An opportunity for students to learn how to be better leaders in their choral ensemble by focusing on exceptional repertoire under the mentorship of an expert clinician.
Event Details
Date: Saturday, October 25, 2025
Time: 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Location: Alfred Newman Recital Hall, USC University Park Campus
Registration Deadline
- Registration now open through Friday, September 26, 2025 via our online form.
- Email our Festival Coordinator, Marisa Bradfield marisara@usc.edu with any questions.
Participant Activities
- Choristers will participate in a festival choir of over two hundred other high school singers selected from around the Los Angeles area.
- Singers will attend leadership sessions focusing on the individual singer’s role in the success of a choral ensemble.
Guest Clinician: Romāns Vanags
Professor, Choir Conducting Department Head, Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (JVLMA); Artistic Director of the World Choir Games
About: Romāns Vanags has organized numerous conducting courses in Latvia and abroad and has worked in juries of many international choir competitions. He has also been amongst the chief conductors of the national song festivals (1993, 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2008) and the youth song festivals (1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010) of the Republic of Latvia. Since 2004 Romans Vanags is the chairman of the Latvian National Commission for UNESCO for the Latvian National Song and Dance Festival affairs. Under his leadership several choirs have won prestigious international awards (Arezzo, Debrecen, Tour, Varna etc.) and given performances across the globe. In 2008 Romāns Vanags received the highest form of recognition of the Latvian State – the Order of Three Stars.
Director’s Talk: Cristian Grases
Topic: The Master Teacher
About: Venezuelan native Cristian Grases joined the University of Southern California faculty in the Fall 2010 semester and is currently a professor of choral music, conductor of the USC Thornton Chamber Singers, and Chair of the Department of Choral and Sacred Music, after serving as the Vice Dean for the Classical Performance and Composition Division for three years. As a sought-out conductor, clinician, academic, and adjudicator, he has traveled to Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Australia, conducting in prestigious halls such as Carnegie Hall, and presenting in numerous international conventions and symposia. Dr. Grases was elected into the Board of Directors of the International Federation for Choral Music in 2008 and is currently an Executive Board member as a Vice President, representing the region of Latin America & the Caribbean.
Agenda*
- 8:00 am: Registration
- 9:00 am: Welcome
- 9:10 am: Performance featuring the USC Thornton Chamber Singers
- 9:30 am: Rehearsal #1
- 11:30 am: Lunch
- 12:15 pm: Sectionals
- 12:15 pm: Director’s Talk
- 1:30 pm: Rehearsal #2
- 3:05 pm: USC Information Session
- 3:15 pm: Performance featuring the Choral Leadership Workshop Chorus
- 3:30 pm: Closing Remarks
- 3:35 pm: USC Campus Tours
*Subject to change
Additional Details
- Student & Chaperone Lunch
- Students and chaperones will enjoy a boxed lunch.
- Director’s Lunch
- Directors and chaperones are invited to attend the workshop and observe all of the leadership sessions.
- Directors will be provided a special lunch session with USC Thornton Choral Music Department faculty to allow for further discussion of leadership in the choral field.
- Campus tours led by current USC students are optional.
- USC Information Session highlights the School of Music’s degree programs and performance opportunities.
Cost
- $45 each for students (includes lunch, t-shirt, pencil, and all music)
- $20 each for directors/chaperones (includes lunch and t-shirt)
Payment can be submitted by check to:
USC Department of Choral & Sacred Music
840 W. 34th Street, MUS 416
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0851
Checks should be made out to: “USC Department of Choral and Sacred Music”
How To Register
Registration is OPEN NOW!
Fill out our Online Registration Form.
Email our Festival Coordinator, Marisa Bradfield marisara@usc.edu with any questions.