors of worship music; and community choir directors.  The uniqueness of my job puts me in touch daily with all forms of public school music as well as with undergraduate and graduate students at the university.  In addition, as President of CT-ACDA, I have been intimately connected to the Music in Worship and Community sectors. Being a part of each of these constituencies, I know, first hand, the many challenges faced by each area of our organization.  As President of the Eastern Division, I would continue to insure that the needs of all our constituencies are met.  When an elementary or middle school choir director comes to a conference, there should be as meaningful of an experience for her or him as there is for a high school or collegiate director.  I would continue to develop the tracking system that is being used for our 2010 Conference to insure equal representation for each of our Repertoire and Standards areas as well as organizing special enrichment opportunities for each of the various sub-groups within our membership.

In addition, I would continue the work that has begun to streamline and maximize the organization of our Division Board and Conference Planning Committees.  There has been much done to standardize procedural operations that I feel will only help the division as it continues to grow; I would like to continue to develop these operational aspects of our organization.  As President of Connecticut, I have become intimately involved in the National ACDA procedures.  Some of these procedures work well and other need change.  In the capacity of Division President, I would continue to dialogue with the National Office to develop better and more efficient operating procedures.

As President, I would continue to help recruit new members and retain our current members.  The health of our organization comes from a strong membership.  I would work diligently to develop strategies for developing our membership, especially among our newest teachers in the field.

Finally, I would like to continue to reach out to other organizations (AGO, Chorus America) whose goals are similar to ours to forge joint projects, increased attendance at conferences, and a genuine sharing of ideas.  Reaching out and sharing are two things that I have always found profitable.  Our organizations have much to offer one another and I think it is important to follow those leads.

My background in working as an officer in many organizations, my love of ACDA, and my willingness to work on the behalf of the group would help me should I be elected President Elect of the Eastern Division.  I would do everything within my power to continue the fine work of the Eastern Division, to insure that the needs of each area of our membership are met, to continue the work of organizing and systemizing operating procedures, to recruit and retain members, and to reach out in new areas where we can find collaboration and growth.  It would be a true honor to serve in this capacity and to work with my colleagues and friends.

Last revised June 26, 2010