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CONTACT: Matt Longhi, Director of Marketing/Publicity     mlonghi@umass.edu, 413-545-0018

UMass Music & Dance to Host High School, College Choral Festival

AMHERST (MA) – On Saturday, October 28 at 5:30 p.m., the  University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Music and Dance will host this year’s High School and Collegiate Choral Festival, a performance of honors choirs under the auspices of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. The concert will take place in the UMass Fine Arts Center Concert Hall, and is free and open to the public.

The concert will feature performances by top choristers from area high schools plus the UMass Chamber Choir, led by Director of Choral Studies Tony Thornton and the University Chorale led by Stephen Paparo.

The high school choristers will be divided into two choruses based on voice type. The “SSAA Festival Chorus” for sopranos and altos will be conducted by Susan Wharton Conkling, Professor of Music and Music Education at Boston University; the “TTBB Festival Chorus” (tenors and bass/baritones) will be conducted by Anthony Trecek-King, Artistic Director of the Boston Children’s Chorus. The participating high school students will spend the day rehearsing with the UMass ensembles prior to the 5:30 p.m. performance.

During the program, both UMass ensembles will join the two Festival choruses for performances of works by Andrea Ramsey, Gwyneth Walker, Randall Thompson, Jim Papoulis, and Craig Hella Johnson. The UMass Chamber Choir and Chorale will also present a performance of David Dickau’s “If Music Be The Food of Love,” and all of the ensembles will combine for a finale performance of “Amazing Grace.”

Participating ensembles and their directors for this year’s Festival are as follows:

Algonquin Regional High School -  Kathrine Waters

Beaver Country Day School - Kirk Averitt

The Brimmer and May School - Frank Van Atta

Burr & Burton Academy - Julie Freebern

Cape Cod Academy - Sarah Fachada

Chicopee Comprehensive High School - Natalia Borowiec

Clinton High School - Kate Meifert

Gateway Regional High School - Jerilyn Beauregard

The Hartsbrook School - Kimaya Diggs

Hampshire Regional High School - Aidan Talbot

Hampshire Young People's Chorus - K.C. Conlan

Longmeadow High School - Kayla Werlin

The MacDuffie School - Asia Meirovich

Methuen High School - Ben Woodard

Sutton Memorial High School - Sandra Kerr

Westford Academy - Karen St. George