November 6, 2017

 News…

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Division of Culture and History (WVDCH) and First Lady Cathy Justice welcome 15 choirs from across the Mountain State to perform holiday music as part of the First Lady’s Festival of Songs from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11 in the Culture Center Theater at the State Capitol Complex in Charleston. The show is free and open to the public. A full performance schedule is listed below.

“We are pleased to welcome these talented young performers to the Culture Center to celebrate the art of vocal music," WVDCH Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith said. "The First Lady’s Festival of Songs is just one example of how the division is working to promote the arts in the Mountain State."

The performance, sponsored by the Division of Culture and History and the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, will be taped as part of a special partnership with the West Virginia Library Commission and then aired Christmas morning on Library Channel television stations throughout the state.

Representatives from the music departments of Fairmont State University and Marshall University also will be available in the Great Hall of the Culture Center throughout the day to discuss their programs.

For more information about the First Lady’s Festival of Songs, contact Caryn Gresham, deputy commissioner for the division, at 304-558-0220 or Caryn.S.Gresham@wv.gov.

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is proud to be able to present its programs at no charge to the public, but without a solution to the state’s budget situation, this could be the last year that programs of this type could be offered. The division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, is an agency within the Office of Secretary of Education and the Arts with Gayle Manchin, cabinet secretary. It brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

2017 First Lady’s Festival of Songs Schedule

9:20 a.m.         Welcome, Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith
9:30 a.m.         Cabell Midland High School – Collegium Musicum
9:50 a.m.         Cabell Midland High School – Rhythm in Red
10:10 a.m.       Appalachian Children’s Chorus
10:30 a.m.       Preston High School – Preston Madrigal Choir
10:50 a.m.       Preston High School – Jazz Knights
11:20 a.m.       Trap Hill Middle School Choir
11:40 a.m.       Elkins High School – Elkins High Vocal Ensemble
Noon              Princeton Senior High School – Madrigal Singers
12:20 p.m.      LUNCH
1 p.m.             Mingo Central High School – Central Singers
1:20 p.m.        Wahama Junior/Senior High School- White Falcon Choir
1:50 p.m.        George Washington High School – Unaccompanied Minors
2:15 p.m.        The Lincoln Brass
2:35 p.m.        Buckhannon-Upshur High School – Buckhannon-Upshur Soundwaves
3 p.m.             Nitro High School – SophistiCats
3:20 p.m.        Nitro High School – ShowCats

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