Thank you to all who contributed to the FMC Endowment during Give to the MAX day! Donations can be accepted anytime. Please click here to contribute to the FMC Endowment Fund.

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The F. Melius Christiansen Endowment Fund

In 1996, the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota created the F. Melius Christiansen Endowment Fund to foster Minnesota's reputation for choral excellence by awarding scholarships to undergraduate and graduate choral conducting students from private and public Minnesota colleges and universities.

The Endowment Fund is named after F. Melius Christiansen, founder of the St. Olaf Choir, who believed his contribution to music was not one of instinctive genius, but an ethic of hard work used to achieve perfect intonation, seamless blend and crisp diction. Today, choral musicians in Minnesota pride themselves on a tradition of excellence built on the Christiansen foundation; an evolving tradition that inspires and trains talented young people throughout the state to pursue their ambitions in the choral industry. The future of choral music — in classrooms, churches, synagogues and communities — rests squarely in the hands of these promising directors.

Your gift to the F. Melius Christiansen Endowment Fund will assist with:

• Providing active choral conductors with professional development opportunities and
  
• Encouraging talented young musicians to pursue choral conducting as a career

Please read about the history of our FMC Endowment Fund in an article authored by Mary Kay Geston, past president of ACDA-MN. (Click here to read the article).

Each year more than $13,000 in scholarships are awarded to ACDA-MN members to attend ACDA division and national conferences, the Summer Dialogue conference and graduate school. Every three years an ACDA-MN member is awarded a scholarship to attend the World Symposium on Choral Music. The 2011 symposium will be held from August 3-10 in Puerto Madryn, Argentina.

Donations to the Endowment Fund assist in funding annual scholarships for active and aspiring Minnesota choral conductors. Earned endowment income also assists with providing administrative support for ACDA-MN. As we continue to offer more opportunities, your gift can truly make a difference! Contribute now.

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