Albany Pro Musica

High School Choral Festival

Presented by Albany Pro Musica and the University at Albany
with Guest Conductor Elizabeth Eschen Cacciola

Saturday, February 17, 2024
University at Albany

We are thrilled to announce that we will host the 2024 Pro Musica High School Choral Festival again this year at University at Albany! This year’s festival brings exciting opportunities, challenging and interesting repertoire, and a world-class vocal educator!

This year’s guest conductor is Resident Conductor of the Radcliffe Choral Society and Director of the Holden Voice Program at Harvard University, Elizabeth (Liz) Eschen Cacciola. As a mezzo-soprano, Liz’s singing career spans everything from new music (Lorelei Ensemble founding member) to opera (Boston Lyric Opera’s 2016 Carmen) to musical theatre (Ensemble in the 2016 Studio Cast Album of Hunchback of Notre Dame), and she finds herself now enjoying a career in choral music and solo oratorio. Liz works with students of all ages and meets them wherever they are on their musical journey. Her students have earned entrance into top voice programs and Honors choirs across the country, and perhaps more importantly, have been inspired to make singing an integral part of their lives. Liz has chosen an exciting program of music for this festival, which will be announced to singers in December.

There is a Participation Fee of $25 per student to be paid to Albany Pro Musica AFTER students are accepted. This fee helps offset student lunch and sheet music expenses. APM is committed to providing a high-quality educational experience to students regardless of their socioeconomic background. If the participation fee presents a financial hardship for your students, we encourage you to reach out to your booster clubs or friends of music/arts organizations. Please reach out to Manager of Educational Programs, SooYeon Justesen if there is any further need for assistance.

Choral directors: Choral directors are invited to share the Festival application with any of their students whom they feel would be interested and capable of singing at a high level. Albany Pro Musica will review all applications with an eye toward school representation and balance, and will seek input from directors as needed.

Honor Choir
The student Honor Choir is a chamber group of 16-24 singers who will participate in a workshop with Dr. José Daniel Flores-Caraballo and APM Chamber Singers. During the workshop they will prepare a piece to perform as a featured group during the concert. Directors are required to submit a recommendation form for students to participate in the festival Honor Choir.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL CHORAL FESTIVAL: DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27! 

  1. Each student must fill out the online application form and submit by Monday, November 27, 2023.
  2. High School Directors must submit a recommendation form for students to participate in the Festival Honor Choir by Wednesday, November 29, 2023.
  3. Application review will take place in late November. During this time, teachers may be contacted for additional input. Please be sure to check your email for communication from Albany Pro Musica. Students will be notified by Wednesday, December 6, 2023 about whether they have been accepted or placed on our waiting list.

We look forward to singing with you this season!

Any questions? Contact us!
SooYeon Justesen
Education@albanypromusica.org 
APM Manager of Educational Programs

 

Watch WMHT’s AHA! segment about our 2023 festival to learn more!