Nearly 150 students from 20 Iowa high schools will attend Central’s Singfest 2012 on Feb. 9 for a day of choral instruction and performance. The day’s programming concludes with a 7 p.m. concert; the Singfest Festival Choir, featuring all visiting vocalists, will join the A Cappella Choir and Chamber Singers for the performance in Douwstra Auditorium.
Chamber Singers
- The concert features a varied repertoire. The Chamber Singers open the evening with two songs, including Stephen Paulus’s “Hymn to America.” The A Cappella Choir follows with four selections, ending with “O Day Full of Grace,” arranged by F. Melius Christiansen.
Following a special performance by the cast of Theatre Central’s upcoming musical “Guys and Dolls,” Singfest participants will take the stage. Selected soloists will be announced on the day of the event, and the entire choir will perform three songs, including Josephine Poelinitz’s arrangement of “City Called Heaven.”
All choral ensembles are under the direction of Mark Babcock, associate professor of music, and accompanists will be adjunct instructors of music Davis Folkerts and Kris DeWild.
For the finale, the Singfest Choir will be joined by the A Cappella Choir for a combined performance of Beethoven’s “Hallelujah, from the Mount of Olives.”
A Cappella Choir
The A Cappella Choir is a 65-member ensemble, and the Chamber Singers is a select 16-person vocal group consisting of members from the A Cappella Choir. Both have earned reputations of choral excellence and variety in programming and perform regularly on and off campus.
Prior to the performance, visiting students will participate in choral practices, breakout sessions and rehearsals. Instruction will be provided by Central choral conducting students.
The concert is free and open to the public. Live video streaming of the event will be available at www.central.edu/finearts.
For more information, contact Debbie Abel at 641-628-5236 or abeld@central.edu.