KENNESAW, Ga. | Oct 4, 2026

Conference showcases student excellence while strengthening KSU’s connections to the professional choral community

The Bailey School of Music (BSOM) at Kennesaw State University (KSU) welcomed choral educators, conductors and students from across the state and beyond Oct. 2-3 for the Georgia chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (GA-ACDA) conference. 

For the third consecutive year, KSU served as host for the conference, which featured performances, interest sessions, masterclasses and networking opportunities. BSOM students were involved throughout the two-day event, volunteering in a variety of capacities, from guiding visiting choirs around campus to helping ensure technology needs were met.

While hosting the conference requires significant work behind the scenes, it also provides KSU students with opportunities to connect directly with choral professionals, experience conference sessions and performances, and participate alongside educators and musicians from throughout Georgia.

“It’s a labor of love because although it takes a lot of work to host, our students benefit greatly from meeting choral directors from around the state and participating in all of the events,” said Ryan Fellman, Director of Choral Activities.

KSU students also had an especially visible role in this year’s conference. Of the four students selected for the GA-ACDA student conducting masterclasses, two undergraduate and two graduate, Gabe Arguello and Kendyl Dunn were selected as the two undergraduate representatives.

Arguello and Dunn had the opportunity to conduct their peers in the KSU Chamber Singers, which served as a demonstration choir for a conducting masterclass for the third consecutive year. The students conducted Randall Thompson’s The Last Words of David for clinician Alicia Walker, Director of Choral Studies at the University of South Carolina. The conference also featured Arguello, Dunn and the Chamber Singers performing Caroline Shaw’s To the Hands, Movement III.

“This Kennesaw exposure allows our students to rub shoulders with the best in the business, so to speak,” Fellman said.

Hosting events like the GA-ACDA conference provide BSOM students with meaningful connections to the professional music community while establishing KSU as a gathering place for musicians and educators beyond campus.