By Victoria Addison
Sports Editor
The College of Saint Rose Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) will be hosting a Disney Magic Cabaret on Saturday, February 7 at 7 p.m. in the Picotte Recital Hall. The concert will be free and open to the public.
The performance will benefit the “Fund for Tomorrow”, an organization that belongs to the national ACDA. The charity encourages the establishment of new children’s choirs, the development of conductors and teachers, and engagement of student members in ACDA chapters. Concert attendees will be encouraged to make a donation to benefit the cause.
The upcoming concert will be the first performance for the St. Rose ACDA chapter, who is a newly established group on campus.
“This is our first concert as the ACDA is brand new this year,” said ACDA president and sophomore music education major Andrew Pariseau. “We hope to hold more.”
The concert will be a part of a large series involving the Northeast ACDA Collegiate chapters, in which all shows are schedule to take place during the same weekend, that being the weekend of February 7. According Pariseau, the St. Rose chapter was invited to partake in the series by the ACDA of Ithaca College.
“Ithaca College looks to unite the Northeast ACDA Collegiate chapters through these concerts, and looks to present this large concert series event at the 2015 ACDA National conference,” said Pariseau. “We hope to take part in many more intercollegiate events.”
Since the concert series has no set theme, the St. Rose chapter decided on Disney music to incorporate the idea of “keep moving forward”.
“Walt Disney is quoted to have said, “Keep moving forward”. We would like to take that quote and associate it with one of the ACDA core ideals of keeping music alive and to help the love of music grow and blossom,” Pariseau said.
Sophomore music education major Megan Anderson, who is a member of the ACDA and will be performing in the show, expressed her excitement for the upcoming event.
“It’s just something that the college and the department of music have never done before,” said Anderson. “I am an absolute fan of Disney and I feel that it will be a great time for all who come to feel like a little kid again.”
Both students and faculty will be performing songs from the Disney Corporation. Most performers will be singing with a piano accompaniment, but both vocal and instrumental performances are welcome. So far, along with the members of ACDA, it is possible that three professors will be involved in the show.
“My daughter and I have been invited to perform duets of “Colors of the Wind” and “Beauty and the Beast” that I arranged,” said music professor Ralph Hays. Other performances will include songs from Disney movie soundtracks such as Frozen or The Muppet’s.
Students are encouraged to attend the event to support the “Fund for Tomorrow”, as well as the newly established ACDA chapter.
“I would like to add a big thank you to all of the students and faculty who are giving up there valuable time to perform in this concert,” said Pariseau.
The ACDA is open to students at both the undergraduate and graduate level of study, with no specific major required. The group currently has around 16 members.
“We aim to foster and promote excellence and awareness in the field of choral music through master classes, performances, and advocacy,” said Pariseau.
For students who are interested in joining the ACDA, meetings are held on Mondays at 6 p.m. in room 303 of the Massry Center for the Arts.
