Emporia State University A Cappella Choir

Historical Sketch

Emporia State’s premiere choral ensemble is comprised of auditioned singers from all fields of study. The music performed consists of a wide variety of choral music from all historical eras and many cultures. Formed in 1975, A Cappella Choir toured Switzerland, Austria, and Italy in 1978. In 1979, the choir was awarded first prize, the Silver Medal, at an international choral festival in Mexico City. The choir was chosen to perform as laboratory choir for the Second International Summer Course for Latin-Mediterranean Polyphony in Molfetta, Italy in 1982.

A Cappella Choir has performed for the Southwestern Division Convention of the American Choral Directors Association (1980) and the Kansas Music Educators Convention (1985, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2003, and 2008). International tours by the ensemble include England, France, and Germany (1989), Austria and Czechoslovakia (1992), Spain and France (1996), Denmark and Sweden (2001), and Italy, Switzerland and Austria (2006). In the summer of 1998, the choir sang an all-Brahms program in Carnegie Hall, New York City, under the esteemed German conductor, Helmut Rilling.

In May 2008, the choir’s New York City tour culminated in concerts at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and St. Paul the Apostle Church.

A Cappella Choir members host a High School Choral Leadership Workshop each October, the Renaissance Madrigal Dinner in November, a Small Ensemble Choral Clinic and a High School Large Ensemble Invitational Festival each March. Membership in the choir is by audition.  Majors and non-majors are welcome. The choir's repertoire covers the gamut from large-scale works, e.g. Handel Messiah, Britten's Saint Nicholas and Mozart's Vespers of the Solemn Confessor, to a variety of shorter sacred and secular works from all eras and cultures.

Conductor of the choir since 1987, Dr. Terry Barham is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Emporia State. He has conducted honor and festival choirs in 20 states. He has authored two books on the changing voice in adolescent boys. Barham was the recipient of the 2007 Harry Robert Wilson Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Choral Art, presented by the Kansas chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. He is also listed in Who's Who in American Education, Who's Who Among America's Teachers, and Who's Who in America. In 2001, he was one of four recipients of the Emporia Chamber of Commerce Golden Apple Award for service to community and for teaching excellence. At Emporia State, he teaches conducting, choral music education classes and also conducts the ESU Community Chorus and Madrigal Singers.