Choral Activities

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Choral Activities

Southern Miss Choral Activities has become a national leader in choral music excellence.

From the placement of outstanding teachers and exceptional performances, Southern Miss Choral Activities is making a difference and adding to the quality of life in many communities. Choral Service Awards are available to majors and non-majors.

Why Choose Choral Activities at Southern Miss?

Southern Miss offers masters and doctoral degrees in choral conducting.
Job placement in full-time academic and sacred settings is over 95%.
Assistantships and other financial aid are available to those accepted in the program.
Podium time is deemed important for conductors and is achieved with several ensembles.
Our mission includes orchestral opportunities.

Performance Opportunities

Customized travel seminars are a regular part of the agenda for graduate choral conductors at Southern Miss. Recent interactions include:

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC) in Tallinn, faculty members at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki (Finland), the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Choir School at Madeleine Cathedral in Salt Lake City, the Latvian Radio Choir in Riga, and the Saint Petersburg Chamber Choir (Russia).
In addition, the conducting studio attended Laulupidu (Five-year Estonian Song Celebration) in 2014, also in Tallinn.
Workshops have focused on conductors, composers, choral singers, repertoire, research, culture, and organizational administration. Multiple face-to-face meetings have occurred with Arvo Pärt, Tõnu Kõrvits, Daniel Reuss, members of the EPCC, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Tõnu Kaljuste, Länsiö Tapani, Matti Höykki, Kaspars Putninš, Galina Grigorjeva, Veljo Tormis, Aarne Saluveer, Mack Wilberg, Gregory Glenn, members of the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir and Nicolai Kornev

Ensembles

Choral Activities director talks about program offerings

Dr. Greg Fuller

The Hattiesburg Choral Union: Performs choral-orchestral masterworks from the High Baroque to newly-composed, commissioned works. In 2010, the group premiered An American Requiem by Edwin Penhorwood. Part of this premiere included a performance in Carnegie Hall. Other significant performances include Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Saint-Säens Requiem, John Rutter’s Gloria, and the Mozart Coronation Mass. The Union includes ensembles from Southern Miss and the community. To be a community participant, join the Union to rehearse on Monday evenings at the University.

The Southern Chorale: The premier choral ensemble at Southern Miss, has a long history of excellence. It is comprised primarily of upper-division voice majors and graduate students studying conducting, vocal performance, and music education, but does include outstanding singers from other campus disciplines. he group has appeared numerous times at ACDA conferences, including national conventions in Chicago and Los Angeles. The ensemble maintains an active tour schedule both nationally and internationally. Most recently, The Southern Chorale completed an extensive tour of the West Indies and Jamaica. Other significant endeavors have included a residency in the Loire Valley of France, a featured performance in Carnegie Hall for Katrina relief and one for the partial premiere of An American Requiem by Edwin Penhorwood, and recording projects on Handel’sDixit Dominus, the Messe Pour Double Choeur, and the Sacred Music of resident composer Luigi Zaninelli. The group is currently working on a recording project that will feature the music of Laurel, Mississippi native, James Quitman Mulholland. The Chorale performs the complete spectrum of significant choral literature for a cappella and accompanied chorus. Opportunities to sing with orchestra occur on a regular basis. Rehearsals are held five times a week.

The Concert Choir: Comprised of approximately 60 voices, is filled with mostly undergraduate music majors and many other talented students from various fields of study. The ensemble performs several concerts in the Hattiesburg region annually and also tours regionally on a yearly basis to high schools. The Concert Choir has been selected by blind audition to perform at the Mississippi American Choral Directors Association/Mississippi Music Educators Association State Conference in 2010, 2019, 2022, and 2025 as well as the Louisiana ACDA Fall Vocal Conference in 2019. The ensemble performs diverse repertoire from various musical periods. Opportunities to sing with orchestra occur on a regular basis. Rehearsals are held five times a week.

University Treble Chorus

Tenebrae

Southern Miss Chamber Singers: Serves as an elective lab choir for graduate students in choral conducting and provides an opportunity for students to experience choral and vocal music in a chamber setting. It also serves as an opportunity for undergraduate music majors to learn from students seeking advanced conducting degrees. The repertoire is vast and primarily a cappella. This group generally meets for rehearsal two times per week and performs three to four times in the school year.
Spirit of Southern: SOS is the premier pop a cappella ensemble at The University of Southern Mississippi. The group performs at a variety of university and community events in and around the Hattiesburg area and serves as one of the primary recruitment arms of Choral Activities. The students in this group range from all undergraduate levels of study and come from various academic fields. They have been honored with invitations to perform at Mississippi ACDA/Mississippi Music Educators Association state conferences and the Southern Region Conference of the American Choral Directors Association.
The Southern Miss Gulf Coast Civic Chorale: The group invites community members and Southern Miss students to participate in this dynamic choral ensemble. Rehearsals are Tuesday nights in Fleming Auditorium on USM's Gulf Park Campus in Long Beach. The Civic Chorale gives several performances each season along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, including masterwork concerts accompanied by chamber orchestra. In its nearly 30-year presence on the coast, the Civic Chorale is proud to have brought high-level choral singing and opportunities to the coastal communities. Significant performances include taking part in the Carnegie premieres of The Seven Last Words of Christ by Richard Burchard and An American Requiem by Edwin Penhorwood. Additionally, the ensemble performed a Hurricane Katrina Anniversary concert that included such dignitaries as Governor Haley Barbour and the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.
Oratorio Chorus

Richard Burchard, Choral Artist in Residence

burchard

As a college music educator of more than thirty years, Richard Burchard has taught a variety of courses including Composition and Arranging, Music Technology, Music Theory and World Music as well as courses in study abroad programs in Salzburg, Austria and South Africa. A native of Meadville, PA, he received a BAIS degree from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and BM and MM degrees from the University of Louisville.

Burchard’s choral works have been performed and premiered throughout the United States at a number of state, regional and national choral conferences including ACDA and NCCO. European premieres of his choral music have been in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Other works have been premiered in China and Australia. Burchard’s portfolio includes over 100 commissioned works, most of them written for A Cappella Choir. He is published with the Fred Bock Music Company, Gentry Publications, Pavane Publishing, H.T. Fitzsimons Co., National Music Publishers, and Morning Star. Burchard also has two choral series with Gentry Publications: The Choral Music of Richard Burchard and The Richard Burchard Choral Series.

Burchard was named the Kentucky Music Teachers Association 2008 Commissioned Composer and have served as composer-in-residence for a number of organizations, including: The University of Kentucky Choral Department, Lexington, KY; The Louisville Vocal Project; Voces Novae, Louisville, KY; St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church, Louisville, KY; The Cathedral of the Assumption, Louisville KY; and The American Cathedral in Paris, France. His most recent residency was Executive Composer-in-Residence at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY.

Burchard’s major works include: The Seven Last Words of Christ, an 8-movement work for choir and strings, which received its Carnegie Hall debut in April, 2018; Stabat Mater, a 45-minute work for choir, strings, clarinet, 3 trombones, euphonium, and percussion, which was premiered American Cathedral in Paris, France. Falling Stars, an 8-movement work for choir, strings, harp, piano, and clarinet, will be premiered in late 2025.

ET LUX ET LUCIS TENEBRIS is his newest work written for the Southern Chorale. It be premiered throughout London and France in February and March of 2024 and throughout the southern United States in March. Stay tuned for more details and updates.

Burchard stays active as a clinician and conductor. For more information and to hear other of Burchard’s works, visit www.richardburchard.com and https://soundcloud.com/richardburchard-1.

The Southern Invitational Choral Conference (SICC)

The annual Southern Invitational Choral Conference (SICC) at Southern Miss provides students the opportunity to take part in intense rehearsals and high-quality performances while meeting fellow musicians from all over the Southeast. Also, at SICC, students had the opportunity to audition for choral scholarships at Southern Miss, and teachers can earn continuing education units (CEUs) by attending various sessions.