Choral students from various New England high schools had the opportunity to perform on the Alumni Recital Hall stage in the Redfern Arts Center as part of the 14th annual Cantante! High School Choral Festival on Friday, Oct. 20. Students from ConVal Regional High School, Middletown High School and Concord High School participated in the annual event, which gave high school students the chance to perform for adjudicators at the collegiate level, as well as sing alongside KSC choral students during the second half of the festival.
Each participating ensemble took the stage to sing selections from the songs they have worked on, which was followed by an adjudicator giving the group tips and critiques. This year’s adjudicators were Keene State music department faculty’s Dr. Daniel Carberg, Professor Morgan Bothwell and Dr. Sandra Howard.
Concord High School’s Choral Director Brin Cowette, a KSC alumni who graduated with a music education degree in 2011, said her time at KSC uplifted her career as a musician and educator.
“It was the best decision I ever made. It prepared me to be a music teacher in real life, and I had a ton of classroom experience and help from my professors that helped me develop my musicianship skills,” Cowette said. “That was what allowed me to not only become a better musician for myself, but also become someone who can instill music in my students.”
Cowette, who has participated in the annual festival three previous times, said it gives students the chance to gain performance experience, which the COVID-19 pandemic has made difficult on her current group.
“So much missed time with COVID and remote learning has taken away some of those in-person experiences that my older students had,” Cowette said. “This is a great opportunity for them to hear other groups, get feedback from very knowledgeable musicians and be proud of their own performance.”
Being the event organizer, Howard said the event happen early in the school year and seeks to give high schoolers the opportunity to perform and gain feedback from music professionals.
“Every year we invite a variety of high school choirs to our campus and focus on providing educational feedback that can be used to set the trajectory for their rehearsals and musical growth going forward,” Howard said. Howard also mentioned the importance of giving high school students the chance to perform alongside KSC choral students.
“In many ways, the festival gives high school students the chance to not only see our beautiful campus, and have college experiences like eating at the Zorn, but also to see
what it’s like to be a college student in a professional way and see college students perform in the context of the festival,” Howard said. “Keene State music students have a reputation of being excellent ambassadors for our college. We couldn’t do this festival without them”.
Kyle Trombley, alumni ‘23, attended the event and said college exposure is crucial because, “When you’re in high school, it’s much different than the world of college students, who are studying music full time.”
Trombley added, “As someone who was always destined to pursue music, going to festivals like this when I was in high school was very nice, and showed me what it was really like to take that next step. It’s also inspiring for us as college students. Many of us in the music department are on the education track, so these music educators are learning what it’s like to work with a high school group.”
Ryan Pacheco can be contacted at
rpacheco@kscequinox.com
