The Albert Lea High School concert choir has been chosen to participate in the 2009 Dorian Invitational Choral Festival at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. The festival takes place at the Center for Faith and Life on Tuesday. Only five high school choirs from a three-state area were chosen to participate. This year choirs from Albert Lea, Brainerd, Robbinsdale-Armstrong, West Delaware, Iowa, and Iowa City West will perform.

The students will depart early in the morning, rehearse with all the choir students on two mass-choir pieces and perform individually for each other at a concert at 3:30 p.m. Dr. Craig Arnold, director of choral activities at Luther College, will rehearse the students in the mass choir numbers. The mass-choir and choirs from Luther, Aurora, directed by Sandra Peter, Norsemen, directed by Tim Peter, and Nordic Choir, directed by Craig Arnold, will perform at 5 p.m. The students will then enjoy a pizza party at Decorah’s Mabe’s Restaurant and depart for home.

ALHS concert choir just completed a tour of Chicago where they were warmly received by the Shriner’s Childrens Hospital, Oak Terrace Senior Center, Winnetka Congregational Church, and Robert Harris of Northwestern University. This spring the chorale will sing at a chamber choir festival on April 29 at Albert Lea. The concert choir will also sing for the Big Nine Music Festival in Austin on May 1. All the choirs will present their spring concert on May 11, the senior choir students will hold a recital on May 17, and many students will sing solos and ensembles for a local contest on May 20. To culminate the year, the ALHS students will host artists from the Minnesota Opera in a collaborative performance during the day on May 28.