Fox Cities Choral Music Festival Highlights Local High School Choirs 10/25

On Tuesday, October 25 the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center will feature the vocal talent of local high school students from Appleton West, Chilton, Freedom and Neenah High Schools in the Eighth AnnuAl Fox Cities Choral Music Festival. The concert, which starts at 7:00 p.m., is the culmination of two days of master classes and rehearsals with special guest conductor Dr. Jerry Blackstone from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance.

The Fox Cities Choral Music Festival is an extension of the Center's mission-based education programs which encourage learning through the arts both inside the classroom and beyond its walls. Maria Van Laanen, executive vice president of the Center, believes that the opportunity to perform onstage is a powerful experience saying, "The Fox Cities Choral Music Festival celebrates a great choral tradition in the Fox Cities and hopefully instills students with the knowledge that participating in the arts doesn't have to end with high school graduation. There are opportunities throughout this area to sing and perform and be part of an ensemble, and we hope by giving them well-deserved time in the spotlight, they will be inspired to continue their love of music into the future."

Grammy® Award-winning conductor Dr. Jerry Blackstone is director of choirs and chair of the conducting department at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance where he conducts the Chamber Choir, teaches conducting at the graduate level, and administers a choral program of eleven choirs. In February 2006, he received two Grammy Awards ("Best Choral Performance" and "Best Classical Album") as chorusmaster for the critically acclaimed Naxos recording of William Bolcom's monumental "Songs of Innocence and of Experience." Blackstone is considered one of the country's leading conducting teachers, and his students have received first place awards and been finalists in both the graduate and undergraduate divisions of the American Choral Directors Association biennial National Choral Conducting Awards competition. He has appeared as festival guest conductor and workshop presenter in thirty states as well as New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Blackstone holds degrees from the University of Southern California, Indiana University and Wheaton College.

Tickets for the Fox Cities Choral Music Festival are $12 for adults and $6 for students and children 12 and under. Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased in person at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, by phone through Ticketmaster at (800) 982-2787 or online at foxcitiespac.com. Groups may also order tickets by calling (920) 730-3786. Additional fees may apply. Performance schedule, prices and cast are subject to change without notice. For a full events listing, visit foxcitiespac.com.

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