Noted director to lead prep Choral Invitational Festival Concert

The Idaho State University music department will present the 22nd Choral Invitational Festival Concert at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 in the Joseph C. and Cheryl H. Jensen Grand Concert Hall in the L.E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center.

The concert will feature nearly 500 students from 16 high school choirs from throughout the state of Idaho. These students participate in a two-day workshop for choral groups hosted by the ISU choral music program. In addition, the ISU Chamber, Concert and Women’s Choirs will be featured in the evening performance.

One of the nation's most esteemed choral musicians, Eph Ehly, D.M.A., will serve as guest conductor for the festival’s massed choir. Ehly was called “one of the most sought-after choral conductors/clinicians in the United States” in “The Choral Journal,” the official publication of the American Choral Directors Association. He has conducted more than 80 all-state choirs and more than 600 festival ensembles.  

As a conductor, author, lecturer and clinician, he has appeared in 48 states, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Mexico and several countries throughout Europe, and presented on more than 100 college and university campuses. He has received numerous awards, including the Mrs. Ewing M. Kauffman Excellence in Teaching Award and the Teaching Award for Excellence from the University of Missouri – Kansas City.

As a past recipient of two faculty grants, Ehly studied advanced compositional techniques in choral music while visiting leading composers and conductors across Europe and Asia. Under the sponsorship of the Partners of the Americas program, Ehly served as guest artist in residence to Belem, the capital of the state of Para, Brazil, and a second residence in Rio de Janeiro.

Ehly retired from the Conservatory of Music at UMKC after 27 years of service.  His teaching philosophies and rehearsal techniques have been shared in his popular book, “Hogey’s Journey – Living to Learn, Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn How to Live,” and in the “Video Master Classes” released by the Hal Leonard Publishing Company.

At the ISU High School Choral Invitational Festival Concert, Ehly will conduct students from Bear Lake, Blackfoot, Bonneville, Butte, Century, Grace, Highland, Hillcrest, Idaho Falls, Madison, Middleton, Minico, Moscow, Preston, Skyline and Snake River high schools.

“Student singers will experience the musical inspiration of a true giant in the choral profession,” said Scott Anderson, D.M.A., director of choral activities in ISU’s department of music. Anderson is a former student of Ehly at the Conservatory of Music at UMKC.

Admission is $5 for the general public; $3 for ISU faculty and staff; $2 for precollege students; and free to ISU students with valid Bengal ID cards. Children under 6 will not be admitted. Tickets may be purchased online at www.isu.edu/tickets or by calling the Stephens Center Box Office at (208) 282-3595

For more information, contact the ISU music department, (208) 282-3636.