Future Events

2011 Youth Choir Festival

The 2011 SC United Methodist Youth Choir Festival will be April 29 – May 1 at Springmaid Beach in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Constantina Tsolainou, Paul S. and Jean R. Amos Faculty Chair and Director of Choral Activities at the Schwob School of Music Columbus State University will be the guest clinician.  Ms. Tsolainou has held conducting positions at Southern Methodist University, Westminster Choir College, New England Conservatory, McGill University (Montreal, Quebec), Oregon State University, and Oklahoma City University. She has served as Artistic Director of the Canterbury Choral Society in Oklahoma City, Director of Music at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church and Artistic Director and Conductor of the Aria Chamber Chorus in Dallas, Texas. During her tenure at SMU, Ms. Tsolainou established the SMU/Dallas Vocal Arts Ensemble; while in Montreal she was the Artistic Director and Conductor of Anima Musica, an ensemble formerly known in Canada as the Donovan Chorale. Currently she is Principal Guest Conductor of the Arts District Chorale in Dallas, Texas.

Ms. Tsolainou has presented workshops, master classes and concert performances in Australia, Canada, China, Europe, and throughout the U.S. In collaboration with James Jordan of Westminster Choir College, she developed the instructional video Ensemble Diction: Language and Style, Principles and Application, and participated in a second video entitled Group Vocal Technique: The Choral Ensemble Warm-up. Trained first as a singer, Ms. Tsolainou has appeared in opera and musical theatre productions in addition to numerous performances on the concert stage.

She has prepared choruses for operatic productions and other collaborative performances presented by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Oklahoma, Columbus Symphony Orchestra (Ohio and Georgia), Empire Brass, Fort Worth Dallas Ballet, Opera Columbus, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Tulsa Opera, and Voices of Change. Conductors with whom she has worked include Leonard Bernstein, Charles Dutoit, Eric Ericson, Joseph Flummerfelt, Carlo Maria Giulini, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti and Robert Shaw.

Vocal Ensemble Activities - Under the direction of Constantina Tsolainou, the Paul S. and Jean R. Amos Faculty Chair and Director of Choral Activities, this area includes the Chamber Singers (the premiere mixed ensemble, primarily but not limited to music majors), Concert Chorale (primarily but not limited to music majors), Chorale (comprised of CSU students and members of the community from Columbus and the surrounding region), Choral Union (the combined ensembles), and other chamber vocal ensembles. All ensembles are devoted to providing outstanding performances of the finest choral literature.

Tim Belk, Director of Music Ministries and Organist at First Presbyterian Church in Gastonia, North Carolina will be the accompanist.

2011/2012 Youth Choir Festivals

The 2012 S.C. United Methodist Youth Choir Festival will be April 27- 29, 2012 with Dan Stokes as the guest clinician and Tim Belk as the accompanist and the 2013 S.C. United Methodist Youth Choir Festival will be April 26 - 28, 2013.