Concert Choir

The Concert Choir is a select group of mixed voices, which performs some of the more challenging music from the various periods and styles. This choir serves as a public relations arm of the Music Department and tours in the spring of each year. Membership is by audition, and formal attire is required. Music laboratory credit may be earned in this course.

In 1997, the Choir completed a successful European tour where concerts were presented in Frankfurt, Salzburg, Vienna, Prague, and Budapest. The Choir has performed for the Texas Music Educators Association Convention and Texas Association of Music Schools Convention.

In 2001, the Concert Choir performed for the American Choral Directors National Convention in San Antonio, being only one of six university choirs selected for performance through a national tape audition. The same year, the choir presented a concert tour in Italy, having been invited to participate in the Gorizia, Italy International Choral Festival. Concerts were presented in Rome, Florence, Venice, and Marostica. At the Gorizia festival, the choir was an award winner in the two categories in which they were entered.

The Choir has presented performances of Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Shreveport and Marshall Symphony Orchestras and in 2002 presented the Poulenc Gloria and the Bernstein Chichester Psalms with the Marshall Symphony.

Also in 2002, the University Singers, an eighteen-voice chamber ensemble selected from the membership of the Concert Choir, presented a two-week international tour, performing in Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, and China. This group was also entered in the Gorizia festival competition and was one of only two ensembles to be recognized as an award winner in their category.

In February 2004, the Choir performed the Haydn Te Deum and the Brahms' Nanie with the Marshall and Longview Symphony Orchestras. In March 2004, the choir appeared on the program of the ACDA Southwestern Division Convention in Little Rock.

The Concert Choir, at the invitation of the Russian Ministry of Culture, toured Russia in June 2004, performing concerts in some of the most beautiful and historic halls and cathedrals in Moscow and St. Petersburg. A highlight of the tour was a performance in the Kremlin with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. The Choir also sang in several St. Petersburg palaces and in Baptist churches in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The ETBU Choir is one of two university choirs invited to the Russian Music Ministry Festival for the 300th celebration of St. Petersburg and to sing in Moscow. Sightseeing time in St. Petersburg included such sites as Nevsky Prospect Park, Kazan Cathedral, Count Stroganoff's Palace and the Admiralty.

Contact Information:
Dr. Justin Hodges, Director of Choral Activities
School of Fine Arts
East Texas Baptist University
One Tiger Drive
Marshall, TX 75670
903-923-2162
jhodges@etbu.edu

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