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2024 ACDA Southern Region Conference February 21-24, 2024 Louisville, Kentucky

Middle Tennessee State University Northwestern State University

SOAL Chorale Northwestern Chamber Choir

The MTSU SOAL Chorale is an unauditioned
ensemble open to all university students who sing so- The Northwestern Chamber Choir has recently
prano or alto, regardless of gender identity or expres- worked with composers Michael John Trotta, Vytautas
sion. One-third of the group are music majors; most Miškinis, and Richard Burchard premiering new choral
students represent majors from across the campus, works and producing recordings. They were featured at
from law enforcement to horse science. The Chorale the eighth NCCO National Conference in 2019, won
performs at least two concerts each semester, and their second prize in the Laurea Mundi Choral Competition
repertoire ranges from Baroque to Broadway. The in Budapest, Hungary, and won third prize and Best
SOAL Chorale has performed with the Nashville Sym- Compulsory Performance in the fourth AVE VERUM
phony, for two governors at the state capitol, and twice International Choral Competition in Baden, Austria.
for TMEA. Additionally, the Northwestern Chamber Choir was
invited to perform in the St. Martin’s Czech National
Angela Tipps conducts the MTSU SOAL Church as a headline choir in Prague, Czechia.
(Soprano-Alto) and TEBA (Tenor-Bass)
Chorales, teaches basic and choral con- Nicholaus B. Cummins is associate pro-
ducting, coordinates the music apprecia- fessor of music and director of choral
tion courses at the MTSU School of Mu- studies at Northwestern State University
sic, and musical directs in the Department of Theatre. in Natchitoches, LA. He also taught pub-
She is organist/director of music at St. Paul’s Episco- lic school choral music in Alabama and
pal Church in Murfreesboro and musical director of Texas. He has served as a clinician for honor choirs
the Middle Tennessee Choral Society. Her choirs have and secondary and university choirs throughout the
sung for ACDA and TMEA conferences and at the United States. Cummins has also presented topics at
Schermerhorn Symphony Center and the Ryman Au- regional and state conferences and was an ACDA In-
ditorium. Tipps received the BM from MTSU and the ternational Conducting Fellow to South America. His
master of church music degree from Scarritt Gradu- wife, Whitney, is an elementary music educator in the
ate School in Nashville. A past president of Tennessee Natchitoches Parish schools, and their daughters are
ACDA, she now serves as the Women’s/SSAA R&R Emma and Addison.
coordinator.

CHORAL JOURNAL January 2024 Volume 64 Number 5 73