BROOKINGS – South Dakota State University student Jonathan Neswick recently participated in the high school/collegiate TTBB honor choir of the American Choral Directors Association National Honors Choirs in Kansas City, Missouri. The choirs are part of the American Choral Directors Association National Conference.
Neswick, a senior music education major from Sioux City, Iowa, performed at the Westin Century Ballroom and in the Kauffman Center’s Helzberg Hall.
“It was a very cool experience, a sound I don’t think I’ll ever hear again,” Neswick said. “I hadn’t been part of a men’s honor choir like that before.”
The Sioux City Bishop Heelan High School graduate found out about the opportunity in a class and decided to audition. More than 200 high school and collegiate students were selected for the honor choir.
“At SDSU, we are really fortunate we have a really solid music program with a lot of good singers, so you hear a lot of good men’s voices all of the time,” Neswick said. “I’m sure for a lot of the others it was their first time hearing anything like this.”
Neswick will student teach this coming fall semester and is looking at graduate schools for opportunities in voice, composition or conducting,
“In this past year, my voice has improved through private lessons and having the opportunity to do performances,” he said. “I was selected to perform at the South Dakota State senior honors recital when in high school. The members of the choir at SDSU that were very welcoming of me during that honors recital were what made me feel like SDSU was home.
“I definitely don’t regret my decision because I’ve had a number of opportunities and experiences that I would have never dreamed of doing. I’ve traveled internationally with the choir, joined a fraternity, written for the school newspaper … it’s all been a very cool experience.”
