It is my pleasure as membership chair of VT - ACDA to welcome you to this wonderful National, Eastern division and State organization. I hope that you will enjoy many years of colleagueship with other choral musicians as you take advantage of the many opportunities ACDA has to offer you. In this packet, you will find a list of VT ACDA members, your state officers and the Repertoire and Standards Chair people who are available to assist you in your particular area of choral music.

First, the publications at the national and regional level can be a tremendous resource for you and your choral program. Repertoire ideas, reviews of books and recordings, information about unfamiliar composers and music, helpful hints for better singing, conducting or classroom management and much more are available to you. If you haven't received your first issue of the Choral Journal or The Troubadour, it will be arriving shortly.

VT - ACDA communicates through a listserve that will keep you abreast of happenings in Vermont, provide information about festivals and honor choirs and provide a forum for questions you may have. I hope you will join this list by contacting me with your e-mail address.

Festivals are another benefit of membership. In this packet, you will find information about the next Vermont ACDA Children's Honors Choir, our Church/Community Choir Festival and the High School Mid-Winter Festival.

Our state conference was held at Bethany Church in Montpelier on August 13, 2005. The day was full of great sessions, including conducting and rehearsal techniques, vocal percussion, and reading sessions for elementary, middle school, high school, church and community choirs. It was a great opportunity to meet fellow ACDA members.

We are excited to announce that our next summer conference will be taking place on Friday, August 18th, at Bethany Church in Montpelier. Our featured clinician will be the wonderful Alice Parker! She will be offering a variety of sessions as well as one of her famous "Sings". In addition, there will be sessions on improvisation in the choral rehearsal, choral arranging and a conducting workshop as well as reading sessions for children/middle school choirs, high school/community choirs and church choirs. This will be a particularly wonderful conference, so be sure to mark it on your calendar. The registration fee of $85 includes lunch.

There is a fine video lending library from which you can borrow videos of the fine choirs featured at the NYC National Convention by contacting President, Anne Hamilton. A list of the videos and lending form is enclosed.

Our Eastern Division Conference was on held February 15 - 18 in New York City. Many Vermonters had the opportunity to see, hear and interact with choral musicians from around the world, where we heard "state of the art" choral music and where we were exposed to new and old music in the finest of performances…workshops that helped us become all that we could become as choral musicians …opportunities to grow and blossom towards our potential as musicians and as people. We were particularly proud that several Vermonters were featured as clinicians and that we had a number of children performing in the honors choirs.

Our National Conference will take place in Miami, Florida on March 7 - 10. Go to the ACDA National site, http://acdaonline.org/ to learn more about this conference.

Our Vermont ACDA website is about ready to launch. This will be announced via our list serve, so be sure to let me know what your e-mail address is.

Now, let me tell you how you benefit ACDA. The benefits you provide go far beyond the check for registration. Of course, your dues defray many costs associated with running a nationwide organization. But more importantly, your participation in ACDA activities is crucial. When directors and their choirs do not take part in the events offered by ACDA at the state, division and national level, these activities are always less than what they could be: They lack your energy, your talents, your insight. Bring your singers to a festival. Send your singers to an honor choir. Write an article for the Troubadour or the Choral Journal. Recruit new ACDA members. Attend events that provide professional development for you. ACDA has always been and will continue to be what we make of it. There's something in it for all of us.

Remember to contact me at the e-mail address below so I can add you to the VT ACDA list serve. This list is one of the most unique and efficient ways we have to communicate with you.

Sincerely,