The USC Concert Choir has been selected to perform for the 2023 biennial conference of the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO). This prestigious invitation is extended to choirs who are chosen through a blind audition process. Sample recordings from the last three academic years were submitted, and only nine collegiate choral ensembles were selected from a nationwide pool of applicants.
The conference will take place on the campus of Morehouse College in Atlanta November 9-11, 2023. In attendance will be collegiate choral conductors from across the United States, graduate conducting students, composers, headliner presenters and music industry representatives.
Now in her fifth year as Director of Choral Studies, Dr. Alicia W. Walker had this to say about the selection: “We are extremely honored to receive this important invitation. Performing on a national conference, in front of collegiate choral conductors, brings visibility to the fine work being done by our students here at the University of South Carolina.”
The rigorous preparation for a concert in this setting unites the ensemble and highlights the impact of collaboration, discipline, and artistry. It will be a memory they will carry with them always.
– Dr. Alicia W. Walker, Director of Choral Studies
Concert Choir’s program will feature the music of award-winning British composer Cecilia McDowall. BBC Music Magazine describes her music as “sometimes richly tonal, sometimes more exploratory in harmonic range, her music is always full of invention.” A featured work will be McDowall’s “Night Flight,” for choir and cello. USC cello professor Claire Bryant will accompany the choir.
Concert Choir will present a free preview concert at Norcross United Methodist Church in Atlanta on Thursday, November 9, at 7 p.m. Friends and alumni are cordially invited to attend this performance, which will feature the NCCO program as well as additional repertoire by Palestrina, Brahms, Dawson, Hogan and others. The conference performance on Friday afternoon will be closed to conference registrants only.