Choral festival brings local schools to campus
Seven Indiana high school choirs recently participated in the University of Indianapolis High School Choral Invitational Festival on Oct. 29. This is the fifth year the UIndy Music Department has held this event.
“We wanted to get a bunch of high schools here, get them on campus and give them a wonderful experience,” said UIndy Professor of Music Paul Krasnovsky.
He also said one of the reasons he holds this event is to recruit prospective students. According to Krasnovsky, a lot of preparation goes into this event. He said that he begins organizing the event in the beginning of the summer. Some of the planning includes choosing a date for the invitational and sending e-mails to those who might be interested in participating.
Because he was a former president of the Indiana Choral Directors Association, Krasnovsky said he knows high school choir directors across the state.
“I then use all my connections to contact different high schools and invite them to come,” he said.
Some of the choirs invited to this year’s UIndy High School Choral Invitational Festival included Perry Meridian High School’s “Then and Now” choir, Rossville High School’s Concert Choir, Arsenal Technical High School’s “Techoir” and Franklin Community High School’s Advanced Concert Choir.
Krasnovsky said that the high schoolers’ family and friends were also allowed to attend the event. Senior vocal performance major Maddison Swinney thinks the choral festival helps showcase UIndy to prospective students.
“I remember coming to this invitational with a choir I was a part of in high school and that is when I first became interested in UIndy,” she said.
During the event, each choir got the opportunity to perform in front of all the high schools at the event. They also spent 10 to 15 minutes meeting with a clinician, a conductor who specializes in choral directing and vocal performance. Robert Sinclair from VanderCook College of Music served as one the clinicians for the festival. UIndy Music Department Chair Kathleen Hacker and Voice and Theory Professor Michelle Westra also served as clinicians.
After all the choirs finished their performances, the UIndy Concert Choir and “Schola” performed for all who attended the event.
While Krasnovsky said he has no plans to expand this event because he does not want it to become too large, there are many things that he enjoys about the festival.
“I love listening to people sing and love listening to all the choirs,” he said. “It’s just fascinating.”
Swinney said that she enjoyed sharing the campus with high school students.
“The part I liked best about the event was getting the chance to show high schoolers our university and having our professors help their choirs and give them new ideas,” Swinney said.
