Choral Music at BSC

Excellent choral music opportunities abound at Birmingham-Southern. Three choral groups in the Music Department (described below) are open to student participation. In addition, the extra-curricular BSC Gospel Choir presents a concert each spring on the campus, and the Alumni Choir, directed by Lester Seigel, presents selections at the annual Carol Service in December.

The Concert Choir, conducted by Lester Seigel, Joseph Hugh Thomas Professor of Music, is a select mixed ensemble of about forty voices, open by audition to all students.

The Choir tours extensively and has made appearances in Europe, and at regional and national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association. The Concert Choir also periodically performs major works with members of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Recent works with orchestra have included Bach's Magnificat, Ralph Vaughan Williams' Dona nobis pacem, the German Requiem of Johannes Brahms, mass settings by Schubert and Haydn. With the full Alabama Symphony, the BSC Choir has joined others in performances of Verdi's Requiem and Carmina Burana by Carl Orff.

The choir has several CD recordings of music for the holiday season, featuring selections from the annual Carol Service.

Southern Chorale is a mixed-voice ensemble conducted by Professor Jeff Kensmoe. The Chorale performs each December at the annual Carol Service and presents a spring concert on campus.

Hilltop Singers is an unaccompanied chamber vocal ensemble of sixteen singers, all of whom are members of the Concert Choir. Each member of the group receives a scholarship for participation in this distinctive ensemble. The Hilltop Singers presents a wide-ranging repertoire from classical works to vocal jazz, a program intended especially for touring performances to schools, churches and civic groups in the area.The Singers are directed by Lester Seigel.

BSC has an active student chapter of ACDA that is open to all students interested in choral music. Students regularly attend national and regional conventions and take part in local activities.