Music Fall Choral Festival
SAVE THE DATE!
Westmont College would love to offer you the opportunity to participate in our Fall Westmont Invitational Choral Festival. The focus of the festival is pedagogical and performance oriented, NOT competition.
What We Know:
Choral Festival Date: Friday, October 30th, 2020
Application Deadline: Monday, September 14th, 2020
Choirs are accepted in the order received and enrollment is limited. Early applications are encouraged. The festival has operated at maximum capacity in recent years. We understand this year that none of us know for sure how choir will be working in the fall at our schools, but if can likely schedule this and think there is a reasonable chance you will have a choir that can participate either in-person or connect remotely, then feel free to submit this application. We will all discover what is possible together!
We will do something!
What We Don’t Know:
Whether the festival can be live and in-person or in some virtual format. Whether you will be able to come to Westmont or Westmont will in some way come to you. Whether we can gather as 600 hundred singers or so in one place at one time, or find a way to celebrate choral singing that day in a new and creative way with appropriate choral-social-distancing
Fees:
- There is no fee for participation. All choirs are invited to dinner at no cost to participants if the festival is held in an in-person format and large group gatherings for meals are allowed.
- Due to the fluid nature of scheduling this year there is no cancellation fee, but PLEASE do everything you need to do to arrange for transportation as soon as possible to assure that you can attend! We will prepare for you, so please prepare to participate!
What’s normally included:
- All choirs will receive clinics with the Westmont College choral faculty and guests
- Choirs will have the opportunity to perform for peers by themselves and as part of a terrific mass choir
- College bound senior singers will have the opportunity to audition for Westmont music scholarship* consideration during the festival
- Free pizza dinner!
Clinicians will include:
- Prof. Daniel Gee, director Westmont College Choir and Chamber Singers
- Dr. Steve Hodson, Westmont professor of piano and conductor the Santa Barbara MasterChorale
- Dr. Michael Shasberger, director Westmont Orchestra, Santa Barbara Chamber Singers, former director Westmont College Choir
- Dr. Matthew Roy, co-director Westmont Choral Union
- Prof. Karen Janzen, co-director Westmont Choral Union
* Scholarships include the cost of private lessons and may range up to $10,000. To apply for a scholarship click here!
Westmont Invitational Fall Choral Festival Informational Sheet
Date: Friday, October 30th, 2020
Sample Traditional In-Person Schedule:
1:30 P.M. Arrival
1:45 P.M. Greeting, vocal warm up, mass choir selection rehearsal
2:00-4:00 P.M. Choral Clinics
4:30 P.M. Mass Choir Rehearsal
4:45 P.M. Concert Session #1 - Choral Union & half of high school choirs perform
6:00 P.M. Dinner Break
7:00 P.M. Concert Session #2 -College Choir & second half of high school choirs
9:00 P.M. Approximate ending time
Concerts are free and open to the public. Parents and other guests are requested to arrive early to guarantee seating. A revised schedule will be announced closer to the date of the event when more is known about what is possible this fall.
All guest choirs should plan on performing in traveling attire and not bring or wear formal attire for the final concerts due to limited dressing facilities at the festival sites, length of travel for some choirs, comfort of the singers, and the general relaxed nature of the Festival events. Many schools in the past have opted for matching shirts, simple black & white comfortable attire, or other easily adaptable concert dress. Please be considerate of all of our guest choirs in keeping to this practice.
Contact us:
Keith Erickson
Music Operations Specialist
kerickson@westmont.edu
(805) 565-6240