The University of Louisville Cardinal Singers

History

The Cardinal Singers were founded in 1970 under the name University Singers by the late William C. Lathon, former University of Louisville professor in the Schools of Music and Education, as an outreach organization for the University of Louisville. In 1980 they were appointed by then Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. as Commonwealth of Kentucky “ambassadors of good will.” Mr. Lathon conducted the ensemble until 1991, when Shirley Wilkinson, long-time Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky) choral director, took over the leadership of the Singers. Dr. Kent Hatteberg began conducting the ensemble in 1997, and the name was changed to “Cardinal Singers” in 1998 to include the school's mascot. The ensemble rehearses twice weekly, and students receive a half credit for participation.

The outreach mission of the Cardinal Singers continues as a focus today, and the Singers have made a number of appearances nationally and internationally participating in competitions, seminars, and benefits.

See also: The University of Louisville Collegiate Chorale.

Performances, Awards, and Events

*ACDA Southern Division Headliner Concert - March 2008
*Voices of the Baltics Conference - Seminar Choir - Tallinn, Estonia 2007
*Tolosa Choral Contest - Tolosa, Spain 2006
**Women of Cardinal Singers, Third Prize in Profane Category
**Women of Cardinal Singers, Third Prize in Sacred Category
**Cardinal Singers, Third Prize in Folklore Category
*7th World Symposium on Choral Music – Kyoto, Japan 2005
*Harmonie-Festival– Lindenholzhausen, Germany 2005
**First Prize in the mixed chamber choir category
**Preis des Bundestagspräsidenten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland – for the highest score of all choirs.
**Award for outstanding interpretation of world premier: "Laudate pueri, Dominum" by Vitautas Miškinis.
*International Chamber Choir Competition– Marktoberdorf, Germany 2005.
**Second Prize
*International Conducting Seminar Choir – Marktoberdorf, Germany 2005
*International Choir Olympics – Bremen, Germany 2004
**First Prize Spiritual/Gospel Category (category winners)
**First Prize Chamber Choir Category (category winners)
**Fourth Prize Musica Contemporanea Category
*Third International Johannes Brahms Choral Competition – Wernigerode, Germany 2003
**Gold Diploma, Third Prize in Chamber Choir Category
**Gold Diploma, Category winners in Spiritual/Gospel Category

Local Events

Locally, the Cardinal Singers perform for a variety of community events on and off campus, ranging from holiday concerts at the Louisville Speed Art Museum and St Martin's of Tours Catholic Church for the WUOL Holiday Concert to singing the national anthem at the Louisville Cardinals basketball games. In February 2004 the Cardinal Singers were selected to perform at the American Choral Directors Association Southern Division Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. In July 2005 they gave a concert/demonstration for the Kentucky Choral Directors Association Summer Symposium and sang for the conducting session led by Anton Armstrong. In February 2006, the Cardinal Singers performed at the Kentucky Music Educators Association Conference and received wide acclaim.

External links

# Named link: [http://www.louisville.edu/music/ University of Louisville’s School of Music]
# Named link: [http://ifcm.net/ International Federation of Choral Music]
# Named link: [http://www.worldchoirgames.info/index.php?id=385 World Choir Games]
# Named link: [http://www.KMEA.org Kentucky Music Educators Association]
# Named link: [http://www.ACDAonline.org American Choral Directors Association]