Collegiate Choral Festival
January 30, 2025
Dr. James Thompson hosted at DMACC in Ankeny. Dr. Edith Copley was the guest conductor, Regents’ Professor Emeritus from Northern Arizona University. Steve Linn from DMACC was the guest accompanist. The event was co-chaired by Luke Lovegood and Emilie Bertram.
Eight schools participated in the second annual event: DMACC (Dr. James Thompson, director), Iowa Western CC (Dr. Ryan Welker, director), Indian Hills CC (Dr. Janene Sheldon, director), University of Northern Iowa (Dr. Sara Blessing, director), University of Iowa (Dr. Timothy Stalter and Dr. David Puderbaugh, directors), Waldorf College (Dr. Emilie Bertram), Grandview University (Dr. Joshua Boggs), and Coe College (Luke Lovegood, director). There were over 125 singers represented.
The literature performed included:
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Song of Triumph by Dale Grotenhuis
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There was a Time by Elaine Hagenberg
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Way over in Beulah Lan’ by Stacey V. Gibb
The event focused on the process of learning and making music as opposed to the performance. The event was structured so that each school was able to get to the event and back the same day. With a condensed day of music-making, the initial rehearsal allowed the festival ensemble and the guest conductor to get comfortable. We had double sectional rehearsals, lunch, and two different breakout session times. These included a zen zone, active space, arts/crafts area, and professional opportunity to have Q/A with the various college directors as well as the guest conductor.
The guest conductor spent time on each song giving history and background knowledge. By the end of the day, individually and as a whole, the quality of the music had grown exponentially. Finishing with a recording session/live stream as a culminating activity, everyone went their respective ways taking what we had learned back to their respective institutions.
Collegiate Choral Festival
February 2, 2024
Gallery
Dr. James Thompson hosted at DMACC in Ankeny. Dr. Bridget Sweet was the guest conductor from University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana. Steve Linn was the guest accompanist.
Six schools participated in the inaugural event: DMACC (Dr. James Thompson, director), SWiCC (Tobi Crawford, director), Iowa Lakes CC (Brett Fuelberth, director), Graceland University (Sara Blessing, director), Morningside University (Josh Nannestad, director), and Coe College (Luke Lovegood, director). There were over 100 singers represented.
The literature performed included:
Sound, Sweet Song by Adam Orban
Muusika by Pärt Uusberg
Hope Lingers On by Andrea Ramsey
Special guest during the day was Adam Orban, who wrote Sound, Sweet Song as a special commissioned work in honor of Everett Johnson as a memorial to his legacy and efforts as a choral educator. He spoke about his process of writing the work and how the hymn How Can I Keep From Singing which is incorporated into the piece was Everett's favorite song.
The event focused on the process of learning and making music as opposed to the performance. The event was structured so that each school was able to get to the event and back the same day. With a condensed day of music-making, we were able to have an initial rehearsal getting used to the festival ensemble and introducing our guest conductor. We had double sectional rehearsals, lunch, and time with the guest composer. The guest conductor spent time on each song giving history and background knowledge. By the end of the day, individually and as a whole, the quality of the music had grown exponentially. Finishing with a recording session as a culminating activity, we then all went our respective ways taking what we had learned back to their respective institutions.