Marshall University Festival Chorus
November 6-7, 2009
Dear Colleague,
The Marshall University Festival Chorus will take place November 6-7, 2009, on the campus of Marshall University. We would like to have your students’ participation in an event that has grown each year since we began in 2003. Activities will begin Friday, November 6th at 9 a.m. and conclude mid-afternoon on Saturday, November 7th, following the Festival Finale Concert. The festival will feature rehearsals and a performance by your students, singing alongside students from Marshall University choral ensembles, as well as performances by the MU Chamber Choir and University Chorus and master classes and presentations by members of the Department of Music faculty. Your students may also schedule (with advance notice) an audition for the MU Department of Music while they are on campus. A more complete schedule can be found in this mailing and will be available on the MU Department of Music website (www.marshall.edu/cofa/music). The festival provides exceptional concert and rehearsal experiences for your students, acquainting them with some outstanding choral literature.
Listening to numerous suggestions, this year’s music was chosen from the WVMEA and WVACDA repertoire lists. Students will prepare and bring the following music selections to the festival, to be performed on the final festival concert:
Hear My Prayer, O Lord -- Purcell # OCCO 32
SATB/SATB Oxford University Press
Sure On This Shining Night -- Lauridsen # 0124115
SATB Peer Music
If Music Be the Food of Love ---- David Dickau # PJMS-109
Plymouth Music Co., Inc. SATB
I Got Shoes ---- Spiritual, arr. Parker-Shaw # LG 51116
Lawson-Gould Music Publishers, Inc.
He'll Make a Way ----- Byron J. Smith # BJS0001
Onyx Choral Music Publishing
Music may be purchased through any choral music vendor. However, a special rate of $8.00/packet has been secured through Kerr’s Music World, Inc. (Huntington/Charleston). Shipping costs will depend on your location and the number of packets purchased. For more information, please contact Kerr’s directly at (304)345-3011 and tell them you need the MU Festival Chorus music. (To ensure music arrives in time, packets need to be ordered by September 18th.)
There is no limit to the number of participants for this event. To nominate your high school students, go to the Marshall University Department of Music website, www.marshall.edu/cofa/music and select Festival Chorus. There you will find an interactive registration form (.pdf format) to be filled out, printed and faxed. If you are unable to open a .pdf, you may simply list their names and voice types. Instructions for the return of the form can be found on the bottom of the registration form. Please try to nominate them in quartets of SATB, SSAA or TTBB, but be assured that if you have an odd or smaller number of students, you will not be penalized in any way. Each student will receive a certificate of participation. There is no participant fee. Students are asked to provide their own music and black choir folders, housing and meals.
For the final festival concert, students will wear the concert attire they normally wear when performing at their home schools.
Because we would like to send confirmation of your students’ registration, along with additional information, please send registration materials by Friday, October 16th.
Rehearsal Schedule
The tentative rehearsal schedule is as follows:
Friday, November 6
9:00 Registration/check in at Smith Music Hall
9:30 Rehearsal I
12:00 Lunch
1:15 Sectionals I
2:45 Break
3:00 Masterclass or Performance Seminar
4:00 Break
4:15 Masterclass or Performance Seminar
5:15 Dinner
6:30 Rehearsal II
8:00 MU Showcase Concert
Saturday, November 7
9:00 Check in
9:30 Rehearsal III
10:30 Break
10:45 Sectionals II
11:30 Lunch
12:30 Dress Rehearsal
1:30 Dress for concert
2:00 Concert
2:45 Festival concludes
Registration
The cost of attending the MU Festival Chorus is free. Completed registration forms may be faxed (preferred) or mailed to:
Robert Wray
Department of Music
Marshall University
1 John Marshall Drive
Huntington, WV 25755
Fax: (304)696-4379
Registration, Rehearsal, and Concert Sites, Supervision
Registration for all students will take place in Smith Music Hall on Friday between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m. For Friday’s registration, we ask that directors or adult chaperones only please confirm the names of students attending. All rehearsals and sectionals will take place in Smith Music Hall. Friday evening’s concert will take place in Smith Recital Hall. It is free and open to the public. The finale concert for the Festival Weekend will take place in Smith Music Hall Recital Hall. It is also free and open to the public. We ask that directors or adult chaperones please be on hand to supervise your students while they are on campus.
Concert Dress
We ask that students wear their concert choir attire for the concert so that we have a varied and colorful display. Dressing rooms in Smith Music Hall will be assigned.
Parking for Buses
For those schools bringing buses, you may unload the students on 3rd Avenue, in the south lane. On Friday, please park in the stadium parking lot on the corner of 20th Street and 3rd Avenue. (Remember that 3rd Avenue is one way going west at that point and that the stadium is east of the music building.) On Saturday, you may park in the lot across from Smith Music Hall (corner of 3rd Avenue and Hal Greer Blvd.).
Parking for Cars
On Friday, parking will be available at no cost in the lot behind the new engineering building (no permit required that day). Parking in any other lot may result in an issued citation. On Saturday, everyone parks free. Maps showing student drop-off, bus parking and car parking locations will be sent out after completed registration materials have been received.
Directions
To Smith Music Hall from I-64, either direction: take Exit 11 (Hal Greer Blvd.), follow Hal Greer north all the way to 3rd Avenue. Smith Music Hall will be on the right hand corner. Third Avenue runs one way west, toward downtown Huntington.
To Smith Music Hall from Hwy. 52 (Ohio): Even though you see an exit that says Huntington, ignore it! Keep going until you run out of road. You will simply cross the just as easily. Proceed to Hal Greer Blvd. (16th Street). Turn left onto Hal Greer Blvd. Smith Music Hall is on your right.
Entrance Auditions
If you have students wishing to audition for the MU music program during the festival, please notify us in advance. An audition can be arranged. Contact us for audition details.
Meals
There are a number of restaurants and fast food establishments within walking distance of the campus. Additionally, the MU Chapter of the Society of Composers, Inc. will sell pizza and soft drinks in Smith Music Hall at a very reasonable price.
Our conductors for this event will be David Castleberry, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities, and Robert Wray, Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education. Additional sessions will feature Linda Dobbs and Larry Stickler of our voice faculty and our department chair, Jeffrey Pappas, formerly Director of Choral Activities at Ball State University. With this abundance of talent and resources, this year’s festival promises to be weekend not to miss!
Thank you in advance for your participation. We are very excited about this endeavor and hope to make this year’s festival our best yet. For further information, please contact Mr. Robert Wray at wrayr@marshall.edu or 304.696.2399.