A Message From the President (Sept. 2026)
Dear Friends and Colleagues of ACDA-MI,
This past week, I had the opportunity to attend a local “Friday Night Live” event. It was live music, real stories and a like-minded community of people. We were gathered together to hear some of Detroit’s finest musicians and story-tellers. It was an incredible evening of thought provoking stories and songs that made you think, cry and laugh. As I sat in my wooden chair off to the side of a row of pews, a sense of “oneness” came over me as I thought to myself, “these stories could have been anyone’s in the room” and yet the stories were highly personal. The musicians and the story-tellers opened themselves and their lives up to those of us who were listening. Listening and connectedness at the same time.
I listened to “community in action.” I listened and saw families, friends and strangers coming together for the sole purpose of sharing in community. In the audience were several generations of life experiences all gathered to share in something very special. Professional musicians and story-tellers coming together to bear witness to life’s struggles and joys. Throughout the evening, I felt a part of what was happening. I was drawn into something special and felt as if I had been invited into each performer’s presence through song and story.
ACDA-MI is a community and regardless of where we conduct, teach, or sing, we are about to gather for our annual ACDA-MI Fall Conference. It will be a gathering of conductors, teachers, students, singers, friends, family and newly acquainted friends making and sharing music in community. This conference is for you, Michigan. ACDA-MI is for you and yes, there is something for everyone at the conference. Your ACDA-MI Board has worked hard to create a conference with more interest sessions, more concerts and more opportunities to meet as a “community.”
So be encouraged and make time to attend “Where Great Lakes Meet, Voices Rise” ACDA-MI Fall Conference 2026! Dr. Jerry Blackstone and Dr. Derrick Fox will be our headliner clinicians for this conference. We have nine different interest sessions! The conference is a great time for you to re-connect with colleagues, re-acquaint with friends and introduce yourself to several of Michigan’s future choral conductors AND be in community!. We will honor our Maynard Klein recipient and our “legacy members” who have been a part of ACDA-Mi so faithfully. We want to see YOU at our ACDA-MI Fall Conference.
It is a privilege to serve and be a part of ACDA-MI.
