From all of us serving as your (R & R) Chairs for ACDA East, we are thrilled to present fall repertoire selections, which align directly with the forward-thinking vision of our upcoming conference. The music we highlight this season is a powerful reflection of the conference theme, ENVISION 2026. Our choices emphasize a commitment to equity, inclusion, and artistic innovation, featuring works by historically underrepresented composers, engaging with diverse global traditions, and showcasing pieces that embrace the choral art as a fundamental act of humanity. These selections are designed to inspire new programming ideas and deepen your engagement with the core mission of making choral singing accessible and reflective of all voices.
We encourage you to join us in Providence, Rhode Island, this coming February (February 25–28, 2026) for ENVISION! More than just a conference, it is an essential professional renewal designed to refresh your artistic spirit. Attending allows you to immerse yourself in inspiring performances from headlining and auditioned choirs, participate in innovative sessions and masterclasses that offer tangible skills for your ensembles, and engage in Deep Dive Repertoire and Immersion Choirs focused on diverse literature and rehearsal techniques. Crucially, ENVISION is a vital space for networking and community-building, offering meaningful conversations with colleagues that lead to shared inspiration and problem-solving. Come to Providence to be inspired, to learn, and to actively help us envision and create a choral world that welcomes every voice.
What is a piece you have programmed for your fall concert season that you especially excited about?
Sisi Ni Moja – I know it’s been done so much but I think the time right for this message.
Why are you excited about? What do you hope your singers will experience and learn from this piece?
Coming together as one despite all of the heartache in the world. Challenging novice singers with 2 parts into 3.
What do you hope YOU will experience and learn from this piece?
My intern is actually teaching it so watching a different way of approaching it.
Why should ACDA EAST members come to ENVISION?
It’s the best PD with the best people! It’s a chance to find new strategies and students have the opportunity to experience amazing conductors as well.
What is a piece you have programmed for your fall concert season that you especially excited about?
The Winter’s Night by Nicholas Myers.
Why are you excited about? What do you hope your singers will experience and learn from this piece?
A well loved piece that’s been done by choirs for almost two decades, the often 6-8 part harmony offers a real challenge for my new Chamber Choir, while being a length that will allow us to learn it in time for a number of Fall/Winter gigs. I have a very green group, with only 7 carrying over from the previous year as I lost 8 seniors. With 10 new singers to train up I hope this piece helps us focus on blend, tuning/intonation, and part independence to prepare us for even more challenging pieces in the Spring. This will be a big learning curve for some of my singers but I think they are up for the challenge and it will offer the chance to build a lot of skills we will continue to use in other repertoire.
What do you hope YOU will experience and learn from this piece?
I did this piece in high school and absolutely loved the hauntingly beautiful harmonies. I hope to be able to guide my own students to use their ears well to ensure proper tuning, and to develop good tone quality to create blend as a group. I have a lot of students with good ears and intonation, but tone quality is very different in each voice and I hope to help them all develop a better choral blend through this piece.
Why should ACDA EAST members come to ENVISION?
ACDA East members should look forward to gaining a lot of new skills and insights from a variety of creative workshops and definitely should come enjoy the extremely talented featured choirs and festival choirs alike.
What is a piece you have programmed for your fall concert season that you especially excited about?
Flight – Craig Carnelia, arr. Ryan Murphy.
Why are you excited about? What do you hope your singers will experience and learn from this piece?
This is for my sophomore treble singers and I can’t wait for them to be able to match vocalism to the emotional depth that this piece requires.
What do you hope YOU will experience and learn from this piece?
I hope to further connect with my students and also keep working presenting breath and legato in my gesture!
Why should ACDA EAST members come to ENVISION?
To connect with their ACDA family!
What is a piece you have programmed for your fall concert season that you especially excited about?
Ritual by Jake Runestad
Why are you excited about? What do you hope your singers will experience and learn from this piece?
It give voice to the un-utterable frustrations of our individual and collective frustrations…cultural/societal/or otherwise.
What do you hope YOU will experience and learn from this piece?
Another chanel to facilitate conversation about issues in our society that need to change but are difficult to discuss.
Why should ACDA EAST members come to ENVISION?
To connect and collaborate with peers, celebrate each others, to grow, and nourish our creative palates.
What is a piece you have programmed for your fall concert season that you especially excited about?
Not “programmed,” exactly 😉 — I just finished composing a new work for the Montgomery County Chorale & Orchestra: Wake Up, a secular response to Wachet Auf. Premiere happening the first week of December.
Why are you excited about? What do you hope your singers will experience and learn from this piece?
I love reframing a beloved classic to show how it can be extremely and pointedly relevant to today, so I had enormous fun creating a new translation of Philipp Nicolai’s text that speaks directly to America in 2025. It’s also (I hope!) fun to sing!
What do you hope YOU will experience and learn from this piece?
No big deal, I just want to figure out how music can help the world be better.
Why should ACDA EAST members come to ENVISION?
There is no better cure for the exhaustion of our times than to connect with our community!
What is a piece you have programmed for your fall concert season that you especially excited about?
Chariot Jubilee by R. Nathaniel Dett, edition Jason Max Ferdinand.
Why are you excited about? What do you hope your singers will experience and learn from this piece?
It is a piece rarely done and we will do the full orchestra version on October 10th. The singers will get a chance to experience.
What do you hope YOU will experience and learn from this piece?
I hope to be re-inspired all over again by the brilliance of R. Nathaniel Dett.
Why should ACDA EAST members come to ENVISION?
If you do not, you will experience a high degree of FOMO!
What is a piece you have programmed for your fall concert season that you especially excited about?
Pied Beauty by Kurt Knecht.
Why are you excited about? What do you hope your singers will experience and learn from this piece?
Singers will be exposed to and learn about Gerard Manley Hopkins, a mostly unknown queer poet.
What do you hope YOU will experience and learn from this piece?
I’ve set one of his poems for solo voice, so I’m excited to dive into another piece of his work.
Why should ACDA EAST members come to ENVISION?
It’s a place to connect and be inspired!
What is a piece you have programmed for your fall concert season that you especially excited about?
Bonny Wood Green by Stephen Hatfield
Why are you excited about? What do you hope your singers will experience and learn from this piece?
My select treble choir, the Nightingales, is very young this year with a lot of new members. I’ve been doing Bonny Wood Green for over 2 decades and they’re going to learn so much from this lovely piece of music.
What do you hope YOU will experience and learn from this piece?
I hope I will fall in love with it all over again. The story comes from WW1 and is heartbreaking. The piece is relatively easy but if sung well, will leave an impact on everyone who hears it!
Why should ACDA EAST members come to ENVISION?
To be INSPIRED!!! I cannot wait to be surrounded by other people who understand how important and special it is that we all do!
Why should ACDA EAST members come to ENVISION?
It’s so easy to get stuck in your own bubble, whether that feels like a positive or a negative thing. Opening up to new conversations, people, and community is always life-affirming and expanding.