Last Tuesday, Feb. 25, the Doane Vocal Festival (DVF) took place at Doane University during the evening. This event is a concert that brings together high school students and college singers from Nebraska, featuring performances by the Doane Choir soloists, and choir students. It lasts the whole day, where high school students rehearse and later on perform with the Doane choir during the evening concert, while working alongside Dr. Kurt Runestad, the director of the Choir. Some goals for DVF to achieve are to feature the state’s top vocalists in Nebraska, and this year 160 vocalists from the premier honor choir festival attended DVF.
Freshman Nicole Kenney, a member of the Doane Choir, expressed her thoughts and experience during this day.
“Doane Vocal Festival was a great success this year,” Kenney said. “The high school students worked very hard during the day to put on a wonderful concert last night. They were respectful throughout the day, engaged in the activities that we did with them and of course produced great music! I’m very pleased that DVF went smoothly and that all of the students that attended told me that they had learned something new and had a great experience with the Doane Music Department.”
Freshman Ashton Thoms, a member of the Doane Choir, also shared her thoughts, noting her previous experiences in DVF throughout her high school career.
“My experience with DVF started even before college,” Thoms said. “During both my junior and senior years of high school, I had the opportunity to participate in DVF and it was truly an unforgettable experience.”
Thomas was appreciative of the point of view she got to experience for DVF, for her seeing the high school students perform was a full circle moment.
“Seeing DVF from this perspective was amazing—I was part of the hype squad for the morning events, helping to wake up the high schoolers and bring some energy to those early hours. The concert itself was absolutely breathtaking. Hearing the four high school soloists, performing three of our own songs (plus an additional piece from Jazz Unlimited and Doublewide), and listening to the festival choir was such a rewarding and inspiring experience. I loved every moment of being part of it,” Thoms said.
