Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and its Department of Music and Theatre will host a Community Choral Workshop on March 22 and 23. This is the third year for the workshop, which brings high school and college choral students together with professional singers.
This workshop will work with students to learn group singing technique, music education and options in the music profession. While the workshop would usually bring the group and a guest artist together, the activities will be virtual this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, said project director Michael Boswell, associate professor of music and director of SMWC choirs.
This year’s guest artist is composer Elaine Hagenberg. Students in all choirs will meet virtually with Hagenberg, Boswell — who is also a professional singer — and participate in a workshop with other students.
Boswell is capitalizing on the use of technology and a network of choirs and choir directors. These choirs include Terre Haute North Vigo High School directed by Michelle Azar, Terre Haute South Vigo High School directed by Paul Ellison, and North Montgomery High School in Crawfordsville, directed by Sarah Kavanagh. North and South Vigo choirs have participated previously.
Currently, there are 112 college and high school students participating. Boswell will also meet separately with North Montgomery students to discuss life as a professional chorister. The workshop strengthens relationships between SMWC’s Department of Music and area high schools while providing a catalyst to students’ exploration of music, higher education and the music profession.
Three of the choirs will participate in creating a virtual choir video of Hagenberg’s “O Love.” Boswell first used this technique in fall 2020, as the pandemic mandated changes in choral education. Students will learn to sing to guide tracks over an earpiece, a technique used by professionals which they are not likely to have experienced. Using contracted services, their individual videos are recorded as both video and audio tracks. The individual videos will then be assembled into a virtual choir video, which students can download and save.
The activities are made possible in part by a 2021 Arts Project Support grant through Arts Illiana and the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.The project is also supported by a City of Terre Haute Arts Grant, a program of the Mayor’s Office.
From Iowa, Hagenberg can readily relate to students living in rural, small-town Indiana. Her experience spans composer, guest artist, conductor, accompanist and clinician roles at festivals, professional conferences, colleges and universities and churches.