Events Calendar

Choirs of Note
May 3, 2008

The second annual Choirs of Note, Minnesota Invitational Choral Festival and Competition will have its public concert at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 3, in the Schwan Community Center for the Performing Arts. Choirs of Note is a competition that features some of the best high school choirs from around the state. Dr. Dale Warland, noted choral director from Minnesota, is returning for this year’s event. He will conduct the world premiere of two new mass choir pieces commissioned especially for Choirs of Note. High school choirs competing in Choirs of Note are Brainerd High School, the 2007 champion; Alexandria High School; Marshall High School; Woodbury High School and Worthington High School. Gordon Crow, one of the event’s co-founders, said there are 350 vocalists in this year’s Choirs of Note. Worthington is the biggest choir with 80 voices. Last year, nine high school choirs participated in Choirs of Note, which has awarded $11,500 in scholarships. For the 2008 competition, $24,000 in scholarships will be handed out, with the top choir receiving a $10,000 scholarship to Southwest Minnesota State University. During the three-day event, choral students will get to work with five of the best choral directors from around the country. This year’s adjudicators are Hilary Apfelstadt of Ohio State University; Jeffrey Douma of Yale University; Jonathan Talberg of California State-Long Beach; David Weiller of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas; and Judith Willoughby of Oklahoma City University.