The Cantori and Bel Canto Choirs and the Chamber Strings from Robbinsdale Armstrong and Robbinsdale Cooper High Schools, along with the Robbinsdale All-District Choir, have been selected to perform at the Minnesota Music Educators Association (MMEA) Midwinter In-Service Clinic on February 15, 2013 from 9:15 – 9:45 a.m. at the Minneapolis Convention Center.  The All-District Choir will perform from 10:30 – 11:00 a.m. at Central Lutheran Church.

These Robbinsdale ensembles were chosen through a competitive, statewide audition to appear on this year’s Convention program.  They will be performing for an audience that includes music educators from the entire state of Minnesota. 

The collaborative performance by the district musicians will include The Five Hebrew Love Songs by Eric Whitacre and I Started Out Singing by St. Olaf College graduate Jocelyn Hagen.  Matthew Mehaffey will again be conducting both works.  He conducted the Robbinsdale Area Schools Fall Music Festival in November, 2012.  Mehaffey is the Associate Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota, where he conducts the University Singers and Men’s Chorus.  He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Conducting and Literature, and has been the Artistic Director of the Oratorio Society of Minnesota since 2008.

“I am very excited for this wonderful  opportunity to showcase the talents of our students in the Robbinsdale Area Schools,” stated Sheryl Brame, choir director at Cooper High School.  “I am blessed to work with amazing colleagues, conductors such as Dr. Mehaffey, and composers such as our own Jocelyn Hagen, who not only student taught at Cooper High School but was the accompanist for our choir for several years.  It will be an awesome performance!”

Stephanie Trump, the choir director at Armstrong, agrees.  “This will be a great opportunity for Robbinsdale to showcase our successful musical collaborations,” she said.  “It is our hope that our performance will inspire other educators to consider collaboration with other schools, instrumental and vocal ensembles, and other conductors and composers.  These ventures are invaluable to the comprehensive music education of our students.”

The All-State February 2013 concerts are a part of this wonderful clinic as well.  Many students from Armstrong and Cooper auditioned for and were selected to participate and perform in the All State Music Camps this past August.  They will be featured in the February concerts, which will be held at Benson Great Hall at Bethel College as Orchestra Hall is still closed for renovations.

MMEA’s mission is high quality music education for every student.  For more information, visit www.rdale.org or www.mmea.org.