Festival brings more than 1,000 singers to campusMarch 12, 2010 KALAMAZOO--The 72nd annual Southwestern Michigan Vocal Festival will bring more than 1,000 talented singers from 22 high schools to Western Michigan University for a daylong celebration that will culminate in a free, public performance at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 18, in Miller Auditorium. Guest conductor Dr. Jeffery Ames, director of choral activities at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., will lead the evening's program, which includes five selections by the 1,000-member Festival Chorus and three by the 60-member Honors Choir. A guest performance will feature WMU's acclaimed vocal jazz ensemble, Gold Company. The large Festival Chorus will perform George Frideric Handel's "Zadok the Priest," Felix Mendelssohn's "Heilig" for double chorus, Marcos Leite's arrangement of "Tres Cantos Nativos," and Ames's "The World of Our Dreams" and "Let Everything that Hath Breath." The auditioned high school Honors Choir will perform Gyorgy Orban's "Daemon Irrepit Callidus," Felix Mendelssohn's "How Lovely are the Messengers" and Rollo Dilworth's "Walk in Jerusalem." The Southwestern Michigan Vocal Festival is one of the largest, oldest and most successful high school choral events in the United States. Since its inception in 1935, it has been providing high school students with an experience in mass singing of quality repertoire under the direction of inspiring conductors. For more information, visit the Southwestern Michigan Vocal Festival online, or call the WMU School of Music at (269) 387-4667. Participating high schools and choral directors
Media contact: Kevin West, (269) 387-4681, kevin.west@wmich.edu WMU News |