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NEWS RELEASE 3-3-09 Contacts: Iowa State Singers Honored by Performing March 5 at National Choral Directors Convention AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State Singers have been honored by being chosen as one of four mixed collegiate choirs to perform at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) National Convention Thursday (March 5) in Oklahoma City. Seventy-two mixed (male and female) collegiate choirs applied to perform and only four were accepted, said James Rodde, professor of music and director of choral activities at Iowa State. “The process of selection to an ACDA national stage is highly competitive and is widely considered to represent the pinnacle achievement for an American choir,” Rodde said. “We’re very honored and humbled to perform.” The Iowa State Singers is a 72-member mixed choral ensemble comprised of students from all areas of study at Iowa State. The Singers will perform a 25-minute solo program for an expected 4,000 choral conductors from the United States and abroad. “It is quite an honor to perform before 4,000 of your colleagues,” Rodde said. Iowa State was chosen through a “blind” audition in which a panel of choral conductors listened to numerous recordings and ranked them. The Singers also qualified to perform at the ACDA National Convention in 2005, the last time they were eligible. “You can submit an audition tape every four years, so this is the second consecutive time we have performed,” Rodde said. “That is a major accomplishment.” The ACDA is the second national convention at which the Singers will perform during the current academic year. In October they traveled to Cincinnati to sing the opening concert at the National Collegiate Choral Organization. “The members of the Iowa State Singers over the years have been dedicated to artistic performances,” Rodde added. “Their achievements have brought about these distinguished performance opportunities.” The choir’s repertoire for the Oklahoma City convention includes works by Stanford, Howells and Argento, the American premieres of pieces by Bulgarian composer Tabakova and Japanese composer Matsushita, and a new work by American composer Eric Barnum, “The Sounding Sea.” “This new work, commissioned by the ISU Music Department this past summer, received its premiere performances this fall,” Rodde said.
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