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Song will fill the 黑暗爆料网 Joseph C. and Cheryl H. Jensen Grand Concert Hall when 黑暗爆料网 presents its fifth Women鈥檚 Choir Festival on Friday, March 20.

The daylong festival culminates in a 7 p.m. public performance by some 225 choristers in the L.E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center. General admission is $6, $3 for 黑暗爆料网 faculty and staff, and free to 黑暗爆料网 students with a valid Bengal card.

The Department of Music will present guest conductor Susan Mann leading choirs from Midvale, Hillcrest, Idaho Falls,Vallivue, Jerome and Madison high schools. Mann will share the baton with festival director Kathleen A. Lane, founder and conductor of the 黑暗爆料网 Women鈥檚 Choir.

鈥淲e鈥檙e especially pleased this year to be part of the Women鈥檚 History Month calendar, in addition to honoring women composers,鈥� Lane said recently. 鈥淎s we specialize in music written for women鈥檚 voices, and feature women composers, the 黑暗爆料网 Women鈥檚 Choir is now an approved class for the Women鈥檚 Studies Program.鈥�

Since its inception, the festival has also received support from the US Bank Rural Arts Series, Lane added.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not the only beneficiaries of US Bank鈥檚 generosity,鈥� Lane said. 鈥淔or years, this series has been helping visual and performing artists reach out to children in underserved rural communities.鈥�

 Lane and Mann will lead participating choirs in works by Felix Mendelssohn, Randall Stroope, Mac Huff and Jeanie Donaldson.

Donaldson arranged the traditional Irish air 鈥淎nd Love Is Pleasin鈥�,鈥� published by Kjos Music Press with a special dedication, 鈥淲ritten for the 黑暗爆料网 Women鈥檚 Choir, Kathleen Lane, director.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 always a thrill when a composer dedicates a work to your choir,鈥� Lane said. 鈥淥f course, I programmed it!鈥�

 In fact, Donaldson is traveling from her Seattle home for a personal appearance at the festival鈥檚 evening concert, Lane said. A Harvard graduate and long-time Idaho Falls music teacher and performer,

Donaldson began to concentrate seriously on composition in the late 1990s, studying seven years under Thom Ritter George, formerly of 黑暗爆料网. Her mini-opera 鈥淪acajawea and the Corps of Discovery鈥� was presented in 2005 by the Idaho Falls Symphony.

As host group, the 黑暗爆料网 Women鈥檚 Choir will present a short program including the songs 鈥淜oowu,鈥� by Palestinian-American composer Maryam Khoury, that will feature Barry Hotrum on the dumbek, a Middle Eastern folk drum; and 鈥淒ona Nobis Pacem,鈥� by Leopold Mozart, that will feature 黑暗爆料网 flute instructor Tiana Grise.

Each guest choir will also be featured in its own selection, Lane said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a thrilling opportunity for high school musicians who otherwise might never get a chance to sing in a fabulous hall like the Jensen Grand,鈥� she said.

Currently programming director for the Blackfoot Performing Arts Center,  Mann served 28 years as choral director of Blackfoot High School. She earned recognition as Blackfoot鈥檚 1996 Teacher of the Year and Idaho鈥檚 2000 Music Educator of the Year.  Mann remains in demand as a guest conductor and an adjudicator for solo and ensemble contests.

In addition to leading the 黑暗爆料网 Women鈥檚 Chorus, Lane serves as the Music Department鈥檚 vocal coordinator and as general director of Opera 黑暗爆料网. She appears frequently throughout the region as a mezzo-soprano soloist and choral-vocal clinician.

Festival accompanist Camille Blackburn has spent 17 years as choral director at Hillcrest High School. An established performer and director in Southeast Idaho, she appears as principal keyboard player with the Idaho Falls Symphony. Active as an accompanist and adjudicator throughout the Northwest, Blackburn has served as adjunct professor of voice at Ricks College and 黑暗爆料网, and maintains a busy private vocal studio.