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Music department to host HS choral festival

UIndy choir Dr. Paul Krasnovsky directs UIndy’s choral ensembles, which will perform Saturday.

Students from seven central Indiana high schools will be on campus Saturday for the ninth annual UIndy High School Choral Invitational, hosted by the Department of Music.

The event provides a non-competitive setting for about 300 local teens to perform for family, friends and peers in the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center’s elegant Ruth Lilly Performance Hall. They also get a chance to hear new music, tour campus and enjoy performances by UIndy’s choral ensembles.

“It’s a great opportunity for everyone to spend a whole day on nothing but choral music,” said Dr. Paul Krasnovsky, director of choral activities at UIndy. “The acoustics of our hall are so great, these kids are blown away when they get to perform here.”

Each high school choir performs for 10 minutes, followed by a 10-minute critique and discussion with an impressive panel of clinicians who have national and even international reputations in choral music: Dr. Kent Hatteberg of the University of Louisville, Dr. Nancy Menk of St. Mary’s College at Notre Dame and UIndy’s own Dr. Mitzi Westra.

“Everyone gets to see new ways of doing things,” Krasnovsky said.

Hosting the high schoolers also is a nice learning opportunity for UIndy’s music education majors, he added. Each visiting choir has a UIndy student host assigned to it throughout the day.

The schedule is:

  • 10 a.m.: Perry Meridian High School
  • 10:30 a.m.: Guerin Catholic High School
  • 11 a.m.: South Decatur High School
  • 11:30 a.m.: Winchester Community High School
  • 2 p.m.: Covenant Christian High School
  • 2:30 p.m.: Cathedral High School
  • 3 p.m.: Greenwood Community High School
  • 3:30 pm: UIndy’s Schola and Concert Choir