Every year, the ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ University Department of Music hosts a music festival for nearby Adventist academies; this year’s festival will take place from Feb. 26 to March 1. Festival participants will have the opportunity to rehearse with professors Stephen Zork and Marc Élysée, listen to performances by multiple ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ University music ensembles and perform two concerts of their own during their time on campus.
This year, there are 61 orchestra participants from various schools, including Great Lakes Adventist Academy, Indiana Academy, Ozark Academy and even Kingsway College in Ontario, Canada. Because there were so many students who wanted to come this year but had limited space, Zork had to restrain the number of choirs that will participate to schools from the Lake Union Conference.
The festival has grown a lot in recent years. “Traditionally, it was just strings, but now, since I arrived two years ago, we started with doing full symphony orchestra, and we already had a lot of students, but this time, we have almost twice as many as we did last time,” said Élysée. Students will rehearse for a total of 11 hours during their time at ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ.
In past years, choirs have had to send in audition tapes to be selected, but this year, Zork left it up to the choir directors to decide whether their students were capable of performing at the required level. Choirs received the festival repertoire in August 2024, and several of the schools have even performed some of the pieces at their own concerts in preparation for the festival.
Not only does the music festival give students the opportunity to connect with other Adventist musicians, but it also gives them the chance to see what life might be like as a music major at ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ. Select choir students have been chosen to participate in a masterclass with Charles Reid, associate professor of music, and a few violin students will meet with Carla Trynchuk, professor of music, for trial lessons, as well as other meetings that the students may have personally set up with faculty.
On Wednesday night, when the students first arrive, the ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ University Singers & Chorale will perform a concert featuring several jazz numbers. The following evening, the ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ University Symphony Orchestra will perform a showcase concert including “Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saëns, “Tico Tico No Fubá” by Zequinha de Abreu and “Symphonic Variations” by César Franck, featuring pianist Kristi Corbett, one of the winners of the 2024 Young Artist Competition. On Friday evening, the ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ University Wind Symphony will host a vespers program, featuring collaborations with the Deliverance Mass Choir and the ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ University Singers.
The festival also provides a wonderful collaborative opportunity between academy and university musicians. On Saturday, March 1 at 4 p.m. at the Howard Performing Arts Center, the musicians will perform side-by-side to display all the work they put in over the week.
The festival is something that high school students look forward to each year. Emily Sauser, a senior at Spring Valley Academy (SVA) in Centerville, Ohio, said her favorite part about the festival is “learning new vocal techniques from Mr. Zork and all his funny sayings along the way.” This year, Sauser will be participating as a singer in the choir and as an oboist in the orchestra. She said that the academy’s Honors Choir has been learning and practicing the festival music since the beginning of this semester in preparation for the event.
Andre Henry, a senior at ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ Academy, is a member of the Silhouettes, the academy’s select choir, and a first-time festival participant. He said one thing he is particularly excited about is “meeting other musicians who love to sing, and of course, [improving] my own abilities at the same time.”
All of the music festival performances are also open and free to the public. Come out and support Adventist Education and all the students who will be performing!
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, ¶·Å£ÆåÅÆ University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.