NC ACDA

THE FIRST HALF CENTURY

Joel Stegall
NC ACDA Historian, 2015-17

A Project of the North Carolina Chapter

American Choral Directors Association

Anne Saxon
President 2015-17
 CONTENTS

FOREWORD ........................................................................................................ - 6 -
Style ................................................................................................................ - 6 -
Sources............................................................................................................ - 7 -
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... - 7 -
Purpose ........................................................................................................... - 8 -
IN THE BEGINNING ........................................................................................... - 9 -
Deep in the Heart of Texas .............................................................................. - 9 -
Why Another Organization? ............................................................................ - 9 -
Founding Steering Committee ......................................................................... - 9 -
Initial Meeting ............................................................................................... - 10 -
Finding the Right Name................................................................................. - 10 -
Purposes ......................................................................................................... - 11 -
First Presidents ..............................................................................................- 12 -
Enlarging the Concept to Increase Membership .............................................- 12 -
Early National Conventions ............................................................................- 13 -
Conventions and Conferences .........................................................................- 13 -
NORTH CAROLINIANS AT BIRTH OF ACDA .......................................................- 15 -
Charter Members ...........................................................................................- 15 -
Other North Carolina First Responders ......................................................... - 16 -
EARLY SOUTHERN DIVISION ACTIVITIES ........................................................ - 18 -
First Southern Division Chairmen All North Carolinians ............................ - 18 -
Southern Division Chairmen/Presidents from 1962-79.................................. - 18 -
Southern Division Joint Conventions North Carolina ..................................... - 19 -
Beginning of Independent Southern Division Conventions ............................ - 20 -
Independent Southern Division Conferences in North Carolina ......................- 21 -

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NORTH CAROLINA ACDA ESTABLISHED .......................................................... - 22 -
NC ACDA Leadership ..................................................................................... - 23 -
List of NC ACDA Presidents ........................................................................... - 24 -
Other Officers and Standing Committees....................................................... - 25 -
COLLEGIATE CHORAL FESTIVAL...................................................................... - 28 -
Origins .......................................................................................................... - 28 -
What Do You Call It? ..................................................................................... - 29 -
Waning Interest ............................................................................................ - 29 -
East/West Division ........................................................................................ - 30 -
List of Collegiate/Intercollegiate Choral Festivals ......................................... - 30 -
COLLEGIATE HONORS CHORUS ....................................................................... - 32 -
LUNCHEONS .................................................................................................... - 33 -
Getting Started .............................................................................................. - 33 -
List of NC ACDA Luncheons ........................................................................... - 34 -
STATE-WIDE MEETINGS .................................................................................. - 36 -
Summer Convention ...................................................................................... - 36 -
Summer Conference ...................................................................................... - 36 -
Fall Conference ............................................................................................. - 37 -
HOGGARD AWARD ........................................................................................... - 38 -
Criteria.......................................................................................................... - 38 -
Selection Committee...................................................................................... - 39 -
Lara Hoggard Award Recipients .................................................................... - 39 -
WOMENS ALL-STATE CHORUS ....................................................................... - 41 -
Filling a Need ................................................................................................ - 41 -
List of SSA All-State Choruses Sponsored by NC ACDA .................................. - 42 -
MALE VOCAL ARTS SYMPOSIUM ...................................................................... - 43 -
NORTH CAROLINA SINGS! ............................................................................... - 45 -
MONEY AND MEMBERSHIP ............................................................................. - 46 -
Budget Increases ........................................................................................... - 46 -
Membership .................................................................................................. - 47 -

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COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLICITY ............................................................... - 48 -
Newsletter/Carolina Caroler ......................................................................... - 48 -
North Carolina Newsletter: 1981-91 .............................................................. - 48 -
North Carolina State Newsletter: Nov 1993 - Winter 1999 ........................... - 48 -
The Carolina Caroler: Since 1999 ................................................................. - 48 -
List of Newsletter/Carolina Caroler Editors .................................................. - 49 -
Website ......................................................................................................... - 49 -
VISIONING PROJECT ........................................................................................ - 49 -
OTHER PROJECTS/EVENTS .............................................................................. - 50 -
Junior High Honors Chorus ........................................................................... - 50 -
Childrens Chorus .......................................................................................... - 50 -
Exhibit at NCMEA.......................................................................................... - 50 -
North Carolina Composers .............................................................................- 51 -
ANOTHER CHORAL ORGANIZATION ................................................................ - 52 -
ARCHIVES ........................................................................................................ - 53 -
APPENDICES .................................................................................................... - 54 -
APPENDIX I Visioning Project ..................................................................... - 54 -
APPENDIX II - Presidential Reflections .......................................................... - 59 -
Joel Stegall, 1970-1974 ............................................................................... - 59 -
Gary Shive, 1977-79; 1980-81 ..................................................................... - 60 -
David Pegg, 1979-80 ................................................................................... - 61 -
Richard Cox, 1983-1985 .............................................................................. - 62 -
Rhonda Fleming, 1985-1987 ....................................................................... - 63 -
Robert Holquist, 1987-1989 ........................................................................ - 64 -
Hilary Apfelstadt, 1989-1991 ...................................................................... - 65 -
Joel F. Reed, 1993-1995 ............................................................................... - 66 -
Reta R. Phifer, 1997-1999 ........................................................................... - 67 -
Ann Pratt Long, 2001-2003......................................................................... - 70 -
Janna Brendell, 2003-05 ..............................................................................- 71 -
Tom T. Shelton, Jr., 2005-2007 .................................................................. - 72 -

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 Ginger Wyrick, 2009-2011 .......................................................................... - 73 -
Welborn E. Young 2011-2013 ...................................................................... - 75 -
Anne Saxon, 2015-17 ................................................................................... - 78 -
APPENDIX III - Hinshaw Music Celebration................................................... - 81 -
APPENDIX IV - Fall Conference Summary...................................................... - 82 -
APPENDIX V - NC Choirs at Southern Division and National Conferences ..... - 88 -
ENDNOTES....................................................................................................... - 90 -

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 FOREWORD
When NC ACDA President Anne Saxon suggested that I write a history of the North
Carolina chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, I readily accepted.
It was not just that I had trouble saying no to a friend, I saw an opportunity and an
obligation. I am one of the few remaining who were present at the birth of ACDA
in North Carolina in 1966. Writing the story of NC ACDAs first 50 years was an
opportunity for me to give back to an organization that had a powerful influence on
the early years of my professional life.

Anne set up a lunch meeting February 29, 2016 for us to talk with two long-time
friends and NC ACDA members, Richard Cox and Sam Doyle. As we began to poke
around in our memories, we thought of other early leaders who might recall key
events. I contacted everyone we could think of. Several of those in turn suggested
others who might contribute memories or documents of the first few years. These
contacts proved critical to this research; most of the information, and passion, of
NC ACDAs first half century is found in personal memories of events, concerts,
conferences and conversations.

Style
Painfully aware that research papers are not famous for generating excitement, and
because I was so involved personally with NC ACDA in the early years, I toyed with
writing from a personal perspective, thinking that would be more interesting. But
I did not want the result to be a personal memoire; I wanted something that others
could add to in coming years without an unpleasant jolt in writing style. I admit
that I also hesitated to embrace the bte noire of academic papers, the first person
singular pronoun. For those reasons, I opted for a more formal third person
approach.

Another question was how to treat explanatory or background information.

Sometimes, the backstories seemed more interesting than the events themselves.
On the other hand, additional information, however enriching, can clog the flow of
the narrative. After considerable vacillation, I finally came down on the side of
putting interesting but non-essential details in endnotes. The bottom line: If you
want to get the most out of this story of NC ACDA, read the endnotes.

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Sources
As I plunged into the work, it soon became apparent that a major part of the task
would be to work around three limitations: 1) few records exist of the first years of
NC ACDA; 2) several key people are no longer with us; and, 3) among those who are
still here, memories are often less than perfect. Sometimes different participants
have conflicting memories of the same event.
Besides the recollections of early North Carolina officers, the most important
primary sources have been copies of the state newsletter, minutes of board
meetings, and programs of concerts and events. Several members have contributed
programs from their personal files. I have organized these archival materials in file
storage boxes and will happily bequeath them to the next historian.

Materials on ACDA websites have also been invaluable. The national website,1 is a
treasure trove for the historian as it includes all issues of The Choral Journal since
the first one in May 19592. The Southern Division and North Carolina websites
have also been useful.3

Where I have found documents, I have cited those. If information has come from
personal contacts, I have identified the source and, if possible, corroborated the
facts. Where documents disagree, I have tried to determine the most plausible facts.

Acknowledgements
The most apparent danger in acknowledging the assistance of others is the
possibility actually, the high probability of omitting someone. Nonetheless, I
could not have done this work without the help of a lot of people.

I owe a lot to my wife, June Stegall, who has been patient with me as I have isolated
myself at my computer for endless hours at a time. Sometimes the trash didnt get
taken out on time!

Anne Saxon, NC ACDA president 2015-17, is the prime mover behind this project.
We have known each other for several years, but it was not until a conversation in
the late summer of 2015 that I mentioned in passing that I was one of the early NC
ACDA presidents. Seizing on the opportunity, she asked me if I would accept
appointment as historian and write the story of NC ACDAs first 50 years. If this
paper contributes to the life of the organization, she gets the credit for imagining
the possibility, and for encouraging and supporting me at every step.

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Richard Cox, to the best of my knowledge, is the only person alive who was involved
with NC ACDA before I was. His phenomenal contributions to the profession for 60-
some years include early leadership in Southern Division and North Carolina ACDA.
His agile mind retains a wealth of information and he has been more than generous
with his time in providing names, events and circumstances, and in guiding me
toward documents and people.

Among many others who have helped, the following stand out: Sam Doyle, Clinton
Parker, David Pegg, Rhonda Fleming, Robert Holquist, Ken Murray, Brian Gorelick,
Hilary Apfelstadt, Joel Reed, Jim Jerome Williams, Roberta Whittington, Reta Phifer,
Marta Force, Maribeth Yoder-White, Ann Pratt Long, and Ginger Wyrick.

This work could not have been done without these individuals, but I accept full
responsibility for any errors or omissions. The saving grace is that this document
is likely destined to reside on the NC ACDA website, or to be otherwise stored
electronically, allowing errors to be corrected and new information added at any
time.

Finally, all the past presidents, other officers, and a legion of unnamed members
who never held office have made possible this outstanding professional
organization. Without their creative contributions, there would be no history to
write.

It is my hope that this story of NC ACDAs first 50 years will establish the foundation
of a living document, one that will be added to each year.

Purpose
Writing a history is a bit like preparing for a concert in that the question must be
raised as to why do this work at this time for this particular audience? A written
history cannot fully capture the events or spirit of an organization, but an accurate
document can help current and future members understand how things got to be
the way they are. What better time to put this story together than the golden
anniversary of the founding of ACDA in North Carolina?

Joel R. Stegall
Winston-Salem, NC
June 2017

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 IN THE BEGINNING
Although the focus of this document is to tell the story of NC ACDA, the state chapter
was formed as a subunit of Southern Division, which had, in turn, grown out of the
national organization. To understand NC ACDA, we will first look at the origins of
ACDA at national and divisional levels.

Organizations form when individuals and small groups band together believing they
can accomplish more by working with like-minded colleagues. This was the driving
force in the formation of the American Choral Directors Association.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

The Texas Choral Directors Association, organized in 1955, 4 was the model for
national ACDA. Archie Jones, director of choirs at the University of Texas, was the
leading voice among those who thought the Texas idea could be applied across the
United States.5 An excellent summary of the first 25 years of ACDA can be found in
the January 1985 issue of The Choral Journal.6 7 See also Russell Mathis article,
ACDAs Forty-Year Journey, in the November 1999 issue of The Choral Journal. 8

Why Another Organization?

The essential question Jones and his colleagues had to address was why a new
organization was needed. Elwood Keister, a member of the founding Steering
Committee, said that the original intent was to serve the interests of
college/university choir directors.9 Church choir directors had denominational
associations, and elementary and secondary school chorus teachers had Music
Educators National Association (since 2011, known as National Association for
Music Education10), but there was no professional organization specifically for
choral directors in colleges and universities. In the early discussions, Keister said,
this new group was expected to be somewhat select; college conductors would apply
for membership with the understanding that they could be turned down.11

Founding Steering Committee

When in 1958 Archie Jones decided to move ahead with the idea that a national
choral organization might be feasible, he invited several other prominent choral
conductors to form a Steering Committee to explore possibilities. Besides Jones,
members of the Steering Committee included Capt. Robert Landers, director of the

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U. S. Air Force Singing Sergeants; Charles Hirt, University of Southern California;
Harry Robert Wilson, Teachers College, Columbia University; Elwood Keister,
University of Florida; Earl Willhoite, Fred Waring Pennsylvanians and Shawnee
Press;12 John Raymond, Lafayette College;13 Wayne Hugoboom, Marshall
University;14 Roger Wagner, Roger Wagner Chorale; Curt Hansen, Brainerd
(Wisconsin) High School; James Aliferis, University of Minnesota;15 and, Warner
Imig, University of Colorado.16 Agreeing to move ahead, this initial group invited
colleagues from around the country to become part of the yet-to-be-named
organization.

Some members of the steering committee as seen in a photo on the ACDA website: 17

L-R: J. Clark Rhodes, Elwood Keister, Curt Hansen,

Harry Robert Wilson, R. Wayne Hugoboom, Archie Jones

Initial Meeting
Finding receptivity among their colleagues, the Steering Committee set an
organizational meeting in conjunction with a biennial conference of the Music
Teachers National Association. Meeting at 9:00 am February 24, 1959, in the
Muehlebach Hotel in Kansas City, MO, at least 70 charter members18 adopted a
Constitution and Bylaws recommended by the Steering Committee.

Finding the Right Name

The charter members attending that first meeting also determined that the new
organization would be called the American Choral Directors Association. 19 In early
discussions, one name suggested was American Choirmasters Association. Some
were not comfortable with that term, perhaps because it seemed to suggest that the
focus was on church music.

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It is not completely certain who gets the credit for the name finally chosen.
According to the minutes of the organizational meeting:

Robert Mitchum suggested the name be American Choral Directors Association.

Other names were suggested and discussed. It was moved and seconded that
the name of the organization be the American Choral Directors Association.
The motion was passed by a voice vote. 20

On the other hand, the ACDA Southern Division history states that, Elwood Keister
proposed that the organization be named the American Choral Directors
Association.21 That fits Joel Stegalls recollection of a personal conversation with
Keister in which Keister recalled his role in naming the organization.22 It is also in
line with Keisters account of events in an article in the January 1985 issue of The
Choral Journal.23 Perhaps Mr. Mitchum introduced the name in discussion and
Keister made the formal motion.

Purposes
The founding members adopted the following statement of the purposes of ACDA.
The last two were added in 1975.24

To foster and promote choral singing, which will provide artistic,

cultural, and spiritual experiences for the participants.
To foster and promote the finest types of choral music to make these
experiences possible.
To foster and encourage rehearsal procedures conducive to attaining the
highest possible level of musicianship and artistic performance.
To foster and promote the organization and development of choral
groups of all types in schools and colleges.
To foster and promote the development of choral music in the church and
synagogue.
To foster and promote the organization and development of choral
societies in cities and communities.
To foster and promote understanding of choral music as an important
medium of contemporary artistic expression.
To foster and promote significant research in the field of choral music.
To foster and encourage choral composition of superior quality.
To cooperate with all organizations dedicated to the development of
musical culture in America.

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First Presidents
It is not surprising that the key organizer, Archie Jones, University of Texas, later
University of Kansas City, would be named the first national president. Jones held
the office from ACDAs conception in February 1959 through 1961. Elwood Keister,
University of Florida, was the second president (1961-1962). Keister was followed
by Warner Imig, University of Colorado (1962-1964); J. Clark Rhodes, University of
Tennessee (1964-1966); and, Harold Decker, University of Illinois (1966-1968).25

Enlarging the Concept to Increase Membership

While the initial target membership in early discussions was college and university
choral conductors, before the organizational meeting in 1959, the Steering
Committee realized that the association had to have a larger base to be financially
viable.26

To expand ACDA meant reaching out to choral musicians in schools and churches.
This was clearly done prior to the 1959 founding meeting in Kansas City because
some of the charter members were from public schools and churches. One was Paul
Fry, a high school and church choir director from Albemarle, N.C., who became the
first chairman27 of both Southern Division and North Carolina ACDA. Interestingly,
of the three charter members from North Carolina none was affiliated with a college
or university. Besides Fry, the North Carolina charter members were James Berry,
Myers Park Baptist Church, Charlotte; and Cecil Brodt, Brodt Music Co., Charlotte.

Whatever kind of position members held, ACDA was intended to offer professional
opportunities not otherwise available. At first, this was not an easy sell to some
church and school directors. They may not have seen the need for another
organization. Research on this topic is outside the purpose of this paper; however,
anecdotal evidence suggests that perhaps the most salient reason for ACDAs appeal
to choral directors in a variety of positions has been conferences that offered
extraordinary performances. One example is from a highly successful high school
choir director who joined ACDA after putting it off for several years. Jim Jerome
Williams, of Burke County, NC, was not opposed to ACDA; he was just not interested
in another organization. However, in 1983, when a colleague invited him to attend
the national ACDA Conference in Nashville, he thought this was a good excuse to
visit the city. To his great surprise, Williams said he was knocked out by the
quality of the choral performances. He has been an ACDA member ever since.28

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From a small but enthusiast beginning, the new organization grew rapidly, reaching
a national membership of more than 4,000 by 1970. 29 By 1978, the number had
reached 10,000. The turn of the century saw a relatively stable membership of
around 20,000. In 2003, membership was 21,000; as of March 2016, it was
19,251.30

Early National Conventions

The first national ACDA meetings were events held in conjunction with conventions
of the Music Educators National Conference. ACDA leaders believed more people
would attend ACDA sessions if they were already going to a professional conference
and could add ACDA without additional costs for transportation. These joint
ACDA/MENC meetings continued through 1968:31

March 16-17, 1960 Atlantic City, NJ

April 5-6, 1961 Columbus, OH
March 14-15, 1962 Chicago, IL
March 11-12, 1964 Philadelphia, PA
March 16-17, 1966 Kansas City, MO
March 13-14, 1968 Seattle, WA

ACDAs first independent national convention, March 4-6, 1971 in Kansas City, MO,
set a pattern for national conferences to be held in the early spring of academic
years ending in an odd number.32

The pattern for dates of national conventions was set so as not to conflict with
MENC conventions, which were held in even years.33 The second independent
national ACDA convention was March 8-10, 1973, again in Kansas City.34 A complete
list of all ACDA Conferences can be found on the ACDA website. 35

Conventions and Conferences

The first two national ACDA meetings, in 1960 and 1961, were called conferences.36
From 1962 through 2009, national and divisional ACDA professional gatherings
were typically called conventions. 37 Beginning in 2010, the divisional meetings
were conferences.38 The following year, national events were re-named
39
conferences.

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Those interested in delving deeper into the reasons behind this terminology change
will want to seek other sources. However, it seems worth noting in passing that
one likely reason was to help teachers secure funding for travel expenses and
registration. Some ACDA members apparently found that their administrations
were reluctant to fund attendance at a convention because it sounded like a time for
extended partying. The administrators were happy, on the other hand, to cover
expenses for teachers to attend an in-service conference; that is, something that
sounded like continuing education. To be sure no one missed the point, some
gatherings of professional educators became known, somewhat laboriously, as in-
service conferences. Occasionally, a college or university would even offer
academic credit for participating in such an event, providing further evidence that
it had educational value, and was, therefore, worthy of financial support. The
substance of the meetings was the same, but more choral directors could be
reimbursed for travel expenses. Administrators and teachers were happier.

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 NORTH CAROLINIANS AT BIRTH OF ACDA
Elwood Woody Keister, a member of the founding Steering Committee and later
the second national president, was choral director at East Carolina University
before moving to the University of Florida just two years before the founding
meeting of ACDA in 1959. Woody Keisters papers can be found on the ACDA
website.40

Charter Members
ACDA charter members from North Carolina were:

James Berry, Myers Park Baptist Church, Charlotte

Cecil Brodt, Brodt Music Co., Charlotte
Paul Fry, Albemarle High School and First Presbyterian Church, Albemarle

These three individuals were so important in the establishment of ACDA in North

Carolina it seems only right to provide a little more information about each.

James Berry was a church musician and prominent bass-baritone soloist. A

newspaper story about a new Berry recording, undated but likely around 1958,
quotes a reviewer who said, James Berryis the finest Elijah singer in the South.

Minister of Worship and Music at Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte at the time
he joined ACDA, Berry had previously served as music minister at First Baptist
Church of Austin, TX with famed preacher Carlyle Marney. When Marney moved to
Myers Park, he brought Berry with him. James Berrys advanced training in music
was at the Westminster Choir College under one of the great choral conductors of
the time, John Finlay Williamson. With Williamsons support Berry became
involved with ACDA.41 After his retirement from Myers Park Baptist Church, Berry
continued to be involved with church music in Charlotte as interim worship and
music director at Park Road Baptist Church. James Berry died in Charlotte in 2002
at the age of 82. Materials from Berrys library can be found on the ACDA website. 42

Cecil Brodt established Brodt Music Company in Charlotte in 1934. Maintaining a

huge inventory, Brodts became one of the largest and most successful music
businesses in the Southeast catering to the print music needs of countless
performers, teachers, students and church musicians.43

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After Cecil Brodt died in 1967, his widow, Gladys Brodt, ran the company for several
years before she passed away in 1997. Lee Northcutt was owner of Brodts when
the store finally closed in October 2012, after 78 years of continuous operation.

A story about the stores closing includes this statement about Brodts contributions
to music:

Over the years, Brodt has not only supplied print music, but also supplemented
the community by organizing band and choral workshops for the Charlotte
Mecklenburg school system, creating displays for church music conferences,
and hosting nationally recognized composers to offer workshops for local
musicians. Brodt Music has also existed as a locale for regional and guest
musicians alike to meet and chat. Artists of such international rapport as
Kathleen Battle and Itzhak Perlman have found themselves in Brodt Music,
while more frequent patrons have included local jazz legends Loonis McGlohon
and Jim Stack.44

Paul Fry, a native of Welford, SC, attended Davidson College and then went on to
do his masters degree at Appalachian State University. He taught choral music in
the junior and senior high schools of Albemarle for 40 years. Not only was he a
charter member of ACDA and the first Southern Division and North Carolina
president, he was for 30 years registrar of the North Carolina Summer Institute of
Choral Art. He established the High School Small Ensemble Festival and was
secretary and vice-president of the Modern Music Masters Society. Fry was choir
director and organist at the First Presbyterian Church of Albemarle as well as co-
founder of the Stanley County Chorale and the Arts Guild. Not limited to music
activities, he was prominent in the Lions Club and Civitan Club.45

A complete list of the 79 charter members can be found in the inaugural issue of The
Choral Journal, May 1959. 46

Other North Carolina First Responders

Although this list may not be complete, The Choral Journal regularly published
names of new members. The following names of North Carolinians have been taken
from various issues from January 1960 through January 1965:

Glenn Draper, Pfeiffer College

Robert Ellis, Hickory
Samuel Hill, Durham

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Evelyn Johnson, Elizabeth City
Gordon Johnson, Greenville
Margaret Sloan Muse, Statesville
Thane McDonald, Wake Forest College
Richard Renfro, Western Carolina College
Paul Peterson, Salem College
Harvey Woodruff, Charlotte
Charles Stevens, East Carolina College
Charles Starnes, Charlotte
Maxine Blackwell, Kernersville
Eucella Hamilton, Hickory
Marion McKellar Israel, Rockingham
Clarissa May, Winterville

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 EARLY SOUTHERN DIVISION ACTIVITIES
As ACDA grew, regional and state sub-groups were established, generally following
the model already in use by Music Educators National Conference. The Choral
Journal published the first list of division officers in the September-October 1963
issue,47 suggesting that the Southern Division must have been a reality not later
than summer 1963.

First Southern Division Chairmen All North Carolinians

Paul Fry48 of Albemarle, NC was the first chairman of the Southern Division.49 After
five years50 in the job, Fry was succeeded by Richard Cox of the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro. Cox led in the transition to the first ACDA conferences not
associated with MENC.

Initially, division and state chairmen were appointed, not elected. When elections
were established, terms of office were set so that half the regional leaders would be
chosen one year and half the following year. As explained in The Choral Journal of
October-November 1964:

Terms for Robert M. McCowen, North Central; Paul B. Fry, Southern; and
Howard S. Swan, Western, are all for 1964-1967 To insure off-year elections
three of the Divisional chairmen were elected for one year and three for a 3-
year term at the Philadelphia Convention. 51

Southern Division Chairmen/Presidents from 1962-79

1962-67: Paul Fry,52 Albemarle (NC) Senior High School
1967-71: Richard Cox, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
1971-75: Colleen Kirk, Florida State University 53
1975-77: Robert Baar, Murray State University (KY) 54
1977-79: David Stutzenberger, Shenandoah Conservatory (VA) 55

Colleen Kirk appears to have been the first Southern Division head with the title of
president. A list of Southern Division presidents to the present time can be found on
the divisions website.56

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Southern Division Joint Conventions in North Carolina
Following the model of the national organization in the early 1960s, the first ACDA
divisional meetings were held jointly with divisional conventions of the Music
Educators National Conference. Early combined ACDA/MENC Southern Division
conventions included program events led by North Carolina ACDA members, noted
below in bold italics:

Asheville, NC: April 20-23, 1961

This first joint ACDA/MENC Southern Division Convention was led by Wayne
Hugoboom, recently named editor of The Choral Journal57 and head of the
choral program at the new University of South Florida;58 and, ACDA board
member J. Clarke Rhoades of the University of Tennessee. The future second
national president, Elwood Keister of the University of Florida, was unable to
attend.59 Joel Carter of the University of North Carolina, and national
president of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, became the first
North Carolinian to conduct a session on a Southern Division program with a
paper titled English Vowel Sounds and Homogenous Tone. 60

Charleston, WV: March 20, 1963

Richard Cox led a choral demonstration with the Woman's College Chorale,
Woman's College, University of North Carolina. (The name of the institution
was at that time undergoing a change from Womans College to University of
North Carolina at Greensboro.61) Gordon Johnson conducted a performance
and demonstration with the East Carolina College Choir. Harvey Woodruff,
Director of Music, Charlotte College, conducted a reading session. Fletcher
Moore, Elon College, moderated a panel on accompanying. 62

Louisville, KY: March 10, 1965

Paul Fry was the presiding officer. James Berry, Minister of Music, Myers
Park Baptist Church, Charlotte, N. C. was a member of a panel on the status
of choral music. Paul Peterson, Salem College and NC ACDA chairman,
presided and conducted at a reading session. Richard Cox conducted a
concert with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Choir. 63

Atlanta, GA: April 27-28, 1967

Paul Fry was the presiding officer. Robert T. Ellis, Page High School,
Greensboro, presided at a reading session that included East Forsyth
Madrigal Singers and the East Carolina College Concert Choir. One of the

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 conductors at the reading session was E. L. Williams, Greensboro College.
Paul Peterson presided at a concert session that included East Forsyth
Madrigal Singers, conducted by Maxine Blackwell. Charles W. Moore did a
lecture/demonstration with the Concert Choir and Chamber Ensemble of East
Carolina College.64

Mobile, AL: April 16-19, 1969

Jack Jarrett of UNCG led a reading session on Renaissance music. Robert
Rich led the Mars Hill College Choir in a performance.65

The July-August 1968 issue of The Choral Journal notes that Richard Cox would be
reviewer of music for girls (sic) chorus and Joel Stegall would write SATB reviews
for ACDA Industry Associate members. 66 The same issue includes Stegalls article,
Choral Conductors-Technicians or Musicians?

See Appendix V for a list of North Carolina performing groups at division and
national conferences.

Beginning of Independent Southern Division Conventions

Richard Cox of UNCG, Southern Division president 1967-71, was responsible for the
first independent ACDA convention in Atlanta, March 19-20, 1970.67 Cox writes, I
was in Mobile in the fall of 1968 for a planning session; that's when I got the good
news that I was to organize the first Southern Division ACDA independent
convention. 68

The featured concert at this convention was Krzysztof Pendereckis Passion

According to St. Luke,69 performed by the Atlanta Symphony with Robert Shaw on
the podium. The chorus was made up of the Florida State University Singers and
Chamber Choir prepared by Joseph Flummerfelt.70 71

The second independent Southern Division convention, in the fall of 1971, met on
the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee. Although this was scheduled
only a few months after the first independent national convention in March of the
same year, it was a new academic year, 1971-72. The intent was to begin a pattern
of holding the divisional conventions on alternate years from the national
convention. Since that time, national conventions have been held in academic years
ending in an odd number; divisional conventions in academic years ending in even
numbers.72

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Independent Southern Division Conferences in North Carolina
The first independent Southern Division Convention in North Carolina, February
28-March 2, 1974, was held at the Heart of Charlotte Convention Center in
Charlotte. Colleen Kirk, Florida State University, was Southern Division president.
Then at Mars Hill College (now University), Joel Stegall was North Carolina
president. The featured concert was Carl Orffs Carmina Burana, performed by the
North Carolina Symphony, conducted by John Gosling, with the combined Mars Hill
College Choir and Chorus, conducted by Joel Stegall and William Thomas.73

Other Southern Division Conferences held in North Carolina were February 18-20,
1988 in Winston-Salem; February 28- Mar 2, 2002 in Charlotte; and, February 29-
Mar 3, 2012 in Winston-Salem.

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 NORTH CAROLINA ACDA ESTABLISHED
Sometime during the 1965-66 academic year, and most likely in the spring of that
year,74 Wayne Hugoboom, ACDA executive secretary and editor of The Choral
Journal; Paul Fry, Southern Division chairman; and Paul Peterson, North Carolina
chairman and choral director at Salem College, convened the first ACDA meeting in
North Carolina. Held in Winston-Salem at Salem College in what was then a brand
new fine arts building, the purpose was to explain ACDA and encourage North
Carolina choral directors to join.

A special note seems in order about Wayne Hugoboom. It can be argued that
Hugoboom, more than any other single individual, was responsible for the
astonishing growth and success of ACDA. Granted, the idea for ACDA came
primarily from Archie Jones; but it was Wayne Hugoboom, with his executive,
publishing and marketing gifts who ensured the organizations success.75

By the time Hugoboom came to Salem College for the 1966 meeting, he had already
established contacts in the state. Ten years earlier, when he was choral director at
Marshall University in West Virginia, Hugoboom had conducted the NC All-State
Chorus in Aycock Auditorium76 at Womans College (now UNCG).77 Three years
later, Hugoboom moved to Manatee Junior College in Bradenton, FL, and later to the
newly-established University of South Florida before he joined ACDA as its first full-
time staff member.

Not only was Wayne Hugoboom ACDAs administrative head (executive secretary;
later executive director78) and editor of The Choral Journal, 79 he was the chief
recruiter, traveling the country to work with regional and state units as new
members were added at a remarkably rapid rate in the mid-to-late 1960s.

At the 1966 Salem College gathering, Hugoboom was the keynote speaker at a
banquet. He talked about what ACDA offered, and about the art of choral music.
Joel Stegall, attending his first-ever meeting of choral directors, was impressed with
Hugobooms suggestion that a fermata should be an indication to sustain, not
hold a note. That distinction, Stegall says, seemed important to me then; in
fact, it still does. Hugoboom also conducted a reading session that included
Hindemiths Six Chansons.80 Unfortunately, no printed program has been unearthed
that might provide more details of this historic meeting.

- 22 -
The seeds of North Carolinas chapter of ACDA81 had been planted. As roots
developed, other leaders would water the plant and keep it fertilized.

NC ACDA Leadership
The top position in the divisions and states was initially termed chairman. It
appears that the first use of the title president was around 1970.

Establishing with precision who was in office for what length of time in the first
few years has proved to be a challenge. Often records are absent and memories
uncertain.

The national ACDA Board of Directors decided in 1961 to appoint a chairman in each
state for closer ties and a stronger program.82 Paul Fry, Albemarle Senior High
School, was chosen for North Carolina in addition to his role as chairman of the
Southern Division.83 Fry continued to be listed as heading both NC ACDA and the
Southern Division through spring 1964.84

A search of The Choral Journal and Salem College archives from the mid-1960s has
clearly identified Paul Peterson,85 Salem College, as the second NC president. After
Peterson served two consecutive two-year terms, he was succeeded by Carl
Cronstedt, Myers Park High School in Charlotte.86 No evidence has turned up to
indicate whether Peterson and Cronstedt were elected by the North Carolina
membership or if they were appointed by national or division leaders. The earliest
known election was when North Carolina members chose Joel Stegall, Mars Hill
College, in the spring of 1970.87

Records and memories agree that Stegall was president 1970-74 and that Clinton
Parker, Appalachian State University, assumed the office in 1974. Parker served for
three years, until 1977, apparently to establish a schedule in which two-year terms
would begin and end in the summers of odd-numbered academic years.88 Gary
Shive, Concord Senior High School, followed Parker in 1977.

Determining who was president 1980-81 merits explanation. There is little

documentation in NC ACDA archives concerning names of presidents and terms of
office in from 1977-82. Memories are not always clear; what some recall does not
always agree with others recollections. It does seem without dispute that Gary
Shive was president 1977-7989 and that David Pegg was elected for a two-year term
starting July 1, 1979.90 Pegg reports that he served one year, then resigned in the
summer of 1980 when he left the state. Memories are not consistent, and no state

- 23 -
records have surfaced to confirm who held the office for 1989-81; however, a list of
state presidents in The Choral Journal of January 198191 shows Gary Shive as NC
president, indicating that he was in office for the academic year 1980-81. Shive, as
a past-president still on the executive committee, apparently stepped in to fill the
second year of Peggs term. Shive has agreed that this explanation seems correct.92
Robert Holquist has confirmed that a president normally was involved in the
leadership team for six years in successive two-year terms as president-elect,
president and vice-president.93 Other names and terms of office are not in question.

List of NC ACDA Presidents

As noted above, the top state leadership position was called chairman 1962-70.

Dates are based on academic years, beginning and ending in the summers. For
example, the 1991-93 term began July 1, 1991 and went through June 30, 1993.

1962-64 Paul Fry,* Albemarle Senior High School

1964-68 Paul Peterson,* Salem College94 95
1968-70 Carl Cronstedt,* Myers Park High School (Charlotte)96
1970-74 Joel Stegall, Mars Hill College 97
1974-77 Clinton Parker, Appalachian State University98 99
1977-79 Gary Shive, Concord Senior High School100
1979-80 David Pegg, UNCG101
1980-81 Gary Shive (Completing second year of Peggs term.)
1981-83 Robert Keener,* Warren Wilson College
1983-85 Richard Cox, UNCG
1985-87 Rhonda Fleming, East Carolina University
1987-89 Robert Holquist, Western Carolina University
1989-91 Hilary Apfelstadt, UNCG
1991-93 Noel Lovelace,** Myers Park Baptist Church, Charlotte
1993-95 Joel Reed, Mars Hill College
1995-97 William Carroll, UNCG
1997-99 Reta Phifer, Elizabeth Lane Elementary School, Charlotte
1999-2001 Maribeth Yoder-White, UNCG
2001-03 Ann Pratt, McMichael High School, Mayodan
2003-05 Janna Brendell, East Carolina University
2005-07 Tom Shelton, Kernersville Middle School
2007-09 Daniel Bara, East Carolina University
2009-11 Ginger Wyrick, Queen's College, Charlotte

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 2011-13 Welborn Young, UNCG
2013-15 Sandy Holland, Charlotte Children's Chorus
2015-17 Anne Saxon, Winston-Salem Girls Chorus

*Deceased
**As of May 2017, no information on current status

See Appendix II for personal reflections of past presidents on their time in office.

Other Officers and Standing Committees

In the initial stages of NC ACDA, there were no officers other than chairman or
president. The earliest record of other officers is an executive committee named on
the Collegiate Choral Festival program of February 17, 1973:

Joel Stegall, Mars Hill College, President

Gary Shive, Concord Senior High School, Vice-President
Ron Hill, Grimsley Senior High School, Greensboro
Robert Keener, Warren Wilson College

Duties of the executive committee are not spelled out and it is not known how
officers other than president were chosen. The first Newsletter in the archives,
November 1981, shows only a president and president-elect. On the other hand,
Robert Holquist recalls that when he came to the state in 1979, leadership structure
had been established:

Serving as president, one was involved for six years. As president-elect, most
of the organization of the Summer Convention was that position's job. Then,
one served a two-year term as president, after which the person served as vice-
president. The other officer was the Newsletter editor.102

Standing Committees on Standards and Repertoire were also in place by the fall of
1981:

Boys Choir and Male Chorus

Childrens Choirs
Church Choirs
Community Choirs
Ethnic and Minority Concerns
Jazz and Show Choirs

- 25 -
 Junior and Community College
Junior High School
Membership
Senior High School
Womens Choirs
Youth and Student Activities

The structure of leadership Holquist described is seen in the November 1983

Newsletter, which shows the following officers:

President: Richard Cox

President-elect: Rhonda Fleming
Vice-President: Robert Keener
Newsletter editor: Jo Ann D. Poston

In November 1983, Standing Committees on Standards and Repertoire are named:

Boys Choirs
Childrens Choirs
Church Choirs
College and University
Ethnic/Minority Concerns
Senior High School
Womens Choirs
Community Choirs
Jazz and Show Choirs
Junior and Community College Choirs
Junior High School
Male Chorus
Youth/Student Activities

Apparently, the office of treasurer was not added until the fall of 1984, when Hilary
Apfelstadt held the position.103

- 26 -
By 1998, leadership positions had evolved with the Newsletter listing the following
positions:

President
Vice-President
President-Elect
Membership Chair
Treasurer
Newsletter Editor

Standing Committees on Standards and Repertoire in 1998 were:

Boychoirs
Childrens Choirs
College and University Choirs
Community Choirs
Ethnic/Multicultural Perspectives
Jazz and Show Choirs
Junior High/Middle School Choirs
Male Choirs
Music and Worship
Senior High School Choirs
Two-Year College Choirs
Womens Choirs
Youth and Student Activities
Lara Hoggard Award Chair
SSA All-State Coordinator

- 27 -
 COLLEGIATE CHORAL FESTIVAL
As the state organization developed, new events and programs were initiated. The
first of these was the Collegiate Choral Festival, in some later years labelled the
Intercollegiate Choral Festival.

Origins
In June 1971, Lara Hoggard, director of the Carolina Choir and Kenan Professor of
Music at UNC-Chapel Hill, approached Joel Stegall, then state president, with an
idea for an annual event for NC ACDA. Hoggard envisioned a festival for college and
university choirs. Aware they would need support of key members to create
something from scratch, Hoggard and Stegall invited several leading choral
directors to meet at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill to discuss the idea.

Over lunch, Hoggard laid out his vision of a one-day event devoted solely to short
performances (about 20 minutes) by each choir. There were to be no clinic, massed
choir or adjudication. All choirs would be expected to remain for the entire event. 104
So as not to place an undue burden on, or give too much power to, any individual
conductor or campus, the event, to be called a Collegiate Choral Festival, would go
to a different campus each year.

Besides Stegall and Hoggard, the lunch group included Richard Cox, UNCG; Robert
Rich, Mars Hill College; Richard Brewer, Pfeiffer College; Clinton Parker, graduate
assistant to Hoggard and chair of the choral section of NCMEA; and likely Robert
Keener, Warren Wilson College; and Paul Yoder, Campbell College.105 The opinion
of these college directors was that the project would be worth the effort and cost.
Given Lara Hoggards stature, it is hard to imagine anyone objecting.

Hoping to hold the first Collegiate Choral Festival in a highly attractive venue,
Benjamin Smith, choral director at Duke University, agreed to host the first event
in Duke Chapel. No printed materials seem to have survived, but it was almost
certainly on February 26, 1972.106 The program was well-received and directors
looked forward to continuing this unusual opportunity for college/university choirs
to perform for, and learn from, each other.

- 28 -
What Do You Call It?
The name established at the Chapel Hill lunch was Collegiate Choral Festival, a
designation used from 1972 until 1978, when the term Intercollegiate Choral
Festival was introduced. The term intercollegiate continued for 21 years. In 1999,
the original name re-surfaced and is found on publications until the final program
in 2003. Records do not specify why the name was changed in either case. On
occasion, the two titles seem to have been used interchangeably. 107 As the different
names do not appear to indicate a change in program content, this is probably a
classic case of a distinction without a difference. Ginger Wyrick has suggested that
the change was likely simply the personal preference of individuals in leadership
positions in certain years.108

Waning Interest
By the late-1990s, commitment to the festival began to weaken. One reason may
have been that the ACDA national and divisional conventions provided sufficient
opportunities for college directors and students to hear other college choirs. On the
other hand, that view doesnt seem to fit with the feeling of some college directors
that they found it difficult to secure sufficient performance opportunities for their
ensembles at divisional and national conferences.109 For a more complete
exploration of this topic, see the section on NCCO later in this paper.

Perhaps the reasons for a waning interest were more immediate and practical. It
may not always have been easy to find someone willing and able to serve as host in
the desired location at the right time. Such a project is a lot of work for the host
director, and finding adequate performance space at the time required could be
difficult. Then too, there was likely concern with the commitment of time and the
cost of travel. It is 380 miles, about six hours driving time, from East Carolina
University to Western Carolina University.

Whatever the reasons, the Collegiate Choral Festival was in serious decline by 1998.
Minutes of a meeting of the NC ACDA Collegiate Repertoire and Standards
committee, not dated but likely in the fall of 1998, suggest that some directors either
did not know about the festival or did not fully understand its purpose. The same
minutes report that an unnamed member suggested promotion by email and
careful arm-twisting and nearly nagging.110 Reluctant to let the program die, the
minutes further note that someone said, We would like to give it one more try.

The final state-wide college/university festival was in 1999 at Meredith College.

- 29 -
East/West Division
In planning for 2000, an attempt was made to run two festivals, one in the east, one
in the west. Although some directors believed this would destroy an essential
reason to have the event, the decision was made to move ahead with a divided state
approach.

The first east-west Intercollegiate Choral Festivals, in 2000, were at Meredith

College in the eastern part of the state and Gardner-Webb University in the west.
Despite all efforts, participation continued to decline. By 2002, the western festival
at Brevard attracted only three choirs: Mars Hill, Brevard, and Western Carolina. 111

No choirs registered for the eastern festival at Elon University in 2003. The only
choirs to sign up for the western program at Brevard College were Brevard, Mars
Hill and Western Carolina. Thinking that a more accessible location might bring in
additional choirs, the 2003 western festival was re-scheduled for Biltmore United
Methodist Church in Asheville, where Mars Hills conductor, Joel Reed, directed the
church choir. When no additional choirs registered, the event was cancelled.112

Festivals planned for March 20 and April 3, 2004 were aborted. Although there was
some thought that after a year enough interest might be generated to take it up
again in 2005,113 no records of further activity have surfaced.114

NC ACDAs first program, born of the creative mind of one of the great choral
directors of the time, and built in a burst of energetic enthusiasm, passed into
history after 32 years. It appears that only a few mourned its loss.

List of Collegiate/Intercollegiate Choral Festivals 115

Although it did not always work out, the intent was that the festivals would be on the
last Saturday of each February.116 Asterisks indicate that a copy of the program is in
NC ACDA archives. A question notes an absence of confirming documentation.

Year Date Host Institution Director

1972 Feb 26? Duke University Benjamin Smith
1973 Feb 17 Catawba College Lawrence Bond
1974 Feb 23? UNCG Richard Cox
1975 Feb 14-15 UNC-Chapel Hill* Lara Hoggard117
1976 Feb 28 Mars Hill College* Joel Stegall

- 30 -
1977 Feb 19 Winston-Salem State Robert Morris
University*
1978 Feb 25 Pfeiffer College* Richard Brewer
1979 Feb 24? UNCG Richard Cox
1980 Feb 23? Queens College Mary Nell
Saunders?
1981 Feb 28? UNC-Chapel Hill Larry Cook?118
1982 Feb 27 Duke University* Benjamin Smith119
1983 Feb 26 Wingate College* Kenneth Murray120
1984 Feb 4 UNCG Richard Cox
1985 Feb 16 Appalachian State University Noel Lovelace121
1986 Mar 1 Davidson College Frank Albinder
1987 Feb 28 East Carolina University Rhonda Fleming
1988 Feb 17 Wake Forest University* Brian Gorelick
1989 Feb 25 UNCG* Richard Cox
1990 Feb 24 Mars Hill College Joel Reed 122
1991 Feb 23 Duke University* Rodney Wynkoop
1992 Feb 29 Salem College David Pegg
1993 Feb 27 UNCG Richard Cox
1994 Feb 26 UNC-Chapel ?
1995 Feb 25? ? ?
1996 Feb 24? First Pres Church, Raleigh? David Covington? 123
1997 Feb 22? ? ?
1998 Feb 14 Wake Forest* Brian Gorelick
1999 Feb 13 Meredith College* Lisa Caldwell
2000 Mar 18 Gardner-Webb University John Campbell
Mar 25 Meredith College* Lisa Fredenburgh124
2001 Mar 24 Campbell University* Phil Morrow
Apr 7 Gardner-Webb University* John Campbell
2002 Mar 23 Campbell University Phil Morrow
Apr 6 Brevard College Alfred Calabrese125
2003 Mar 8 Elon University Stephen Futrell
Apr 5 Brevard College Alfred Calabrese126

- 31 -
 COLLEGIATE HONORS CHORUS
NC ACDA sponsored a chorus of college-level singers in 1988 and 1989. Choral
directors at North Carolina colleges and universities were invited to send a double
quartet of students to work with a guest conductor.127 Robert Holquist says the idea
was discussed at the Summer Conference at Binkley Memorial Baptist Church in
Chapel Hill,128 where, according to the June 1988 Newsletter, Rhonda Fleming,
proposed the idea. The first Collegiate Honors Chorus was set for the Southern
Division Convention in North Carolina, February 18-20, 1988.129

Richard Cox conducted the February 19, 1988 concert in Winston-Salems Stevens
Center.130 The 139-voice chorus (39 sopranos, 34 altos, 26 tenors and 30 basses)
was composed of singers from twelve colleges and universities: Appalachian,
Campbell, UNC-CH, East Carolina, Fayetteville State, UNCG, Mars Hill, Salem, St.
Andrews, Western Carolina, Wingate and Winston-Salem State.

Richard Cox remembers that Wingate College (now University) sent a tenor named
Anthony Dean Griffey, whom Cox selected to sing a one-page solo in Ives's "Psalm
90."131 In a success story bound to warm the heart of any teacher, High Point native
Tony Griffey has since become one of the leading tenors of the world.132 He joined
the faculty of the Eastman School of Music in the fall of 2015.133

The second Collegiate Honors Chorus, in November 1989, was in conjunction with
the annual NCMEA Conference. Again, 12 colleges/universities participated:
Appalachian, Catawba, Campbell, East Carolina, NC State, UNCG, Salem, UNC-C,
UNC-W, Warren Wilson, Western Carolina and Wingate. Thirty-six sopranos, 26
altos, 24 tenors and 30 basses made up the chorus of 116 singers. Weston Noble of
Luther College in Iowa conducted the group in concert Sunday, November 12, 1989,
again in Winston-Salems Stevens Center. William Carroll, UNCG, accompanied.

The Collegiate Honors Chorus lasted only two years. Although there was
considerable interest among the college choral directors, key NCMEA leaders felt
this event took time from sessions more central to the purposes of NCMEA.134

About ten years later, minutes of a meeting of NC ACDA Collegiate Repertoire and
Standards Committee record an enthusiastic discussion of a collegiate honors choir.
It is not clear why the minutes make no reference to the two such events in 1988
and 1989.135 One member suggested a survey of the college directors to determine
interest; however, there is no record that such an inquiry was undertaken.

- 32 -
 LUNCHEONS
Getting Started
Along with the Fall Conference, the annual luncheons held during the fall NCMEA
Conference have for many years been a popular time for members to get together.
The date of the first one has not been established, but it appears likely to have been
as early as 1980 and perhaps earlier.

The first published announcement of an NC ACDA Luncheon appears in the

November 1981 issue of the Newsletter. Held November 23, 1981 at 12:30 p.m. at
the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem,136 the cost of the meal was six
dollars. Robert Holquist, Western Carolina University, presented a program with
the WCU Early Music Ensemble that included a discussion of musica ficta and
appropriate tone color for Renaissance secular vocal music.

The wording of the announcement for the 1981 luncheon suggests that this event
had already become a regular part of NC ACDA activities. Although dates are hard
to come by, certainly by the mid-1970s and perhaps earlier, a group of ACDA
members gathered for breakfast at the annual NCMEA meeting.137 These breakfast
affairs were primarily to meet friends and exchange information informally; there
was no business session, no performance, and no speaker.138

It is not clear when a luncheon time was chosen rather than breakfast or when a
program became part of the event. If a vocal ensemble was to perform, it seems
fair to assume the singers would have strongly preferred a lunch time. The earliest
information on a performing group is that Gary Shive says that his Concord High
School Small Ensemble performed at a luncheon either the year before or after my
presidency.139 Shive was NC ACDA president 1977-79, and interim president 1980-
81, suggesting that NC ACDA members began meeting for lunch and a program
sometime perhaps as early November 1977 and not later than November 1980.

- 33 -
List of NC ACDA Luncheons
Year Date Featured Performing Conductor/Speaker
Group
1980? Concord HS Small Gary Shive140
Ensemble
1981 Nov 23 Western Carolina U: Robert Holquist
Early Music Ensemble
1982 Nov 9 South Mecklenburg HS Marc Setzer
Chamber Singers
1983 Nov 21 Piedmont Chamber ?
Singers
1984 Nov 5 ? Charles Leonard,
University of Illinois,
Guest Speaker
1985 Nov 11 Upchurch Jr HS Chorus Ellen Heidenreich141
(Raeford)
1986 Nov 17 ? ?
1987 Nov 2 No performance?142 ?
1988 Nov 14 UNCGWomens Choir Hilary Apfelstadt
1989 Nov 13 Wake Forest University Brian Gorelick
Concert Choir
1990 Nov 12 Beddingfield HS Meredith Ezzard143
Ensemble
1991 Nov 11 ? ?
1992 Nov 16 ? ?
1993 Nov 15 NC State University Al Sturgis
Mens Chorus
1994 ? ?
1995 Nov 20 Surry Chorale Sandy Beam
1996 ? ?
1997 Nov 10 Mars Hill College Joel Reed
Chamber Singers
1998 Nov 16 UNCG Chorale and William Carroll
Chamber Singers:
Mozart Requiem sing-
along
1999 Nov 15 Olympic HS (Charlotte) Tony McNeill
Chamber and Gospel
Choirs
2000 Nov 13 Surry Chorale Sandy Beam

- 34 -
2001 Nov 12 Centenary (Winston- David Pegg
Salem) United
Methodist Church
Chancel Choir
2002 Nov 11 ? ?
2003 Nov 10 UNCG University William Carroll
Singers
2004 Nov 8 Southern Appalachian Joel Reed
Chamber Singers
2005 Nov 14 Lenoir Rhyne College Paul Weber
A Cappella Choir
2006 Nov 13 Enloe HS Choirs Ann Johnson-Huff
2007 Nov 12 Meredith C. Chorale Lisa Fredenburgh
2008 Nov 10 Providence HS Terri Setzer
(Charlotte) Honors
Chamber Singers
2009 Nov 9 Catawba College Paul Oakley
Chamber Singers
2010 Nov 8 Charlotte Children's Sandy Holland
Choir
2011 Nov 14 Methodist University Michael Martin
Chorale
2012 Nov 12 ECU Chamber Singers Andrew Crane
2013 Nov 11 Winston-Salem Youth Barbara Beattie
Chorus
2014 Nov 10 James Hunt HS (Wilson) Jeremy Tucker
Vocal Ensemble
2015 Nov 9 Davidson College Choir Christopher Gilliam
2016 Nov 7 Southern Appalachian Joel Reed
Chamber Singers

- 35 -
 STATE-WIDE MEETINGS
Summer Convention
Up to the summer of 1984, NC ACDA held only two events: the luncheon during the
annual NCMEA Conference and the Collegiate Choral Festival. The October 1982
Newsletter notes that discussion was underway concerning a state-wide meeting
that would include all members.

President Richard Cox led the first NC ACDA State Convention August 1-2, 1984, at
Hotel Europa in Chapel Hill, immediately before the Hinshaw Celebration. See
Appendix III for Hinshaw Music Companys President Roberta Whittingtons
description of Hinshaws Celebration.

That inaugural NC ACDA Summer Convention featured a master class by Eric

Ericson, the principal guest clinician; a concert by the Governors School-East
chorus, conducted by Robert Engelson; and an address by Lara Hoggard titled, Fifty
Years in the Vineyard. Although the Convention concluded at 5:00 pm, August 2,
Hoggard invited participants to stay over and attend his rehearsalof John Rutters
new edition of the Faur Requiem, which was to be performed the following
evening as part of the Hinshaw Celebration.

In the spirit of Camelot, new tradition had been started. Annual NC ACDA
Conventions (later called Conferences) have continued up to the time of this writing
and appear be doing well.

Summer Conference
The Summer Conventions continued in Chapel Hill through 1989. The seventh
event, August 1-2, 1990, held during the presidency of Hilary Apfelstadt, was
separated from the Hinshaw Celebration, re-named the Summer Conference, and
moved to Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Greensboro. Virginia ACDA members were
invited. The following two years, 1991 and 1992, the Summer Conference was held
at Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, and South Carolina ACDA members were
invited. In 1993, the Summer Conference moved back to Greensboro, this time to
West Market Street United Methodist Church. South Carolina ACDA members were
again invited.

Joint meetings with adjoining state chapters seem not to have continued beyond
1993. Records do not indicate how many people from out of state came to any of

- 36 -
these events. One can speculate that costs and travel were not attractive for those
in Northern Virginia or the South Carolina Low Country.

Fall Conference
The Summer Conference continued in late July or early August until 1995, when it
moved to a September or October date and was appropriately re-named the Fall
Conference, a designation that continues to this time.

The Conference met in various churches in Greensboro from 1994 until 2000, except
for 1996, when NC ACDA members assembled in Hill Hall, the music building on the
campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. From 2000 until 2013, UNCG hosted the event. In
2014, the venue was changed to UNC-Charlotte.

Participation in the Fall Conference can be seen in registrations in the following

selected years. Some figures are approximate.

1997: 46
1998: 88
1999: 76
2000: 138
2001: 78
2002: 121
2003: 160
2004: 136
2005: 119
2006: 160
2007: 210
2012: 230
2013: 116
2014: 118
2015: 114
2016: 105

See Appendix IV for a summary list of NC ACDA Conferences with dates, names of
clinicians and performing groups.

- 37 -
 HOGGARD AWARD
The Lara Hoggard Award for Distinguished Service in Choral Music in North
Carolina was established in 1986 in honor of Lara Hoggard, William Rand Kenan
Professor of Music at UNC-Chapel Hill from 1967 until 1980. Hoggard had a
towering influence on choral music in North Carolina beginning in 1952 when he
conducted the NC High School All-State Chorus. The following year, working with
high school choral directors of the state, Hoggard founded the North Carolina
Summer Institute of Choral Art, which he conducted for 31 years.144 For decades
one of the most sought-after high school all-state and festival chorus conductors in
the United States, Lara Hoggard may have conducted more singers than any other
human being.145 The first major NC ACDA annual event, the Collegiate Choral
Festival, was Hoggards brainchild. He died in Durham on March 16, 2007 at the
age of 92, leaving an almost unimaginably rich legacy.

Those who would like to learn more about this legend of choral music will want to
read Robin Garners excellent articles in the fall 2000 and spring 2001 issues of
Carolina Caroler,146 as well as the tributes to him in that periodicals summer 2007
issue.147

Criteria
1. Nominee has distinguished him/herself as an outstanding choral director
within NC.
2. Nominee has Consistently demonstrated the highest musical standards
throughout his/her career.
3. Nominee has been active in several areas of education (i.e, school,
community, church work).
4. Nominee has served and/or held office in choral areas of appropriate
professional organizations such as NCMEA and NC ACDA.
5. Nominee provided statewide leadership in the choral art for a minimum of 10
years within the state of NC.
6. Nominee must be nominated by a member of NC ACDA by a letter of
recommendation citing the merits of the nominee.
7. Must be a resident of North Carolina and be a current member of NC-ACDA.
(Added during Welborn Youngs presidency (2011-13).

- 38 -
Selection Committee
Initially, Lara Hoggard was personally involved with the selection of recipients. The
procedure in the first years is not documented; however, the Newsletter of February
1989 carries a notice that Richard Cox, the first recipient, would chair a selection
committee. Other members were Lara Hoggard, and past presidents Rhonda
Fleming, Robert Keener, Gary Shive, and David Pegg.148

Sam Doyle, chair of the Hoggard selection committee for several years up to and
including the time of writing this history, reports:

Originally, selection committee members were appointed by the president.

Later, the NC ACDA president appointed a chair. Members of the committee
were award recipients. Communication was via email. In the early years,
Hoggard was a member of the committee, but did not vote. As the process
evolved, he did not continue to meet with the committee; however, he
occasionally expressed his opinion regarding a proposed recipient.149

Lara Hoggard Award Recipients

Note: The award does not have to been given every year. 150

1986 Richard Cox UNCG

1987 Richard Brewer* Pfeiffer College
1988 Paul Fry* Albemarle Senior High School
1989 Maxine Blackwell* Kernersville Schools151
1990 Rhonda Fleming ECU
1991 Jim Jerome Williams Burke County Schools
1992 No Award
1993 Hilary Apfelstadt UNCG
1994 Barbara Bair* UNCG
1995 Sam Doyle Greensboro City Schools
1996 No Award
1997 Don Hinshaw* Hinshaw Music Company152
1998 Richard Morgan Asheboro High School
1999 No Award
2000 Robert Holquist Western Carolina University
2001 William Carroll UNCG
2002 Rodney Wynkoop Duke University
2003 Joel Reed Mars Hill University

- 39 -
 2004 David Pegg Centenary United Methodist
Church, Winston-Salem;
Bel Canto Company
2005 Maribeth Yoder-White Appalachian State University
2006 Marta Force Retired, Grimsley HS,
Greensboro
2007 Jerry Cribbs Hoggard High School,
Wilmington
2008 Clinton Parker Appalachian State University
2009 Alfred Sturgis NC Master Chorale
2010 Julius A. Sandy Beam* Surry County Schools
2011 Betty Neill Parsons Methodist College
2012 Richard Keasler* Cabarrus County Schools
2013 Marshall Butler Sanderson High School, Raleigh
2014 Don Coleman Hickory Choral Society
2015 Welborn Bill Young UNCG, Bel Canto
2016 Ginger Wyrick UNC-Charlotte

*Deceased

- 40 -
 WOMENS ALL-STATE CHORUS
Filling a Need
By the late 1980s, UNCG s Hilary Apfelstadt noticed that more high school female
than male students applied for the SATB All-State Chorus sponsored by the choral
section of NCMEA. To balance voice parts in the chorus, a substantial number of
talented female students were left out. Apfelstadt writes:

(I)t seemed as though (an SSA high school all-state chorus) might be something
that NC ACDA could take on to fill an obvious gap. The UNCG Women's Choir
was top-notch and gave me an opportunity to explore women's choral
repertoire that I had not known previously. As I came to love it, I realized that
there was no good reason to relegate women's choruses to second-place status,
hence the passion about having a visible sign of that come from NC ACDA.153

Under Apfelstadts leadership, NC ACDA established the SSA All-State Chorus

beginning in 1990. Held at the same time as the long-standing NCMEA-sponsored
SATB All-State Chorus, David Pegg, then director of choral activities at Salem
College, conducted the first SSA All-State with 130 singers in the ensemble.

Apfelstadt describes the early years:

The NC ACDA officers at that time were supportive. We used the space at
College Place United Methodist Church in Greensboro, near UNCGs Aycock
Auditorium, so the teachers could go back and forth if they had students in
both groups. We invited in-state clinicians during my time there because it
was financially more feasible and a way to honor fine conductors in NC.

I remember doing most of the work out of my office at UNCG with some help
from grad students. It was pretty much a shoe-string operation but it worked,
and I am thrilled itcontinued (for a quarter century). 154

From around 1994 to 2001, the SSA All-State Chorus rehearsed and performed in
Aycock Auditorium.

In 2002, the SSA Chorus was moved to Greensboros War Memorial Auditorium 155
and remained there through 2014, when that space was demolished 156 and NCMEA
took over management of the event.

- 41 -
Beginning with 2015, NCMEA assumed responsibility for organization and
management. Carol Earnhardt, NCMEA High School Choral Section Chair, in a letter
dated June 17, 2014, outlined the reasons NCMEA felt it advisable to take over sole
management of the SSA All-State.157 Essentially, she said, it had become excessively
complicated for two different organizations, with differing structures, budgets and
accounting procedures, to be directly involved with the same event.

List of SSA All-State Choruses Sponsored by NC ACDA

Year Dates Clinician Institutional Affiliation
1990 May 3-4 David Pegg Salem College
1991 May 2-3 Rhonda Fleming158 East Carolina University
1992 May 7-8 Joel Reed Mars Hill College
1993 ? ? ?
1994 May 6-7 Richard Keasler Cabarrus County Schools
1995 ? ? ?
1996 ? Sam Doyle Greensboro City Schools
1997 ? ? ?
1998 May 8-9 Susan Klebanow UNC-Chapel Hill
1999 May 7-8 Al Sturgis NC Master Chorale, NC
State University
2000 May 5-6 Granville Oldham ?
2001 ? Charlotte Adams Cherry Creek High School,
Englewood, CO
2002 Jan 25-26 Paul Oakley Myers Park (Charlotte)
Baptist Church159
2003 Feb 28-Mar 1 Hilary Apfelstadt The Ohio State University
2004 Jan 30-31 Stephen Futrell Elon University
2005 Jan 28-29 Daniel Bara ECU
2006 Jan 27-28 Lisa Fredenburgh Meredith College
2007 Jan 26-27 Hugh Ferguson Oberlin College
Floyd
2008 Jan 25-26 Rollo Dilworth North Park Univ, Chicago
2009 Jan 23-24 Welborn Young UNCG
2010 Jan 29-30 Canceled-weather160
2011 Jan 28-29 Deanna Joseph Georgia State University
2012 Jan 27-28 Janet Galvn Ithaca College
2013 Jan 25-26 Wendy Looker Guilford College
2014 Feb 21-22 Sigrid Johnson St. Olaf College

- 42 -
 MALE VOCAL ARTS SYMPOSIUM
The Male Vocal Arts Symposium (MVAS) was designed to encourage male students
to participate in choral activities. Beginning with the Fall Conference of September
2007, when Dan Bara of ECU was NC ACDA president, choral directors attending
the conference could bring as many as eight male singers, from junior high age
through adult church or community choirs. From the group nominated, the MVAS
conductor would select a balanced choir. Dan Bara managed the event until he left
the state. Al Sturgis succeeded Bara. MVAS continued through the Fall Conference
in September 2013.

Conductors of MVAS at Fall Conference

2007 Paul Rardin, University of Michigan

2008 Jonathan Reed, Michigan State University
2009 Al Sturgis, NC Master Chorale, NC State University
2010 Chris Kiver, Pennsylvania State University
2011 Christopher Aspaas, St. Olaf University
2012 Vijay Singh, Central Washington University
2013 Tim Seelig, Golden Gate Performing Arts;
San Francisco Gay Mens Chorus

Despite a great deal of enthusiasm for MVAS in the first four years, after that the
number of participants declined. There was not sufficient interest to keep this going
in the face of several challenges, including space and performance times at the
Conference, and finances. Given these issues, and in the absence of enough people
to take leadership to make it work, MVAS was discontinued after 2013.161

Anne Saxon adds this further explanation of MVAS:

If my memory/experience with MVAS serves me correctly, the board worked

hard to "seed" the choir the first couple of years to have enough singers and
get it off the ground. It was a great idea that Dan Bara had, and it worked
very well.

With Dan around to see his vision into reality, the first three years or so held
a great amount of energy and was a true multi-generational experience.
However, with the older men -- mostly from volunteer church choirs -- an
annual event seemed hard to maintain. Then more high schools began

- 43 -
sending singers due to the great conductors, and it eventually turned into
more of a male high school experience with a few college guys.

Since then, Kenney Potter at Wingate, and Dan Huff at UNC Chapel Hill
(those are the ones I am aware of) have been hosting annual high school male
choir clinics, and now there are more opportunities then there were in the
past. It was also difficult to run the conference AND the clinic
administratively at the same time, and some directors only came to one
component or another; it also meant that there were fewer opportunities
during the conference to support other Repertoire and Research areas. When
we tried to do something extra for those areas it was too fractionated and the
board could hardly "man" it all.

In our recent Visioning this was discussed, and we decided we needed more
opportunities provided each year aside from the conference in order to
support more R&R content areas. This is in the process of implementation
through the President's Council that is being formed.162

- 44 -
 NORTH CAROLINA SINGS!
NC Sings! A Workshop for Younger Singers, was a one-day event developed when
Ginger Wyrick was president. The program was designed to build choral singing
skills and enthusiasm for singing with children in grades three through eight from
school, religious and community choirs. Supported by a grant from the Southern
Division Choral Advocacy, each director could take up to eight students.163 The first
workshop, part of the 2010 Fall Conference, was conducted by Paul Caldwell, at that
time with the Youth Choral Theater of Chicago. Children's Choirs R&S Chair
Heather Potter was coordinator. Anne Saxon, who accompanied the 2010 event,
writes, It was very successful as it included many directors of younger choirs, an
area that has not been addressed much over the years.164

The following year, as part of the 2011 Fall Conference, the Southern Division Choral
Advocacy funded another project, Jubilant Song: A Sacred Choral Festival. Jeffrey
Redding conducted.

There was no similar event for 2012 and 2013; however, at the 2014 Conference,
Madeline Bridges from Belmont University was clinician for a chorus of children
grades 3-6. In 2015, grades 7-12 were involved, with separately programs for boys
and girls. Clinicians were Fernando Malvar (American Boychoir) and Melissa
Keylock (Princeton Girlchoir).165

Anne Saxon, 2016-17 president, says that in 2016, as an extension of the NC Sings!
idea, there was a high school teacher's conducting clinic with their singers as the
massed choir. She adds that there are plans for NC Sings! to return to the 2017
Conference to once again reach out and include those directors and teachers of the
younger children.166

- 45 -
 MONEY AND MEMBERSHIP
Budget Increases
Budget increases reflect the growth and expanding activities of NC ACDA over the
first half century.

For at least the first ten years of ACDA in North Carolina,167 there was no need for
a budget as there were no expenses. The sole program, the Collegiate Choral
Festival, was funded entirely by members using their own budgets for concert and
travel expenses. As no clinicians were involved, there were no honoraria or travel
expenses. With the advent of the Summer Conventions, a mechanism had to be
provided to allow fees to be collected and expenses to be paid. To fill this need, in
1984 President Richard Cox asked Hilary Apfelstadt to serve as the first treasurer.168

The earliest financial report found is in the Summer 1999 issue of the Carolina
Caroler. NC ACDA had a total income of $7777, with expenditures of $6323, leaving
a surplus of $1453. That issue of the Caroler also includes a notice that the
publication would accept advertisements.

By the turn of the 21st Century, the annual budget had stabilized at about $16,000
in revenues, with expenses at approximately $12,000.

The 2015 budget report shows some investments. Ginger Wyrick explains:

I served as the NC ACDA treasurer from 1997-2007. I attended two leadership

meetings, one led by Southern Division and one led by National. There was a
strong expectation from the national office that all events pay for
themselves. The allotment we received from Southern Division was for general
operational costs. Any profits remaining at the end of the year became free and
clear...the state could use those for anything in the state. This brought some
freedom to try things even if we were not sure it would break even. The year-
end reporting had one more caveat. Expenditures could not exceed receipts on
your budget. Once the state had a profit (savings) that carried over into the
new year, we were able to increase our anticipated expenditures by earmarking
these funds.

When I came on the board, the available funds in 1997 were $3819.72. We had
commitments for fall conference clinician and expenses, and SSA All-State
clinician, accompanist, and expenses. There was no financial buffer to plan

- 46 -
 ahead. We hesitated to commit to bringing in bigger named clinicians with
higher fees. We did not know if we would have enough money to cover costs.
The board also wanted to keep registration fees reasonable and accessible to
our membership.

The board was charged to follow costs closely and to stay within budget. Once
we had a solid bank account, I asked the board to allow me to set aside a portion
of the cash in a certificate of deposit. At that time, the interest rates made it
reasonable to explore short term CDs. The growing savings gave us the
financial cushion we needed to think bigger.

The desire of the board was to take these funds and reinvest in our
membership. We added MVAS (Male Vocal Arts Symposium) when Dan Bara
was president. I added NC Sings! with the first year focused on children when
I was president. The board kept the costs for these events low for the
participants. We attached the events to Fall Conference for ease in scheduling,
and to piggy-back the financial commitment against anticipated profits with
Conference. We also had a built-in audience for the closing performance. We
anticipated that these events might not break even as has been the case in some
but not all years. The board also became courageous and committed to
bringing in clinicians with higher fees, such as Anton Armstrong and Bob
Chilcott. Bob was our first international clinician, whom I brought in as
president. We discovered that the investment paid off. Big names always
result in higher participation and more registration fees. The financial buffer
allowed the board to work ahead. We could contact clinicians two years in
advance with confidence that we could cover the financial commitment. 169

Membership
NC ACDA Membership grew rapidly for the first three decades, reached a peak in
2000, and has since settled in at about 400.
1970 abt. 50-70170
1983 220
1987 382
1997 400
2000 504
2003 487
2015 420
2016 - 403

- 47 -
 COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLICITY
Newsletter/Carolina Caroler
This state publication, which apparently began in 1981, has changed titles twice and
has grown from an annual one-page memo to a thrice-annual professional
publication of around 20 pages.

North Carolina Newsletter: 1981-91

The earliest edition found is dated November 1981. A double-sided 8 x 14 sheet
from then-president Robert Keener, it is in the format and style of an office memo,
likely duplicated on Keeners office copier and mailed at the expense of Keeners
institutional budget at Warren Wilson College. A newsletter dated October 1982 is
in the same format.

In the first year of his presidency, Richard Cox led in establishing the first
professionally printed newsletter, dated November 1983. The initial plan was for
two editions each year, November and April. In 1988, the number of publications
increased to three issues each year: February, May or June, and October.

North Carolina State Newsletter: Nov 1993 - Winter 1999

With a slight change of title, the publication dates became a bit more fluid, simply
labelled Winter (early spring semester), Summer and Fall.

The Carolina Caroler: Since 1999

Beginning in the summer of 1999, the paper got a catchier name, Carolina Caroler.
With an improved format, more information and additional pictures, the revised
publication came out three times a year, a schedule that continues to this time.

Most issues of the Newsletter/Carolina Caroler are in the archives. As of this

writing, the missing issues are Fall, Winter, Summer 1992; Winter/Spring, Fall
1994; Winter/Spring 1995; Fall 1996; Winter/Spring 1997; and, Summer 1998.

The Carolina Caroler since summer 2000 can be found on the NC ACDA website:
http://www.ncacdaonline.org/.

- 48 -
List of Newsletter/Carolina Caroler Editors
1983-85: Jo Ann Poston
1985-92: Joe Hickman
1992-96: Robert Lamb
1997: Randy Brittain
1998-2001: John Campbell
2001-06: Stephen Futrell
2006-14: Anne Saxon
2014-2017: Nathan Leaf
2017- : Carl Ashley

Website
Lisa Caldwell of Meredith College set up the first NC ACDA website in 1999-2000.171
This developed into a sophisticated website providing timely information to NC
ACDA members at http://www.ncacdaonline.org/. The website includes news items,
announcements of coming events, names and contact information for officers, and
current and archived copies of Carolina Caroler since summer 2000.

VISIONING PROJECT
The board determined soon after Anne Saxon took office in the summer of 2015 to
investigate opportunities for the future. Out of that impulse, the Visioning Project
was born. Anne Saxon described this initiative June 7, 2106:

This is a new concept and is in keeping with the upcoming changes both
organizationally at the National level. It will take some time to develop and
clarify, but has the opportunity for greater board and member engagement. I
invite you to actively join us in these endeavors as we move forward into the
future.

Documents describing the process and outcomes of the Visioning Project are found
in Appendix I.

- 49 -
 OTHER PROJECTS/EVENTS
At various times, new programs have started that did not continue. The Collegiate
Honors Chorus and SSA All-State are discussed above. Others include the following:

Junior High Honors Chorus

The Newsletter of October 1985 mentions a proposal for junior high honors chorus,
but it is not clear if it ever happened. No one seems to remember it, and no
documents have surfaced.

Childrens Chorus
A Childrens Chorus, organized by Marta Force, was first held April 27, 1991 at
Greensboros Grimsley High School with William Cutter serving as clinician. 172 NC
ACDA continued this project through 1994.

Childrens Chorus Clinicians during the time of NC ACDA Sponsorship:

Year Clinician
1991 William Cutter
1992 James Litton, American Boy Choir
1993 Barbara Tagg, Syracuse University
Janet Galvn, Ithaca College
1994 Lynne Gackle, University of South Florida

In 1995, the Childrens Chorus was turned over to the North Carolina Summer
Institute of Choral Art, which continued the program through 2010. Clinicians after
1995 included Henry Leck, Indianapolis, Mary Goetze (Indiana), Carolee Curtright
(Nebraska), Lynne Gackle (Florida), Z. Randall Stroope (Nebraska), Judy Bowers
(Florida), Cynthia Bradford, Janeal Krehbiel (Kansas), Martha Shaw (Georgia), and
Lynne Jenkins (New Jersey). 173

Exhibit at NCMEA
Beginning in the fall of 1997, NC ACDA maintained an exhibit booth at the annual
fall NCMEA Conference. At least for one year, 1998, NC ACDA also had exhibit
booths at the Junior/Middle School and High School All-State Choruses.174

- 50 -
Anne Coltrane, who handled the NC ACDA booth at the NCMEA convention for
several years, writes:

The NC ACDA board decided to stop (the exhibit) because renting the space was
expensive and there was no evidence that it produced any new members or
provided any real service equal to the cost of the booth and the time and effort
it took to put it together and man it. 175

North Carolina Composers

In 2003, Reta Phifer took on the task of collecting information and materials on
North Carolina choral composers. The project, which lasted only a couple of years,
included a list of names of 37 NC choral composers, titles of their works, copies of
the music, and programs in which their music was featured. Phifer writes:

The composer project was my personal baby, something I decided to do and

share with members through both the exhibit booth at NCMEA and at NC
ACDA.176

- 51 -
 ANOTHER CHORAL ORGANIZATION
As noted in the opening paragraphs of this paper, the original concept for ACDA was
an organization focused on the interests of college and university choral directors.
Even before the founding meeting in February 1959, it had become evident to
ACDAs founders that to have the numbers required for the organization to be
financially viable, it would have to have a broader membership base.

In correspondence regarding this history, Brian Gorelick of Wake Forest University

reported that by the early 21st Century, some choral directors in higher education
had come to feel that ACDA was no longer able to meet their needs in terms of
opportunities for professional growth for themselves and performance
opportunities for their choirs. The response to this concern was to form another
organization dedicated exclusively to the interests of choral conductors in colleges
and universities. The National Collegiate Choral Organization was born. Gorelick
wrote:

To me, NCCO is the college choral director's "modern" way of creating an

organization that supports their work in depth, just as ACDA was intended to
do at the beginning. The founders reacted to the limited number of
performances and interest sessions for college choirs at the 2005 Los Angeles
ACDA National Conference and proposed the new organization later that
year. Over 200 of us became "founding members" and our first conference was
in San Antonio in 2006 with Dale Warland as headliner. 177

NCCOs mission statement confirms the intent:

The National Collegiate Choral Organization exists to serve the specific needs
of university and collegiate choral conductors by providing a national forum
for their collegiate choruses to perform, by offering lectures and promoting
repertoire suitable to their interests, and by aiding in their professional
development and program growth through performance as well as scholarly
and research opportunities.

NCCO sponsors biennial conferences that focus on the particular needs of the
college/university and other choral professionals. These conferences will
include performances by university and college choirs,
presentations/clinics/workshop sessions appropriate for university and

- 52 -
 college conductors, and sessions that feature literature appropriate for
university and college choirs. 178

The question arises as to whether NCCO will siphon off college and university choral
directors from ACDA membership. Gorelick thinks the new NCCO poses no threat
to ACDA:

NCCO members continue to be active in ACDA and believe that NCCO adds its
unique atmosphere to our conducting world and is not going to replace our
commitment to ACDA and what it does for the profession.179

Hilary Apfelstadt, also a founding member of NCCO, agrees that NCCO is not a threat
to ACDA:

I think NCCO was driven by university people who felt they needed a focused
conference that offered performing opportunities to offset the limited ones at
national ACDA. It is very difficult to get ones choir on a national ACDA at the
university level, and simply by having a dedicated event for this level, it gives
greater chances for groups to perform. As a charter member of NCCO, I recall
those kinds of discussions. At first, ACDA was concerned (at least at the
national level I was on the Executive Committee then) but I think it has not
been a threat to ACDA and serves a good purpose for its membership.180

ARCHIVES
Physical documents, organized in file boxes, are maintained by the NC ACDA
historian. Virtual copies of recent materials, and Carolina Caroler going back to
Summer 2000, are maintained on the NC ACDA website.181

- 53 -
 APPENDICES

APPENDIX I Visioning Project

NC ACDA Visioning: Strategic Proposal, June 2016
Bill Young, an NC ACDA past president, was appointed in July of 2015 to create a Visioning Team with the purpose
of generating a state vision and mission statement. Serving in the role as the Facilitator, Bill led the team through a
rigorous process of education and brainstorming throughout the next several months. Despite the teams time
constraints, both statements were indeed produced and a strategic development plan of specific goals and
objectives were subsequently decided upon. At this point of the process Bills role is complete and the plan is now
the responsibility of the state president.

NC ACDA Vision:
NC ACDA enriches our diverse lives and empowers communities
through the transformative nature of the choral arts.

NC ACDA Mission:
NC ACDA invests in the development and growth of the choral arts
through exceptional experiences in artistry, innovations, diversity*, and leadership.

Challenges of implementation:
1. Creating a framework of institutional will that will see these significant and relevant changes into
fruition as the template for an ongoing structure of accountability on the board.
2. Creating a financial framework for those ongoing activities that require funds without apparent revenue
streams in order to maintain them.
3. *Seeking a clearer and fuller definition of the term diversity in regards to our mission statement and
serving our constituents. This will affect all of our work in moving forward and staying true to the new
vision statement.

Goals & Objectives, 2016-2020

(Specific objectives lined out in Bills proposal draft as a springboard of implementation)
NC ACDA will promote artistry, innovation, diversity, and leadership for its constituency by establishing new
activities in the form of clinics, commissions, and grants at conference and beyond the conference offerings.
1. NC ACDA will establish instructive clinics and activities beyond those offered at the NC ACDA state
conference. (This goal addresses Summer Masterworks Clinic and District Activities) (Complete by 2018)
2. NC ACDA will promote new choral works through commissioning new works.
G-2: President will establish an ad-hoc committee to answer the specific questions prior to
proceeding. (August 2017)
3. NC ACDA will expand or develop new supportive, innovative, and relevant instructive clinics and activities
offered at the NC ACDA state conference. (June 2016)
4. NC ACDA will offer grants to its membership to promote innovative ideas, support outreach to
underserved choral communities, and to encourage R & R development of relationships and ideas. (Fall
2018)

- 54 -
 5. NC ACDA will restructure board constituency and member responsibilities to reflect the changing needs of
the organization:
a. Review 2015 changes in the National By-Laws to determine the impact on state governance.
b. Establish four Coordinator positions as NEW positions: Youth, Collegiate, Lifelong, and Repertoire
Specific to work with the 12 Repertoire and Resource Board Representatives to encourage and
facilitate more activities in the state, at the state conference, and activities beyond the
conference.
c. The president will introduce and discuss the establishment of an Ex-Officio Executive Director
position to be added to the organization. Central to the responsibilities of this position will be
adherence to the board strategic plan, reporting, coordination of activities, and most importantly
cohesion through all changes in board membership. (June 2016)
d. Establish a Presidents Council to assess and facilitate:
i. organizational needs
ii. progress of the Strategic Plan
iii. progress of committee work toward all activities
iv. cohesion of and implementation of board decisions
v. unexpected R & R needs
vi. other activities as they might arise (March 2017)
6. NC ACDA will more clearly define the diversity experiences clause articulated in the Mission Statement
and develop activities and encourage recruitment that promotes diversity in the organization. (Proposal
to review and re-word this statement for even MORE clarity due to its high level of importance).
7. Cultivate significant relationships with other organizations, i.e. NAfME, Choristers Guild, AGO to name a
few for the development of collaborative activities. (Fall 2017)

Presidents Proposal:
To create a Presidents Council of individuals both currently serving on the board and members outside of the
board as we look more closely at each concept/goal. The council will include new Standing Committees of each
particular goal and committee. These committees need to be set by the fall of 2016 so that action can be taking
place as soon as is feasible.

1. Bill Young, Past President, has been appointed to serve as the Advisor to the Counsel
2. Standing Committees:
a. Clinics & Activities (beyond those offered at the NC ACDA state conference)
b. Commissioning New Works
c. Conference
d. Member Support Grants & Scholarships
e. Collaboration
3. In addition, I would also like to form a Teachers Council to empower and engage our K-12 choral music
teacher members to a higher degree.
4. Appoint a special Task Force to better define diversity for NC ACDA.

This is a new concept and is in keeping with the upcoming changes both organizationally at the National level. It
will take some time to develop and clarify, but has the opportunity for greater board and member engagement. I
invite you to actively join us in these endeavors as we move forward into the future.

--Anne M. Saxon, NC ACDA President

June 7, 2016

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 NC ACDA SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
Available Funds in the form of CD Time of Conference
Membership NCMEA and All-State
Conference Ineffective of Capped Growth
Opportunities for Young Singers Previous Limited Vision
Respect toward each other Short Institutional Memory
Lifetime of activity Misunderstood as to who we are
Dedicated young professionals Reliance on old Models of doing things
NC ACDA Networking Limited engagement in some segments of
Conference Location NC choral environs
Leadership/Board Lagging ex-membership
Strong Legacy/Foundation Nearsightedness
Uniqueness of what we offer Diversity in Leadership
Collaboration(s)
Creativity-Openness
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
Creativity Lack of Reason for High School Choral
Exploring the Vast Experiences Teachers to join
represented in the membership and Other Organizations
supporters Outdated or Limited Perspective
Principled Problem Solving Board Cohesion and Management
Commitment to understanding Multi- Money for Teachers to join/attend
Culturalism conference.
Collaboration (NCMEA, AGO, Strong NCMEA
Choristers Guild, etc.) Big Gaps Old model is not going to
Sections represented in performance work forever
(Artistry) Popular entertainment general cultural
Systems in place to encourage creativity shift and attitude towards singing
Activities in other regions of NC Leadership/Institutional memory
Integrate more technology Organizational Structure
Develop community connections Fear of Change/Unknown
Move conference every few years Membership Growth
(Diversity) Reward Systems
More Robust Engagement with outlying
Choral Segments (Gospel Choir,
Barbershop, Commercial/Pop)
Grants for Conductors to attend
conference, travel,
Send Young Conductors to National
Conductor Exchange Across States
Diversity of Offerings in Conference, in
extra-conference presentations, etc.
Malleability of exceptional experiences.

- 56 -
 Syntheses Around specific headings
Organizational/Structural Leadership

Available Funds in the Form of CDs Leadership/Board

Short Institutional Memory Previous Limited Vision

Systems in Place to Encourage Creativity Principled Problem Solving

Big Gaps Old Model is not going to work forever Board Cohesion and Management

NC ACDA/ACDA Networking Short Institutional Memory

Misunderstood by(?) as to who we are Nearsightedness

Integrate More Technology Fear of Change/Unknown

Organizational Structure Diversity of Leadership

Strong Legacy/Foundation Commitment to Understanding MultiCulturalism

Reliance on Old Models of Doing Things Creativity/Openness

Outdated or Limited Perspective

Board Cohesion and Management

More Robust Engagement with outlying Choral Segments

(Gospel Choir, Barbershop, Commercial/Pop)

Fear of Change/Unknown

Offerings Members

Conference Membership(Community)

Time of Conference Lagging Ex-Membership

Creativity Malleability of exceptional experiences

Money for Teachers to join/attend Conference Dwindling reason for HS Choral Teachers to join

Opportunities for Young Singers Encouraged/Engendered Respect Toward Each Other

Limited Engagement in Some Segments of NC Choral Environs Grants for Conductors to Attend Conference/Travel

Sections Represented at Conference (Artistry) Membership Growth

Conference Location Lifetime of Activity

Collaborations (Weakness/Opportunity Exploring Vast Experiences represented in the membership and

supporters

Activities in Other Regions of NC Strength and Focused Vision of other Organizations that appear
more relevant to current or future membership

Uniqueness of What we have to Offer Dedicated young professionals

Move Conference every few years (Diversity) Relevancy of choral singing in the pop-driven culture shift in
attitudes toward choral music

Conductor Exchange Across States Ineffective or Capped Growth

Diversity of Offerings in Conference, Extra-Conference

Presentations

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 NC ACDA VISIONING TEAM -- DARING GREATLY!
WHY
Vision
Raison detre
Reason for Being
We have not specifically asked
ourselves this question in a very long
time and, therefore, our vision is
implied by the WHAT we do.
NC ACDAs reason for being may be
based on an outdated model or idea
or not. Who knows?
The WHY is the most complex of the
questions to ask but is central to
articulating a relevant and
meaningful mission of the
organization.
A vision statement is usually very
short, one simple sentence, that
captures the reason the organization
exists.
THIS IS ONLY AN EXAMPLE:
NC ACDA inspires (promotes) life-long
engagement (participation) in the
choral arts.
HOW
Mission
How do we accomplish our Vision
A mission statement spells out, in the
broadest terms how we execute the Vision
of the organization.
This question of mission is slightly less
complex than the Vision question but is
frequently confused with the WHAT, the
measurable specifics, we do.
The mission statement process should be
broad enough to embrace the breadth and
creative imagination of the board when
outlining WHAT we will do and when.
A mission statement provides the
framework inside a Vision that explains How
we execute the vision. A simple sentence,
but with some compound phrases.
THIS IS ONLY AN EXAMPLE:
NC ACDA provides exceptional opportunities
to improve leadership and organizational
skills, group vocal technique, rehearsal and
performance skills, and research in the
choral arts.
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WHAT
Strategy
What are the measurable specifics
Objectives supported by Goals
This is the area in which we have the most
comfort. We have a newsletter, website,
annual conference with various tracks, the
NCMEA Luncheon, etc. But, have we
connected this to the Vision of NC ACDA (do
we know what that is)? Are the activities that
we do forwarding the mission of NC ACDA? Is
what we do contemporary, relevant to the
needs of our state, our professions, our
constituent members and groups?
How do we hold ourselves and future board
members accountable to an organization
vision when we may or may not have multi-
year OBJECTIVES supported by measurable
GOALS? How do we plan with relevancy
beyond the next years events? I ask the
questions, not because I think we are lacking,
but because I dont have an answer for these
questions.
A strategic plan is a multi-year outline of
what the organization will do in measurable
terms inside the framework of the mission in
executing the vision of the organization.
A STRATEGIC PLAN weighs the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the
organization and outlines 3-5 multi-year
measurable objectives under which there are
3-5 goals (steps or board driven procedures)
needed to accomplish the objectives within a
timeframe.
 APPENDIX II - Presidential Reflections

Former NC ACDA presidents have been invited to reflect on the issues, opportunities
and achievements of NC ACDA during their time in office. Although no format is
prescribed, the intent is to provide these leaders an opportunity to share their
greatest joys, or griefs, during their time as leaders of the organization. Some past-
presidents are deceased; others declined to provide statements.

Joel Stegall, 1970-1974

When Joel Stegall was NC ACDA president, he was
director of choral activities and music department
chair at Mars Hill College. In 1976, he left Mars
Hill to become dean of the School of Music at
Ithaca College (NY), where he remained for nine
years. In 1985, he became chair of the Department
of Music at the University of Florida. Moving to
Winchester, VA in 1990, he served as Shenandoah
Universitys vice president for academic affairs
until 2002, when he retired from full-time
academic work. After moving to Winston-Salem,
he continued to work as a consultant in higher
education.

As I reflect on my two terms as NC ACDA president, two events stand out.

When my first term began, while on the faculty at Mars Hill College, I was also a
doctoral student at UNC-Chapel Hill. NC ACDA was young and most of the activity
was at the division and national levels. Truth is, I thought it was an honor to be
elected, but I had no idea there would be anything much to do. That changed when
Lara Hoggard approached me about starting a Saturday event for college/university
choirs to sing for each other. With a full-time job, and a doctoral degree in progress,
I was not looking to take on another task. But it was Lara Hoggard, and he had been
an idol since he conducted an All-State Chorus I had sung in ten years earlier. I
could think of no excuse that would allow me to live with myself, so I said, sure, we
can do that! The organizing meeting over lunch at Chapel Hills landmark Carolina

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Inn is described in the body of this paper. Looking back, I see those outstanding
choral directors getting together on something new and exciting as one of the
highlights of my professional life.

The other high point of my term in office was the 1974 Southern Division
Convention. Colleen Kirk of Florida State University, Southern Division ACDA
president, wanted to schedule the convention in North Carolina. That meant, I
found out, that I would be in charge of local arrangements. I had never done
anything like that, but she had, and it was a joy working with her. We chose
Charlotte, largely because the location was relatively central and had good access
driving or flying.

In that time, performing choirs did not have to audition for a spot on a Southern
Division Convention, and Colleen simply decided that the Mars Hill Choir would
have a major slot on the program. The combined choral groups at Mars Hill (the
Choir, which I directed, and the Chorus, directed by William Thomas) were already
scheduled for an on-campus performance of Carl Orffs Carmina Burana with the
North Carolina Symphony, conducted by John Gosling. When I suggested that we
ask Maestro Gosling if he would like to perform for ACDA as an educational service
(with no fee), Colleen jumped at the chance. That concert was the featured program
of the convention.

Gary Shive, 1977-79; 1980-81

Gary Shive earned a B. S. degree from Catawba
College and an M.A. in Choral Conducting at UNC
Greensboro. He taught 30 years in middle and high
school, including Concord Senior High School in
Concord. Shive conducted community children's
choirs for 15 years, served nine churches, some two
at the same time, for 50 years. His hobbies include
rebuilding cars, tennis, teaching and playing
duplicate bridge. He and his wife have two daughters
and five teenage grandchildren.
I became interested in the ACDA early in my career
which began with a part time church position during
my junior year at Catawba College. Initially
planning to major in music to become certified as a

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public school band director, I was surprised when the choral music bug bit me. I
joined ACDA soon after that and attended many of the regional conventions.
NC ACDA offered opportunities for me to hear fine college/university groups,
enabling me to improve my skills and set higher goals.
After serving North Carolina Music Educators as Choral Section Chairman for
several years, I was honored when asked to serve as NC ACDA President. In this
position, I was able to work with the directors that I so admired.
Dr. Richard Cox, my graduate school advisor/professor at UNC-G and Dr. Lara
Hoggard were two of my closest advisors during my term. Dr. Richard Brewer of
Pheiffer College was also an inspiration. In planning the Collegiate Choral Festival,
I learned to know many of my "idols" on a professional level. The first time that I
met Colleen Kirk was at the Southern Division ACDA on Orlando. My 9th grade
chorus was chosen to sing that year. After our performance, she introduced herself
to me, expressing her gratitude and praise for our performance and participation.
Her entire demeanor more than explained why every person that spoke of her was
extremely complimentary of her. She was amazing.
Looking back, I am amazed that all us were able to organize and facilitate such
extensive programs without computers and all of the technology that is available
today. Imagine typing letters and mailing correspondence!!
The main contribution that I made was the large growth in membership during my
term. I focused on getting more public school teachers to join. A special thank you
to all who came before and after my term. NC ACDA is alive and well.

David Pegg, 1979-80

David Pegg is minister of music at St. Anne's
Episcopal Church, Winston-Salem, and conductor
of the High Point Community Chorus, High Point.

Pegg received his Bachelor and Master of Music

degrees from the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro, and has done advanced studies at the
University of Oklahoma, University of Iowa,
University of Hartford, and Westminster Choir
College. He is the former conductor of the Bel
Canto Company, a professional choral ensemble
(Greensboro, North Carolina) which he led for 19 years. He has served on the faculties

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of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, High Point College (now
University), Kent State University, and Salem College. For 17 years he served as
Director of Music and the Arts at Centenary United Methodist Church, Winston-
Salem.

Pegg has been a choral clinician and adjudicator for numerous workshops including
the North Carolina All-State Chorus and Honors Chorus, Kentucky All- State Chorus,
and Indiana All-State Men's Choir. His choruses have sung on programs of the Music
Educators National Conference, Southern Division conventions of the American
Choral Directors Association, and the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina.

In 2004, he received the Lara Hoggard Award for Distinguished Service in Choral
Music in North Carolina from the North Carolina state chapter of the American Choral
Directors Association.

I took office when the work of NC ACDA was progressing well. I was still deeply
involved with pursuing an advanced degree and, unfortunately, had to resign after
only one year in office to continue my education. It was my good fortune to come
back the North Carolina later where I am happy to have found choral home for the
remainder of my career.

Richard Cox, 1983-1985

Richard Cox taught at High Point College in the
mid-1950s, and left there to get a doctorate at
Northwestern University. While at Northwestern,
he sang with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chorus under Margaret Hillis. Joining the faculty
at the Womans College of the University of North
Carolina in 1960, Cox remained through the
transition to UNCG until 2002. In addition to his
university appointment, Cox was choirmaster at
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Greensboro from
1963 to 2013.
When I became state president, my first
responsibility was to organize our first state convention. Fortunately, we were able
to arrange with Don Hinshaw to hold our convention a day or two before his annual
Celebration in August, so that the folks who came to the Hinshaw Celebration could
come early for our convention; and, better, we were able to use his headliner to

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participate in our event. Eric Erickson and Lara Hoggard were guest clinicians for
the first Summer Conference in 1984; Elizabeth Green and Joseph Flummerfelt were
with us in 1985.

For me, having to organize the first convention was sort of a dja-vu-all-over-
again, since in my third year as Southern Division president (actually, chairman
then) I had been handed the responsibility of organizing the first independent
Southern Division convention. Making these events more similar, the membership
of the Southern Division in 1967 when I became chairman was about the same size
as the North Carolina membership in the mid-80s.

Another interesting thing I did as NC president was to host NC parties at division

and national conventions. In 1984, I actually called on my successor Rhonda
Fleming to do that in Atlanta because my Chorale was singing at the convention. I
remember hosting that party in 1985 in Salt Lake City, and assisting Bob Holquist
at his NC party in Louisville in 1989.

Of course, my fondest memories of my times both as division and state president

are of the great colleagues that I worked with and came to know better.

Rhonda Fleming, 1985-1987

Rhonda Fleming was professor of music
education and choral music at East Carolina
University from 1978 to 1999, where she taught
choral conducting, choral music techniques, and
conducted several choral ensembles over the
years: the Womens Glee Club, the University
Chorale, and the ECU Chamber Singers. After 21
years at ECU, she retired in 1999 and moved to
Albuquerque, NM, where she has enjoyed being
active in the local photography club. In 2016,
after deciding that it was now or never, she bought a motorhome and began
traveling and photographing throughout the Western and upper Midwest states for
approximately six months of the year.

I was privileged to follow Richard Cox as president of the NC-ACDA from 1985-1987.
How exciting it was to be serving ACDA with colleagues who were passionate about
fostering enrichment in choral music from elementary school through the university
level. During my tenure, I was fortunate to be able to invite John Rutter, the special

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guest of the Hinshaw Celebration, to give a short presentation during our Summer
Conference in 1986. I remember how nave I was in talking to celebrities such as
John Rutter; my heart was pounding the first time I talked to him in London! It was
also a privilege to host the Intercollegiate Choral Festival at ECU in 1987.

I still cherish my friendships with my former choral colleagues in the North Carolina
ACDA. Serving ACDA helped knit a bond with not only the dedicated musicians in
North Carolina, but helped us all feel connected to a higher purpose through ACDA
at the national level.

Robert Holquist, 1987-1989

Bob Holquist was Director of Choral Activities and
Chair of the Voice Division at Western Carolina
University from 19792011.
Rhonda Fleming was my predecessor. I remember a
phone conversation which I had with her, several
months after I had been named president-elect, in
which she informed me that in my position, I was
to be responsible for most things having to do with
the summer convention (then held at Brinkley
Baptist Church, in Chapel Hill). That was news to
me, but, fortunately, our state chapter was taking
advantage of a good relationship with Hinshaw, and
the first year, the summer of 1987, we had Paul Salamunovich as clinician. In 1988,
Don Neuen was with us. In 1989, I invited my college classmate and close friend,
Henry Leck to be our clinician. This was early in the life of the Indianapolis
Childrens Choir.

During my presidency, I was the coordinator for the two NC ACDA Collegiate Honors
Choruses. The first one, directed by Richard Cox in February 1988, was part of the
Southern Division Convention in Winston-Salem. The second one, conducted the
following year by Weston Noble, was part of the 1989 November NCMEA
Convention, also in Winston-Salem. Those were very successful cooperative
ventures. Sadly, that program was not allowed to be continued in that venue. It
would be a worthy venture to pursue again, in my opinion.

Hilary Apfelstadt followed me as president, and she asked my advice on several

things, but she required my assistance in one area. It was my chore to purchase the

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adult beverages for the reception at the state convention (because she claimed
that she knew nothing about the matter). I had to do a great deal of research on
drinkology, but having recently come from a doctoral program, I was up to the task.
(And I hated having to take all the left-overs homebut somebody had to do it!)

In my retirement, I continue to direct church music and a community chorus, do

solo work, observe music student teachers, adjudicate, and golf. Last December 26,
I tested the law of gravityit's still valid!! (Editors note: Holquist fell and was badly
injured.) In the months to come, I was reminded how much my Lord really loves
me.

Hilary Apfelstadt, 1989-1991

Hilary Apfelstadt taught at UNCG 1983 1993,
and is now Professor and Director of Choral
Activities at the University of Toronto, which is
her alma mater. She holds the Elmer Iseler
Chair in Conducting, and is Artistic Director of
Exultate Chamber Singers in Toronto, as well as
teaching at the university. She served ACDA as
national president from 2007 2009.

My fondest memories of my time with NC-ACDA

have to do with the wonderful people I shared
the duties with, including Richard Cox and Bill
Carroll, my colleagues at UNCG then, and
countless others like Rhonda Fleming at East
Carolina University, and the many fine choral musicians in the state at that time.
As a newcomer to the state in 1983, I did not expect to become involved in NC-ACDA
so quickly, but Richard Cox suggested I serve at treasurer starting in 1984, and that
led to additional opportunities.

We worked hard to get the summer conferences off the ground, connecting with
Hinshaw Music to bring in people a day early for their annual Celebration events in
order to work with our membership. I also remember the annual luncheons at
NCMEA fall conferences and was honoured to have the UNCG Womens Choir sing
at one of those. Another NC-ACDA event that was very important to my students
and me was the Intercollegiate Choral Festival.

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The initiative of which I am most proud is the founding of the NC-ACDA all-state
womens high school chorus, something we started on a minimal budget, and exists
to this day, although it is now under the auspices of NCMEA since 2015. The choral
community in 1990, when we started the womens group, was strong and
supportive. NC remains one of my favourite places to have lived and worked. I
attribute my continuing involvement in ACDA to NC-ACDA as it set the standard for
professional development. There is no question in my mind that few other states
could have matched the inspiration that NC-ACDA gave me and so many others. I
will always be grateful.

Joel F. Reed, 1993-1995

Joel Reed, a 1968 graduate of Mars Hill University,
returned in 1985 to his alma mater as director of
choral activities and conductor of the Choir and
Chamber Singers, serving in that capacity until
2013. He was also chair of the music department
1994-2012. In 2003, NC ACDA chose him for the
Hoggard Award. Reed is also the founding director
of Southern Appalachian Chamber Singers, an
ensemble of Mars Hill students, professors, alumni
and members of the community that specializes in
music of the Appalachian region. Reed continues
his work as conductor of SACS while teaching at Mars Hill on a part-time basis with
full faculty status. He is also music director at Mars Hill United Methodist Church.

During my two years as NC ACDA president, I recall planning the two Inter-
Collegiate Choral Festivals that were held at First Presbyterian Church in Raleigh.
I was quite pleased as each year we had approximately 18 choirs from across the
state participating. David Covington, Director of Music at FPC, assisted with our
arrangements including lunch for the conductors and students. During those years,
we held our annual conference during the summer rather than in the fall. We were
honored to host Jean Ashworth Bartle, Founder/Conductor Laureate of the Toronto
Children's Chorus for one of those two conferences held in downtown Greensboro.

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Reta R. Phifer, 1997-1999
1985-1987 North Carolina Music Educators
Association President; Elementary General Music
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Elizabeth Lane
Elementary, retired 2006; Executive Director, North
Carolina Music Educators Association, 2006-2013;
Director of Childrens Choir, Trinity Presbyterian
Church, Charlotte, NC, 2015-Present

Having served as Childrens Choir R&S Chair during

Richard Coxs tenure as NC ACDA president and
maintaining that position for quite a while, I
worked with great leadership teams to primarily
focus on our annual conference which met in
conjunction with Hinshaw Musics Celebration and then as a stand-alone
conference.

Annual Conferences

My first conference, held on Saturday, September 20, 1997, took place on the
campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dan Huff was
instrumental in helping acquire the facilities and in assisting with the scheduling.
Ellen Markus from the Voice Wellness Clinic in Durham and Mark Weissler, Ear,
Nose and Throat specialist, shared information and tips on saving the voice. A
luncheon was held at the Carolina Inn. Don Hinshaw was honored posthumously as
our Lara Hoggard Awardee at the luncheon. The afternoon concert was held at the
Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church on Franklin Street. I remember walking as
quickly as possible, in heels, from Carolina Inn to the church since we were running
behind schedule. The Upper School Chorale from St. Catherines School in
Richmond, VA, under the direction of J.C. Stephenson III, provided an Evensong
service. Yes, we had an out-of-state group present at our state conference.

After some years as a separate conference, attendance had dwindled and during my
tenure, our board determined that we needed a big name clinician to draw
participation. Andr Thomas was selected as our 1998 conference clinician and we
met at a church in Greensboro. Andr was both the clinician and luncheon speaker.
His topic was Survival Guide for Beginning Directors. He shared highlights of his
own personal career.

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Andr selected Paul Baslers Missa Kenya for SATB Chorus, Tenor Solo, Horn,
Percussion and Piano as the primary repertoire for the directors chorus. A French
horn player from UNCG was employed to play the horn solo in the work. Somehow
I failed to remember to acquire a tenor soloist for the performance. Thank goodness
Andr got Kenney Potter to sing the solo part. Kenney had done the work at Florida
State and he filled the bill at the last minute and did an admirable job. However, I
really sweat it there for a while.

The Gaston Choral Ensemble, under the direction of Trip McGill presented a
performance at that conference as well.

NCMEA Luncheon

In 1998 Bill Carroll suggested that we have a sing-along performance of the Mozart
Requiem as part of our luncheon at NCMEA. The UNCG Chorale and Chamber
Singers and instrumentalists from UNCG, under Bills direction, led those assembled
in the sing-along. Planning this event meant finding a new location for the luncheon.
We moved from the Terrace in what is now The Embassy Suites, and ended up in
what is now the Winston Marriott. One of the on-site challenges was getting a
portative organ through the hotel, on an elevator, and into the room for the
luncheon and performance. All in all, the event turned out very well. However, we
have not utilized a major work sing-along since that time.

Exhibiting at the NCMEA Conference

For several years, both during and following my presidency, the NC ACDA Board
decided to exhibit at the NCMEA Conference in Winston-Salem. I originally made
the arrangements and provided some visual display boards, to include North
Carolina Composers names. Some years we distributed free octavos music collected
by some of our officers. Anne Coltrane assisted me in working the booth. Anne
Coltrane followed me in handling the booth. At some point, the NC ACDA Board
determined that the money spent in hosting a booth at the conference could be
better spent on other things.

Collegiate Choral Festival

The Collegiate Choral Festival struggled to exist during my tenure. It was held at
Wake Forest and at Meredith, I think. Hoggard was very concerned about the lack
of attendance. Several directors, including Hoggard met during lunch at Meredith
to discuss the festival. Lack of overall funding at the individual college/university

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level, travel cost, and difficulty in determining an acceptable date seemed to be the
primary challenges.

Officers and Leadership

During my 1997-1999 presidency, several leading officers changed. The editor left
the state and ACDA national office requested that treasurers should change after a
determined period of time. Both of these situations required changes in leadership.

I served as editor and mailing/distribution preparer during for at least one year of
my presidency. A bulk mail permit was purchased and I had lots of fun (HA! HA!) -
putting on labels received from the national office (yes, hard copy labels) and
preparing the trays of newsletter for bulk mailing. Although it saved the
organization quite a bit of money and gave me the experience, it was both time
consuming and tedious. With digital files now for mail merging databases
electronically, and utilizing the national office to provide printing and mailing
services, these jobs are no longer handled by state members.

In 1998, John Campbell, who had just come to Gardner Webb University,
volunteered to serve as editor. John was the person responsible for getting members
to recommend a new name for our newsletter, which became the Carolina Caroler.

Ginger Wyrick became our Treasurer in 1997. ACDA had previously provided a
format for which all income and expenditures were to be documented and all reports
were sent to ACDA, which filed tax returns. Clinician fees were paid by the state and
reported to ACDA for clinician income reporting with IRS. Ginger got Lee Northcutt
to audit the state books on an annual basis.

Officers and R & S Chairs held planning meetings throughout my presidency. I am

deeply appreciative of all the service rendered by the various officers, especially Bill
Carroll, immediate past president and Maribeth Yoder-White, president-elect.
Working together has been very effective in NC ACDA through the years.

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Ann Pratt Long, 2001-2003
Ann Pratt Long was NC ACDA president while choral
director at Dalton L. McMichael High School in
Mayodan, NC. Ann served there for 21 years and
recently retired from nearly 30 years of public
school choir. She now enjoys time with her two-year
old granddaughter and the rest of her family. Ann is
serving as interim director of music at Alamance
Presbyterian Church in Greensboro while dreaming
of retiring soon with her husband to their beach
house!
The presidential term in which I served was marked
by increased change. During the 2001-2003 term,
membership increased with 487 new members
reported in 2003 - many of these were public-school music teachers! The NC ACDA
Website was updated to include more user-friendly options to keep members
informed and connected.

Along with president-elect Janna Brendell's visioning, we addressed the need for the
Executive Boards combined expertise to be increasingly involved in the tasks to
improve the organizations programs and efficiency. The ideas developed between
my term and her Presidency allowed for further involvement of the Board and
membership in tasks previously accomplished by the president.

For example, prior to my term as president, the offices responsibilities were varied,
such as the task of labeling, sorting and transporting the hundreds of newsletters
to the bulk mail center an hour away. Even though these tasks afforded me a wealth
of knowledge about the organization and leadership, we realized the President
needed to spend more time with people and opportunities for music education
around the state. We were also striving to reach out to more of the public school
music teachers in the state. Those years saw us delegating the Presidents tasks in
some needed and different directions, resulting in more Executive Board
involvement.

Under the leadership of Past-President Maribeth Yoder-White, UNCG continued to

host the NC ACDA Conference in a gracious and hospitable manner. Maribeth served
as an advisor to our Executive Board, bringing experience and insight to our
meetings.

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With the vision, forethought, and planning of previous President Reta Phifer and the
Executive Committee, the highlight of my term as President was our hosting of the
2002 Southern Division ACDA Conference in Charlotte, NC.

It was my honor and privilege to serve as NC ACDA President at a time in which I

evolved as a musician and as a co-leader with the Executive Board.

Janna Brendell, 2003-05

Janna Brendell was on the Choral Music Education
faculty at East Carolina University from 1992-2005
and was choral director at Waynesville Middle
School, Waynesville, NC from 2005-2014. She is
currently the choral director at Gilbert High School in
South Carolina.

What an honor and privilege it was for me to serve

North Carolina ACDA as president from 2003
through 2005. I have such fond memories of
working with Bill Young, Ann Pratt, Tom Shelton,
Ginger Wyrick, Gwen Hall, Stephen Futrell, Reta
Phifer and numerous others.

NC ACDA was alive and well when I became president, so we focused on further
delineating leadership roles, updating the website, involving the Board as much as
possible and on continuing to plan meaningful fall conferences. In 2003 our
conference featured two clinicians: Dr. Judy Bowers & Dr. Alfred Sturgis. In 2004,
the clinicians were Rodney Eichenberger and David Pegg.

David Pegg conducted the inaugural Church Festival Choir that was held
simultaneously with the fall conference. We continued to offer more R & S sessions,
increased the number of exhibitors and the number and quality of performing
choirs. Hinshaw Music graciously sponsored receptions for both conferences.

My life was forever changed by the friendships I formed with my ACDA colleagues
and by the powerful choral performances I experienced at our ACDA events. North
Carolina is a very special place and I am blessed to have been a part of NC ACDA.

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Tom T. Shelton, Jr., 2005-2007
When NC ACDA president, Shelton was choral director at
Kernersville Middle School (Forsyth County). Currently
he is assistant professor of Sacred Music at Westminster
Choir College of Rider University and national ACDA
president-elect.

Serving as the North Carolina Chapter president of the

American Choral Directors Association was a wonderful
experience. North Carolina is a very special place, and
the choral directors really come together to support each
other and work for the betterment of choral music in the
state.

I was fortunate to be president when Janna Brendell was past-president and Dan
Bara was president-elect. I learned a great deal from observing their gracious
leadership styles. I am grateful for all the amazing choral leaders in North Carolina
and the profound impact they have had on my life and career.

Hilary Apfelstadt was my teacher, mentor, and friend. A true role model, I learned
the importance of giving back to your professional organization as she
demonstrated through her actions.

North Carolina has always had a strong ACDA Chapter. During my tenure as
president, we strived to continue and build upon the strength of the conference
offerings. The Fall 2005 Conference featured Anton Armstrong as the clinician, with
performances by the Appalachian State University Singers, Stephen Hopkins,
conductor; Elon University Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Stephen Futrell, conductor; Capitol
City Girls Choir, Fran Page, conductor; and the UNCG University Chorale, William
Carroll, conductor.

The Fall 2006 Conference featured Judith Willoughby as the clinician, with special
guest Tim Sharp, as well as performances by the UNCG Chamber Singers, Welborn
Young, conductor; Central Carolina Childrens Chorus, Anne Saxon, conductor; and
the Concert Singers of Cary, Lawrence Speakman, conductor.

An important aspect of any state conference is networking. Connecting with people,

sharing information, serving as a mentor (or being connected to a mentor),
exchanging repertoire, learning from respected choral directors in the field, gaining
insights and best practices all of these are important components of the conference

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experience. We were fortunate to have many exhibitors at the NC ACDA Conference.
The exhibitors helped foster a feeling of togetherness by offering receptions and
supporting the conference through sponsorships and repertoire.

Being a middle school choral teacher and childrens choir conductor, I made a
concerted effort to reach out to this population and provide repertoire and
experiences that would be beneficial to their continued growth and development.

I want everyone to know the value of being an ACDA member and that every ACDA
member has an important voice - no matter what age or genre you conduct.

Ginger Wyrick, 2009-2011

Ginger Wyrick, NC ACDA Treasurer 1997-2007;
President-Elect 2007-2009; President 2009-2011; Past-
President 2011-2013; Membership Chair 2015-present;
Ginger served as president while on faculty at Queens
University of Charlotte. She is currently on faculty at the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

My preparation for the presidency began as treasurer

under the leadership of six presidents: Reta Phifer,
Maribeth Yoder-White, Ann Pratt, Janna Brendell, Tom
Shelton, and Dan Bara. This allowed me to understand
how our state worked, to keep up with the growth and
changes handed down through the national and
divisional levels, and to learn how income was generated and expenses kept in
check. I got to know many of our members by sitting at the registration table at each
fall conference. Faces, names, and areas of service became familiar friends as you
arrived at conference.

The state newsletter grew in size and quality over several years. As president-elect
I encouraged Newsletter Editor Anne Saxon to participate in the national newsletter
competition. I helped Anne choose which editions to submit. We were honored
when the Carolina Caroler received the "Most Improved" state newsletter award.
Anne Saxon was recognized at the national ACDA Convention in Oklahoma City
March 2009. The NC ACDA newsletter won again in 2013 for "Best Print Newsletter-
-Medium Budget."

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Anne Saxon and I met on June 11, 2009 in Winston-Salem to plan the newsletters
for the next two years. I presented the foundational content for each newsletter,
including a schedule assigning newsletter articles to each R&S Chair as part of
service to the state. The two-year service cycle contains six newsletters. Each Chair
was scheduled a specific newsletter to provide an article specific to the R&S area.

The Board had responsibilities beyond writing articles. All Chairs were engaged in
Fall Conference activities, including presiding over sessions, hosting choirs,
coordinating events, and presenting two songs during the reading sessions. It was
an exciting time as we developed leadership across the state and sought to provide
resources for all our members.

The 2009 Fall Conference had Bob Chilcott as our first international clinician. The
Male Vocal Arts Symposium (MVAS) continued with Al Sturgis as conductor. A Music
in Worship Commissioning Project and Conference Festival was added to our 2009
choirs. The Board voted to reinvest some of our retained earnings in commissioning
a NC composer to set a sacred text specifically targeting our Music & Worship
Research and Standards area. Kenney Potter was selected to compose and conduct
the new anthem, "My Shepherd is the Living Lord." There were 13 choirs
participating in the conference choir, presenting 5 sacred anthems in concert. Andy
Roby, Music & Worship R&S Chair, coordinated the project.

The 2010 Fall Conference featured Jerry Blackstone (University of Michigan) as

clinician. MVAS continued with Chris Kiver. We applied for and received our first
Southern Division Choral Advocacy Grant for the inaugural NC Sings! A Workshop
for Younger Singers. Children's Choirs R&S Chair Heather Potter served as the
coordinator. Paul Caldwell (formerly of the Youth Choral Theater of Chicago)
conducted the 3-6 grade singers in the Saturday workshop and informance as part
of Fall Conference. We applied for and received the grant again the following year
for Jubilant Song: A Sacred Choral Festival, held during the 2011 Fall Conference,
with Jeffrey Redding conducting.

MVAS Coordinator Dan Bara left NC in 2010. Carey Cannon became the new
coordinator. We brought the professional male ensemble Brethren to Fall
Conference 2011 in order to encourage multigenerational ensembles and to
strengthen the MVAS experience. Brethren was featured in a Friday evening concert
and performed with MVAS.

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I established our first Facebook page due to the growing popularity of social media.
Pictures, announcements, and simple communications are posted to build
connectivity with members between events.

The board partnered with the national office student membership initiative to
encourage student conductors to engage with ACDA during Dan Bara's leadership.
We continued this commitment and applied retained earnings towards the effort.
Students who attend Fall Conference may join ACDA for $5.00. The remaining cost
of membership was shared between the state and the national office. We saw an
increase in student membership and engagement.

President-Elect Bill Young travelled to Charlotte the summer of 2011 to collect the
President's stuff. We had a great meeting at my kitchen table looking at the details
for his leadership. I happily passed along my "notebook" with calendar deadlines
and planning tips to Bill.

Welborn E. Young 2011-2013

Welborn Young, NC ACDA site coordinator 2001-2013;
R&S Chair Male Choirs, Womens Choir, Community
Choirs, and College and University Choirs throughout
these 14 years; President-Elect 2009-2011; President
2011-2013; Past-President 2013-2015; Chair of the
Vision and Mission statement ad hoc committee 2015-
2016; Member of Advisory Committee 2016-present;
Welborns tenure with NC ACDA began in 2000 with the
beginning of his tenure on the faculty of UNC Greensboro
(UNCG); He was also the director of the Choral Society
of Greensboro 2000-2007. Welborn is currently the
director of choral activities at UNCG and the artistic
director and conductor of Bel Canto Company (2005-
present).

In 2000, I was a new faculty member with the UNCG School of Music and a new
member to the choral community in North Carolina with a strong desire to make
friends and professional connections in the state. I was delighted to find that my
colleague, Maribeth Yoder White, was president of NC ACDA and would be hosting
the 2000 Fall conference in the newly opened UNCG School of Music. I asked if I
could assist her. She gladly accepted my help and quickly began introducing me to

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the NC ACDA board members and the preparations for the Fall Conference. From
that moment on, I was hooked!

The success of that conference, the new UNCG facilities, and the central location in
the state were all factors that prompted the NC ACDA board to request that the
conference remain in Greensboro. I recall Bill Carroll, the director of choral
activities at UNCG at the time, suggesting that I coordinate this event annually. I
was happy to do so and have been richly rewarded with close friendships, musical
colleagues, and a wealth of opportunities to witness the excellent music making and
teaching of hundreds of our states finest choral musicians and choral music
educators.

With the conference in one location, it had previously moved on an annual basis
from site to site, the NC ACDA board was able to more accurately predict cyclic
expenses, count on performance spaces, build relationships with area hotels and
restaurants, in other words, build cohesion from one conference to the next. As site
coordinator, I served as an advisor to the president-elect/president about logistics
for conference performance, rehearsal, exhibit, and lecture spaces, as well as,
providing technology, programs, and some staff. The UNCG School of Music
supported me in this endeavor by allowing access to classrooms, rehearsal spaces
and the 2 performance spaces in our building during the conference. I also used this
conference as an educational opportunity for my choral music education majors and
my graduate students. They were introduced to working professionals and to the
benefits and responsibilities of a professional life.

With the boards commitment to bringing in nationally and internationally

recognized clinicians and the ongoing reliability of the conference location,
attendance grew and stabilized. Each president brought tremendous focus to the
event(s) often recognizing underserved choral populations in their conference
years. As mentioned above, Dan Baras focus was the nurture of male choral singing.
He established an intergenerational chorus titled the Male Vocal Arts Symposium
(MVAS). Ginger Wyrick promoted the young singer with NC Sings! From its
inception MVAS was to be an annual event. Once we added NC Sings! and alternated
that with other focused offerings such as the Sacred Music offerings the size and
complexity of the state conference outgrew the organizational support of the NC
ACDA Board, UNCG space, and the support I could offer with my students. The
conference grew from approximately 350 participants that included conference
attendees, performance ensemble singers, and a clinician to well over 600
participant attendees that included as many as five ensembles in three separate

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locations, at least one of which was off campus. This pattern continued from 2009
to 2013. I observed that during that period the number of actual conference
attendees remained steady 170-200 but began to decline somewhat.

Although the numbers would suggest that the state conference was stable, the
overall enthusiasm for the primary aspect of the conference appeared to be waning.
MVAS, without a singularly focused board member driving it year around did not
continue, the number of exhibitors declined, conference registrations were
unsteady, and the schedule compression at UNCG, primarily on my students who
did not have a weekend available from the beginning of the semester to late October,
began to elicit signs that a change was necessary. As president-elect, I began
introducing the idea that the Fall Conference needed a face lift including a location
change. This introduction resulted in an ad hoc committee to scout out locations and
vet possible conference sites. As president, I was happy to see the Board begin to
coalesce behind the idea of organizational renewal and restructure that
accompanied the imminent shift of the conference from UNCG to UNC Charlotte in
the Fall of 2014. This move, I believe, was vital to the health and growth of NC ACDA.

My final year as president concluded much like my first year began. I drove to
Charlotte to meet with Sandy Holland, president-elect, and Ginger Wyrick, past-
president, to outline the course of the coming years and to hand off to Sandy the
notebook of calendar deadlines and planning tips that Ginger had so generously
gifted to me in my term as president-elect.

There are many aspects of my tenure with NC ACDA of which I am proud. They
include the opportunity to work very closely with the talented board members and
presidents shaping the Fall Conferences over an extended period of time; the
participation of many of my students as leaders in the organization; the successful
move of conference location to UNC Charlotte, a move that was to insure the health
and continued impact of this exceptional organization; and, finally, the opportunity
to lead a team of board members to articulate a Vision Statement, Mission
Statement, and outline a Strategic Plan that I hope will be useful for years to come.

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Anne Saxon, 2015-17
Anne Murray Saxon grew up in North Carolina
and is a product of the states choral community.
Her high school choral director and mentor,
Maxine Blackwell, was an NC ACDA past
president and a co-founder of the North Carolina
Summer Institute in Choral Arts (NCSICA), in
which Anne participated for 25 years beginning
as a high school student, a Winston-
Salem/Forsyth County Chorus Teacher, and
finally, as member of the executive board. She
began serving in NC ACDA during the 1990s as
the Jr. High/Middle School R&S chair, and later
as the Childrens Choir R&S chair. In 2007, she began her role as the Newsletter
editor for six years until she was elected as president-elect in 2013, having served
under many state presidents. She is the founder and artistic director of the Winston-
Salem Girls Chorus (formerly known as the Central Carolina Childrens Chorus, est.
1999), and has directed church and school choirs throughout the greater Winston-
Salem area.

When I was an East Forsyth High School student singing under the direction of
Maxine Blackwell, I had absolutely NO IDEA of the rich and unique choral
experience I was having! It was such a stellar experience that to this very day has
not been replicated, and has influenced my concept of choral tone, ensemble, and
my career choices. Mrs. Blackwell was a beautiful person inside and out who
literally LOVED students into singing beautifully. That was her gift.

It was through this great lady that I learned about NC ACDA secondhand; as a
school music teacher, I ran into her at an NCMEA Conference and she told me she
was attending the NC ACDA luncheon. Since I wanted to be near her I bought a
ticket as well, and during the luncheon was greatly inspired with the idea of an
organization that was strictly formulated to supporting choral directors! I looked
around the room and saw countless choral leaders who directed superior choral
programs, whom I already knew. For me, this is where it all began.

Due to serving on the board for a long time, I have been able to witness first-hand
the inner workings of this organization, and interact with countless state
Presidents and board members. It was a huge transition for me to personally get
to know folks with whom I was quite literally awestruck at first, to being able to

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call them my closest and dearest friends and colleagues. I learned that these great
choral leaders were also fantastic, humble servants, which made me only want to
get to know them more. The countless role models NC ACDA has had during our
history has given me a sense of the incredible legacy to which I am bound. As a
community childrens choir director, I certainly did NOT see myself in this role,
feeling quite inept. However, my passion for NC ACDA has never waned and I have
always wished to serve where needed. It is with incredible privilege that I have
had the opportunity to serve in this capacity, and I count myself fortunate, indeed.

I like to say that with my long-time presence on the board I have been a fly on the
wall and have observed and participated in many passionate discussions and
meetings regarding this organization. Thus, when the time came for me to move
into the role as president, I already had a good idea of what needed to be done and
a pretty good idea of how I wanted to begin. Here are things we have
accomplished together during my tenure:

A historian position has been re-added to our Board after a few years of not
having one. The first 50 years of our history has now been written and will
be an ongoing, outstanding, and invaluable archival document for years to
come.
The Visioning Committee who has created new mission and vision
statements, specific to NC ACDA, as well as set goals and objectives for
growth in the 21st Century.
A new logo has been developed as we have rebranded NC ACDA to better
represent who we are.
The new Presidents Council Standing Committees to assist our board have
been seeded and are now beginning their work to accomplish the Visioning
Teams goals and objectives through 2020.
Our new web site is now up and running, the Facebook page has been re-
done, and a twitter account has been established, as we have increased our
digital presence with more user-friendly applications.
We have changed the role of our Web master to a Technology Chair to
oversee our various digital offerings and stay current.
Taking our cue from the national office, we have changed over Repertoire
and Research (R&S) Chairs to Repertoire and Resource (R&R) Chairs to
serve our various content areas, and have added a Barbershop R&R Chair to
be more inclusive and collaborative in our choral community.
Our annual Fall Luncheon during the NCMEA Conference has expanded and
is flourishing in its new location, with more growth opportunities.

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 We have celebrated our 50th Anniversary during the Fall Luncheon along
with several past presidents and Hoggard Award winners.
We have enjoyed a Conference move to UNC-Charlotte, and now to Christ
Baptist Church in Raleigh, to offer a higher degree of access to members in
different geographical areas.

To say that two years is a short amount of time is quite an understatement!

However, I truly hope we have broken new ground and created a platform to
spring forward into our future with a greater sense of community and purpose.
My wish is to continue to serve NC ACDA and foster the work that has been started
during my term. I know we will be in wonderful hands with incoming and capable
President Andy Roby, and have no doubt we will continue to serve our
membership. NC ACDA is made up of incredible choral professionals who serve
our state day-in and day-out in the field of choral music, making a difference, each
and every day, in the lives of countless people.

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APPENDIX III - Hinshaw Music Celebration
Roberta Whittington

President, Hinshaw Music Company

Don Hinshaw established Hinshaw Music in Chapel Hill 1975. Roberta Whittington,
a member of the Hinshaw Music from the beginning, became president following
the death of Don Hinshaw in 1997. Whittington, who remained president until the
company was sold in the summer of 2016, describes Celebration as follows:

Don's vision for this weekend was to literally have a musical celebration for
church and school choir directors - a combination of reading sessions,
masterclasses, and a gala concert to showcase our music, and spotlight our
composers. It was also a time for fellowship, as everyone looked forward to our
Friday afternoon social hour after the day's sessions.

Our first Celebration workshop was on October 3-4, 1975 at the Carolina Inn.
Our clinicians that year were Alice Parker, Natalie Sleeth, Hank Beebe, Galt
MacDermot, and Anne McClenny Krauss (piano). There were 80 people in
attendance. We continued at the Carolina Inn until 1981, moved to the Sheraton
Chapel Hill until 1999, and finally moved to the Sheraton Imperial in 2000. We
didn't start our tradition of holding it the first weekend in August until 1985.

From 1985 until 1987, we also held Celebration workshops in Wheeling, WV,
and Atlanta, GA. Our concert venues included University Baptist Church (the
first Celebration), University Presbyterian Church, Duke Chapel, and Edenton
Street United Methodist Church. The first workshop was so successful, that at
our second one in 1976 we had 400 people. We continued to have a record
attendance of 300-400 attendees for many years, until it started to taper in
2007.

Over the years our clinicians have included John Rutter (his first appearance
was in 1980 - and he came 11 times), Charles Hirt, Jane Marshall, John Gardner,
Paul Salamunovich, Knut Nystedt, Weston Noble, Norman Luboff, Howard
Swan, Eric Ericson, Dave Brubeck, Rodney Eichenberger, Donald Neuen, Mack
Wilberg, Frauke Haasemann, Walter Collins, Andr Thomas, George Shearing,
Eph Ehly, Allen Pote, K. Lee Scott, David Schwoebel, and Mark Hayes. 182

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 APPENDIX IV - Fall Conference Summary

YEAR DATE LOCATION FEATURED CLINICIAN(S) CONCERTS

1984 Aug 1-2 Chapel Hill, Hotel Eric Ericson Governors School East,
Europa; Piggyback Robert Engelson;
on Hinshaw Lara Hoggards edition of
Celebration Faure Requiem
1985 Jul 31- Chapel Hill, Hotel Elizabeth Green Duke Chapel Choir,
Aug 1 Europa Joseph Flummerfelt Stephen Shearon
1986 Jul 30-31 Chapel Hill, Charles Hirt; Bill Carroll
Binkley Memorial Carolee Curtright
Baptist Church John Rutter, guest speaker
1987 Jul 29-30 Chapel Hill, William McIver-Vocal Health Governors School East,
Binkley Memorial Paul Salamunovich Robert Engelson
Baptist Church
1988 Aug 3-4 Chapel Hill, Charles Gilchrist: Spirituals Cape Fear Chamber
Binkley Memorial Donald Neuen Chorale, Robert
Baptist Church Alexander; Governors
School West, Robert Ward
1989 Aug 2-3 Chapel Hill, Henry Leck Carolina Childrens
Binkley Memorial Chorus, Sandra Proden
Baptist Church Brightleaf Music
Workshop, Rodney
Eichenberger
1990 Aug 2-12 Greensboro, William McIver and Panel: Open Rehearsal: Eastern
Ebenezer Vocal Pedagogy Music Festival; Webbers
Lutheran Church William Hatcher Requiem, Richard Cox;
Governors School West,
Robert Ward
1991 Jul 31- Charlotte, Myers Weston Noble The Singing Sergeants;
Aug 1 Park Baptist Larry Wyatt Camerata; Governors
Church Susan Wyatt School West, Robert Ward
1992 Aug 5-6 Charlotte, Myers Mitzi Groom: Adolescent Carolina Choral Artists,
Park Baptist Boys Voices; David Stoke
Church Jim Jerome Williams Myers Park Baptist
Church Adult Choir, Noel
Lovelace
1993 Aug 5 Greensboro, West Jean Ashworth Bartle: Governors School West,
Market Street Childrens Choir Artistry Greg Taylor
United Methodist Asheville Choral Society,
Church Robert Keener

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1994 Jul 21 Greensboro, West Brazeal W. Dennard:
Market UMC Spirituals
1995 Oct 6-7 Greensboro, Austin Lovelace Hymn Festival
Starmount Pres Ch
1996 ?
1997 Sep 20 Chapel Hill, UNC- Dr. Mark Wiessler-Vocal Evensong at Chapel of the
CH Health from ENTs point of Cross
view; Dr. Ellen Markus-Vocal St. Catherins Episcopal
Health from therapists point Upper School Chorale,
of view; Richmond, VA, Nick
Kay Edwards and Connie Stephenson
McKoy-Making Connections
through Multicultural Music
1998 Sep 18-19 Greensboro, First Andr Thomas Demonstration by
Lutheran Church Jefferson Johnson: Collegiate Collegiate Choral
Conducting Seminar Conductors with Gaston
County Ensemble, Trip
McGill and Karri Brown;
Membership Chorus,
Andr Thomas
1999 Sep 10-11 Greensboro, West Kenneth Fulton Membership Chorus,
Market Street Kenneth Fulton
United Methodist
Church
2000 Oct 27-28 Greensboro, UNCG Weston Noble Cary Academy;
Fayetteville State
University; Greensboro
Oratorio; Treble Voices,
Greensboro College; St.
Lukes Episcopal; UNC-
Wilmington; Bella Voce
Singers; North State
Chorale; Southern
Appalachian Chamber
Singers;
Bel Canto Company,
David Pegg

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2001 Oct 12-13 UNCG Mary Goetze: Rehearsal UNCG Womens Chorale,
Techniques & Global Voices Welborn Young;
in Song, and Childrens ChoirKernersville MS Boys,
Festival Tom Shelton; Northwest
MS Girls, Pam Brick;
Raleigh Oratorio Society
Chamber Choir, Al
Sturgis; Round Midnight,
David Tang; East Gaston
HS Concert Choir, Kenney
Potter; Childrens Festival
Choir, Mary Goetze
2002 Oct 18-19 UNCG Janette Fishell: Repertoire Meredith College Chorale,
for Chruch Choirs; Jefferson Lisa Fredenburgh;
Johnson, Rehearsal and Piedmont HS Women,
Conducting Teehniques; Deborah Lutz; ECU
Ready, Set, Sing! Video Chamber Singers, Dan
Bara; Vocal Arts
Ensemble of Durham,
Rodney Wynkoop;
Charlotte Childrens
Choir, Sandy Holland;
Cantate Chamber Choir,
Darren Dailey; Lexington
Choral Society; Jo Ann
Poston; Belshazzars
Feast, UNCG combined
choirs and orchestra
2003 Oct 3-4 UNCG Judy Bowers UNCG Chorale
Al Sturgis Charlotte Contemporary
Ensemble
Pembroke Singers
Lenoir-Rhyne Youth
Chorus
St. Stephen UMC Church
Choir
Raleigh Boychoir
NC Master Chorale

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2004 UNCG Rodney Eichenberger UNCG Womens Choir
David Pegg H. M. Arndt Eighth
Grade Chorus
Providence HS Chamber
Singers & Mens
Ensemble
North State Chorale
Greensboro Youth
Chorus
NC ACDA Church
Festival Choir
2005 Sep 16-17 UNCG Anton Armstrong Appalachian State
University Singers
Capitol City Girls Choir
UNCG Chorale
2006 Sep 22-23 UNCG Judith Willoughby UNCG Chamber Singers
Timothy Sharp Central Carolina
Childrens Chorus
Concert Singers of Cary
2007 Sep 21-22 UNCG James Jordan Campbell University
Paul Rardin Choir
Musical Heirs
Wingate University
Choir
Male Vocal Arts
Symposium
2008 Oct 10-11 UNCG Sandra Snow Male Vocal Arts
Jonathan Reed Symposium

2009 Sep 18-19 UNCG Bob Chilcott Male Vocal Arts

Al Sturgis Symposium
Kenney Potter
2010 Sep 17-18 UNCG Jerry Blackstone Musical Heirs
Paul Caldwell Gardner-Webb Univ
Chris Kiver Concert Choir
Guilford College
Chamber Singers
Carolina Voices Festival
Singers
Male Vocal Arts
Symposium

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2011 Sep 16-17 UNCG Rollo Dilworth UNC-Wilmington
Jeffrey Redding Chamber Singers
Christopher Aspaas Voices in the Laurel
Childrens Choir
Gaston Choral Society
Wolverine Concert
Choir, Wakefield HS
Male Vocal Arts
Symposium
2012 Sep 21-22 UNCG Ann Howard Jones Western Carolina Choir
Vijay Singh Glenn HS Concert Choir
ECU Male Vocal Arts
Symposium
2013 Sep 20-21 UNCG Hilary Apfelstadt UNC Womens Glee Club
Tim Seelig Carolina Mens Chorus
Male Vocal Arts
Symposium
2014 Sep 19-20 UNC-Charlotte Eric Nelson Western Carolina
Madeline Bridges Concert Choir; UNC
Charlotte Chorale;
Holmes Middle School
Treble;
Edenton St UMC Chancel
Choir;
Catawba College Ch
Singers;
ECU Chamber Singers
2015 Sep 18-19 UNC-Charlotte Elena Sharkova Bible Baptist Christian
Fernando Malvar-Ruiz & HS;
Melissa Malvar-Keylock Raleigh-Durham Sacred
Chorale; High Point U
Chamber Singers;
Martin GT Magnet
Middle School; VOX &
WS State Choirs;
Methodist U Chorale

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2016 Oct 7-8 UNC-Charlotte Heather Buchanan: Body Campbell University
Mapping Choir, Phillip Morrow;
Providence Day School
MS Choir, Libby Tilson;
Catawba College Mens
Ensemble, Phillip
Burgess and Jacob Hahn;
Young Voices of the
Carolinas, Sandy
Holland; Brevard College
Chamber Singers, David
Gresham; Film: Robert
Shaw, Man of Many
Voices

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APPENDIX V - NC Choirs at Southern
Division and National Conferences
This is a list of known choirs from North Carolina that have performed at
Southern Division or national ACDA conferences.

1963 (March) Southern Division (Charleston, WV): Woman's College Choir (Richard Cox)
1965 Southern Division (Louisville, KY): UNCG Womens Choir (Richard Cox)
1971 Southern Division (Tallahassee, FL): UNCG Chorale (Richard Cox)
1973 National Convention (Kansas City, MO); UNCG Womens Choir (Richard Cox)
1974 (Feb-Mar) Southern Division (Charlotte): Mars Hill College Choir (Joel Stegall) and
Mars Hill College Chorus (William Thomas) with NC Symphony (John Gosling)
1976 Southern Division (Williamsburg, VA): UNCG Chorale (Richard Cox)
1980 Southern Division (Knoxville, TN): UNCG Womens Choir (William McIver)
1982 (Feb) Southern Division Birmingham: UNCG Mens Glee Club (David Pegg)
1984 Southern Division (Atlanta, GA): UNCG Chorale (Richard Cox)
1988 Southern Division (Winston-Salem):
UNCG Women's Choir (Hilary Apfelstadt)
Mars Hill College Choir (Joel Reed)
Bel Canto Company (David Pegg)
1989 National Conference (Louisville): UNCG Women's Choir (Hilary Apfelstadt)
1992 (March) Southern Division (Savannah):
UNCG Women's Choir (Hilary Apfelstadt)
Bel Canto Company (David Pegg)
1996 (Feb 19-Mar 2) Southern Division (Norfolk, VA):
Durham Civic Choral Society (Rodney Wynkoop)
Greensboro Youth Chorus (Ann Doyle)
1998 (Feb 26-28) Southern Division (Charleston, SC):
UNCG Womens Choir (Richard Cox)
Raleigh Oratorio Society (now NC Master Chorale) (Al Sturgis)
2000 (Mar 1-4) Southern Division (Orlando):
Vocal Arts Ensemble (Rodney Wynkoop)
East Gaston High School Concert Choir (Kenney Potter)
Grimsley High School Madrigal Singers (Marta Force)
2002 (Feb 28-Mar 2) Southern Division (Charlotte): Bel Canto Company (David Pegg)
2004 (Feb 26-28) Southern Division (Nashville): Vocal Arts Ensemble (Rodney Wynkoop)
2005 (Feb) National Conference (Los Angeles): Vocal Arts Ensemble (Rodney Wynkoop)
2008 (Mar) Southern Division (Louisville): Vocal Arts Ensemble (Rodney Wynkoop)

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2012 (Feb-29-Mar 3) Southern Division ACDA (Winston-Salem):
Appalachian State University Singers (Steven Hopkins)
Charlotte Childrens Choir (Sandy Holland)
Durham Vocal Arts Ensemble (Rodney Wynkoop)
5 Voices of Light/The Passion of Joan of Arc: An Oratorio with Silent Film
Bel Canto Company (Welborn Young); UNCG Chamber Singers (Welborn Young);
Greensboro Youth Chorus Cantabile (Ann Doyle)
2014 Southern Division ACDA (Jacksonville, FL): Elon University lan (Steven Futrell)
2016 Southern Division ACDA (Chattanooga, TN):
Duke Vespers Ensemble (Brian Schmidt)
Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham (Rodney Wynkoop)
Wingate University Singers (Kenney Potter)

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 ENDNOTES
Any reference to an email without a named recipient was sent to Joel Stegall.
Emails are stored in the archives on a digital storage device.

1
http://acda.org/
2
http://acda.org/archivecj.asp
3
http://acdasouthern.org and http://www.ncacdaonline.org/index.html
4
http://www.tcda.net/tcda-history
5
http://acda.org/page.asp?page=acdainpictures
6
The Choral Journal, January 1985, pp. 29-35:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20January%201985.pdf
7
The principal publication of ACDA was titled The Choral Journal from the first
issue in May 1959 through May 1988. Since August 1988, the journal has been
called Choral Journal, with no the.
8
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/November%201999_Mathis_R2.pdf, p. 9ff
9
Joel Stegall personal conversation with Elwood Woody Keister around 1986,
when Stegall was head of the music department at University of Florida and
Keister was professor emeritus. After leaving East Carolina University in 1957,
Keister was director of choral activities at UF until his retirement in 1980.
10
http://www.nafme.org/about/
11
See note 6 and handwritten notes from the founding meeting February 24, 1959:
http://acda.org/page .asp?page=Hugoboom-5a
12
Earl Willhoites professional affiliation at that time is not clear. However, Joel
Stegall remembers that Willhoite was later on the staff of the Shawnee Press. This
obituary of his daughter confirms the association with Fred Waring and the
Pennsylvanians, which was affiliated with Shawnee Press:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/heraldtribune/obituary.aspx?pid=173173396;
https://www.discogs.com/label/124665-Shawnee-Press-Inc
13
John Raymond was choral director at Lafayette College, Easton, PA 1946 -76.
See: http://articles.mcall.com/2002-01-09/news/3399949_1_lafayette-college-
easton-west-chester-university; and, https://reunion.lafayette.edu/reunion-
highlights/reunion-2010/
14
Hugoboom was choral director at Marshall University in West Virginia 1950-58,
when he went to Manatee Junior College in Florida. It is not clear exactly where

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he was working when Archie Jones invited him to be on the Steering Committee;
however, it seems a reasonable assumption that Jones knew Hugoboom for his
work at Marshall. See http://www.monumentsmenfoundation.org/the-
heroes/the-monuments-men/hugoboom-lt.
15
Alferis was at the University of Minnesota from 1946 to 1958, when he became
president of the New England Conservatory. See:
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/29/obituaries/james-aliferis-78-conducted-
and-taught.html
16
Elwood Keister, In the Beginning; The Choral Journal, January 1985, p. 31:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20January%201985.pdf
17
http://acda.org/page.asp?page=acda_history
18
Records conflict concerning the number of charter members. One source says
35 conductors attended the initial meeting and that there were 111 charter
members (http://acda.org/page.asp? page=acda_history). Seventy-nine names
are listed as charter members in the first edition of The Choral Journal, May 1959,
p. 1: http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20May%201959.pdf. The
Southern Division website claims there were 81 officially designated charter
members: http://acdasouthern.org/history/. The primary organizer, Archie Jones,
who became the first president, writes in the first Presidents Letter in the May
1959 Choral Journal that there were 130 charter members with 70 attending the
organizational meeting in Kansas City. It seems reasonable to rely on Archie
Jones account as he was, more than any other single person, responsible for
forming ACDA.
The Constitution and Bylaws are also printed in the May 1959 edition of The
Choral Journal.
19
http://acda.org/page.asp?page=Hugoboom-6a
20
http://acda.org/page.asp?page=Hugoboom-6a
21
http://acdasouthern.org/history/
22
See Endnote 6.
23
Elwood Keister, In the Beginning; The Choral Journal, January 1985, p. 31:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20January%201985.pdf
24
https://acda.org/page.asp?page=acda_history
25
Those who wish to dig further into the early days of the founding, and the first
officers, will find helpful information in the archives on the ACDA website:
http://acda.org/page.asp?page=column-February-2010.
26
See Endnote 6.

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27
Succeeding generations discontinued the use of the term chairman as it suggests
that only a man can hold the office. It is used here only because that is the term
found in all the references at the time to ACDAs chief officer in the states and
divisions. As noted in the text, after about 1970, the title was changed to
president.
28
Personal conversation between Jim Jerome Williams and Joel Stegall, December
6, 2016.
29
http://acda.org/page.asp?page=acda_history
30
https://acda.org/page.asp?page=acda_history and a March 15, 2015 email to
Anne Saxon from Leane L. DeFrancis, ACDA Membership Coordinator,
ldefrancis@acda.org.
31
https://acda.org/page.asp?page=conference_history
32
https://acda.org/page.asp?page=conference_history
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/February_1971_First_Indep_ACDA_Conv_Pr
grm.pdf
33
http://www.nafme.org/about/history/nafme-national-conference-history/
34
https://acda.org/page.asp?page=conference_history
35
http://acda.org/page.asp?page=conference_history
36
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20January%201960.pdf;
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/Jan_1961_National_Conference.pdf
37
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20January%201962.pd;
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJJan09.pdf
38
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJJan10.pdf
39
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJJan11.pdf
40
http://acda.org/page.asp?page=FindingAids
41
Emails dated December 19 and 20, 2016 from Carol Berry Leinbach, James
Berrys daughter.
42
http://acda.org/page.asp?page=FindingAids
43
http://brodtmusic.com/
44
http://blogs.wdav.org/2012/10/charlottes-brodt-music-company-to-close-after-
78-years/
45
ACDA North Carolina Newsletter, October 1988, p. 4.
46
First edition of The Choral Journal, May 1959:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20May%201959.pdf
- 92 -
47
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20September-
October%201963.pdf
48
The spelling of the name Fry shows up sometimes as Frye. Most of the
documents referenced in this paper use Fry, the spelling found in the NC ACDA
Newsletter article of October 1988, p. 4, about his being both the first Southern
Division and North Carolina president.
49
The Choral Journal, September-October 1963, p.7, listed division chairmen for
the first time: http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20September-
October%201963.pdf.
50
Paul Frys years of service are well-documented. The NC ACDA Newsletter of
October 1988, p. 4, carries an article on Paul Fry, saying he was a charter member
of ACDA and the first Southern Division Chairman. Paul Frys term as Southern
Division chairman ended when Richard Cox assumed office in 1967. (See NC ACDA
Newsletter, Summer 1997, p. 1.) It is clear that Paul Fry, Albemarle High School,
was the first Southern Division president; and, that the second was Richard Cox,
UNCG. Also see The Choral Journal, September 1962:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20September%201962.pdf;
September-October,1963: http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-
%20September-October%201963.pdf
December 1964-January 1965: http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-
%20December%201964%20-%20January%201965.pdf
September-October 1967: http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20July-
August%201968.pdf
July-August 1968: http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20July-
August%201968.pdf
51
The Choral Journal, Oct-Nov 1964, p. 2: www.acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ -
October-November 1964.pdf.
The December 1964-January 1965 issue of The Choral Journal lists Paul Fry as
representative of Southern Division on board of directors:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20December%201964%20-
%20January%201965.pdf
52
Reta Phifer, Presidents Corner, NC Newsletter, Summer 1997, p. 1 states that
Frys term began in 1962. This is corroborated by the list of officers in the
September 1962 issue of The Choral Journal:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20September%201962.pdf.
Mysteriously, the list of Southern Division presidents on the ACDA Southern
Division website does not include Paul Fry, although, as noted above, other

- 93 -
documents make it clear that Fry was the first Southern Division chairman:
http://acdasouthern.org/presidents-page/.
53
In an interview February 29, 2016, Richard Cox told Joel Stegall that in the
spring of 1971, Lee Kjelson, University of Miami (FL), was elected Southern
Division president, but soon thereafter took a position out of the region. Colleen
Kirk, Florida State University, was appointed to assume the office. Also see The
Choral Journal, September 1971: http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-
%20September%201971.pdf
54
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20September%201975.pdf
55
Later, Stutzenberger moved to the University of Tennessee. Joel Stegall recalls
that early in 1976 he and David Stutzenberger, Shenandoah Conservatory (VA), ran
for the office of president-elect of the Southern Division. Stegall won the election
but then resigned before taking office because he moved from NC to become dean
of the music school at Ithaca College in New York State. Stutzenberger assumed
the office of Southern Division ACDA president-elect in 1976 and became Southern
Division president in 1977.
56
http://acdasouthern.org/presidents-page/. At the time of research for this
document, Paul Frys name was inexplicably omitted in the list of Southern
Division presidents. Joel Stegall sent a message about this to Southern Division;
but, at the time of this writing, has not had a response.
57
The Choral Journal, May 1960: http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-
%20May%201960.pdf
58
The Wayne Hugoboom Collection, Choral Journal, February 2010, pp. 52-56:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJFeb10.pdf
59
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20May%201961.pdf
60
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20May%201961.pdf
61
https://www.uncg.edu/inside-uncg/inside-history.htm
62
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20January%201963.pdf;
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/Mar_1963_Southern_Program.pdf
63
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/Feb_1965_Southern_Convention.pdf
64
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/Mar_1967_Southern_Division.pdf
65
The Choral Journal, March-April 1969:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20March-April%201969.pdf
66
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20July-August%201968.pdf
67
http://acdasouthern.org/history/
68
Email from Richard Cox to Joel Stegall dated March 10, 2016.
- 94 -
69
This is the title listed in The Choral Journals announcement of the upcoming
convention program: The Choral Journal, February 1970, p. 1:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20February%201970.pdf.
Referred to casually as St. Luke Passion, The full title of the work is The Passion
and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Luke.
(http://www.allmusic.com/composition/st-luke-passion-passio-et-mors-domini-
nostri-jesu-christi-secundum-lucam-for-3-voices-narrator-choruses-orchestra-
mc0002377399.
70
The Choral Journal, February 1970, p. 1:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20February%201970.pdf
71
Besides hearing outstanding performances, ACDA has also provided fertile
opportunities for professional networking of the sort that has likely been around
since primitive human beings formed groups for more efficient hunting. A case in
point: one report had it that not long after the Atlanta concert, Ray Robinson,
president of Westminster Choir College, was looking for a new director of choral
activities. Robinson had engaged Shaw for a series of summer workshops at
Westminster, so it was natural that Robinson would go to Shaw to ask for a
recommendation of a young conductor.
As Joel Stegall recalls the story, Shaw, who had just worked with Flummerfelt on
the Penderecki Passion for the Atlanta ACDA Convention, recommended
Flummerfelt to President Robinson. Flummerfelt began his work at Westminster
in 1971 and continued for 33 years:
http://www.josephflummerfelt.com/biography.html.
72
Joel Stegall conversation with Richard Cox, February 29, 2016.
73
This performance was not determined by an audition process. When Southern
Division President Colleen Kirk learned that Joel Stegall, NC president and director
of choral activities at Mars Hill College had already contracted the NC Symphony
for a performance of Carl Orffs Carmina Burana on the Mars Hill campus with
that colleges choirs, she asked about repeating the performance for the Charlotte
convention.
The Mars Hill groups were pleased with the opportunity of performing for choral
directors. Symphony conductor John Gosling was looking for ways to get the
Symphony in front of educational groups at least in part because education had
been one of the roles of that orchestra since its founding in 1932. Pairing the NC
Symphony and Mars Hill seems particularly fitting in that the founding conductor
of the Symphony, Lamar Stringfield, had been a student at Mars Hill
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamar_Stringfield). A copy of the 1974 convention
and the featured concert program are in the archives.
74
No records have been found to confirm this date, though Joel Stegall and
Richard Cox agree that it was in 1965-66. The only documentation found is the
- 95 -
November-December 1965 issue of The Choral Journal, which lists Joel Stegall as a
new member. Stegall remembers joining ACDA about the same time as the Salem
College meeting.
75
For those interested in knowing more about this pivotal figure in ACDA, see the
informative article, The Wayne Hugoboom Collection, Choral Journal, February
2010, pp. 52-56: http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJFeb10.pdf
76
The name was changed February 2016:
https://newsandfeatures.uncg.edu/aycock-auditorium-name-change/
77
Joel Stegall recalls: As a tenth-grade high school student from the town of Saint
Pauls singing in that chorus, I was moved by Randall Thompsons Alleluia and
inspired with Peter J. Wilhouskys arrangement of Battle Hymn of the Republic.
When the pianist did not get the style for Battle Hymn just the way Hugoboom
wanted it, he sat down at the piano and played with such flair we were all
impressed.
78
http://www.monumentsmenfoundation.org/the-heroes/the-monuments-
men/hugoboom-lt;
http://www.usfalumni.org/s/861/02-alumni/index.aspx?pgid=291
79
Joel Stegall writes of his own experience working with Wayne Hugoboom:
Early in 1968, I submitted an article for The Choral Journal. After hearing
nothing for several months, I wondered if it had gotten lost. When I wrote to ask
about it, I expected a polite non-committal response from a secretary, but Wayne
Hugoboom personally wrote back in longhand, apologizing and saying he
understood that I was peeved. (Actually, he may have used another word of
similar meaning, also starting with p.) My article, Choral Conductors
Technicians or Musicians? appeared in the next issue of The Choral Journal, vol. 9,
no. 1, July/August 1968, pp 23-24.
80
These details are from Joel Stegalls memory. He says he particularly
remembers La Biche from the Hindemith Chanson.
81
This term, as Joel Stegall recalls it, is found on the Collegiate Choral Festival
programs at least through 1983.
82
The Choral Journal, November 1961:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20November%201961.pdf
83
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20September%201962.pdf
84
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20April-May%201964.pdf
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20November-
December%201963.pdf

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85
An article in the October 1988 issue (p. 4) of the NC ACDA Newsletter asserts
that Paul Fry, a charter member of ACDA, was the first Southern Division
chairman. Although dates are not given in the article, he probably began as
Southern Division president around 1964 or 1965.
The same article also says that Fry was the first ACDA chairman in North Carolina,
but, again, dates are not provided. On the other hand, some early members recall
Paul Peterson as the first head of ACDA in this state. A 1966 press release in the
archives of the Gramley Library at Salem College clearly states that Paul Peterson
was State Chairman of the American Choral Directors Association,85 but no claim
is made that he was the first to hold that office. If Peterson was NC chairman in
1966, he would have been in office at a time when he could work with national
leadership in setting up a state organization at the Salem College meeting in the
spring of 1966.
It does not seem a stretch to understand that while the state organization was still
being formed, Paul Fry served as Southern Division and North Carolina chairman
at the same time.
Given Paul Petersons involvement in hosting the first ACDA meeting in the spring
of 1966, conceivably he was asked around the time of that meeting to be the
president of the emerging NC ACDA. As there was no ACDA presence in North
Carolina prior to this time, it seems reasonable that Fry could have been acting in
that capacity with few even being aware of the office until Peterson was visible at
the 1996 organizational meeting on the Salem College campus.
86
Richard Cox email to Joel Stegall Nov 3, 2016.
87
Stegall remembers that Bob Ellis, at Page High School in Greensboro, contacted
Stegall to ask if he would accept the nomination Stegall for president. This was, it
seems, the first time the position was known by that title. Stegall does not recall
anyone else on the ballot.
88
Telephone conversation between Clinton Parker and Joel Stegall, May 31, 2016.
89
Gary Shive email, November 1, 2016.
90
In emails dated March 20, and April 8, 2016, David Pegg reports that he was
elected president, served one year, 1979-80, and then resigned when he moved out
of state.
91
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20January%201981.pdf
92
Email from Gary Shive, January 31, 2017.
93
Email dated May 6, 2016.
94
The June-July 1964 issue of The Choral Journal announced the election of Paul
Peterson as NC chairman for the biennium July 1, 1964 to June 30, 1966:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20June-July%201964.pdf
- 97 -
95
The July-August 1966 issue of The Choral Journal lists Paul Peterson as NC
chairman for a second term 1966-68.
96
The July-August 1968 issue of The Choral Journal shows that the NC chairman
was: Carl G. N. Cronstedt, Charlotte:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20July-August%201968.pdf The
April 1970 issue also lists Cronstedt as NC chairman.
97
Stegalls memory and personal records agree with the October 1970 issue of The
Choral Journal lists him as president:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20September%201970.pdf
98
In a telephone conversation, Parker told Joel Stegall he served two terms, and
that Gary Shive followed him. The Collegiate Choral Festival programs of
February 14-15, 1975, February 28, 1976, and February 19, 1977 list Clinton Parker
as president, indicating that he was in office three years: 1975-75, 1976-76, and
1976-77. The Intercollegiate Choral Festival program for February 25, 1978 shows
Gary Shive as president, which means his term began in the fall of 1977; that is,
for the 1977-78 year. These dates appear to confirm that Parkers second term
was for one year to allow for a transition to two-years terms beginning and ending
in odd years.
See also The Choral Journal, Sept 1977:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20September%201977.pdf
100
Gary Shive is listed as NC president in The Choral Journals of January 1978;
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20January%201978.pdf; and May
1979: http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20May%201979.pdf
101
David Peggs email to Joel Stegall, confirmed by The Choral Journal, Sept 1979:
http://acda.org/files/choral_journals/CJ%20-%20September%201979.pdf
102
Email dated May 6, 2016.
103
Newsletter, November 1984 and email from Hilary Apfelstadt dated July 29,
2016.
104
Joel Stegalls memory, corroborated by Richard Cox February 29, 2016.
105
Based on Joel Stegalls recollection, with at least most of the names
corroborated by Richard Cox (email February 2016) and Clinton Parker (phone
conversation May 31, 2016).
106
The intent was to schedule the festival on the last Saturday in February. Some
years that did not work out.
107
The 1978 program is titled Intercollegiate Choral Festival. The November 1983
Newsletter, p. 2, announces the upcoming Collegiate Choral Festival for February
4, 1984; however, the April 1984 Newsletter, p. 1, reports, The thirteenth annual

- 98 -
Intercollegiate Choral Festival was held on Saturday, February 4, at UNCG, with
twelve ensembles participating. The original title re-emerged when the Winter
1999 Newsletter, p. 1, refers to the Collegiate Festival to be held at Meredith
February 13, 1999. The Spring 2000 Newsletter, p. 4, mentions upcoming
Collegiate Choral Festivals set for March 18 at Gardner-Webb and March 25 at
Meredith. In fact, minutes of the April 24, 1999 meeting of the NC ACDA Executive
Committee refer, on page one, to the Collegiate Choral Festival that was held on
the Meredith campus February 13, 1999, while page three mentions an Inter-
Collegiate Festival planned for 2000. The Spring 2001 Newsletter, p. 1, announces
Collegiate Choir Festivals to be held March 24 at Campbell and April 7 at Gardner-
Webb.
108
Ginger Wyrick writes: My best guess is that there was never an official change
in the naming of the event. Most likely coordinators and/or newsletter editors
interchanged the terms without realizing the significance. Email from Wyrick
dated June 6, 2016.
109
Emails from Brian Gorelick and Hilary Apfelstadt, respectively dated March 26,
2016 and June 13, 2016.
110
Minutes are in the archives, in the Intercollegiate Choral Festival folder.
111
Telephone conversation with Joel Reed April 19, 2016.
112
Telephone conversation with Joel Reed April 19, 2016.
113
Email from Robert Holquist, Jan 13, 2004.
114
Minutes of the October 3, 2003 board meeting state that participation had
dropped off. Dates were set for 2004 on March 20 and April 3, but it seemed
prudent to poll participants to determine if there was enough interest to continue.
Dan Bara agreed to conduct such a poll; however, there are no records to indicate
that the survey was completed.
115
Richard Cox provided list of dates and places in an email, March 1, 2016.
Several others have contributed programs or provided other information on dates,
locations, and host directors.
116
NC ACDA Newsletter, November 1981, p. 2
117
Lara Hoggard, who conceived the idea of the Collegiate Choral Festival,
conducted a choir from UNC-CH each of the first five years. There is no record of
Hoggard conducting any choirs at the Festival after 1976. For the sixth festival,
Feb 19, 1977, the Womens Glee Club from Chapel Hill performed, but it was
conducted by Stephen Bolster. The UNC-CH Womens Glee Club again appeared at
the 1978 festival, under the direction of Carl Stam. As Hoggard did not retire
from Chapel Hill until 1980, it is not clear why he did not bring a participating

- 99 -
choir to the CCF after 1976. He did, however, continue to attend the Festivals on
occasion.
118
Lara Hoggard retired from UNC-CH in 1980. The Collegiate Choral Festival
program of 1982 lists Larry Cook as director of the Carolina Choir; therefore, it
seems likely that Cook had the choir in 1981.
119
Newsletter, November 1981; Collegiate Choral Festival program.
120
In an email dated April 4, 2016, Kenneth Murray said that on January 30, 1983,
Colleen Kirk, National ACDA president, wrote to him, then choral director at
Wingate and a former student of Kirk, to say that an article on the illustrious
history of the festival would be appropriate for The Choral Journal. After the
program, Murray wrote back to Kirk that Lara Hoggard is going to collect
information on the history of the event and then have someone assist in writing
and editing the article. Murray added, I do not remember if Lara Hoggard
followed through on his intention to do that. In the same email, Murray wrote
that, in February 1983, Colleen Kirk wrote to Robert Keener, NC president, to
congratulate North Carolina on the 12th Annual Intercollegiate Choral Festival
February 26, 1983 at Wingate College. Kirks letter was read to the choirs and
directors in attendance.
121
Newsletter, April 1985.
122
Joel Reed, in a telephone conversation with Joel Stegall on April 19, 2016,
reported that Hoggard was present for the 1990 Festival held at Mars Hill College,
when Hoggard was 75 years old. Hoggards attendance is confirmed in Newsletter
article in the June 1990 issue.
123
The Newsletter, Summer 1997, p.1, thanks David Covington, Director of Music
at FPC Raleigh, for hosting the 1996 Intercollegiate Choral Festival. However, in
an email to Joel Stegall, David said he does not remember the festival. No
confirming documentation has surfaced.
124
According to the Newsletter, Summer 2000, vol. 2, no. 1, Lara Hoggard
attended the 2000 Festival at Meredith and delivered an impromptu, eloquent
address.
125
In a telephone conversation with Joel Reed on April 19, 2016, he said that only
three choirs participated: Mars Hill, Brevard, and Western Carolina.
126
Both events cancelled. No choirs registered for Elon; Only two choirs
registered for Brevard.
127
Emails from Richard Cox, March 1, 2016; and, Robert Holquist, May 6, 2016.
128
Robert Holquist email, December 21, 2106.
129
Newsletter, June 1988.

- 100 -
130
Newsletter, October 1987 and June 1988.
131
Richard Cox email, March 1, 2016.
132
http://anthonydeangriffey.com/
133
http://www.esm.rochester.edu/news/2015/04/acclaimed-tenor-anthony-dean-
griffey-and-renowned-master-teacher-dr-jonathan-retzlaff-appointed-to-voice-
faculty-at-eastman-school-of-music/
134
Email, dated May 6, 2016, from Robert Holquist, NC ACDA president 1987-89.
135
Minutes in the archives are undated, but context suggests that the meeting was
likely late 1998 or early 1999.
136
Newsletter, November 1981.
137
Telephone conversation between Clinton Parker and Joel Stegall, May 31, 2016.
138
Telephone conversation between Clinton Parker and Joel Stegall, May 31, 2016.
139
Gary Shive email, November 1, 2016.
140
Gary Shive email, November 1, 2016.
141
Newsletter, October 1985.
142
It seems possible that no performance was scheduled for this luncheon
meeting. The October 1987 Newsletter carries an article urging attendance and
listing several important items to be discussed: the 1988 Southern Division
Convention, NC Collegiate Honors Choir, Inter-collegiate Choral Festival, 1988
Summer Convention and cooperative efforts between NC ACDA and NCMEA.
143
Newsletter, October 1990.
144
http://www.ncsica.com/
145
Lara G. Hoggard, 1915-2007, Carolina Caroler, Summer 2007, vol. 7(8),
issue 3, cover story.
146
Robin Garner, North Carolina and Lara Hoggard; Genesis of an Abiding
Relationship, Carolina Caroler, Fall 2000, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 6-9; and Spring 2001,
vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 10-17.
147
Lara G. Hoggard, 1915-2007, Carolina Caroler, Summer 2007, vol. 7(8),
issue 3, cover story.
148
Newsletter, February 1989, p.5.
149
Sam Doyle email, March 21, 2016.
150
Sam Doyle email, March 21, 2016.
151
The February 1990 Newsletter reports that Maxine Blackwell not able to be
present and that Lara Hoggard spoke for her.

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152
Hinshaw Music was sold in August 2016 to Fred Bock Music of Glendale, CA,
except for the John Rutter titles that went to Oxford University Press.
153
Hilary Apfelstadt email, June 14, 2016.
154
Hilary Apfelstadt email, June 13, 2016.
155
Desiree Davis-Omburo email, Mon, Jun 13, 2016. Davis-Omburo was SSA All-
State Coordinator for NC ACDA in the late-1990s-early 2000s.
156
http://www.greensboro.com/blogs/gotriad_extra/closing-ceremony-held-for-
war-memorial-auditorium/article_1ed7cf82-3443-11e4-88f9-0017a43b2370.html
157
The letter from Carol Earnhardt is in the archives.
158
Newsletter, October 1990, p. 5.
159
Newsletter, Fall 2001, p. 7.
160
Deanna Joseph of Georgia State University was the guest clinician; however,
Reta Phifer writes in an email April 26, 2017 that she believes the event was
canceled due to bad weather. As Deanna Joseph conducted the following year, that
seems corroborate Reta Phifer memory.
161
Email from Welborn Young, January 22, 2017.
162
Email from Anne Saxon, January 16, 2017.
163
See Ginger Wyricks reflections on her term as president in Appendix II.
164
Email from Anne Saxon, January 24, 2107.
165
Email from Anne Saxon, January 24, 2107.
166
Email from Anne Saxon, January 24, 2107.
167
As remembered by Joel Stegall.
168
Hilary Apfelstadt email, June 14, 2016.
169
Ginger Wyrick email, October 22, 2016
170
Although no documentation is available, this is not totally a wild guess. When
Bob Ellis asked Joel Stegall to run for president in late spring or summer of 1970,
Stegall asked how many members there were. Stegalls recollection is that Ellis
said he didnt know, that all the records were kept in the national office; but, he
guessed maybe somewhere between 50 and 70.
171
NC ACDA Annual Report, Reta Phifer, president, June 14, 1999.
172
NC ACDA Newsletter, February 1991.
173
Email from Marta Force, dated November 13, 2016.

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174
Newsletter: Summer 1999, p. 15.
175
Anne Coltrane email, March 16, 2016.
176
Reta Phifer email, March 17, 2016.
177
Email from Brian Gorelick, March 26, 2016.
178
http://www.ncco-usa.org/mission-of-the-national-collegiate-choral-
organization/
179
Email from Brian Gorelick, March 26, 2016.
180
Email from Hilary Apfelstadt, June 13, 2016.
181
http://www.ncacdaonline.org/
182
Email from Roberta Whittington, August 4, 2016.

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