Registration
December 16, 2023 - Student registration DEADLINE.
One School Form required per school AND one Student Medical Form per student.
Please print the Medical Form (below) 2-sided and send it before the registration deadline.
Please note that medical forms no longer need to be notarized.
December 16, 2023 - Payment due - payment can be made either by credit card or check.
HS Singer’s fee: $55
Please make checks payable to WV ACDA.
Checks should be posted to:
Joshua Dubs
2101 Dudley Ave.
Parkersburg, WV 26101
Medical forms should be sent to:
Buckhannon Upshur High School
c/o Jeremiah Smallridge
270 BU Drive
Buckhannon, WV 26201
Repertoire
Veni Sancte Spiritus - Mozart Click to download the PDFs.
Locus Iste – Karl Jenkins https://www.jwpepper.com/Locus-Iste/10490820.item
Erev Shel Shoshanim – Joseph Hadar/Arr. Jack Klebanow https://www.jwpepper.com/Erev-Shel-Shoshanim/4958831.item
O Love – Elain Hagenberg https://www.jwpepper.com/O-Love/10667410.item
Daniel, Servant of the Lord – Undine Smith Moore https://www.jwpepper.com/Daniel%2C-Daniel%2C-Servant-of-the-Lord/1254267.item
The Awakening – Joseph Martin https://www.jwpepper.com/The-Awakening/3027786.item
2024 Conductor: Dr. Jeffrey Allen Murdock
Dr. Jeffrey Allen Murdock is internationally known as a conductor, clinician, and music educator. He currently serves as Director of Choral Activities, Professor of Music, and Director of the Arkansas Center for Black Music at the University of Arkansas. He is a 2016 Connor Endowed Faculty Fellow in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, a 2018 recipient of the Golden Tusk Award, the 2019 Most Outstanding Faculty Member among all university faculty, and the 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year.
Dr. Murdock appears regularly in concert, recital, and stage performances, having previously conducted the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the (Mississippi) Gulf Coast Symphony and has also performed as a soloist with the Fort Smith Symphony, the Memphis Symphony, the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, and the Southern Mississippi Opera. Dr. Murdock’s love of scholarship and performance has led him to study and perform around the world.
As a music educator, he loves to invest his knowledge and experience in the next generation of young musicians through clinic opportunities with secondary choral programs, conducting honor choruses, and mentoring choral music educators. Dr. Murdock is highly sought after as a clinician in the field of choral music and education, having conducted All-State and All-Region choirs, or headlined conferences in 27 states and 7 countries. In 2013, he made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the Millington Chorale in a well-received concert of diverse repertoire. The evening concert featuring the ensemble was praised for its preparation and the ensemble’s maturity of sound.
While Dr. Murdock is an accomplished classical musician, he is also a skilled Gospel musician. He has served on the conducting staff of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. and has collaborated with Gospel recording artists, including Donnie McClurkin, Richard Smallwood, Mary Mary, Marvin Winans, Marvin Sapp, Lisa Knowles, Kathy Taylor, and numerous others.
Dr. Murdock’s research interests include cultural hegemony in choral music education, social justice in music education, culturally responsive pedagogy in music education, and music in urban schools. He has been invited to present at the National Research Conference for the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) as well as two World Conferences of the International Society for Music Education (ISME) – (Glasgow, U.K., and Helsinki, Finland). Dr. Murdock is also a frequent research presenter at local and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors’ Association (ACDA) where he is president-elect of the Southwestern Division (SWACDA), past president of the Arkansas Chapter, and serves on the national subcommittee for diversity. Dr. Murdock holds both Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music in Conducting degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music Education from the University of Memphis. In addition to NAfME and ACDA, his professional memberships include the ASCAP and the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO). He is also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated.
Dr. Murdock is married to the Reverend R. Janae Pitts-Murdock, Senior Pastor of the Light of the World Christian Church Indianapolis, Indiana, and they have two amazing children, Jeffrey Allen Murdock, III, and John Patrick Alexander Murdock.
2024 Accompanist: Graham Sterling
Graham Sterling is a pianist from rural southwestern Pennsylvania in the small town of Fredericktown. He is completing his first year of a Master of Music in Collaborative Piano Performance under the instruction of Dr. Lucy Mauro at West Virginia University. He aspires to perform internationally as a collaborative and solo pianist.
Graham started self-teaching himself piano at the age of 5 with help from his grandmother, who began to teach him basic chord structure and harmony and ultimately was his driving force to pursue music. He would not start formal piano lessons with Mrs. Marcia Barna until he was 14. During this time, he accompanied various choirs, bands, ensembles, and soloists. It was through his high school career of accompanying the school choirs that kickstarted his further interest in music. Since then, he has played with various choirs along the east coast from New York City to Disney World and many places in between.
While in high school, Graham was collecting various awards such as the “Outstanding Accompanist” award which he was awarded 4 consecutive years while playing competitions with his school’s choir. This award was nonexistent until the judges had heard him accompany the choir.
Graham looks forward to spending much of this upcoming summer exploring Europe while participating in various piano festivals. He also aspires to continue making connections with others through music and discovering unique new ways to interpret pieces through collaborating with others and gaining insight into their interpretations. At West Virginia University, Graham is involved in various collaborative roles. He has graciously accepted a graduate assistantship at the Suncrest United Methodist Church in Morgantown, WV where he is the pianist and organist. He has accompanied many students as soloists and in chamber settings. He has also played piano in large ensembles such as the WVU Wind Symphony, the WVU Symphonic Band, and the WVU Film Scoring Ensemble. He will be traveling this spring with the Wind Symphony to perform in a College Band Directors National Association conference as the pianist in an invited featured ensemble in Memphis, TN. Graham has also accompanied the WVACDA High School Honor Chamber Choir, and will be joining them again as their accompanist this upcoming February. Outside of the university, he performs frequently with the Cassidy Paige band (of which he has been a part of since 2017) and his newest band, “The Band Seventy9” (which is based out of New York and was formed summer 2023). He has also filled in with various other local bands such as “Tucker Knisell & The Night Riders” and “Intoxicated Zen”. Graham is also a pianist at Nemacolin Resort in Farmington, Pennsylvania. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, fishing, playing the violin, and farming on his family’s farm in Masontown, PA.
Contact
Honor Choir Chair - Jeremiah Smallridge
Buckhannon Upshur High School
c/o Jeremiah Smallridge
270 BU Drive
Buckhannon, WV 26201