11th Annual High School Choral Festival
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
9:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Light Fine Arts Building, Kalamazoo College
Battle Creek Lakeview High School, Gull Lake High School, Portage Central High School
Three Rivers High School and Vicksburg High School

Thursday, February 12, 2009
9:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Light Fine Arts Building, Kalamazoo College
Charlotte High School, Kalamazoo Central High School, Kalamazoo Christian High School
Portage Northern High School and Schoolcraft High School

Guest Clinician Timothy Takach
member of Cantus, internationally acclaimed male a cappella ensemble

Come and hear how beautiful choral music is created during the Kalamazoo Bach Festival’s 11th annual High School Choral Festival on Wednesday and Thursday, February 11 and 12, at Kalamazoo College. Timothy Takach, a member of the internationally known vocal ensemble Cantus, will coach ten school choirs from across southwest Michigan. Each choir will prepare two pieces to sing for Mr. Takach and an audience of the other participating choirs, their conductors, and any area music lovers who would like to attend. Mr. Takach will coach each choir in turn in a master class, non-adjudicated format.

On Wednesday, February 11, the Battle Creek Lakeview High School, Gull Lake High School, Portage Central High School, Three Rivers High School, and Vicksburg High School choirs will take part in the festival at the Light Fine Arts Building on the Kalamazoo College campus. Choirs participating on Thursday, February 12, are Charlotte High School, Kalamazoo Central High School, Kalamazoo Christian High School, Portage Northern High School, and Schoolcraft High School.

The Festival runs from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. both days. Takach will prepare and conduct all students in a performance of “Let Your Voice Be Heard” by Abraham Adzenyah at 12:30 p.m. each day with all choirs singing together. “Let Your Voice Be Heard” is African Highlife music, mixed with some jazz and body percussion.

Tim Takach has been a member of the Minneapolis-based a cappella ensemble Cantus since 1996, and helped bring Cantus from a student ensemble at St. Olaf College to a full-time professional non-profit company. Takach brings a variety of talents and knowledge to his work as a choral clinician. As a singer he brings an intuitive musical ear as well as attention to the smaller details in choral singing. Takach is also an active composer and often writes for Cantus. During his career with Cantus, Tim has worked with thousands of students across the country. He effectively and passionately conveys important fundamental ideas about music making as an ensemble and as an individual singer, and he uses contagious enthusiasm to encourage young singers to commit to their art and to keep singing.

Timothy Takach will return to Kalamazoo on March 26th, when the Kalamazoo Bach Festival, in collaboration with Portage Northern High School, presents Cantus in Concert. Recognized as one of America's finest professional male a cappella ensembles, Cantus enjoys a vigorous schedule of national tours, subscription concerts in its home of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, educational outreach programs, and recording. The ensemble is known for adventurous programming spanning many periods and genres, including chant, Renaissance music, contemporary works, art song, folk, spirituals, world music, and pop. Cantus in Concert will take place on Thursday, March 26, 8:00 p.m., in the Portage Northern High School Auditorium, 1000 Idaho St., Portage, Michigan.

Both the High School Choral Festival in February and Cantus in Concert in March are open to the public. Tickets to Cantus in Concert are $20 for adults or $5 for students and are available by calling the Bach Festival office at 269-337-7407. For further information regarding any of the Bach Festival’s events, visit their web site at www. kzoo.edu/bach.