Seven CCC students sing at ACDA Convention in St. Louis 

Seven CCC choir students had a once in a lifetime experience singing at the Southwest Division American Choral Directors Association Convention in St. Louis, Missouri, March 8-11. 

The students performed at the convention with 240 students selected from universities and colleges across Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Colorado, Arkansas and Texas.   Coffeyville Community College was one of only two community colleges that performed with the collegiate choir at the convention.

CCC students selected were Tiara Allred, Matthew Williams and Katie Clough, all of Coffeyville; Linsy McConnell, Cherryvale; Josh Gray, Parsons; Devon Wesley, Wichita; and Laura Michael, Kansas City, Kansas.

“It’s an experience I’ll never forget,” said Clough.  “It was almost mesmerizing to see the violin bows moving up and down while you’re performing.”  The choir was accompanied by the University of Missouri-St. Louis Orchestra and for the CCC students involved, it was the first time they had the opportunity to perform with a full orchestra.

“The orchestra definitely adds something to our singing,” said Gray.  “It gives more flavoring than just a piano.”

Michael was moved by the performance itself.  “When we hit the last note of our last song and hearing it ring out in the auditorium, it brought me to tears,” said Michael.

Donald Neuen, distinguished professor and director of choral activities at UCLA, directed the collegiate choir at the convention.  Neuen also conducts the Crystal Cathedral Choir at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.

He appears weekly on their internationally-televised Hour of Power broadcast.  In addition, he established the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and has conducted orchestras from around the world.

“This choir is an example in front of 900 choir directors of how a choir should sound to be professional,” said Neuen.  Neuen’s goal for the collegiate choir was “to inspire directors to be better educators.”

“I was incredibly proud of the professionalism and maturity of my students throughout the rehearsals,” said Darla Strecker, Director of Choral Music at CCC.  “Dr. Neuen demanded a lot from his singers and our community college students held their own nicely with the other four-year university students participating.”

“The concert was inspiring – both to the students and directors.  Thank you to the college for allowing them to participate.”

The group did find time to experience St. Louis outside of rehearsals.  “We had the perfect balance of having fun and working really hard,” said Michael.

“The group went up to the arch, went to the zoo and Union Station,” said Clough, “and shopped of course.”

“St. Louis is a beautiful city,” said Gray.  “Every chance we got, we walked around the town, going downtown - just a great time.”