WILLMAR - Willmar Senior High’s Cardinal Choir will be featured on Minnesota Public Radio’s ClassicalMPR Tuesday in its School Spotlight feature.
MPR chooses school music programs from throughout the state to feature in the School Spotlight. A recorded performance of the choir will be broadcast at 7:15 a.m. and 7:15 p.m. Tuesday. The choir and the school’s music program will be featured during the day on the website
www.classicalmpr.org
.
In west central Minnesota, ClassicalMPR is heard on 90.1 FM, based in Collegeville.
Choir director Neal Haugen said this is the first time the choir has been chosen for this honor. “It’s good for the high school; it’s good for Willmar,” he said.
Cardinal Choir is one of four choirs in the choral music program at Willmar.
The top choir for which members audition is the Cardinal Choir with 92 members who are juniors and seniors.
The Choralaires includes girls who are juniors and seniors. The Varsity Choir includes students in grades 9-12. There’s also a freshman choir.
In all, more than 325 students participate in the four choirs, he said. If a student is interested in singing in a choir, “we’ve got a place for them,” he added.
Many students in choir also participate in band or orchestra.
“That’s the success of our program, that so many kids do two or three groups,” he said.
The choir’s performance on the radio will be a recording of a performance at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. The choir has also been invited to sing for the Minnesota Music Educators annual conference in February.
