UTA’s A Cappella Choir—the University’s premier choral ensemble—was one of only 12 choirs across the country invited to perform at the National Collegiate Choral Organization’s 2019 national conference.
Karen Kenaston-French, director of choral activities and associate professor of music, conducted the performance. “I’m incredibly proud of our students,” she says. “They have a lot of pride in the choir and work extremely hard.”
The A Cappella Choir is made up mostly of undergraduate and graduate vocal music majors and was selected from a recorded audition submitted anonymously.
Dan Cavanagh, Department of Music chair, called the invitation to sing at the 8th biennial conference “a tremendous recognition of the work that Dr. Kenaston- French and our vocal colleagues are doing with our students.”
Previously, the 48-voice choir performed at the 2019 and 2014 Texas Music Educators Association convention, the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) national convention in 2015, and the 2016 ACDA Southwestern Division Conference. The choir performed with Mick Jagger and the rest of the Rolling Stones in Arlington in 2016. Other honors include appearances with the Manhattan Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and the Texas Ballet Theatre.
