The St. Thomas Chamber Singers will perform at the 2011 American Choral Directors Association National Conference, the first time any St. Thomas choir has been invited to the national conference.

“This invitation is the highest honor a choir in the United States can receive,” Director of Choral Activities Angela Broeker said.

The ACDA directors choose only five or six college or university choirs out of all the applicants nationwide, Broeker said.

“On the one hand, the invitation was a complete surprise to me, because I’ve been attending these conventions for 26 years and I’ve seen the caliber of the college choirs invited to come. But on the other hand I wasn’t surprised, because [the Chamber Singers] work so hard and are talented singers who are completely dedicated to this ensemble, so they deserve to be representatives of St. Thomas.”

Choir members are proud

Junior Emily Temple, a soprano, said she was “ecstatic” when she heard the news.

“I’m looking forward to putting our name on the map and having our choir finally get recognition,” Temple said. “St. Thomas choirs haven’t gotten enough credit.”

The strong sense of community within the Chamber Singers helps the choir succeed, she said.

“We couldn’t make the music we make if we weren’t bonded,” Temple said.

Sophomore Tommy Glass, a Chamber Singers bass, agreed.

“One of our strengths is that we even get together outside of choir and we all get along really well,” Glass said.

Two things that make the Chamber Singers better than other choirs across the nation, Glass said.

“One thing that sets us apart is having Dr. Broeker,” he said. “The other is that we all really get into it. We don’t simply sing the songs. We do more than that.”

Senior Zach Wilson, a tenor, agreed that the choir’s success could be attributed to Broeker.

“We have the best director in the state of Minnesota, if not the country,” Wilson said.

He said it was “absolutely fantastic” that the Chamber Singers were chosen for the ACDA national conference.

“I was really excited about how we’d been performing this last year, and to be accepted to this conference is a testament to how good our choir is,” Wilson said.

Performing at a national level

Even though no St. Thomas choir has been invited to the national conference before, past choirs have come close. In 2008, the Chamber Singers were invited to the regional choir conference for the North Central division, that includes Minnesota.

The choir also has performed in state and local concerts. But on March 10, 2011, the Chamber Singers will travel to Chicago to perform in Chicago’s Orchestra Hall in front of its largest audience yet.

The choir members will begin learning their repertoire in September, Broeker said, and intensive rehearsals will begin in February. The national conference will be a way for the Chamber Singers to show thousands of choir directors the quality of St. Thomas’ choir program, she said.

“Catholic colleges aren’t often represented at this convention, so we’re excited to bring our choir and represent our faith tradition,” Broeker said.

She said the judges picked the St. Thomas Chamber Singers based on the quality of their sound on the CD she sent in, but she said the singers have additional talents that don’t come across in a demo CD.

“Our singers bring to the artistic experience an absolute connection with one another and a connection to their audience,” Broeker said. “All the members love to share their music and that’s evident during performances.”

Katie Broadwell can be reached at klbroadwell@stthomas.edu.