Maryville College is hosting its annual Choir Festival Concert, Saturday, November 8, 2:30 p.m. in the Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre of the Clayton Center for the Arts. The festival will be giving high school and college choral ensembles from the region a space to spend the day rehearsing, learning, participating in combined performances, and engaging in workshops designed to enhance their musical skills, according to Stacey Wilner, director of choral activities at MC.

Dr. Robyn Rocklein, a visiting lecturer in music at MC, will lead one of these workshops.

“I will be teaching a brief overview of the mechanics of the voice, how it operates and functions,” Rocklein said. “Teaching young and inspired students means a great deal to me. These students are the future.”

During the festival, Maryville College will welcome five participating local high schools, as well as the MC Concert Choir, Lads, Lassies, and Off Kilter, to participate in these workshops. Participating ensembles include:

  • Heritage High School with Choir Director Tyler Owens;
  • Maryville High School with Choir Director Byron Davis;
  • Seymour High School with Choir Director Merritt Boling;
  • Alcoa High School with Choir Director Jasmine Andrews; and
  • Jefferson County High School with Choir Director Lindsey Lively ’20.

Lively will be returning not as an MC student but as a choir leader. Now a choir director herself, this is what Lively hopes her own students experience.

“Over my four years at MC, the choir was my second family; it was where I felt like I belonged,” she said. “I learned so much from Stacey Wilner about what goes into creating a successful choir. Now, as a teacher, I strive to create a similar atmosphere for the students in my choir. I want them to look back on their experience in high school choir and fondly remember, not just the music, but also the people.”

At 2:30 p.m., the public is invited to enjoy the festival concert, which Wilner says promises a showcase of harmony, skill, and collaboration among the region’s finest young choral ensembles.

Tickets are $12.50 plus tax for general admission, and ;admission is free for MC faculty, staff, and students, however, a printed ticket from the Clayton Center box office is required for admission. For more information, call the box office at 865-981-8590.

Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville. Maryville College offers more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.” 

Karen Eldridge, Executive Director of Communications: karen.eldridge@maryvillecollege.edu.

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