Independence to Host Mid-West Premier

Independence Community College and the Independence Area Children’s Choir will present the mid-west premier of John Rutter’s “Mass for the Children” in a special performance this week.  This special choral event is part of ICC’s Spring 2005 Invitational Choral Festival and will be held on Saturday, April 9 in the Fine Arts Building and Inge Theatre.

Guest conductor Dr. Kirk Aamot, of The University of Michigan, will be the festival’s clinician and will conduct the “Mass for the Children” at 7:30 p.m. in the Inge Theatre.  Tickets are $2 for students and senior citizens and $5 for adults.

Kirk Aamot is Director of Choral Activities at The University of Michigan-Flint, where he conducts University Chorale and Chamber Singers while teaching choral methods, conducting and vocal pedagogy.  After graduating from St. Olaf College, Dr. Aamot taught secondary school music in suburban St. Paul for four years before completing the Master of Music degree at the University of Minnesota and the Doctor of Musical           Dr. Kirk Aamot        Arts degree in the Literature and Performance of Choral Music from the University of Colorado, Boulder. 

Dr. Aamot is the founding conductor of the Flint Festival Youth Chorus at the Flint School of Performing Arts, an auditioned ensemble of thirty-six students ages 10 – 17.   Now in its fifth season, the choir serves young people in the city of Flint and eleven surrounding communities. 

Dr. Aamot’s editions of choral music are published by Santa Barbara, Hal Leonard, Kjos Music and Alliance Music Press; his reviews of choral music performance practice and teaching philosophy have been published in state, regional and national publications of the American Choral Directors Association.  He is President-Elect of the Michigan chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and is a member of the Michigan School Vocal Music Association, Chorus America, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

For more information about the Choral Festival and/or the Saturday performance, call Christopher Langsford, ICC Vocal Music Instructor, at (620) 331-4100, ext. 4241.