Awards - 2022-2023
ORACDA 2023 award
winners!
Loren Wenz - Hall of Fame
Helen Deitz - Service to the Profession
Emma Bergman - Emerging Conductor
Brooks Gingerich,
Podium Award
2022 Awards
Emerging Conductor Award - Danika Locey
Service to the Profession Award - Pam Nordquist
Pam Nordquist was Co-Director of Choirs at South Medford High School in Medford, Oregon. In addition, she directed an advanced group of the Rogue Valley Youth Choruses. Pam is the Founding Director of the Rogue Valley Youth Ensemble, a highly select mixed choir for grades 10- 12. Up until 2013, she was also the conductor of the Rogue Valley Cantare Chorus, a mixed choir for grades 7-9.
Mrs. Nordquist holds degrees from The Wichita State University, the Conservatory of Music-University of Missouri-Kansas City (Master’s in Choral Conducting) and has additional professional development credits from Portland State, University of Portland, University of Oregon, and George Fox University.
Pam has served 12 years on the board of the Oregon American Choral Director’s Association as Repertoire and Standards Chair for Junior High and Middle School Choirs, the Membership Co- Chair, and now State President. In addition, she has recently served as the Audition Chair for the Oregon Music Education Association’s All-State High School Choir, and secretary for the District #8 SOMEA leadership team. In January 2012, the Rogue Valley Cantare Chorus(grades 7-9) and
members of the RV Youth Ensemble (grade 10) performed at the OMEA state conference as a demonstration choir for a session Pam presented on quality repertoire for middle level and high school choirs.
Podium Award - Ken Graber
Ken Graber, choral director at North Bend High School not only received the 2022 Podium Award from ORACDA, he was also named Outstanding Music Educator recently by the Oregon Music Education Association.
Much of his inspiration for teaching came from his dad who also worked with the Education Service District and was known for utilizing the family unity model.
“This was where schools changed how people thought of families and foster parenting,” Graber explained. “This was realizing that these people needed resources to be the best they could be … You see, every child wants to succeed. There isn’t a child who doesn’t. It’s our job not to say they’re doing it wrong, but for us to give them the skills and tools to become who they want to become. We have to think on a higher level and help them figure out how to become that. That’s a huge driving force for why I wanted to teach.”
Hall of Fame - Wallace Long
Dr. Wallace Harris Long, Jr. is a choral conductor, educator, and vocalist. He was director of choral activities at Willamette University from 1983 to 2020, founded the Willamette Master Chorus and conducted the group from 1985 to 1998, and was a member of Male Ensemble Northwest. Long has been called "a world-class conductor" and "the ultimate professor, scholar and community-builder"
Long joined the faculty at Willamette University in 1983 and was chair of the Music department from 1994 to 2001. At Willamette, he directed the Chamber Choir and Willamette Singers (A jazz ensemble), as well as teaching conducting and other courses. Long oversaw the construction of the Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center, which houses the University's primary concert and rehearsal halls.
A frequent adjudicator and clinician, Long has served as a guest conductor for the Kansas and Wyoming All-State Choirs as well as the Texas Two-Year College All-State Choir, the Fairbanks Festival of the Arts, and the Bangkok International Choral Festival. He sang as a member of the Robert Shaw Festival Singers from 1993 to 1996. In May 2006, Long conducted Haydn’s Mass in the Time of War in Carnegie Hall. He is a past president of the Oregon chapter of the American Choral Directors Association.