Western Slope Choral Festival

The dates for this year’s festival are March 2-4, 2023. The Treble Choir guest conductor is Dr. Welborn E. Young, Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Our Mixed Choir conductor is Dr. John E. Simons, Professor of Music and interim Dean of the College of the Arts at Azusa Pacific University in California.

Contact WCU Director of Choirs Lillian Magrinelli at lmagrinelli@western.edu for audition information.

About the Guest Artists

Treble Choir Guest Conductor – Dr. Welborn E. Young

Welborn Young is Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Music where he was the recipient of the 2007 Outstanding Teacher of the Year award. Since 2005, he has directed Bel Canto Company, an ensemble of professional singers profiled on the National Public Radio program Performance Today. He has been a featured festival conductor at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at the York Minster International Choral Festival in Great Britain, and at Carnegie Hall. His choirs have toured throughout Europe with performances in Florence, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Cambridge, York, and London. For seven years, Young served as the conductor of the Choral Society of Greensboro in performances of major choral-orchestral works. He has served as a guest conductor and clinician in festivals and clinics in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina, Washington D.C., Illinois and Oregon. He was the featured conductor at the 2022 Southern Regional ACDA conference where UNCG Chamber Singers, Bel Canto Company and five high school choirs performed Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo for the opening president’s concert. Young has presented papers and lead interest sessions at national and international conferences on topics including the music of György Orbán and Morten Lauridsen, skill building for church musicians, choral techniques addressing the needs of a volunteer ensemble, and choral sound unity. Dr. Young holds the DMA in Choral Conducting from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Mixed Choir Guest Conductor – Dr. John E. Simons

John E. Simons, DMA serves as Professor of Music and Interim Dean of the College of the Arts at Azusa Pacific University.  At APU, Dr. Simons leads a vibrant college of over 800 students in the areas of music, theatre, art, design, cinematic arts, and communication studies. As well, he conducts the Men’s Chorale and Oratorio Chorus.

Dr. Simons holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Baylor University, a Master of Music degree in Conducting with Sacred Music from Baylor University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  An advocate of community music and the arts, Dr. Simons founded the Mercer University Children’s Choir, Fort Worth Youth Chorale, Fort Worth Children’s Choir, Georgia All-State Baptist Youth Choir, Southern Piedmont Children’s Choir, North Carolina United Methodist All-State Youth Choir, Brevard College Sacred Music Project, and Church Music Camerata of Oklahoma. Prior to coming to APU, Dr. Simons served as Associate Dean and Chair of the Ministry Department in the School of Music at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. At SWBTS, he taught doctoral courses in worship and philosophy, and he conducted the primary choral ensemble, Southwestern Singers.  He has also served as a church music professor and choral conductor at the collegiate level, full-time minister of music, and public school choral and drama teacher. Simons has presented at numerous national and state conferences concerning the child’s voice, children’s choir techniques, church music ministry, community arts advocacy, worship, and conducting.  Simons co-founded and served as the editor-in-chief for Celebrating Grace Hymnal.

Dr. Simons is married to professional flutist and children’s music specialist, Ellen Camille Simons, and together they have four children. In November of 2022, they welcomed their first grandchild to the family. In addition to music and time with family, Simons enjoys golf, baseball, and a good cup of coffee.