To: Parish Priests, Parish Council Chairs, Choir Directors, Organists
From: Deacon Gregory Krikorian, AACCA Central Council Chair
Subject: Junior Choir Leadership Development Program
Date: February 2, 2004
The prime objective of the Association of Armenian Church Choirs of America (AACCA) - in existence since 1948 - is to promote the teaching of the sacred music of the Armenian Church. This year, in support of this objective and in order to help develop future choir leaders, the AACCA is undertaking a new initiative, the Junior Choir Leadership Development Program (JCLDP).
The preliminary plan for this initiative was presented at the 57th Annual Assembly of the AACCA in October 2003, by the Central Council of the AACCA. Central Council Chair Deacon Gregory Krikorian, while giving an overview of the overall Junior Choir Program of the AACCA to the delegates present, asked Dr Socrates Boyajian (also on the Central Council) to specifically talk about the Junior Choir Leadership Development Program. The short presentation which was followed by a question and answer session was enthusiastically received by the delegates in attendance. They encouraged the Central Council to go forward with the program. His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, also present at the Choir Assembly, also voiced his encouragement and support of this program.
The Central Council designated Dr Socrates Boyajian to serve as the Program Coordinator for the initial run of this program. The initial JCLDP will take place August 4-8, 2004, at the new acquired Diocesan Youth & Conference Center near Albany, NY. The program will consist of a series of intensive sessions in the areas of: Armenian sacred music history, calendar of the Armenian Church, general Western music history, music theory, ear training, conducting. A review of the Divine Liturgy will also take place, with a focus on the roles of the choir (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass), the Deacon, and the Priest.
Leading musician practitioners of these areas, from across the parishes of the Diocese, will be the instructors for these sessions ñ so that the participants of this program will be able to benefit both from the knowledge as well as the experience of these talented individuals. Each day of the program will consist of multiple 90 minute sessions. Each session will consist of a 60 minute presentation/lecture followed by 30 minutes of questions/answers. The instructors will provide additional reference materials for the participants as their homework follow up to the JCLDP.
As this is a massive undertaking, and taking into consideration time constraints, the objective of the JCLDP will be to introduce the subject matter that these future choir leaders will need to achieve a certain amount of fluency in - in order for them to be successful choir leaders. The materials introduced in this week will be a life-time homework assignment. The choir leaders needs to be well rounded musicians (singing alone, or playing the organ, etc . . . are not enough to qualify as a choir leader). The choir leader also needs to be familiar with all aspects of the Divine Liturgy.
The JCLDP will target participants who have already demonstrated leadership characteristics in their community as well as musical ability based on formal musical training. These few well trained individuals, upon completion of the JCLDP, will provide a lifetime of returns for the communities that they serve in. Participants will be nominated by their parish priests (or deacons-in-charge and parish chairman, if the parish does not have an assigned priest). The Central Council of the AACCA will approve the candidates submitted. 40% of the cost of the program will be paid by the parish of the participant ($450); the remaining 60% will be paid by the fund raising efforts of the AACCA. Upon successful completion of the program, the participant will return to their local parish with a title of Assistant Choir Director - with the approval of the local parish priest. The successful graduates will be eligible to participate in future - more advanced - offerings of the Junior Choir Leadership Development Program.
The ideal candidates for this program: age range of 14-18, GPA of 3.0 or above, already involved in local parish activities for at least a minimum of 1 year (Senior Choir, Junior Choir, Sunday School, Armenian School, ACYOA), be able to read music, ability to read Armenian (at least be able to follow English transliteration), be prepared to spend one hour per week every week on an on-going basis to get ready for the music of Sunday services, be prepared to spend one hour per week every week on an on-going basis on the homework assignments of the JCLDP.
After the successful completion of the program, the Central Council of the AACCA wants to make sure that the "graduates" of the JCLDP become "practitioners" soon as they go back to their local communities. After graduation from the program, these young individuals will be designated an Assistant Choir Director role (for the Senior Choir, or Junior Choir, or both) by the local parish priest. They will conduct a portion of the Divine Liturgy once a month. The portion to be conducted will be agreed upon by the local priest and local choir director. They will also be encouraged to attend the Annual Choir Assemblies of the AACCA.
Please review the APPLICATION FORM for this program. Submit candidates by using this application form, along with a payment of $450. The selection of candidates by the Central Council of the AACCA is expected to be completed by end of month April 2004.