Chamber Singers Receive High National Honor, to Perform at Chicago Choral Convention

The University of St. Thomas Chamber Singers have received one of the highest national honors for a choral program. They were selected to perform at the biennial convention of the American Choral Director’s Association.

The St. Thomas group, directed by Dr. Angela Broeker, will perform twice on Thursday, March 10, in front of a group of 5,000 choir directors.

St. Thomas’ 53-member Chamber Singers will perform historic works by Claude LeJeune and Claudio Monteverdi, as well as contemporary pieces from Lithuania, Canada and Cuba.

They will end their program with “Down in the River,” which can be heard by clicking on the bar above. The traditional, 19th century Appalachian song was arranged for choir by Jay Broeker, who is the director’s husband and an adjunct member of St. Thomas’ music faculty.

The Chamber Singers will be accompanied by Bob Douglas, Joe Kreitzer and Tom Hodgson. They are members of St. Thomas’ “Show'd Up Band,” a bluegrass instrumental group composed of faculty and staff members.

St. Thomas is one of only five college or university mixed choirs that will perform at the convention. The selection came after a blind audition process that included recordings submitted from 75 college and university choirs from across the United States.

“It’s such an honor to have been chosen by some of the nation’s finest choral directors,” Broeker said. “The Chamber Singers, with their dedication, work ethic and sense of community, are certainly deserving of this opportunity.

“The competition is fierce,” she said, adding that for a college choir, winning a performance opportunity at the national convention is akin to “winning the World Series.”

The American Choral Director’s Association is the professional organization for all choral directors in the United States and includes those who work with professional, community, collegiate, high school, middle school, elementary school and church choirs. The association’s convention will be held in Chicago this year.

Send-Off concert

The Chamber Singers will give a 30-minute "send-off performance" at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, in the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas. All are welcome.