Summer Conference Retreat
July 7-10, 2024
Peru State College
REGISTER HERE
CLICK HERE FOR CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
(coming soon)
Conference Highlights
Interest Sessions with Dr. Jennaya Robison
Reading Sessions in all R&R Areas
Conducting Masterclasses
NCDA Commission – Dr. Kurt Knecht
Middle Level Honor Choir – Tina Schwahn, Conductor
All-State High School Honor Choir – Dr. Eric William Barnum, Conductor
All-State Show Choir – Trent and Lexi Buglewicz
SUMMER HONOR CHOIRS
NCDA All-State Concert Choir
All State Concert Choir
Registration fee if accepted – $275 – ALL INCLUSIVE (lodging, meals, sheet music)
2024 Summer All State Concert Choir Description
OPEN to all 2023-24 high school students (2022 freshmen through graduating seniors)
Join high school singers from around the state in an intensive honor choir experience. Students will be immersed in diverse repertoire, expert instruction, and high-level artistry in a beautiful setting on the campus of Peru State College.
2024 All State Concert Choir Clinician – Dr. Eric William Barnum
A conductor and composer, Eric William Barnum continues to passionately seek new ground in the choral field. Working with choirs of all kinds, his collaborative leitmotif endeavors to provide intensely meaningful experiences for singers and audiences.
Barnum is currently the Director of Choral Activities at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa and previously, the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. He holds a DMA in Choral Conducting from the University of Washington (Seattle, WA), under the direction of Dr. Geoffrey Boers. He has an advanced degree in conducting from Minnesota State University (Mankato, MN), primary study with Dr. David Dickau, as well as BAs in Composition and Vocal Performance from Bemidji State University (Bemidji, MN). He has appeared as a conductor across the United States and the International stage, and has worked with some of the most innovative minds in the choral field.
His compositional voice and vision continue to gain popularity around the globe with performances from choirs Internationally. He composes for choral ensembles of all types, from professional to youth choirs, and has received numerous awards and prestigious grants
NCDA Middle Level Honor Choir
July 8-10, 2024
Middle Level Honor Choir Requirements
NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN THROUGH APRIL 1
Nomination Form: HERE
Registration fee if accepted – $200 – ALL INCLUSIVE (lodging, meals, sheet music)
Middle Level Honor Choir Description
OPEN to all students entering grades 7-9.
Join singers from around the state in an exciting honor choir experience! Students will be immersed in diverse repertoire, expert instruction, and high-level artistry in a beautiful setting on the campus of Peru State College.
2024 Middle Level Honor Choir Clinician – Tina Schwahn
Tina Schwahn, a native of Lincoln, Nebraska, has 30+ years of experience directing choirs in Nebraska. She is a recently retired educator who taught vocal music and directed choirs and show choirs in the Millard and Elkhorn school districts in the Omaha area. She holds degrees (BME and MME) in music education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Tina specializes in middle school vocal music, specifically working with adolescent changing voices. She is thrilled to be conducting the 2024 summer Middle Level Honor Choir!
NCDA All-State Show Choir
July 6–7, 2024
2023 All-State Show Choir Requirements
AUDITION DEADLINE – APRIL 28
Information sheet (including links to excerpts and recordings): HERE
Registration fee if accepted – $275 – ALL INCLUSIVE (lodging, meals, sheet music)
2023 All-State Show Choir Description
We encourage all show choir directors to consider auditioning students for the All-State Show Choir. We proudly represent students from schools all over the state, and guarantee a rewarding and beneficial experience for our participants!
2023 All-State Show Choir Clinicians
Trent Buglewicz isis a vocal music teacher at Linn-Mar High School in Marion, IA, where he has spent the last nine years. In addition to directing the advanced mixed chorus, Chamber Singers, since the fall of 2020, he also conducts Linn-Mar’s bass chorus, For-tis, and one of the school’s treble choruses, Cantemus. Outside of curricular choir, he is the director of Linn- Mar’s extracurricular varsity show choir, Tenth Street Edition. He received his BME from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Lexi Buglewicz is originally from Ankeny, Iowa. She began dancing at the age of 3 and has lived and performed in Oklahoma City, Dallas, Chicago, and New York City, but currently resides in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Lexi attended Oklahoma City University on scholarship where she graduated with a Bachelor of Performing Arts in Dance Performance.
Since graduation, Lexi has completed two contracts with the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line dancing through the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the Bahamas on the Navigator of the Seas and as the Dance Captain on the Enchantment of the Seas.
Lexi is a full-time freelance choreographer, clinician, and adjudicator working with over 30 high school and college show choirs across the country and teaching at many performing arts camps. Her groups consistently achieve high placements and have won numerous awards for best choreography, design, and visual effect.
After growing up intensely training and studying the art of dance, Lexi is thrilled to share her passion and knowledge with equally passionate students and directors all over the country.