Sheldon Students Join in Wartburg College Choir Festival

Sheldon, Iowa – Saturday was a busy day for two choir students from Sheldon. Eighth grader Greg Lode and Junior Ben Chrisman, along with their choir teacher Caitlin Hanson, attended the Real Men Sing choir festival at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa on October 7th. Groups from South O’Brien and Gehlen Catholic attended the day’s events as well.

They joined over 700 male singers and voice masters from across Iowa and the Midwest for a day filled with classes and rehearsals, ending with a concert later that evening where they performed the pieces they’ve been working on for weeks. In addition to the two groups of high school students performing that evening, the finale concert featured the college’s own choir, a performance by the Roland-Story High Bass Clef Chorus, and a special performance by Central Standard, a world renowned a cappella ensemble from Kansas City.

Real Men Sing is a festival that was started in 2010, and serves to encourage interest in male singers and invigorate school music programs. The junior high choir was conducted by Luke Johnson, and the high school/adult performance was conducted by Wartburg’s Director of Choral Activities, Lee Nelson, who says that “Real Men Sing is a wonderful celebration of male chorus singing. The festival nurtures confidence and motivation in the singers to continue to make music throughout their school years and, hopefully, the rest of their life.”

The concert was live streamed and listened to by over 10,000 people that evening. It concluded with the combined festival choirs performing an arrangement of Billy Joel’s “Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel), which can be heard here.

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