Midwest Children's Choir Festival returns to Stephens Auditorium for first time since 2019

More than 300 young Iowa vocalists will sing in a music festival March 31 at Stephens Auditorium.

Members of Ames Children’s Choirs will be among the vocalists participating in the Midwest Children’s Choir Festival.

“This is a biennial festival, and 2019 was the last year we were able to hold this due to COVID,” said Shon Stephenson, Ames Children’s Choirs operations manager and administrator of the festival. “So we’re excited about it.”

Apparently teachers from around the state are excited too, Stephenson said, because 22 schools are participating, with qualified students in fifth through seventh grades.

The mass choir will include about 335 students this year, said Christina Svec, director of the Ames Children’s Choirs and festival director.

Published musician, professor Derrick Fox will be guest conductor

The kids will spend the morning in rehearsal with Derrick Fox, the guest conductor for this year’s festival. Fox is the director of choral activities and was recently promoted to professor of music at the University of Nebraska — Omaha.

Fox has published texts on secondary choral music.

“He has also published octavos, and we are actually going to be singing one of the pieces that he’s written,” Svec said. “In addition to that, he’s known nationally as a presenter and clinician. He is a big deal.”

It will be the first time all of the children have performed together. After rehearsing during the day, they will hold a concert at 7 p.m.

“The concert that night will consist of performances by our guest choirs and our own concert choir for the first half,” Svec said. “Our guest choirs are going to be the Catholic Youth Choir (of Des Moines) under the direction of Gail Johll and Heartland Youth Choir (of Windsor Heights) with Sandy Miller, and then me with Ames Children's Choirs. The second half of the program will be a concert led by Dr. Fox.”

Mass choir is an experience of a lifetime for many young vocalists

Iowa music teachers select students to participate as festival singers. In Iowa OPUS Honor Choirs, which are a younger grade version of All-State Choir, students submit blind audition tapes to be selected.

The Midwest Children’s Choir Festival is an opportunity for talented youth who might not otherwise experience a mass choir festival.

The teachers greatly appreciate this opportunity and the singers’ mass choir experience in Stephens Auditorium is not one they will soon forget, Stephenson said.

“For a lot of the kids, it’s their first time singing on a stage as big as the one at Stephens Auditorium,” Svec said. “And on top of it, it’s their first time singing with hundreds of other children.

“It is something that they will only experience once in their lifetime if they don’t continue doing vocal music. But we hope this encourages their path to continue with vocal music.”

Many past members of Ames Children’s Choirs have gone on to pursue education and jobs in vocal music, Svec and Stephenson said.

Recent ACC members include Carlee Carpenter, who’s a music education major at Iowa State, Cassidy Peterson, a music major at Arizona State University, and Ryan Hinderaker, a music education major at Luther College.

Ames Children’s Choirs welcomes auditions from young vocalists in central Iowa. With participants who are age 7-18, ACC has members sing in age-based choirs.

The local choirs and the music festival are both opportunities for young singers to experience the human connection the groups offer.

“It’s a great reminder of the power of music,” Svec said.

When kids have rehearsed on their own or in small groups prior to the festival, being surrounded by hundreds of people in a choir is a thrilling experience, Stephenson said.

“It’s really a wonderful event, and I think these kids will remember this concert for the rest of their lives,” she said.

Ames Children’s Choirs generally holds auditions at the end of the semester and again before school starts. The organization can be reached at 515-290-1422, info@ameschildrenschoirs.org or www.ameschildrenschoirs.org.

Tickets to the concert March 31 are available at the Stephens Auditorium box office and ticketmaster.com. The cost is $22 for adults and$12 for students 18 and under and seniors 65 and up.

Ronna Faaborg covers business and the arts for the Ames Tribune. Reach her at rlawless@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Ames Children's Choirs to be guest choir at Midwest choir festival