Caron Daley, a Duquesne choral director and music school professor, was recently elected President of the Pennsylvania American Choral Director’s Association.
Caron Daley, a Duquesne choral director and music school professor, was recently elected President of the Pennsylvania American Choral Director’s Association.
Hallie Lauer | Layout Editor
Duquesne’s own Caron Daley of the Mary Pappert School of Music has been elected the President-Elect Designate for the Pennsylvania American Choral Directors Association (PA-ACDA.)
Daley is the director of choral activities and an assistant professor in the music school. She also conducts three university ensembles, the Voices of Spirit, Women’s Pappert Choral and the University Singers.
PA-ACDA is a nonprofit music education organization, whose directive is to “promote lifelong singing,” according to Daley.
“I love taking on leadership roles. I’ve been involved for the past 10 years in leadership with various service organizations,” Daley said. “It’s something I really enjoy doing. I always was hopeful something like this would come along.”
Daley was surprised at how quickly she landed this leadership role, having been a member for only three years.
She was elected in January, and will become the President-Elect on July 1. As the President-Elect, it becomes her duty to plan the Summer and Fall Conferences for the PA-ACDA.
“[The conference] is about bringing in guest clinicians and identifying leaders in our field that can really inspire our membership in the state,” Daley said.
Choirs from middle school, high school, collegiate and professional levels are all eligible to compete to be invited to the conference.
In Sept. 2016, Duquesne started its own student-run chapter of the ACDA. Daley is hopeful that the knowledge and experiences she can bring back will help to grow the chapter.
“We’ve got some really strong student interest [and] our chapter is growing. So as President-Elect I will be really plugged into what’s happening in the state,” Daley said. “I think that will really support the growth of our choral programs here at Duquesne and our ACDA chapter.”
Daley has already been recognized at being able to efficiently share her knowledge with her students in order to improve their studies.
“She really knows how to pinpoint areas a student is having difficulty in and then offer specific ideas for improvement. I’m never guessing what she wants,” said Brady Collins, a senior vocal performance major. “She also uses her knowledge of the voice to shape her conducting gesture and imparts that knowledge to her students.”
Currently, the Duquesne chapter of ACDA is having monthly meetings and doing volunteer work, but Daley is hopeful that they soon will be hosting different events “that might be of wider appeal to either the community or too more and more students across campus.”
Her accomplishments have also been recognized across campus, by faculty and students alike.
“The election to serve as the President-Elect of the Pennsylvania Chapter of ACDA is a distinguished accomplishment and a recognition by your peers of high achievement within the profession and of your expertise as a conductor, musician, and leader,” said Assistant Dean of the Mary Pappert School of Music, Stephen Benham.
