60 high school students perform with CSC students

Music connected 60 high school men from eight schools Thursday, Oct. 20 at the Chadron State Fifth Biannual Men’s Day Choral Clinic.
Clinic attendees were directed by Joel Schreuder, CSC choral director, and Bobby Pace was the piano accompanist. High schools attending Men’s Day range from Chadron to as far as Julesburg, Colorado.
The high school singers were joined by seven Chadron State Men’s Ensemble vocalists. Collegiate singers joining the high school vocalists provided an example of mature, round tones and increased the speed of learning the music.
The chorus began rehearsal at 9 a.m. to perform at their Men’s Day concert at 2 p.m. Music performed by the chorus was “Brothers, Sing On” by Edvard Grieg, “Things That Never Die” by Lee Dengler, “The Pasture” by Randall Thompson, and “Johnny Schmoker” by James Rodde.
“They were a great bunch of guys, very attentive and open to learning,” Schreuder said. “I love seeing progress made throughout the day. I enjoyed talking to several of them afterwards about the great experience they had. It’s not very often guys, especially guys from small towns, get to sing in a 67 voice men’s choir.”
Men’s Day was established by Schreuder in 2009, and after 2010, the music department began alternating between Men’s Day and Women’s Day Choral Clinics. Reaching out through these clinics enables current professors and college students to connect with potential new students. Campus choirs also use these choral clinics as a recruiting method to the CSC Music Department.
“I thought the guys made great progress throughout the day,” Schreuder said, “Hopefully, I gave them some things to continue to work on when they get back to their school choirs.”