ChoralFest 2024
September 13-14
About:
Our biggest festival of the year is our ChoralFest weekend, held in late September. During this time, over 200 singers (high school and college level) rehearse together on the Forbes Center Concert Hall stage for two days, culminating in a final festival performance on Saturday. During the weekend, visiting high school students rehearse alongside members of the award-winning JMU Chorale. They will have the opportunity to interact with college students from different majors & backgrounds, experience matrix sessions for vocal technique, receive information and ask questions pertaining to collegiate music study, and explore the JMU campus.
Spaces fill up quickly, so register soon!
Spaces fill up quickly, so register soon!
2024 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
Choralfest 2024
We are excited to announce that our clinician for the 2024 ChoralFest is...
Dr. Jo-Anne van der Vat-Chromy (she/her)!
2022 CVPA Outstanding Student Mentor, and 2016 JMU Woman of Distinction, Dr. Jo-Anne van der Vat-Chromy brings to JMU a rich and diverse career of international performance and teaching. As JMU Director of Choral Activities, Dr. van der Vat-Chromy directs The Madison Singers, the JMU Chorale, the UCSA: University Chorus Soprano/Alto Ensemble, and coordinates the VMRC Generations Choir, an intergenerational choral practicum here in Harrisonburg. A certified Kodály music educator, Dr. V. is a proud faculty member of Kodály Institutes at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, TX, and JMU. The 2012-2014 Interim Music Director for the Shenandoah Valley Children's Choir, currently Dr. V. is the JMU Vocal Arts Summer Camp director, has served for four years as Coordinator of the JMU Voice Area and is currently co-coordinator of the JMU Ensemble Area. An active adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor, Dr. V’s research interests include the kinesthetic connections in conducting pedagogy, the integration of Kodály methodology into collegiate choral performance, and the sociological impact of choral cultures on student learning and the experience of flow. Recently dubbed by the renowned choral ensemble The King’s Singers ‘our collective fairy-godmother,’ Dr. van der Vat-Chromy was awarded the 2022 Shirley Hanson Roberts (’56) and Richard D. Roberts Endowment for Faculty Excellence, a university-wide endowed award for excellence in student engagement, collaborative learning, growth, and self-discovery.
This academic year is an epic one in the JMU Choral Area, with our Pops Plus Scholarship Concert at the end of the month, our double masters of music choral conducting recital in October (Goodwyn and Gomez-Colon), The Madison Singer’s collaboration with the renowned choral ensemble Cantus in November, our HolidayFest collaboration in “Selections from Messiah” and…maybe you heard, we are going to Carnegie Hall in March 2025! For this, our 23rd annual ChoralFest, Dr. V. is delighted to be the guest conductor for this great event and is super excited to ‘hear the people sing’!
This academic year is an epic one in the JMU Choral Area, with our Pops Plus Scholarship Concert at the end of the month, our double masters of music choral conducting recital in October (Goodwyn and Gomez-Colon), The Madison Singer’s collaboration with the renowned choral ensemble Cantus in November, our HolidayFest collaboration in “Selections from Messiah” and…maybe you heard, we are going to Carnegie Hall in March 2025! For this, our 23rd annual ChoralFest, Dr. V. is delighted to be the guest conductor for this great event and is super excited to ‘hear the people sing’!
2024 Choralfest Repertoire (in concert order)
Dr. Jo-Anne van der Vat-Chromy, Guest Conductor
*Nicole Dudley and Mara McBane., Student Conductors and Winners: JMU ACDA Conducting Competition
ChoralFest ’24 Theme:
Do you hear the people sing?
Program
Mechanicsville High School Choir
Lydia Fisher-Laskey, conductor
Lullaby (Goodnight, my Angel) Billy Joel
arr. Maryanne Muglia Smith
Festival Choir
Dr. Jo-Anne van der Vat-Chromy, guest conductor
Amy Robertson, collaborative pianist
Ad Astra (To the Stars) Jake Naverud (b. 1986)
Connected Brian Tate (b. 1954)
Mara McBane, conductor
Winner of the 2024 JMU ACDA Choral Conducting Competition
The Road Home Stephen Paulus (b. 1949-2014)
Melody and text from Southern Harmony, 1835
Nicole Dudley, conductor
Winner of the 2024 JMU ACDA Choral Conducting Competition
Medley from Les Misérables Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg
Lyrics by A. Boubil, J. Natel, H. Kretzmer
Arranged by Ed Lojeski
At the End of the Day
I Dreamed a Dream
Castle on A Cloud
Do You Hear the People Sing?
On My Own
Bring Him Home
Finale: On This Page, Do You Hear the People Sing?
Tessa DeGrace, Dillan Vanzego, mezzo-sopranos,
Ye Lynn Han, tenor, Harrison Melton, baritone
Amy Robertson, electric piano, Drew Dodson, guitar,
John Foley, bass, Ethan Walker, percussion
*Nicole Dudley and Mara McBane., Student Conductors and Winners: JMU ACDA Conducting Competition
ChoralFest ’24 Theme:
Do you hear the people sing?
Program
Mechanicsville High School Choir
Lydia Fisher-Laskey, conductor
Lullaby (Goodnight, my Angel) Billy Joel
arr. Maryanne Muglia Smith
Festival Choir
Dr. Jo-Anne van der Vat-Chromy, guest conductor
Amy Robertson, collaborative pianist
Ad Astra (To the Stars) Jake Naverud (b. 1986)
Connected Brian Tate (b. 1954)
Mara McBane, conductor
Winner of the 2024 JMU ACDA Choral Conducting Competition
The Road Home Stephen Paulus (b. 1949-2014)
Melody and text from Southern Harmony, 1835
Nicole Dudley, conductor
Winner of the 2024 JMU ACDA Choral Conducting Competition
Medley from Les Misérables Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg
Lyrics by A. Boubil, J. Natel, H. Kretzmer
Arranged by Ed Lojeski
At the End of the Day
I Dreamed a Dream
Castle on A Cloud
Do You Hear the People Sing?
On My Own
Bring Him Home
Finale: On This Page, Do You Hear the People Sing?
Tessa DeGrace, Dillan Vanzego, mezzo-sopranos,
Ye Lynn Han, tenor, Harrison Melton, baritone
Amy Robertson, electric piano, Drew Dodson, guitar,
John Foley, bass, Ethan Walker, percussion
Fees
The event will cost $25-$30 per student.
In order to secure your spot in the festival, please send in a security deposit of $125 to cover your first 10 students. After we have received your registration form and your security deposit, you will receive a confirmation email, and an invoice for the fee of the remainder of your students.
Checks can be made payable to "James Madison Chapter of the ACDA."
Nicole Dudley, President
The James Madison University Chapter of ACDA
JMU School of Music
MSC 7301
880 South Main St.
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
If there are any individual questions or concerns about this, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you!
In order to secure your spot in the festival, please send in a security deposit of $125 to cover your first 10 students. After we have received your registration form and your security deposit, you will receive a confirmation email, and an invoice for the fee of the remainder of your students.
Checks can be made payable to "James Madison Chapter of the ACDA."
Nicole Dudley, President
The James Madison University Chapter of ACDA
JMU School of Music
MSC 7301
880 South Main St.
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
If there are any individual questions or concerns about this, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you!
Contact Information
Nicole Dudley, President
The James Madison University Chapter of ACDA
James Madison University
School of Music
MSC 7301
880 South Main St.
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
The James Madison University Chapter of ACDA
James Madison University
School of Music
MSC 7301
880 South Main St.
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
Questions?
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Website: www.jmuacda.weebly.com
Our Website: www.jmuacda.weebly.com
