This opportunity to sing with professionals of the Pittsburgh Opera is an example of the kind of opportunity that occasionally comes to CFC members. Providing talented, disciplined child singers to organizations such as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Opera is one of the purposes for which the Children's Festival Chorus was founded.

Six members of the Children’s Festival Choirs have been selected to be a part of the Children’s Honor Choir at the 2006 Eastern Division American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Conference held February 15-18, 2006 in New York City. They are: Elizabeth Bailey, Maggie Benham, Emily Borger, Lottie Jefferies, Antonio Juliano, and Marissa Zane. These singers were trained and prepaired by CFC conductor Mrs. Elaine Goldsmith.

What is ACDA?
Founded. Founded in 1959, the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) is a nonprofit music-education organization whose central purpose is to promote excellence in choral music through performance, composition, publication, research, and teaching. In addition, ACDA strives through arts advocacy to elevate choral music's position in American society.

Membership. ACDA membership consists of approximately 18,000 choral directors who represent more than one million singers across the United States. ACDWA members teach choral music in public and private schools - kindergarten through senior high school - and at the college and university levels. They conduct a variety of choral groups, including boychoirs, children's choirs, men's and women's choruses, junior and senior high school choirs, college and university choruses, ethnic choirs, vocal-jazz ensembles, and symphony choruses. They also conduct choirs in their communities and in their places of worship.

Organizational Structure. ACDA is divided into seven geographic regions as well as fifty state chapters, each with its own conventions, newsletters, festivals, clinics, and workshops. Whether at the national, division, or state level, ACDA is structured so that its members can easily involve themselves in the organization's activities.

Joseph Helinski and Daniel Salera appeared in the Pittsburgh Opera Center's production of "The Turn of the Screw" at the CAPA Theater.

Antonio Juliano, a first year Talisman singer, has been selected as a winner of the 2005 Pittsburgh Concert Society auditions. He is the youngest and the first vocalist ever to be selected for this honor. He recently appeared in his first operatic role as Amahl in "Amahl and the Night Visitors" with the Pittsburgh Opera Theater. Elaine Goldsmith, our Talisman conductor, was his coach. He will appear in concert with other young performers, including pianist Anjoli Rao, another CFC alum, at CMU on Sunday, February 6th, at 2:00 p.m.