Music Department to host high-school madrigal lessons

Beach Hall will be filled with high school music students today as Emporia State will be hosting Madrigal Festival from 1 to 2 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday.

“This is, of course, a festival in which high schools bring their small madrigal ensembles and sing music that they will present later at district competition,” said Terry Barham, director of choral activities at ESU. “I will work with each group for 30 minutes about how they can improve their performance.”

The entry fee for each high school group is $90 and the event is sponsored by ESU’s A cappella choir. Money raised through the event will fun the A cappella choir’s trip they will be taking to New York City at the end of the month of May.

“Each group is preparing for high school contest and that’s why they come to this event,” said Jeremy Devine, senior music major and president of A cappella choir. “Dr. Barham is one of the leading choral directors in the state and to some ideas for contest is really helpful for a lot of them. He presents ideas in a new way and can give them certain flair to the piece.”

Newton, Andover Central, Jefferson West, Arkansas City, Augusta, Osawatomie and Wetmore are the confirmed high schools that will be attending the event. Although the choirs only have 30 minute sessions, they are encouraged to stay and listen to at least three other high schools sing.

“I suggest that they come and listen to other choirs sing and stay for several hours,” Barham said. “The point of the festival is not only gain knowledge about their individual pieces but to learn from other groups. Often times they may come in thinking they are really good but after hearing other group’s sing they realize that they may not have been as good as they thought.”

The A cappella choir works the festival by setting up tables, tearing down and helping to keep groups on time and organized between sessions. Another key component of the festival is that it allows ESU to recruit not only for the music departments but all departments on campus.

“We hand out information cards to find out students interest and then whatever it is whether it’s science, computers, or music, we send them information about different departments on campus,” said Caelee Gibbs, sophomore nursing major and secretary for the music department “So not only is this beneficial for the music department but really for everyone.”

The Madrigal Festival has been held at ESU for over a decade and is open to the public. Barham encouraged anyone interested to stop by and listen, as they will hear a wide variety of songs in different languages, including everything from classic choral pieces to refurbished gospel songs.

“A lot of us enjoy talking with the high school students and talking about ESU and since we are students attending the university we are able to answer questions that sometimes professors can’t answer,” Devine said. “Not to mention that students that come to these festivals are often interested in music, so it’s nice to meet potential ESU students.”