Several area high school choirs will join together to perform in the 63rd Annual Fall Choral Festival at the East Grand Forks Senior High Performing Arts Center on Monday, October 30 at 7:00 p.m. Choirs from Ada-Borup-West, Crookston, and EGF Senior High will perform selections individually. Participants will join together as a festival choir to be conducted by guest conductor Dr. Joseph Kemper of Concordia College in Moorhead.
Dr. Kemper is an Assistant Professor of Choral Music at Concordia College, where he conducts the Concordia Chapel Choir and Kantorei. He has worked with collegiate, secondary, prison outreach, neuro-atypical youth, community, and church ensembles.
Prior appointments include serving as Director of Choirs at Whitman College in Washington State and as Associate Director of Choral Activities at Winter Park High School in Florida. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan, a Master of Music from Yale University, and a Bachelor of Music from St. Olaf College.
As a champion of new and diverse music, Kemper has led several premieres and commissions from prominent composers, including Mari Valverde, Evelyn Simpson Curenton, Stanford Scriven, Arianne Abela, and Ronja Mokráňová. Kemper is passionate about programming that cultivates understanding, learning, and seeking common ground across time, belief, and culture. He is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of servant-leaders, choral artists, and life-long musicians who will use their gifts for positive societal change.
The Fall Choral Festival began in 1959 as the project of three area choral directors: Garfield Reichert of Crookston, Don Danielson of East Grand Forks, and Bryant Ulseth of Thief River Falls. The festival aims to promote choral music and to give students a chance to hear and perform with students from other choirs, as well as to work with and learn from another teacher and director.
Admission for the concert will be $4 for adults and $2 for students and will be collected at the door. Additionally, a pie raffle will be held with proceeds supporting the EGF Music Boosters. Tickets for the raffle will be $2 each or 3 for $5 and will allow entrants a chance to go home with a fresh pie donated by Perkins of Grand Forks.
To view the full schedule, click here.
