Music : Choral Music at CWU

Choral Music at CWU
Choral music thrives at CWU, with a battery of five traditional choirs and three vocal jazz ensembles offered quarterly.

The groups comprise a mixture of voicings, repertoire specialties, and ability levels – meaning at Central there is a choir for everyone who likes to sing!

Each choral ensemble has its own identity and takes special pride in what it does. The groups, totaling over 200 singers, sing to thousands of audience members annually, providing a wide variety of quality choral repertoire.

Everything from classical to comedy, madrigals to multi-cultural, and halloween to jazz is presented in multiple concerts during the year.

There are three non-auditioned groups for anyone (and everyone) who likes to sing. There is the popular Men’s Chorale as well as two mixed-voice groups: the University Chorale and the Central Singers. The Women’s Chorale is an auditioned group, designed for those women with some choral experience and reading ability. A rigorous audition is required to gain membership in Central’s premier traditional choral ensemble, the Chamber Choir, conducted by Director of Choral Studies, Gary Weidenaar.

Vocal Jazz at CWU

At CWU, students are not only allowed, but also encouraged to be in one of the three vocal jazz ensembles. Vocal jazz III is traditionally directed by an undergraduate music education major, while Vocal Jazz II is directed by a graduate student. Vocal Jazz I, Central’s award-winning premier vocal jazz ensemble, is directed by faculty member Professor Vijay Singh. The rest of the story is told by exploring the various choral pages, which include information on each ensemble as well as events, repertoire, history, personnel, and auditions. Thank you for your interest in choral music at CWU. We look forward to seeing you at a concert, whether in the superior acoustical environment of CWU’s concert hall or on tour – either in the audience or on stage!