Two Choral Events This Month Hosted By Music Department
Contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary’s College
(574) 284-4579
November 6, 2013 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—The Saint Mary’s College Department of Music will host two special women’s choral events in late-November. The Fall Choral Concert will be held on Wednesday, November 20 at 7:30 p.m. in O’Laughlin Auditorium. Ticket information can be found at MoreauCenter.com. The College will also host the 29th annual High School Women’s Choir Festival Thursday, November 21 and Friday, November 22 in O’Laughlin. Click for a campus map.
The Fall Choral Concert will include performances by the Saint Mary’s College Women’s Choir, the Collegiate Choir, and Bellacappella, a student a cappella group. Nancy Menk, professor of music, director of choral activities and the Mary Lou and Judd Leighton Chair in Music, is planning and executing these two events.
“The Fall Choral Concert is a chance for us to show what we’ve been working on since the academic year started,” Menk said. Members of the Women’s Choir have also begun their preparation for performances with the ND Glee Club and the Kronos Quartet in February and with the South Bend Chamber Singers in March.
The High School Women’s Choir Festival, meanwhile, will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on November 21 and 22, with Saint Mary’s Women’s Choir performing each day at 12:10 p.m. Approximately 800 students will participate in the festival, representing 20 choirs from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan. Local choirs include Concord High School, Penn High School, La Porte High School, and Lakeshore High School. Each choir will perform three or four pieces and receive written evaluations from commentators.
Three well-respected commentators will evaluate the choirs. This year, the festival is proud to have Scott Buchanan, director of choral activities in the School of Music at Indiana State University; Emily Ellsworth, a faculty member in the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University; and Clayton Parr, director of choral activities in the Department of Music at Albion College.
“The commentators will work with the students and give them pointers on how to improve their singing,” Menk said. “The high school choirs will receive both written comments as well as an open clinic.”
Choirs will perform for each other during the morning and afternoon sessions. The day also includes a tour of the campus and a performance by the Saint Mary’s College Women’s Choir.
“It also gives Saint Mary's a chance to showcase our choir and promote good choral singing for young women. We serve as a good model to these high school students,” said Menk.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic residential, women’s liberal arts college offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study, such as business, nursing, art, chemistry, and social work. The College’s single-gender environment has been proven, in study after study, to foster confidence, ethical leadership, and strong academic success. Saint Mary’s College ranks 76 among the 248 “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” for 2014 published by U.S. News and World Report. Founded in 1844 by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Saint Mary’s College’s mission is to educate women and prepare them for postgraduate success whether it’s a first job, graduate school, or postgraduate service.