More than 300 high school students from the area gathered in Grand Forks for a weekend of  singing with UND choral directors. Photo by Chester Beltowski/The Dakota Student.

More than 300 high school students from North Dakota and Minnesota gathered at UND this past weekend for the 29th Annual Honor Band and Choir Festival. The participants were selected from approximately 1,000 students in grades 10-12 who auditioned in the fall.

“A week of live auditions was held in which the other two festival directors, Dr. Joshua Bronfman and Dr. James Popejoy, went around to schools listening to all of the students who applied,” UND Associate Director of Choral Activities and festival co-director Melanie Popejoy said.

There were around 600 singing and 400 instrumental auditions. The groups were narrowed down to 80 students in a mixed choir, 103 in a women’s choir and 120 in a band.

This was Melanie Popejoy’s third year as co-director of the event, and she conducted the women’s honor choir. Bronfman directed the mixed honor choir, and James Popejoy conducted the honor band.

Students arrived at UND in the early afternoon last Friday, and the event kicked off with the Showcase Concert at the Chester Fritz Auditorium featuring UND’s different music ensembles. The Concert Choir, Wind Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra and many more performed to give visiting students a taste of the many opportunities UND’s music program offers.

“The festival is a great recruiting opportunity for our department,” Popejoy said. “We see the students face-to-face, get to know them better and learn how they feel about attending UND.

“We get to show off our staff and a few current UND students direct sectionals or interact with the participants. This helps the high school students formulate their ideas about our campus and the music department. Even if they don’t plan on being a music major, there are other ways they can stay involved in music.”

The event produces other positive impacts on students as well.

“This opportunity is a big deal for students who may have much smaller choirs or bands at their high schools,” Popejoy said. “They get to spend the weekend with other kids who love music as much as they do and see the possibility of putting together an outstanding performance in only two days.”

The schedule of events for the weekend was the same as previous years, but winter storms caused a change of plans.

The final concert in the Chester Fritz Auditorium was originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon, but it was moved to Saturday at 4 P.M. Despite the change, 800 people attended.

Following the performance, students returned home before the weather worsened. To give students a break from rehearsals, a social event was scheduled for Saturday night, but it was cancelled.

An honor orchestra ensemble used to be part of the festival as well, but this was eliminated in 2012 because the final concert was running too long and practice facilities in the Hughes Fine Arts Building are limited.

The orchestra piece is now a separate event called Spring String Fest, which will take place for the third year on campus April 4-6.

Emmy Erbes is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].