Leading and Learning: Chancellor Harden welcomes top honors musicians
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Chancellor Tom Harden on Tuesday (June 19) greeted some of Wisconsin’s finest High School musicians, who were spending a few days on campus as part of the Wisconsin School Music Association’s 2012 High School State Honors Music Project.
The project is designed to provide musically talented students with the opportunity to rehearse and perform with nationally known conductors in a professional and highly disciplined setting. Students are challenged to perform at their musical best throughout the rehearsal period, which culminates with a “work in progress” performance at UW-Green Bay. Concerts by the Honors Orchestra and Treble Choir were held at 10 a.m. and noon in Cofrin Family Hall, and the Jazz Ensemble 11 a.m. in Fort Howard Hall of the University’s Weidner Center for the Performing Arts.
Harden welcomed guest conductor Edith Copely, professor of music and director of choral studies at Northern Arizona University, who worked with the Treble Choir, as well as WSMA program director Tim Wurlger, and music instructors, students and their families.
“It is always an honor for us to host talented young people and their families for these types of activities on our campus and at the Weidner Center,” Harden said
Wurlger said the camp is more to these students than just opportunity to perform.
“These highly talented students come together and are challenged in a way that is only possible in this intensive program,” he said. “While there is no doubt they will grow as musicians, it is truly exciting to see them grow as people while they stretch to a higher level of achievement.”
More than 1,600 students in grades 9, 10 and 11 auditioned for 429 positions in the WSMA High School State Honors Music Project ensembles. The auditions were held in seven sites across the state this past February.
The concerts follow an intensive four-day summer camp at UW-Green Bay. The WSMA High School Honors Summer Camp is a unique and essential component to the High School Honors Project experience as it is the first opportunity the selected students have to see their music, meet the conductor, and rehearse as a newly formed ensemble. Camp dates are as follows: June 16-19, Orchestra, Treble Choir and Jazz Ensemble and June 20-23, Band and Mixed Choir. Band and Choir concerts will take place in the Weidner Center this Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m.
All Honors students reconvene in Madison in late October to perform at the annual Wisconsin State Music Conference. The Honors concerts celebrate the remarkable achievements of Wisconsin’s finest young musicians and are open to the public.
The Honors Camp is just one of many opportunities for elementary, middle and high school students to attend a camp at UW-Green Bay. Outreach and Adult Access offers numerous UW-Green Bay summer camps for a variety of ages and interests. See more.
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Photos by Eric Miller, Marketing and University Communication
