Middle School Treble Festival

March 25, 2025

This event is open to treble singers in grades 7-9. Students will have sectionals and rehearsals on the concert repertoire, have a voice masterclass with one of UNI's voice faculty, and have the opportunity to work with members of the Cecilians, UNI's treble ensemble. All events will culminate in a performance in the Great Hall of the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center! Please contact Kelli.McCarthy@uni.edu with any questions. 

  • $30 registration fee includes t-shirt and dinner.
  • Please see the music selections linked below.
  • Each teacher may bring a maximum of 30 students.
  • Registration deadline is March 10. No refunds will be issued after March 11.

Review Policies

It is expected that all student singers will be:
  • matching pitch accurately
  • very familiar with each of the pieces (almost to memorization)
  • independent on their assigned part

Thank you for your preparation of the singing participants!

Please review our safety measures and campus policies here.

Schedule

  • 11:30 a.m. - Registration/Check-in, Gallagher Bluedorn near Davis Hall
  • 12:00 noon - FULL REHEARSAL
  • 1:05 p.m. - Sectionals (2-part - songs/sections)
  • 1:30 p.m. - Sectionals (3 part - songs/sections)
  • 1:50 p.m. - BREAK
  • 2:00 p.m. - FULL REHEARSAL
  • 3:00 p.m. - BREAK
  • 3:15 p.m. - Masterclass / Performances
  • 4:00 p.m. - FULL REHEARSAL
  • 4:45 p.m. - DRESS REHEARSAL / Run Through
  • 5:30 p.m. - Dinner Break / Prep for Concert
  • 6:30 p.m - Concert

Repertoire

About Our Guest Conductor

Teale BurfordTeale Burford began her teaching career in 2011 at Hudson High School in Hudson, Iowa, after completing her teaching degree and master’s degree in choral conducting at the University of Northern Iowa. After a year as the choral director at Hudson High School, she accepted a full-time position at Muscatine High School as Assistant Director and now serves as the Head Director of Choral Activities. 

Over the past fourteen years of teaching, Ms. Burford has taught mixed choirs, treble choirs, Barbershop, show choir, jazz choir, musical choruses, and curricular voice lessons. Her students have participated in annual holiday ensembles, annual singing valentines ensembles, National Anthem choirs, an opera chorus in partnership with Orchestra Iowa, and she has prepared dozens of students for OPUS and All-State Choir auditions as well as festivals and Solo/Small Ensemble Contest. She loves to work as a clinician and has had the opportunity to clinic at the Davenport All-State Camp for the last several years, served as the guest conductor for the ICDA South Central Middle School Honor Choir festival in 2021, as a small-group clinician at the 2022 All-State Honor Choir event at Iowa Wesleyan University, and is a certified adjudicator for IHSMA.

Teale has the best husband ever, Drew Westberg, and four amazing children: June, almost 9 (!), Michael, 6, and twin girls Robin and Nora, 1. She owns a chestnut tree farm in Muscatine, Lola's Food Farm and Tree Nursery, with her husband, loves to crochet, just learned how to knit, and has a ridiculous amount of yarn.