Top Story
February 18, 2008
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Blind audition spotlights Metro State Chorale
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The 58-member Metro State Chorale will be performing at the Southwest Division of the American Choral Directors Association on Feb. 20-23. |
For three years, Metropolitan State College of Denver Chorale submitted unidentified CDs of their music to the judging panel for the Southwestern Division of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). As it turns out, no names were necessary. The group's music spoke volumes as they stood out during blind auditions and were invited to perform at the ACDA convention in Kansas City, Mo., Feb. 20-23. The Southwest Division consists of Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
“Metro State Chorale is the only college or university group in Colorado invited that performed by blind audition,” says Department of Music Chair Walter Barr. “We’re excited to appear at the prestigious ACDA convention and delighted to represent the state of Colorado.”
To provide the community one last performance before the trip and help defray their travel costs, the Metro State Chorale is hosting a benefit concert and dessert reception. “An Evening of Songs, Sweets and Champagne” will be held at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 16, in the King Center Concert Hall. Tickets to the concert are $20 (no discounts).
Tickets for the 8:30 p.m. champagne reception with Metro State President Stephen Jordan are $15. The reception includes an auction for arias performed by Metro State students, faculty and alumni and a silent auction. Reception attendees will receive a recording of Metro State’s performance of the Mozart Requiem from April 2007.
For Josh Jackson, music education major and assistant director of the Metro State Chorale, the experience is one he looks forward to talking about for years to come. “After graduation, I plan to direct a high school music choir. It will be great to share this experience with them.”
It will be one of many milestone experiences that he shares with his students. Though he grew up singing and playing the piano, Jackson did not come to Metro State as a music major. “I was a computer science major wanting to sing in the choir while working on my degree. As a freshman I saw the music department and switched.”
Associate Professor of Music Michael J. Kornelsen will conduct the 58-member Metro State Chorale. The only other Colorado group chosen to perform is the 60-member Young Voices of Colorado, conducted by Jena Dickey.
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Associate Professor of Music Michael J. Kornelsen |
ACDA membership consists of choral directors who represent more than one million singers across the United States. ACDA members teach choral music in public
and private schools - kindergarten through senior high school - and at the college and university levels.
They conduct a variety of choral groups, including boy choirs, children's choirs, men's and women's choruses, junior and senior high school choirs, college and university choruses, ethnic choirs, vocal-jazz ensembles, and symphony choruses. They also conduct choirs in their communities and in their places of worship.
For more information, contact Music at Metro State, 303-556-3180. To learn more about the ACDA, visithttp://www.acdaonline.org/about.shtml.
