Music Department
Choral Studies at Minnesota State University Moorhead
Concert Choir
The Concert Choir is an auditioned ensemble open to all students at Minnesota State University Moorhead. Under the direction of Dr. Paul Nesheim, the choir performs a wide variety of choral music from the Renaissance through the 21st Century. A typical performance season for the Concert Choir includes a fall concert with the Festival Women's Choir and Festival Men's Choir, a spring concert, and collaborations with the University Symphony Orchestra. Nearly every April, the Concert Choir also combines forces with other area choral ensembles to present a major work with the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra. The choir tours annually during spring break, with destinations that have ranged from the upper midwest to Washington, D.C. to Great Britain.
Auditions for the Concert Choir are held during the first two days of the fall semester and on the first day of the spring semester. Students can sign up for an audition time on Dr. Nesheim's door, room 136 in the Center for the Arts (CA). Audition forms, which are also available outside of CA 136, should be filled out and brought to the audition. Auditions generally consist of three elements: 1) singing a familiar song that is provided, 2) vocal exercises to determine range and appropriate voice part, and 3) a tonal memory exercise in which melodies are played and after each one, students sing back as much of the melody as they can recall. Students will not be asked to sight sing or to perform a prepared solo. After the initial audition, singers who are being considered for selection into the choir may be recalled to participate in a brief group audition before final determinations are made.
Concert Choir rehearsals are held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:00-3:50 p.m. and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00-4:15 p.m. For further information, contact Dr. Nesheim at 218.477.4091 or nesheimp@mnstate.edu.
Festival Mixed Choir
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The Festival Mixed Choir under the direction of Dr. Paul Nesheim, is open to all university students without audition. The choir performs a wide variety of choral music: sacred and secular, folksongs and spirituals, accompanied and a cappella, old and new. Concerts are presented throughout the academic year both on and off campus. The Festival Mixed Choir rehearses on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. For further information, contact Dr. Nesheim at 218.477.4091 or nesheimp@mnstate.edu.
Other Music Sites to Visit:
MSUM Music Education Studies Page
Applied Voice at MSUM
Links to Choral Associations:
American Choral Directors Association |
Music Educators National Conference |
