Convention – part of our roots
Our Convention goes right back to our roots, to July 1986, when a weekend of choral activity was held in Oxford, in response to a demand for an organisation for the individuals leading and composing choral music. That weekend formed our very first Convention and we’ve held one every year since, apart from one, including online Conventions during the Pandemic.
Convention is a unique mix of practical, academic and performance, with opportunities for singing leaders at all levels. Teachers who have reluctantly taken on their music curriculum attend alongside some of today’s top choral conductors and composers, and our trade exhibition is filled with music publishers large and small, composers, travel companies and the myriad of organisations which make up the music business.
International connections have always been important to abcd, and we’ve welcomed conductors and choirs from all over the world to lead sessions and perform. Just a few include Professor John Dickson, Eric Whitacre, the Suwon Civic Chorale, the Norwegian Student Choral Society, Kyoto Echo Choir, the Academic Student Choir of Ural Federal University, the Oulainen Youth Choir (Finland), the Lincoln-Nebraska Chamber Singers, the Latvian Radio Chamber Singers, Riga Cathedral Girls’ Choir and Louisiana State University A Cappella Choir.
Convention has always travelled around the UK; for many years regional committees took turns to organise the programme, giving a unique stamp to each weekend. These days we travel slightly less, but still moving around the UK, for an inspiring two days for everyone leading singing.
Convention is for anyone and everyone involved in leading singers of any age. It’s a place where everyone is an equal, whatever their experience. Leading a choir can be lonely! Everyone is your colleague at Convention, whether you’re tentatively taking the first steps into leading singers, or you’re one of our best-known choral leaders and composers. Come to network, come to learn new skills, come to find piles of new music, come to recharge your batteries, come for inspiration.
We were delighted to return to York for our 39th Convention this October, to York St John Creative Centre, right in the centre of the historic city of York. Watch this space for the announcement of where next year’s Convention will be!