2026 Children and Youth Choral Festival
Saturday, November 7th 2026
9:00am-4:30pm
Open to singers in Grades 4-8
Join us for our second annual Children and Youth Choral Festival featuring clinicians Dr. Angela Kasper & Dr. Jennaya Robison!
The Children & Youth Choral Festival is a day of joyful music-making, learning, and community for singers in grades 4–8. Participants will rehearse and perform as part of a mass choir under the direction of Dr. Angela Kasper, while also taking part in engaging breakout sessions including drumming, handbells, and movement. No preparation is required in advance. Participants will receive sheet music on the day of the festival.
Participating choirs will have the opportunity to perform one piece from their own repertoire during our closing informance, giving each ensemble a chance to share their work and celebrate alongside the mass choir.
Whether attending with a choir or as an individual singer, participants will leave inspired, encouraged, and connected with fellow young musicians from across the region!
Individual Registration: $30.00
About the clinicians
Dr. Angela Kasper
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Dr. Angela Kasper has 32 years of experience serving as Director of Choral Activities at the university level where she conducted choirs and taught undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting, choral methods, global choral traditions, and choral literature.
Angie is constantly redefining what makes a meaningful choral experience and how best to place this evolving view at the center of her work with her own choirs. No longer bound to a choral ideal that was espoused during her own university education, she is exploring the choral community as a place to expand cultural awareness while experiencing the world’s group singing traditions. Collaboration with culture bearers and traveling abroad for her own study help her realize how little she knows about the vast subject she teaches!
Dr. Kasper is passionate about sharing what she has learned over the course of her career with other practicing choral teachers. She hopes to empower young conductors to recognize and celebrate their unique strengths while encouraging them to lead with authenticity and vulnerability. In teaching undergraduate music education students, her goal is to help these future educators understand that collaborative choral rehearsals with ample time for student voice, student leadership, and student input into artistic interpretation are a much more enjoyable and equitable approach to ensemble music making than is the podium-driven model.
Angie is so fortunate to have met and worked with many young people while conducting honor choirs throughout the United States and abroad. Whether it be fourth graders in Indiana or high school students in the United Arab Emirates, she considers every experience to be a reminder of our shared humanity and the power of music to unite us. As she continues this work, Dr. Kasper is focused on inclusive enrichment activities that can serve all students regardless of economic status and experiential level.
Angie is forever grateful to all her teachers and mentors including Dr. Mary Goetze, Mr. Robert Porco, Dr. Dennis Shrock, Dr. Karen Howard, Dr. Michael Rogers, and Dr. Jean Sinor. Mostly though, she is grateful for her mom who gave up her own dream of being a choral director in order to raise a family in a manner that would allow her daughter to realize that dream instead.
Dr. Jennaya Robison
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Dr. Jennaya Robison is the Artistic Director of the National Lutheran Choir (Minneapolis, MN) and an in-demand conductor, educator, and soprano. Known for her dynamic leadership and commitment to intergenerational and globally engaged choral artistry, she has conducted choirs, workshops, and festivals across the United States, Europe, and southern Africa. She is a frequent guest conductor for All-State and honor choirs and is highly sought after for her work in worship, education, and community-based choral initiatives.
From 2020 to 2023, Robison served as the Raymond R. Neevel/Missouri Associate Professor and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory. Prior to that, she was Associate Professor of Choral Music at Luther College. She holds a Master of Music in conducting and voice from the University of New Mexico and a Doctor of Musical Arts in choral conducting from the University of Arizona.
Robison is deeply committed to voice pedagogy within the choral ensemble, cultivating expressive singing and honoring the unique vocal potential of each singer. She is also an active composer and arranger, editing the National Lutheran Choir Series with MorningStar Music and the Jennaya Robison Series with Pavane Publishing. She serves as national chair for Music in Worship for the American Choral Directors Association.
Repertoire
Scores are included with registration, and will be provide on the day of the festival.
Hine ma tov
Hebrew round
O Who’s That Yonder?
arr. John F. Wilson
Allunde, Alluia
Margaret Campbelle-Holman
Down by the Riverside
Robert T. Gibson
Bring Your Choir to the Children & Youth Choral Festival!
The Children & Youth Choral Festival is a wonderful opportunity for church, school, and community choirs to experience a day of inspiring music-making together. We invite directors to register their entire choir and join singers from across the region for this exciting event.
As part of the festival, participating choirs will also have the opportunity to perform one piece from their own repertoire during our closing "informance," giving each ensemble a chance to share their work and celebrate alongside the mass choir.
Group Registration Discounts:
Groups of up to 15 singers: Save $5 per registration
Groups of 16-30 singers: Save $10 per registration
Groups of 31+ singers: Save $15 per registration
If you're interested in bringing your choir or would like more information about group registration, please contact Emily Bird at emily@nlca.com. We'd love to welcome your singers to the festival!
Highlights from the 2025 Festival
On Saturday, October 11th, 2025, children and youth in grades 5–12 joined together in a dynamic day of music-making during our first ever Children & Youth Choral Festival!
Our special guest conductor was Maria Ellis, owner of Girl Conductor LLC and Artistic Director of The Sheldon's All-Star Chorus and UMSL's Voices of Jubilation.
This joyful and collaborative festival celebrates creativity, connection, and the next generation of musical leaders. We can’t wait for next year!
Photos by Steven Garcia.
Have Questions?
Hi, my name is Emily Bird, and I’m the Director of Education and Outreach!
If you have questions about our Children and Youth Choral Festival, I’d love to talk with you! Please complete the contact form below and I’ll be in touch.
