RAPID CITY —More than 1,000 of South Dakota’s top high school musicians will converge on Rapid City this weekend when the 66th edition of the South Dakota All-State Chorus and Orchestra concert takes place at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.
Vocal quartets from high schools across the state have been in rehearsal for several weeks, perfecting the musical selections of Dr. Phillip Swan, the choral director for this year’s program. Dr. Anthony Elliott has been selected to direct the S.D. All-State Orchestra.
Dr. Phillip A. Swan is Co-Director of Choral Studies and Musical Director for LU Musicals. Swan conducts Cantala, directs Hybrid Ensemble (jazz, early, contemporary and world music); teaches courses in conducting, musical theatre and music education; and coaches student organized a cappella groups. He is active in the Appleton community, serving as artistic director and conductor for newVoices (recipient of the 2016 Chorus America Education and Community Engagement Award), and is choir director at Appleton Alliance Church. Swan received his BA in music education from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, MM in Choral Conducting from UT El Paso, and his DMA in Choral Conducting from the University of Miami (Florida). His doctoral essay is entitled, “In His Own Words: The Choral Music of Eric Whitacre from 1991-2004:.
Dr. Elliott is in great demand as a conductor and as a concert cellist. Known for his fluid technique and assured interpretations, he has led numerous professional, amateur, and youth orchestras in prestigious settings around the world. Presently, he is Music Director of the Dexter Community Orchestra, and Conductor of the Michigan Youth Symphony at the University of Michigan. He has shared podium duties at the Texas Music Festival with Maxim Shostakovich and Christoph Eschenbach, and at the Blossom Music Festival with Leonard Slatkin and Jahja Ling. As a tireless advocate for music education, he has led the All Northwest Orchestra as well as the All State Orchestras including New York, Florida, Alaska, Minnesota, and several others. As Music Director of the Houston Youth Symphony and Ballet, he led a heralded two-week long concert tour to Holland, Germany, and Austria, and was honored by Houston Mayor Kathryn Whitmire and the Houston City Council. He has given countless free clinics and workshops at inner city schools and community centers around the country. This past season, he appeared in Detroit with students from the Cornerstone School, the Detroit School for the Arts, and the Marvin L Winan’s Fine Arts Academy.
Elliot is also a prize-winning cellist, being the first person to win the Feuermann International Cello Competition.
