{"id":12000,"date":"2026-06-18T13:25:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/?p=12000"},"modified":"2026-06-18T13:30:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:30:57","slug":"12000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2026\/12000\/","title":{"rendered":"In perfect harmony: SAU choir students join Arkansas Intercollegiate Choir at All-State Music Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_12001\" style=\"width: 395px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12001\" class=\"wp-image-12001\" src=\"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/06\/Choir-scaled-e1781807179913.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"385\" height=\"221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/06\/Choir-scaled-e1781807179913.jpeg 1850w, https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/06\/Choir-scaled-e1781807179913-300x172.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/06\/Choir-scaled-e1781807179913-1024x588.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/06\/Choir-scaled-e1781807179913-768x441.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/06\/Choir-scaled-e1781807179913-1536x882.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 385px) 100vw, 385px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-12001\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Back row, left to right: Samuel Odom, Case Burney, Madison Davis, Alicea Noah, Justin Nelson, Luther Gholson. Front Row: Angie Gutierrez, Julissa Olivarez, Bianca Meza, Gabriel Parrish, Kurtis Reeves, Jada Bell, and Addie Leigh Baird<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Choir members from Southern Arkansas University performed with the Arkansas Intercollegiate Choir at the Arkansas All-State Music Conference in Hot Springs this past spring.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSAU is proud of these students for their dedication and for showcasing the strength of its choral program on the statewide stage,\u201d said Dr. Jennifer Rowsam, dean of the Dempsey College of Liberal and Performing Arts.<\/p>\n<p>Conducted by Dr. Jan Taylor, retired associate professor of music and director of choral activities at Prairie View A&amp;M University, the ensemble brought together students from thirteen universities for an inspiring performance. Members of the ensemble from SAU included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Angie Gutierrez<\/li>\n<li>Julissa Olivarez<\/li>\n<li>Bianca Meza<\/li>\n<li>Gabriel Parrish<\/li>\n<li>Kurtis Reeves<\/li>\n<li>Jada Bell<\/li>\n<li>Samuel Odom<\/li>\n<li>Case Burney<\/li>\n<li>Madison Davis<\/li>\n<li>Alicea Noah<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All singers were selected by their directors for this honor, with almost 90 student-musicians from 13 universities around the state singing in the ensemble. The total attendance at the conference was over a thousand, comprising choral, band, and orchestra students, parents, and teachers.<\/p>\n<p>SAU director of choral activities Dr. Justin Nelson coordinates this annual event as part of his service to the Arkansas chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), where he serves as the Collegiate Repertoire and Resources Chair. In addition to the Arkansas Intercollegiate Choir, the conference also features the Arkansas Intercollegiate Band as well as the High School All-State SATB Choir, Treble Choir, Tenor\/Bass Chorus, Jazz Bands, Symphonic Orchestra, Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis opportunity allows SAU students to meet other musicians from around the state and to perform under the baton of some of the best choral conductors in the nation,\u201d Dr. Nelson said. \u201cIt also allows SAU to be seen by a large number of high school students who will soon be thinking about or are already thinking about college. We want them to think of SAU first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The next Arkansas All-State Music Conference will be held February 17-20, 2027, in Hot Springs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About SAU:<\/strong><br \/>\nSouthern Arkansas University provides students with the complete college experience in a caring environment of service, innovation, and community. With more than 100 degrees across four distinct colleges and the School of Graduate Studies, SAU initiates new degree programs to meet the needs of today&#8217;s career and professional trends. To learn more about SAU, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.saumag.edu\">www.saumag.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 Choir members from Southern Arkansas University performed with the Arkansas Intercollegiate Choir at the Arkansas All-State Music Conference in Hot Springs this past spring. \u201cSAU is proud of these students for their dedication and for showcasing the strength of its choral program on the statewide stage,\u201d said Dr. Jennifer Rowsam, dean of the Dempsey&#8230; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2026\/12000\/\"> Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":12001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[271,207,7753,31257],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-academics","category-college-of-liberal-performing-arts","category-homepage","category-performing-arts-mass-communication","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12000"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12006,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12000\/revisions\/12006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}