Mennonite Choral Festival at EMHS, April 15, 2023

“Every nation, tribe, people, and tongue!” is the theme for the Mennonite Schools’ Choral Festival to be held at Eastern Mennonite School April 14 and 15. Five choirs will gather to share their own songs and perform in a mass choir on Sat., April 15 at 7 p.m. in the school’s auditorium. All are welcome.

Dr. Janet Hostetter, artistic and executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir and a 1983 EMS alumnus, will conduct the mass choir of choral sacred music. “I am personally excited to be returning to my “roots” where the experience of choir at EMHS was strong and solidly grabbed my admiration and loyalty.”

Approximately 125 students will participate, coming from the following schools:

• Central Christian School, Kidron, Ohio
• Dock Academy, Lansdale, Pa.
• Eastern Mennonite School, Harrisonburg, Va.
• Freeman Academy, Freeman, S.D.
• Hillcrest Academy, Kalona, Iowa

Choral singing has been an important aspect of community life at EMS since the school’s founding in 1917. Choral groups from across the United States and Canada began gathering for a festival in the mid 1960s and continued until the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted the practice in 2020-2022.