Registration is Open
for the 2026 Giving Voice Conference
Friday, April 10th, 2026
8:30 am - 6:30 pm
McNamara Alumni Center
200 SE Oak St, Minneapolis, MN 55455
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This conference brings together a vibrant and diverse community united by a shared belief in the power of singing together to foster connection, belonging, and wellbeing for people living with dementia and their care partners. Participants include leaders of choirs in their early years, experienced choir facilitators, professionals from related fields such as music therapy, dementia care, community arts, and research, as well as people living with dementia and care partners themselves.
The theme for this year’s conference is We’re All in This Together, because this movement thrives on collaboration and the mutual support of each other in this community and especially now in these turbulent times for mission-based organizations, it’s more important than ever than we work together to move this mission forward, thereby creating the availability of choirs for people living with dementia and their care partners for more and more people around the world.
Pricing
Early Bird Discount: Register before February 15th and get an individual ticket for $75 ($100 full priced)
Pair Discount: Receive a 25% discount code when 2 people from your organization attend
Group Discount: Receive a 50% discount code when 3 or more people from your organization attend.
(email jackie@givingvoicechorus.org for discount codes)
Session Line Up
The Science of Singing Together
Joe Lobl
Presentation
You’ve likely seen the joy that comes when people sing together—but what does the research actually show? Join Dr. Joe Lobl, retired emergency physician, longtime volunteer singer, and Board Chair of Resounding Voices, as he shares findings on the benefits of group singing for people living with dementia, their care partners, and volunteer singers. Presented in a way that’s accessible to non-medical audiences, this session will explore how singing together can support well-being, cognition, and quality of life, reduce caregiver burnout, and enhance the experiences of volunteers—plus why understanding this research matters and how it can enrich your own choral experience.
Dr. Joe Lobl is currently a volunteer singer and Board Chair of Resounding Voices Chorus in Rochester, MN. Dr. Lobl is originally from New York but moved to Rochester for medical training in the 1980's. He then was a staff physician for Mayo Clinic for 25 years until his retirement. He has experience treating patients living with dementia, as well as living with it within his family. Currently, he sings with three Rochester choirs, including Resounding Voices. He has a special interest in the health benefits of choral singing.
Connecting with Your Concert Audience
Colleen Fritsch
Interactive Presentation
This session takes a closer look at the art of delivering powerful opening remarks during your concert, deepening the audience’s connection to the music and the mission it represents—a connection that can help shift community perceptions, inspire donors, boost recruitment, and more. Participants will engage in hands-on, small-group exercises to build a foundation for crafting remarks that resonate with a diverse audience and will receive a personal example along with an easy-to-follow framework to create their own impactful speech. Practical guidance on authenticity, storytelling, managing nerves, and clear delivery will equip attendees to speak with confidence, heart, and clarity, ensuring their opening remarks inspire, engage, and leave a lasting impression.
Colleen Fritsch has spent the last 25 years in aging services where she has worked to engage community members in understanding, engaging and supporting older adults. She has been involved in public speaking for most of her career, helping most recently as a presenter of Dementia Friends Information Sessions where she became acquainted with the work and mission of Giving Voice and a deep and abiding connection began.
Voices Around the Table: Conversations That Connect
Facilitated by Jessica Clifton
Round Table Discussion
This interactive session invites attendees to engage in small-group conversations at themed round tables, each focused on a key topic relevant to running a successful dementia choral program. Participants will have the opportunity to choose the discussions that most interest them, rotate among tables, and share ideas, challenges, and solutions with peers. Guided by table prompts and facilitated dialogue, this session will encourage collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and community-building among the diverse wealth of knowledge and perspectives in this community.
Jessica (she/her) joined Giving Voice as Choral Operations Manager in January 2025 and is thrilled to bring her love of choral singing, interest in creating welcoming and organized spaces, and commitment to meeting people where they're at to her work with the Twin Cities Giving Voice Choruses. Jessica has a background in administrative support, communications, operations, and volunteer coordination, and her most recent role has been as a stay-at-home parent and active volunteer in her daughter's school community.
Cross-Cultural Understanding Through Folk Music
Vladimir Garrido-Biagetti
Interactive Presentation
This session will discuss the role of folk music as a cultural bridge. Folk songs carry stories, traditions, and emotions that link people across generations and backgrounds. By sharing music from their own heritage or learning songs from others, participants engage in an exchange rooted in mutual respect and curiosity. This process nurtures a vibrant multicultural space in which differences are celebrated, and our shared humanity is brought into focus.
Vladimir Garrido-Biagetti is a musician, cultural advocate, and community leader based in the Twin Cities. He directs the “Sabios Cantores” partnership chorus at Centro Tyrone Guzman in Minneapolis, CLUES in Saint Paul, and the Northfield Public Library, using music to build community, celebrate diversity, and inspire participation. Born in Arica, Chile, Vladimir moved to the United States at 18, bringing with him the rich musical traditions of the Andes and the socially conscious spirit of “La Nueva Canción Latinoamericana.” These influences continue to shape his work as a performer, composer, and folk dancer. Since 2005, he has produced, engineered, and directed both studio recordings and live events, including multicultural festivals that unite people through music. Vladimir currently directs the Latin band Alma Andina and the mother-and-son vocal duet Ina-Yukka, while leading Blue Condor Productions Studio in St. Paul. Passionate about music as a bridge between cultures, Vladimir empowers participants to connect, express themselves, and feel valued. Through his performances, teaching, and community projects, he inspires creativity, cultural understanding, and shared artistic growth.
Reading the Room: How Volunteer Singers Navigate Connection
Michael Anderson
Presentation
This session explores the experiences of volunteer singers in the dementia-friendly ENCORE Chorus in Rochester, New York through the idea of access intimacy—the feeling that one’s needs are noticed and responded to. Drawing on interviews and observations, the presentation examines how volunteers work alongside singers they assist and how meaningful moments of connection develop over time rather than through instinct alone. It will also highlight how volunteers attempt to be responsive: using music, routine, and careful attention to support participation while navigating uncertainty. Volunteers describe learning to read musical and social cues over time, while recognizing that their interpretations are not always confirmed. Participants can gain a sense of the thoughtful, flexible ways volunteer singers experiment with attunement to help make choir a meaningful and welcoming experience for everyone.
Michael Alan Anderson is professor of the Musicology Department at the Eastman School of Music, who has only recently begun pursuit of the arts as it relates to health. His participation in the Sound Health Working Group at the University of Rochester and with Eastman Performing Arts Medicine Center led to his founding in March 2024 of the ENCORE Chorus for people living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias and their care partners. As program director of the ENCORE Chorus, Anderson supervises the overall experience for participants, recruits for the organization, and facilitates research and grant opportunities. He now serves on the National Advisory Council of the Giving Voice Initiative.
Sarah DeYong grew up in Oklahoma but lived in Minneapolis for a time. It was there she was first exposed to dementia choirs by volunteering for the Giving Voice Chorus. After graduating with her MFA from Boston Conservatory (researching Trauma-Informed Voice Care) Sarah moved back to Oklahoma and began her own dementia choir: Raising Voices. She employs her research in the choir and within her voice studio at Oklahoma City University.
Compassion, Dignity and Resilience: How Trauma-Informed Care Can Inform Training for the Dementia Choir
Sarah DeYong
Interactive Presentation
This session explores how trauma-informed care can guide the practices and decisions of dementia choir directors and volunteers. Participants will learn about the connections between dementia and trauma, gain a foundational understanding of trauma-informed care and nervous system support, and discover practical ways to apply these principles in a choir setting. The session will include a series of regulating exercises that can be integrated into rehearsals to foster safety, connection, and well-being for both participants and volunteers.
Bringing Joy and Purpose to the Warm-up
Joseph Caulkins
Interactive Presentation
Warm-ups can be transformative for singers living with Alzheimer’s and dementia, fostering comfort, focus, cognitive engagement, social connection, and a sense of accomplishment. In this session, Artistic Director Joseph Caulkins, from Where Are My Keys Chorale in Sarasota, Florida, will demonstrate warm-up strategies that are musically enriching, adaptable, and accessible, using exercises he has refined over 30+ years. Attendees will learn practical approaches to create a joyful, structured tone for rehearsals while supporting vocal technique, ensemble cohesion, and choral artistry.
Adventurous is a fitting descriptor for Maestro Joseph Caulkins. It has been used to describe his reputation for bold programming, world premieres and unique collaborations on the podium, to his knack for vibrant storytelling as a freelance writer, and his pursuits as an experienced alpinist. These diverse interests have shaped the quality of his music making, writing, climbing and life. Whether it be a professional orchestra, singers, dancers, high school students, circus artists, people living with Parkinson’s or Memory Loss/Dementia, he is fueled by bringing out the best in everyone. As a guest conductor, Maestro Caulkins has led The Venice Symphony, Space Coast Pops, The Sarasota Ballet and The Southwest Florida Symphony where he was also Associate Conductor/Director of Choruses from 2001-2010. Prior to his arrival in Florida, he was Artistic Director/Conductor of the Bach Chamber Choir (Rockford, IL) and directed the St. Procopius Chamber Orchestra and Choirs at Benedictine University (Lisle, IL). With his choruses, Maestro Caulkins produced numerous CDs, led European concert tours, conducted world and regional premieres and commissioned new works from Dale Warland, Eric Whitacre and Ola Gjeilo among others. In 2019, Maestro Caulkins received the “Arts Leadership Award for Artistic Achievement” from the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County for his many achievements as Artistic Director of Key Chorale. His performances of new and rarely heard works, in styles as diverse as masterworks, pops, contemporary, baroque – even ballet, have become his trademark. Joseph’s passion for education and community outreach have shaped much of the chorale’s programming and mission during his tenure. Maestro Caulkins has released his book “Developing Choral Sound Through the Warm-up,” 200+ tried and true vocal exercises for solo singers, teachers, conductors and choirs, which is now available through Amazon and on his website.
Cathy Reitz has devoted her career to the lifelong benefits of singing and music. Whether she is performing, conducting, or teaching, she believes in the power of sharing music. Making sure there is good music and someone to share it with delights her. Cathy has taught choral and vocal music in the state of Wisconsin for over 50 years, is a Master Adjudicator for WSMA and is founder and first director of Stand in the Light Memory Choir, Eau Claire, WI. Starting last January she began work with Giving Voice Initiative, Minneapolis, to start memory choirs in rural Wisconsin. Bringing music to all ages and abilities is Cathy’s passion. She describes herself as a “sharer of music.” Cathy fronts her own bands, Cathy Reitz & 7Swing and the Cathy Reitz Trio, based out of Eau Claire. She also is a regular vocalist with the Chippewa Valley Jazz Orchestra, La Crosse Jazz Orchestra and area combos. Along with music, she loves reading, stamping, crafting, talking, laughing, and spending time with her two children, one granddaughter, one son-in-law and one husband. “Making music together is the way we can change the world.”
Add a Spark to the Simple Songs
Cathy Reitz
Workshop
This session explores ways to bring simple, often-overlooked songs to life in dementia choir performances—keeping the music engaging, meaningful, fun, and positive. Participants will learn techniques for enhancing melodies through audience participation, instruments, movement, ASL, and connections to personal memories. The session will offer practical ideas for performances that are interactive, empowering, and perfect for any performance.
Special Events
Registration includes an opening session, a catered lunch, and a happy hour!
Location & Getting There
Event Location:
McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak Street SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455
To get a visual of the space, check out this McNamara Alumni Center 2-minute video reel
Parking & Directions
Mcnamara Alumni Center is a part of the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis Campus, so while street parking is limited there is an adjoining parking garage, address below. We recommend using this address when navigating via gps.
University Avenue Ramp
1926 University Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Accessibility Information
The Conference Venue: McNamara Alumni Center
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Men's and women's restrooms on the main floor that are ADA accessible
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No steps to enter the building, all paved pathways
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All exterior doors have powered doors which can be opened with a button
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There is a tunnel to and from the University Avenue Ramp (the closest ramp) which has elevators and stairs to enter the McNamara Alumni Center with signage throughout
Lodging
We recommend the Graduate by Hilton Minneapolis, one short block away from the McNamara Alumni Center! Address: 615 Washington Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55414. Amenities include a fitness center, meeting rooms, free wifi, and onsite dining.
If lodging is an expense that is holding you back, please don’t hesitate to reach out to jackie@ givingvoicechorus.org. We have a big community in the twin cities and may be able to find someone who’s willing to host you in their home free of charge.
"A GREAT conference. So well thought out and I heard words like "refreshing" "inspiring" and "motivating" used to describe the experience we all had today. It was a joy to be a part of the day."
There were so many great takeaways and people left inspired and uplifted. A great diverse program of perspectives. And what a surprise to see so many choir members and people from the past. Most conferences like this leave participants just plain exhausted, but this one did not!
"I thought it was educational, inspiring and great networking. We are proud to be an affiliate of Giving Voice and please pass along to the entire Giving Voice team my huge thanks for a great day!