Dr. Lee Nelson, Wartburg College director of choral activities, has been selected to conduct the 68th annual Iowa All-State Choir in November.
Nelson, an associate professor of music, will conduct the 600 selected singers during their Iowa Music Festival performance at Iowa State University’s Hilton Coliseum, Nov. 22, at 7:30 p.m. More than 3,000 students will audition this fall for the annual concert that dates back to 1946.
“It is the most prestigious choral event that high school students in Iowa can participate in, like being state champs in sports,” said Jackie Burk, the All-State Choir chair. “It is a chance for students to work on challenging music and also learn life skills of dedication, perseverance, responsibility, and cooperation.”
Nelson, who recently conducted the National Festival Chorus at Carnegie Hall in New York City for the third time, will be among a distinguished group of U.S. and Iowa conductors chosen to lead the All-State Choir.
“I was greatly surprised and honored to receive the invitation,” Nelson said.
“Lee Nelson was the unanimous choice of the governing boards of the Iowa High School Music Association and the Iowa Music Educators Association to conduct this festival,” said Alan Greiner, executive director of the Iowa High School Music Association. “His reputation of excellence with the Wartburg Choir, his rehearsal demeanor, his professionalism, and his willingness to go the extra mile and do whatever it takes to get the job done led to this unanimous decision. He is truly one of Iowa’s treasures.”
Nelson is planning a diverse program for the concert which, he said, would “feature music by great composers of the Classical and Romantic eras and new music by contemporary composers including Connor Koppin,” a 2013 Wartburg graduate from Mason City.
The other works will include “The Heaven’s Are Telling” by Franz Joseph Haydn; “Der Gang zum Liebchen” by Johannes Brahms; and contemporary compositions by Jake Runestad, Daniel Elder, Brad Holmes, and Stacey V. Gibbs.
Nelson also was a presenter at the recent Iowa Choral Directors Association’s Summer Symposium in Mason City on “From Practice to Performance,” discussing the use of creative strategies with students “on the journey from the rehearsal room to the performance venue.”