PERFORMING CHOIRS
Chanteur Choir
Portland State Chamber Choir
Lux aeterna Combined Collegiate Choir
Wed, March 9th, 8:00-10:00pm
Advanced Women's Choir; Vallivue HS
Delphian Choir
Pacific University Chamber Singers
Thurs, March 10th, 2:30-4:00pm
Chamber Chorale; U of M
Encore; Timberline HS
Linn-Benton Chamber Choir
Thurs, March 10th, 8:00-10:00pm
Impressions; Meadowdale HS
Northwesterners; NNU
Jazz Honor Choir
Fri, March 11th, 2:30-4:00pm
Choir of the West
Seattle Pro Musica
St. Mary's Varsity Ensemble
Fri, March 11th, 8:00-10:00pm
Chor Anno
Pacific Youth Choir
Sure on This Shining Night: All-Conference Sing
Abialaya Choral Suite: Pan-Latin American Premiere
Sat, March 12th, 8:00-9:45pm
CONCERT SESSION 1
Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Chanteur Choir
C. M. Russell High School
Lynn Ryan
The Chanteur Choir is one of six curricular choirs at C. M. Russell High School. The choir frequently performs throughout the Great Falls community and collaborates with other choirs in Montana. Chanteur earned the honor of being named semi-finalists in the American Prize, high school division, in 2015 and 2016. Their most recent regional performances were at the 2016 Northwestern ACDA Conference in Seattle and the 2017 Northwest NAfME Conference in Bellevue.
Chamber Choir
Portland State University
Ethan Sperry
Since its founding in 1975, the Portland State Chamber Choir has performed and competed in venues across the country and around the world, earning over 30 medals and awards in international choir competitions including being the only American choir to have won the Seghizzi International Competition for Choral Singing in Italy in 2013, and the Bali International Choral Festival in Indonesia in 2017. In Summer of 2022 they will represent the United States at the World Choral Exposition in Portugal celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the International Federation for Choral Music.
CONCERT SESSION 2
Thursday, March 10, 2022
Advanced Women's Choir
Vallivue High School
Corrina Steinback
Vallivue High School Advanced Women’s Choir is an auditioned choir of 50 singers ranging from Sophomores to Seniors. They are considered a Varsity Choir at Vallivue High. This ensemble sets the goal each year to take the next step toward growth as musicians and as humans. They cultivate a community of acceptance and care, and enjoy singing music of various choral genres, always striving to bring authenticity and heart to each piece they perform.
Delphian Choir
Great Falls High School
Patrick Ryan & Jordan Lee
Founded in 1958, the Delphian Choir of Great Falls High School has appeared on five previous Northwestern ACDA conference programs. This SATB choir is auditioned and consists of sophomores through seniors. The choir frequently collaborates with other high school and collegiate choirs, as well as the Great Falls Symphony. Recently the choir has commissioned and premiered works by John Muehleisen and Timothy Takach, and this year enjoyed working directly with composers Josh Rist and Jake Runestad.
Pacific University Chamber Singers
Pacific University
Scott Tuomi
The Pacific University Chamber Singers is a choir representing Pacific University in Forest Grove Oregon. Comprised of undergraduate students drawn from a diverse variety of disciplines across campus, the Chamber Singers have performed for audiences throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. The group seeks to explore a wide variety of repertoire drawn from diverse choral traditions including sacred and secular, ancient and modern, global and local.
CONCERT SESSION 3
Thursday, March 10, 2022
Chamber Chorale
University of Montana
Coreen Duffy
The University of Montana Chamber Chorale seeks to embed commitment to underrepresented composers in every program, performing the historic canon while promoting ethically sourced and previously overlooked repertoire. The ensemble prioritizes outreach to rural areas in our state, while seeking broad touring opportunities: UM Chamber Chorale will perform at the 75th Festival of Music at the University of Saarbrücken, Germany (2022), Cadogan Hall and Southwark Cathedral in London (Vox Anima London, 2022), and the Montana International Choral Festival (2019, 2022).
Encore
Timberline High School
Sean Kane
Encore is one of six choirs at Timberline High School in Boise, ID. This 35-member ensemble consists of auditioned Junior and Seniors. Encore has been invited to perform at IMEA and ID-ACDA conferences, and tours annually. They regularly collaborate with local and regional choirs, performing sets in concert with the University of Washington, Seattle Pacific University, and Boise State University. In January and February, Encore annually produces a full-scale musical. Recent productions include Fiddler on the Roof, Cinderella, and Les Misérables.
Chamber Choir
Linn-Benton Community College
Raymund Ocampo
The Linn-Benton Community College Chamber Choir is an auditioned vocal ensemble that performs literature from a wide array of composers, especially those traditionally underrecognized in the choral canon. Our concerts explore societal issues including previous performances on immigration and gun violence. This ensemble has represented LBCC in several festivals and competitions both domestically and internationally. In 2021, the ensemble received Gold in the Vocal Ensemble category of the WYCCAA Virtual Festival based in Hong Kong. In 2017, the Chamber Choir received Gold Awards and was a category winner in the 10th Johannes Brahms Choral Festival in Wernigerode, Germany.
CONCERT SESSION 4
Friday, March 11, 2022
Impressions
Meadowdale High School
Jeff Horenstein
Meadowdale High School’s Impressions have been considered pioneers in vocal jazz education at the high school level since their founding by Bob Burton in 1963. Performing at several concerts and jazz festivals throughout the Pacific Northwest each year, Impressions have been invited to present Concert Hour performances at multiple WMEA State Conferences, NAfME Northwest Conferences, and ACDA Northwestern Conferences. Currently under the direction of Jeff Horenstein, Impressions was recently recognized as the winner of a Downbeat Magazine Student Music Award in their category.
Northwesterners
Northwest Nazarene University
Quinn Van Paepeghem
The NNU Northwesterners is a 16-voice vocal jazz ensemble, with an all-student rhythm section. Northwesterners were featured at the 2019 NAfME Northwest Conference and have recently performed for the Idaho ACDA fall mini-conference (2021, 2019 and 2016), and the Utah ACDA fall conference (2018). The vocal jazz ensemble performs a variety of jazz styles, and members develop an understanding and implementation of vocal improvisation and solo styling.
Jazz Honor Choir 2022
9-12th grade
Amanda Taylor
High School Jazz Honor Choir.
CONCERT SESSION 5
Friday, March 11, 2022
Choir of the West
Pacific Lutheran University
Richard Nance
Choir of the West was founded in 1926 and is comprised of undergraduate students from a variety of academic disciplines at Pacific Lutheran University. The choir tours regionally and internationally, and has won top awards at European choral competitions. Choir of the West has performed at several northwestern region conferences, and national conferences sponsored by ACDA and NCCO. The choir regularly participates in world and continental premieres of important new works, including the chamber version of JAC Redford’s Homing, Ēriks Ešenvalds’ Nordic Light Symphony, and Sven-David Sandström’s Matthauspassion.
Seattle Pro Musica
Seattle, Washington
Karen Thomas
Seattle Pro Musica is a critically acclaimed choral organization that believes in the power of voices joined in harmony to enrich the lives of our audiences, our singers, and the community at large. Recognized internationally for the caliber of its programming and performances, Seattle Pro Musica is ranked as “among America’s very best choirs” by American Record Guide. Seattle Pro Musica has appeared by invitation at numerous international and national festivals, and performed with artists such as Jane Eaglen, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Sarah Brightman, Pacific MusicWorks, and Seattle Symphony.
St. Mary's Varsity Ensemble
St. Mary’s International School
Randy Stenson
The Varsity Ensemble seeks to nurture a love for and global awareness of music from many cultures and their spiritual heritage. Realizing music through expressive movement, they’ve received top honors and awards at festivals and competitions on four continents, including being only the 3rd choir in 30 years to receive the Oswald Stocker Prize at the Verona Choir Competition.
Selected performances include three National and five Regional ACDA Conferences, the ANCA National Conference in Brisbane, Australia, and EARCOS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. They were the invited choir for the Japan Choir Association concert honoring works of Maria Guinand, and featured in Creating Artistry: Through Movement and the Maturing Male Voice.
CONCERT SESSION 6
Saturday, March 12, 2022
Chor Anno
Nicole Lamartine &
Howard Meharg
Chor Anno is comprised almost entirely of choral directors from northwest states. Founded in 2009 by Howard Meharg, the group provides an opportunity for teachers and conductors of choral music to enjoy “facing the other direction” on the stage. Each singer brings artistry and shares in the same passion for the depths of what great music can offer.
Chor Anno (“the annual choir”) sings just one concert program per year, with a three day rehearsal in August and then concert weekend in mid-September. With a guided, yet collaborative rehearsal process led by conductor Dr. Nicole Lamartine, we access and build on the collective wisdom of the choral professionals in the group.
Pacific Youth Choir
Portland, Oregon
Mia Miller
In 2003 Mia Hall Miller founded Pacific Youth Choir. Prior to the Pandemic PYC had grown to 300 singers in 10 choirs and three free after school choir programs. PYC, in residence at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral gained a reputation for quality that led to ongoing collaborations with Oregon’s top musical organizations including: Oregon Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Youth Symphony, Portland Youth Philharmonic, Eugene Symphony, Oregon Ballet Theater, Whitebird Dance, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Trinity Choir, and Pink Martini in performances and recordings. PYC has been honored to perform five times at NW Region ACDA Conferences and at the 50th Anniversary National Conference.
PAN-LATIN AMERICAN PREMIERE
3 Lifelong Choirs & Matice Latin Ensemble
Katherine FitzGibbon
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Three lifelong choirs collaborate in premiering Abya Yala Choral Suite with Freddy Vilches and Portland-based Matices Latin Ensemble. The name, “Abya Yala,” comes from the Guna people, meaning “Land in its Full Maturity.” Abya Yala is often used by indigenous peoples to refer to Latin America, reclaiming the name to assert indigenous rather than colonized perspectives. Chilean-born composer and performer, Freddy Vilches, has created a multilingual choral suite composed of several movements and accompanied by his own Matices Latin Ensemble. This multilingual choral suite features bilingual poems in native languages and in Spanish, ranging from Mapudungun and Aymara in South America, to K'iche' Mayan and Nahuatl in Central and North America. Each movement also highlights musical styles and instruments from these regions. As a whole, this composition aims to vindicate the voices and struggles of historically marginalized communities and showcase the cultural richness and diversity of Abya Yala.