Help Ithaca Students Attend ACDA National Conference

The mission of ACDA is to inspire excellence and nurture lifelong involvement in choral music for everyone through education, performance, composition, and advocacy. Ithaca College’s Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association aims to uplift the core values of ACDA by providing unique, educational, and joyous musical experiences for all – on campus and beyond.

Our chapter organizes annual travel to major conferences around the country. This year, we will be attending the ACDA National Conference in Dallas. Historically, the chapter has been responsible for financing travel and accommodations. However, we have come to recognize that the steep costs of registration — $250 for a student rate — is also a barrier for many of our constituents who are already burdened by the cost of rising tuition. As such, we have made it our mission to cover the cost of registration, as well. Previously, this has been made possible through partnership with the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, which yielded $3,800 last year.

This year, our request for funding from MTD was declined. This significant loss — on top of higher travel and accommodation costs — leaves us in a severe financial deficit. We are prioritizing the interest of 16 juniors and seniors but are anticipating having to reduce the number of attendees to 12. A number of these students have yet to have such an opportunity due to challenges with covid in their first year and the unexpected cancellation of conference travel last year.

In addition to jeopardizing our travel to the conference, this financial burden will hinder our ability to host our roster of events on campus.

All proceeds will be going toward helping to send students to the National ACDA Conference in Dallas, Texas. Every fundraiser is crucial and your support means everything to us!