JENNY TSI - Children’s and Youth Choir Director, All Saints Church, Pasadena. Director of Trouvéres Mixed Choir, Unidad, Youth Chamber Choir, and Vox Cambiata

I have been a member of ACDA for most of my 34 years as a choral educator in both the public school system and as a children’s and youth church choir director. I served several years on the WA ACDA board as the R and S chair for Children’s and Community Youth Choirs when I lived in Washington State. I loved the opportunity to mentor new choral directors, write for online publications, conduct honor choirs, and be a presenter on the state and divisional level. Through those ACDA activities, I have grown in my own understanding as a choral director and enjoy the opportunity to pass on what others have so graciously passed on to me. Going to conferences is a time to recharge, reconnect, and make new connections and create community. I am always amazed at how much there is to learn in this field and how many of us have our own niche or ideas that we never even dreamed of in our programs. Being a part of ACDA means I am part of something really big that changes the lives of other people. I am grateful every day that I get to make music with brilliant children and youth. I recently graduated with my masters in choral conducting and what I learned in that program has completely changed my approach to rehearsals, to the tone of my choir, and their understanding of the choral art. The amount of music that these choirs present during worship is beyond impressive. We recently enjoyed singing Eric Whitacre’s “Glow” with string quartet and Morten Lauridsen’s “O Magnum Mysterium” during the season of Avent. O Magnum was done by our treble choir. We used Lauridsen’s solo version of the well-known anthem and it made the sound of my treble choir mature overnight. It was quite magical and the composer enjoyed the recording. We also use gesture a lot while we sing and having them connect that gesture to their singing and understanding of the music has also helped them to grow as choral singers.