The Wartburg College St. Elizabeth Chorale has been invited to sing at the 2024 Midwestern American Choral Directors Association Regional Conference next February in Omaha, Nebraska.

The choir was selected by a two-tiered, blind audition where the screening committee does not know the identity of the choir or conductor. Each choir must submit unedited recordings of past choral performances from the previous three years.

“We are thrilled to perform at the 2024 Midwestern American Choral Directors Association conference and honored to accept this invitation with humility and gratitude. We look forward to preparing for this high honor as soon as the academic year begins,” said Nicki Toliver, associate director of choral activities and St. Elizabeth Chorale conductor. “Our program is inspired by Michelle Obama’s most recent book, ‘The Light We Carry.’”

The program will feature music by Morna Edmundson, Ruth Moody, Marie-Claire Saindon, Dan Forrest and Rosephanye Powell. It will open with a new arrangement by the Artemisia Trio and highlight a Stephen Sturk piece written for the chorale.

“‘Coming out of the dark and into the light’ is a phrase that has resonated with our team through the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements, pandemic and multitude of social issues highlighted most recently. The chorale intends for this program to bring light, hope and peace to our audiences and especially inspire girls and young women,” Toliver said. “Our team works diligently to nurture each other by building confidence in our skills, our gifts, our instruments, our beauty, our power, our talents and our worth. Our members seek opportunities to build bridges, celebrate diversity and uplift equality. We will continue to carry the light with this program, our attitudes, our work ethic, our compassion, our musicality and our legacy.”

The conference brings together choral directors from all school levels — elementary through college, public and private — in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The St. Elizabeth Chorale, a high voice choir that performs a variety of treble literature from different historical periods, takes its name from a famous resident of the college’s namesake, the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, Germany. Elizabeth (1207-1231) lived at the castle as the wife of a Thuringian landgrave. Inspired by the teachings of her contemporary, St. Francis, she left the castle after her husband’s death and smuggled food from the kitchens to poor peasants. Choir members are chosen by audition and represent various academic disciplines on campus.