Six area high school choirs including Climax-Shelly, Crookston, East Grand Forks Sacred Heart, East Grand Forks Senior High, Kittson County Central, and Lancaster will join together to perform in the 60th Annual Fall Choral Festival at the East Grand Forks Senior High Performing Arts Center on Monday, October 28th at 7:00 p.m. Choirs from Climax, Crookston, and EGF Senior High will perform two selections individually and all six groups will join together as a festival choir to be conducted by guest conductor Shelley Zietz.
Ms. Zietz is in her 38th year of teaching music. This is her 11th year at Fargo North High School where she directs the Women’s Choir, 19th Avenue Jazz, Show Choir, Mixed Choir and the Fargo North Concert Choir. Under her direction, 19th Avenue Jazz has consistently received Outstanding Performance ratings at the University of Mary Jazz Festival and performed at the ND American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) convention in February of 2016. The Concert Choir was a ND All-State Festival Performance High School Choir in 2014.
Ms. Zietz received her BS in Choral Music Education from NDSU and her Masters in Vocal Performance from MSUM. She has since been a frequent clinician and adjudicator in Minnesota and North Dakota. She was the director of the ND ACDA All-State Treble Choir in February of 2017. Ms. Zietz also directs the 7th-12th grade church choir at First Presbyterian Church in Fargo and is an accompanist for the JW Pepper music workshops. She is a member of ND ACDA and NAfME. She and her husband Brad have two grown children, Ben and Greta.
The Fall Choral Festival was begun 60 years ago by 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.
To commemorate the 60th annual event, schools from an approximately 100-mile radius were invited to participate. This year’s event will bring together over 220 students to perform in the festival choir. Additionally, eight students from the Crookston High School orchestra will be accompanying one of the festival pieces with a double string quartet, led by their director, Haley Ellis.
Directors of the participating high school choirs are Adrianne Winger (Climax), Gabrielle Foede (Crookston), Jace Erickson (SH), Donovan Hanson (EGF), Renee Wahl (Kittson County Central), and Julie Nordin (Lancaster). Admission for the concert will be $4 for adults and $2 for students and will be collected at the door.
Audience members are also encouraged to bring a few extra dollars to participate in a pie raffle that will take place at the concert. Funds raised will support the East Grand Forks Music Boosters, with raffle tickets available for $2 each or 3 tickets for $5. Pies are generously donated by Perkins of Grand Forks.
