Angela Kasper - Global Windows
Global Windows: How the World Sings
November, 2017
Singers in Accord invites you to open a global window to choral music. Exploring non-traditional models of group singing, we will sing works from the Maori culture in New Zealand, the Baltic region, South Africa, Cameroon, Korea, Malaysia, Ireland, and elsewhere. Join us as we weave together the rich fabric of our community through song!
Experience a truly international evening of song with Singers in Accord Choral Ensemble, guest conductor Dr. Angela Kasper from the University of St. Thomas, and performances by Cameroon Choir, Mila Vocal Ensemble, and Minnesota Korean Women’s Choir and BeyondUs.
CAMEROON CHOIR, popularly known as CamChoir, is a choral group founded more than a decade ago by Catholic Christians who shared a common heritage as immigrants from Cameroon. Cameroon Choir performs songs with Cameroonian and/or African roots every 3rd Sunday of the month at the St. Peter Claver (SPC). CamChoir's fame has grown beyond the spiritual bounds of SPC as they've been invited to sing the American National Anthem at the Twins Game, make regular annual appearances at Fort-Snelling Chapel, and Cameroonian events.
MILA VOCAL ENSEMBLE is a professional women's vocal ensemble committed to the authentic reproduction of vocal traditions from over 30 countries in over a dozen distinct vocal styles. Mila's singers all hail from unique musical backgrounds and have studied with renowned vocalists from Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Macedonia, Serbia, Spain and Ukraine. This versatile ensemble typically performs a cappella but its well-rounded repertoire also makes collaboration with instrumentalists a natural fit.
MINNESOTA KOREAN WOMEN’S CHOIR / BEYONDUS: Since 2012, The Minnesota Korean Women’s Choir (MKWC) discovers the importance of learning and sharing of diverse cultures in choral music. MKWC believes that singing is a good tool to learn rich culture and essential value of expression of emotions and soul for making an abundant life. Joining MKWV will be BeyondUs, an amateur college age singing group in the Twin Cities. They consist of Korean International students and Korean adoptees and want to share their artistic talents and hearts with communities in a variety of choral music.
Angela Kasper
Angela Kasper
Angela Kasper is Director of Choral Activities at the University of St. Thomas where she conducts the Chamber Singers and Women’s Choir and teaches undergraduate courses in choral conducting and choral methodology. She is active in the school’s Graduate Programs in Music Education, teaching two choral conducting and two choral literature courses for students pursuing a Master’s Degree in Music Education with a Choral Concentration. Since arriving at UST in 1999, Dr. Kasper’s choirs have sung at the ACDA regional convention in 2008, the ACDA-MN in 2004, and the MMEA conventions in 2007 and 2001.
In addition to her university responsibilities, Dr. Kasper is a national clinician specializing in treble choirs. She presents for national, regional, and state conventions of the Music Educators National Conference, the American Choral Directors Association, the Organization of American Kodály Educators, and the American Orff-Schulwerk Association. Dr. Kasper serves as guest conductor for numerous honors choirs including all-state treble or children’s choirs in Indiana, Maryland, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Minnesota, South Dakota, Alabama, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Hawaii, Ohio, Connecticut, and North Carolina. In 2003 and 1999 she conducted the National OAKE Children’s Honors Choruses and will do so again in 2008. She conducted ACDA regional honors choirs for the North Central and Central Divisions in 2002 and 1996.
Dr. Kasper received her D.M.A. degree from the University of Oklahoma and her M.M. and B.M.E. degrees from Indiana University. Her research interests include seventeenth-century vocal music suitable for treble choirs and authentic, respectful performance of music from diverse cultures. She served as guest editor of the April 2006 Choral Journal and has written articles for the July 2000Music Educators Journal, the April 2006 Choral Journal, the MENC Spotlight on Teaching Chorus, the winter 2008 Orff Echo as well as many local and regional music publications.