We would be honored to have you and your students join us for this event! The University of Montevallo ChoralFest! 2024 is designed to affirm the participation of young singers in the vocal arts. The choirs are comprised of high school students throughout the state of Alabama. Students work closely with the festival clinician in intense rehearsals focusing on musicianship skills, voice building, and ensemble performance. The choir also rehearses and performs side-by-side with University of Montevallo Choirs, some of the state’s foremost collegiate choirs. Our goal is to provide students with the highest level of musical achievement through education and performance experiences. Students will experience concerts and masterclasses, and will perform with seasoned professionals on traditional and exciting new choral repertoire.
Date: Monday, January 29, 2024
Registration/Check-in: Davis Hall
Rehearsals: Palmer Hall Auditorium/LeBaron Recital Hall (Davis Hall)
Performance: Palmer Hall Auditorium
2024 ChoralFest! Highlights
- No preparation is necessary!
- Music will be provided on-site!
- Final Sing! will be held at UM Palmer Auditorium
2024 ChoralFest! Registration
- Student Registration – $35.00
- Payment: Pay Now!
- Register now!
- Application deadline: Tuesday, January 9, 2024
2024 ChoralFest! Schedule
8:00am-8:45am Registration
9:00am-12:00pm Rehearsal
12:00pm-1:00pm Lunch
1:00pm-4:00pm Rehearsal
4:30pm UM Voice Showcase, Festival Final Sing!
6:00pm Depart from Campus
2024 ChoralFest! Clinicians
2024 TTBB Festival Clinician:
Dr. Damion Womack has dedicated over twenty years serving as an inspirational and motivational conductor, educator, and administrator, at the elementary, middle, high school, collegiate, and professional levels. Dr. Womack has served as Director of Choral Activities at Mississippi College and Chair of Fine Arts and Director of Choral Activities at Huntingdon College. Currently, Dr. Womack has been reappointed as Director of Arts at The Montgomery Academy where he previously received the McLemore Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Choral ensembles under the direction of Dr. Womack have performed by juried invitation for regional and national conventions of The American Choral Directors Association and The National Association for Music Education.
Dr. Womack is in demand as a guest conductor and clinician. He has presented workshops and lectures for ACDA and NAfME conventions. His research topics include choral tone, unified and expressive singing, and word stress. Dr. Womack has conducted choral festivals for ACDA and MEA organizations across the United States. Dr. Womack currently serves as President- Elect Designate for ACDA Southern Region and ACDA National Youth Choirs Coordinator. In addition he has served on numerous planning committees for ACDA Southern Region Conferences.
Dr. Womack holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC and holds Music Education degrees from Alabama A&M University and Alabama State University.
2024 SSAA Festival Clinician:
Holly Grefe is the Director of Choirs at Lafayette High School as well as co-founder and Artistic Director of Chorale des Amis, Youth Choirs of Acadiana. Additionally, she serves as Director of the St. Mary Mother of the Church Adult Choir in Lafayette, Louisiana. Her choirs have performed throughout the United States in venues such as Symphony Hall in Chicago, the Tivoli Theater in Chattanooga, and twice at Carnegie Hall in New York. Over the past 26 years, her students have toured 39 times and have accumulated over 184 District, State and National Awards. The Lafayette High School Choir program consists of 175 students comprising six choral ensembles. Under Ms Grefe’s direction, the choirs consistently earn Sweepstakes awards at District, State and Nationally Adjudicated Choral Assessments. Her students were selected by audition to perform at the 2011 and 2015 LA ACDA State Vocal Conference, as well as the 2016 ACDA Southern Division Conference in Chattanooga.
Ms. Grefe earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music and Studio Art from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. She received a Master’s Degree in Vocal Music Education, with an emphasis in Choral Conducting, from Florida State University where she studied with Dr. Judy Bowers, Dr. Kevin Fenton, and Dr. André Thomas. Additionally, under the tutelage of Anne Eisen and Lamar Roberston, she earned Level I & II Kodaly Certificates from McNeese State University. As a 1995 Teach For America Corps member, she spent four years teaching choral music at Crowley High and Middle Schools in Crowley, Louisiana. Ms. Grefe holds the distinct honors of being selected the 2019 Worldstrides National Teacher of the Year and the 2013 Lafayette Education Foundation High School Teacher of the Year. She is a member of Louisiana Music Educators Association as well as American Choral Directors Association where she serves as the State High School Repertoire & Standards Chairperson. Ms. Grefe serves as a guest director, clinician, and adjudicator for many events throughout the Southern region.