Student Chapter Forum

Winona State University – Student Chapter Update

Choral music at Winona State University is a vital part of our campus community. Students can participate in a variety of ensembles including but not limited to Concert Choir, Treble Chorus, and Vocal Chamber Ensemble. Our Vocal Music Education majors/ACDA members take pride in our choral culture and the supportive community we work to uphold.  Our ACDA Chapter is active throughout the year with bi-monthly meetings in which we balance engagement with special topics, deep-dive into Choral Journal articles, and work to elevate our understanding of the choral art with social and fundraising planning for our greater choral community. Each year, members also travel to the ACDA regional or national conferences. These are always rewarding and enriching opportunities for our student members to hear session topics and marvel at the extraordinary music-making presented! (pictures below from Midwest Region 2024 and National Convention 2025 in Dallas) We were also so proud of our Secretary, Martin Schmidt, who represented WSU this past summer as part of the Summer Dialogue conducting masterclass with Dr. Miller (pictured below).

We have many exciting events this Fall including a performance with the WSU Concert Choir at the ACDA-MN Fall Conference, a collaboration with all three ensembles with Twin-Cities based professional choir Cantus, and our annual Winona Sings! high school choral day. Our ACDA Chapter is crucial to running our high school choral day, both serving as our day-of go-to crew, as well as performing as part of the afternoon voice recital for visiting students. This year we welcomed over 100 students from local area high schools for a day of music-making on campus. (Pictured below) Our Chapter members will also be providing music and holiday carols for the WSU Retiree community in December.

Spring semester brings more excitement for WSU Choirs with Treble Chorus premiering a new commissioned work by NYC-based composer Claudia Beroukhim and Concert Choir performing Marianna von Martines’ Dixit Dominus with the Winona Symphony Orchestra under Dr. Chester’s direction. In the WSU-ACDA and choir community, we are constantly striving to find more ways to engage with our community, both on campus and in the surrounding area, through performance, outreach, and more! 

If you would like to keep up with WSU Choirs, follow us on Instagram @wsu.choirs as well as winona.edu/music.  

This article was written by the board of the WSU ACDA Student Chapter