State’s best musicians gather for All- State Chorus and Orchestra

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The top high school musicians from the four corners of South Dakota will convene in Sioux Falls, for the 67th annual S.D. All-State Chorus and Orchestra event at the Denny Sanford Premiere Center, culminating in a 7 p.m. grand concert Saturday evening.
Nearly all the high schools in the state will send at least one four-person quartet to the All-State Chorus. Larger schools send more than one quartet. Most of the members of the All-State Orchestra come from the state’s larger schools.

Timothy Dixon, the Director of Orchestral Studies at Messiah College of Pennsylvania will lead the orchestra. Dixon is the Music Director/Conductor of the American Youth Philharmonic and the Conductor Laureate of the West Shore Symphony Orchestra (PA). He is active nationally as an inspiring conductor, an engaging communicator, and a committed educator.
Timothy Dixon holds the Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Iowa, the M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from Michigan State University, and a B.A. and B.M. in Music and Music Education, respectively, from Miami University of Ohio.
The All-State Chorus will be under the baton of Dr. Andrew Last, an Associate Professor of Music at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he conducts the Nordic Choir and teaches conducting. He also serves as the Director of Choral Activities at Luther and as Director of Dorian Summer Camps. Dr. Last is part of a vibrant choral program at Luther College that includes four choral faculty and more than 500 singers in six choral ensembles. Luther choirs participate in the annual Christmas at Luther celebration, perform in biennial oratorios, and are featured at regional and national American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conventions.
Last will lead the mass chorus in five selections —”Portones Abiertos y Rostros Brillantes,” (Paul Basler, Walton Music); “The Pasture” (Z. Randall Stroope, Colla Voce); “The Creation” (Willy Richter Shawnee Press), “Sing My Child” (Sarah Quartel, Oxford University Press) and “Great God Almighty,” (Stacey Gibbs, Gentry Publications). He will also conduct the combined Chorus and Orchestra on the Star Spangled Banner; and arrangement of “A Mighty Fortress,” and “Five Mystical Songs - Antiphon.”