From part books to premieres, from popular song to opera, from oratorios to chamber works—Jacobs School students sing and conduct an incredibly wide variety of choral repertoire.
2023 – 24 Choral Activities
We look forward to another exciting year of choral performances. The Oratorio Chorus and Concert Orchestra will perform Carl Orff’s cantata Carmina Burana on Saturday, October 28 at 8 p.m. in the Musical Arts Center. We also look forward to our opera choruses’ performances in Merry Widow, Roméo et Juliette, American Dream, Eugene Onegin & Sweeney Todd!
2022–23 Choral Activities
Congratulations to all our choral ensembles for your 20+ concerts, 5 opera choruses and our Nutcracker Ballet chorus. It was a very successful concert year!
2021–22 Choral Activities
Though masked, we went back to a full slate of choral concerts in 2021-22, including performances of the Poulenc Gloria, a NOTUS trip to the Midwest ACDA conference, 6 opera choruses, and that’s not all! Please see the News column, or click on the Ensembles & Auditions page to learn more.
2020–21 Choral Activities, Despite COVID-19!
4 Opera Choruses
Little Women, Barber of Seville, Xerxes & La Bohème
2 Singing Hoosiers concerts including a radio show!
21 Vocal Chamber Ensemble Performances with repertoire ranging from Hildegard to Rosephanye Powell. View programs here.
4 Doctoral Recitals/Recording Projects
4 Master’s Degree Recitals
VOCES8 – Virtual Coaching Sessions from London, England
5 Conference Performances & Presentations
Prof. Walter Huff & Dr. Chris Albanese at National ACDA 2021: An Opera Star, a Belter, and a Guitarist Walk into a Choir….
The Singing Hoosiers at ACDA National Convention 2021
Nicholas Sienkiewicz, Master’s Choral Conducting Student:
European Association for Music in Schools (EAS): Empowering our Youth Through Emotional Awareness
College Music Society Great Lakes Regional Conference (CMS): Welcome Home: Empowering Our Youth Through Emotional Awareness
THEMposium: Singing for Our Soul
21 virtual presentations: 11 in Fall 2020 & 10 in Spring 2021
#1 – Wednesday, Feb. 17 – Prof. Walter Huff & Director Michael Shell, with Jacobs alums Terrence Chin-Loy, Gretchen Krupp, Mitchell Jones, Kelsea Webb & Pamela Williams
The Audition: The Zone, The Stigma, The Preparation: Part 2
#2 – Wednesday, Feb. 24 – Doctoral Choral Conducting Student, Alex Koppel
The “Nuts and Bolts” of Recording: Best Practices for Musicians
#3 – Wednesday, Mar. 3 – Doctoral Choral Conducting Student, Peter Kadeli
Francis Poulenc’s Figure Humaine
#4 – Wednesday, Mar. 10 – Doctoral Choral Conducting Student, Sam Grace
Osvaldo Golijov’s La Pasión según San Marcos: Musical Borrowing and Popular Styles in Classical Music
#5 – Wednesday, Mar. 17 – Doctoral Choral Conducting Student, Lawrence Abernathy, with special guest Jonny Stewart!
The Sea Shanty
#6 – Wednesday, Mar. 31 – Dr. Carolann Buff
Who’s afraid of medieval music?
#7 – Wednesday, Apr. 7 – Interdisciplinary artist educator, Meagan Johnson
Process, Poise, Presence: Tools from the Alexander Technique for Singing and Life
#8 – Wednesday, Apr. 14 – Doctoral Choral Conducting Student, Katie Gardiner
Reading Hildegard von Bingen’s Music from the Original Manuscripts
#9 – Wednesday, Apr. 21 – Doctoral Choral Conducting Student, Jono Palmer with special guests from around the world: Breana Mccullough, Renson Madarang, Horomona Horo & Karen Grylls
On Indigenous Artists and their Music
#10 – Wednesday, Apr. 28 – Dr. Dominick DiOrio
“I contain multitudes” – The Many Faces of Today’s New Choral Music
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Roundtable by 4 doctoral students
Congratulations to our 2020/2021 Graduates
Hana Cai, Anthony Ferreira, Joshua Harper, Juan Hernandez, Caleb Lewis, Sam Ritter, Juan Carlos Zamudio. Please visit our Alumni page to see photos.
3 DM Choral Conductors attained ABD status
Grant Farmer, Katie Gardiner & Jono Palmer
COVID–19 Protocols: In 2020–2021 we were able to safely perform numerous concerts of vocal chamber music featuring 21 ensembles. Click here to see the programs. Please see our Ensembles page to learn how we are singing this semester.
In a typical school year, the Jacobs School presents performances by an extensive array of vocal ensembles: 2 large symphonic choruses, 3 chamber choirs (one of which specializes in new music), 5 opera choruses, a collegiate show choir, early music ensembles, and an all-campus choir. Regardless of your interests, there is a chorus for you at IU! We are cautiously optimistic that we will return to typical ensembles and performances in Fall 2021. Please check back frequently for updates.
Interested in Choral Conducting? No matter what your experience, graduate student or undergraduate student, there is a choral conducting class for you! We also offer graduate seminars in choral repertoire, and classes in score study, ear training for conductors, and score reading. Learn more about our doctoral minor in choral conducting here.
We invite you to explore our pages for news and information about our ensembles, degree programs, faculty and more.
Enjoy your visit!