24th Annual High School Choral Festival

Dear Choral Director:

We are pleased to invite you to the 24th Annual NDSU High School Choral Festival!  It will be held this year on Sunday, October 7 and Monday, October 8.  We look forward to this opportunity to work with your students and host you on our campus.

This year’s festival will begin on Sunday, October 7 with a concert featuring the NDSU Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers and our guests, the South High Concert choir. Registration will begin at 1:15 p.m. and the concert will follow at 2 p.m.  Admission to the concert is free.

We are excited to offer the following choirs for your students.   The men’s choir for 9th and 10th grade men will be conducted by Dr. Michael Weber; the women’s choir for 9th and 10th grade women will be conducted by Dr. Charlette Moe; and the mixed choir for 11th and 12th grade men and women will be conducted by Dr. Jo Ann Miller.

Each school may send one SATB quartet to the Mixed Choir and a balanced trio to the Women’s Choir and a balanced trio to the Men’s Choir.  If you have any questions about participation, please do not hesitate to contact any of us.  The registration fee for each student is $40, which includes a t-shirt, supper on Sunday night, and lunch on Monday.  Choral directors will be the guests of the NDSU Music Department.  Registrations must be postmarked by Wednesday, September 26.

We have the philosophy that the directors should choose the students who will best represent their school at the Choral Festival.  To create the most successful experience and to be fair to all participants, please do not select singers who are so inexperienced that they cannot sing their part independently. We know that you will take this request in the spirit in which it is intended.  Thank you.

The music to be performed in the festival choirs are as listed below.  It will be available from Popplers Music in Grand Forks and from Pepper at Eckroth in Bismarck.  Included is the publisher’s information if you choose to purchase the music from some other source. The final piece of the concert, Best to Be Singing in Difficult Times, by Stephen Hatfield will be performed by all three festival choirs.

Mixed Chorus

Son De Camaguey	Stephen Hatfield	SATB	Boosey & Hawkes M-051-46973-4
Ave Maria Gratia Plena	arr. Larry Nickel	SATB	Pavane Publishing P1422
Spring Carol	David C. Dickau	SATB	Pavane Publishing P1426
The Morning Trumpet	Edwin Fissinger	SATB	Plymouth Music Co. PXW111
Best to Be Singing in Difficult Times	Stephen Hatfield	SATB	Boosey & Hawkes 979-0-051-47922-1

Women’s Chorus

Kyrie	Imant Raminsh	SSA	Plymouth Music Co. HL-504
Minuet	Patty Stair	SSAA	Download Here (pdf)
Travessura	Eduardo Lakschevitz	SSA	Alliance Music Publications AMP0821
One Song At A Time	Darla Eshelman	SSA	Colla Voce 24-96510
Best to Be Singing in Difficult Times	Stephen Hatfield	SATB	Boosey & Hawkes 979-0-051-47922-1

Men’s Chorus

Come Travel With Me	Scott Farthing	TTB	Walton Music HL08501432 WLG102
I've Got Peace Like A River	arr. D. Shawn Berry	TBB	Santa Barbara Music Publishing SBMP706
This Train	arr. Roger Emerson	TTB	Hal Leonard  08552209
Blue Moon*	Arr. Jeff Funk	TBB	Alfred Music CHM01084
Best to Be Singing in Difficult Times	Stephen Hatfield	SATB	Boosey & Hawkes 979-0-051-47922-1

We expect that you will spend time with your students and prepare the music before our first rehearsal.  Our plan is to spend the majority of our time working on the musical aspects of each piece and create a musically rewarding performance for your students.

Registration will occur between 1:15 – 2:00 p.m. and rehearsals will begin on Sunday following the concert.  After our first rehearsal block, we will adjourn for a pizza dinner.  After dinner we’ll have approximately 90 minutes of rehearsal/sectionals.  Monday will involve several hours of rehearsal for the students, as well as opportunities for solo vocal master classes for juniors and seniors in your program.  An interest sessions for seniors who are interested in participating in music at NDSU for the will be presented by Dr. Robert Jones, Dr. Virginia Sublett, and Dr. Katherine Noone on Monday morning.

The evening concert will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Monday.  The concert will feature the Festival Choruses.  The concert will be free. Please invite family and friends to the performance. 

The Festival Concert will be recorded again this year and CDs will be available for purchase.  The cost will be $15 for the CD and $2 for shipping and handling.  An order form for the CD has been included.  You may copy this form and return it with the registrations or you may order a CD at the festival.  We will mail the CD directly to the person who orders the recording after the festival. 

Please note that all further correspondence from NDSU will take place via e-mail.  Please make sure you include your e-mail address on the registration form.  We look forward to receiving your registrations and working with you and your students again this year.  Please call or send an e-mail to either of us with any questions that you may have about the festival.

Sincerely,

Jo Ann Miller	Michael Weber	Charlette Moe
Director of Choral Activities	Assoc. Dir. of Choral Activ	Choral and Music Education
701-231-7822	701-231-8497	701-231-6165
jo.miller@ndsu.edu	m.weber@ndsu.edu	charlette.moe@ndsu.edu

Click here to register!