ACE Award Metro West District

Written and Nominated by: Bill Flatley, President, Angelica Cantanti Board of Directors

Photo l-r: Chris Larson, District Chair; Audrey Riddle, recipient; Bill Flatley, nominator and presenter

On behalf of so many people at Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs, it is a privilege for me to present Audrey Riddle for an ACE Award for her outstanding work as the Executive Director of Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs. Each year in her role, she is serving an average of over 300 families of young singers, 65 adults involved in our alumni choir, and countless volunteers, alumni, and donors in support of the choral arts.

Since 2007, Audrey has been the Executive Director for the Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs (ACYC) organization. ACYC is a choir program based in Bloomington and has recently celebrated 40 years. Since Audrey took the helm, youth choir membership has grown, an alumni and friends choir was created, and the opportunities for educational and performance opportunities have increased in number and quality. She has led ACYC from performing in just small rehearsal halls and churches to performing at venues such as The Ordway and Orchestra Hall, providing positive life experiences for so many young singers.

As the principal administrator, she takes responsibility for assuring a stable environment in which day-to-day business operations are appropriately managed. She fosters a culture of excellence, ethics, stewardship and commitment to everyone involved in our organization.

• She directs and actively participates in development and fundraising efforts
• Coordinates public relations, marketing and recruiting activities
• Oversees financial planning and decisions
• Supervises operations
• Supports and informs the Board of Directors
• Manages all forms of communications
• A true master of logistics for concert performances and rehearsals
• Audrey provides the organizational support structure necessary to let our Artistic Team focus on the music and their singers.
• Audrey is a careful, thoughtful, and creative planner.
• She seeks input from all individuals on the Board of Directors, from artistic staff, and from parents of students in the program.

Honestly, there isn’t an hour that goes by in Audrey’s life when she isn’t thinking about the youth choirs and how to better serve our community of choral musicians. I can personally attest to getting text messages at any hour of the day or night!

Just a few recent highlights:

• 2018, Audrey helped coordinate an appearance for one of our choirs to perform with Leslie Odom Jr. at the Superbowl in Minneapolis.
• That spring, interest in the ACYC youth choirs became excitingly overwhelming. So, in the fall of 2019, after Audrey was instrumental in planning and coordinating the addition of 5 new choirs.
• In March 2020, ACYC was forced to shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like so many arts leaders, Audrey’s first thoughts and actions were to keep ACYC financially healthy throughout the entire crisis. Over the summer months it became clear to Audrey that ACYC had an obligation to keep its young singers connected to the arts and to keep them singing. She did her homework and with input from other choral leaders in Minnesota and from around the country, Audrey partnered with the ACYC artistic staff to develop unique and engaging online offerings for the 2020-2021 season.

Audrey Riddle is genuine in all that she does for ACYC and the choral arts. More than anything, however, she is a wonderful person and I consider myself blessed for having her in my life as a dear friend.