An Evening of Choirs

University Singers, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's premiere and historic flagship choral ensemble, presents the finest and most versatile choral singers in the entire University. While many of the choir's singers are music majors, students from throughout the University are encouraged to audition and participate. Rehearsals are 250 minutes a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:30 to 3:10 and on Fridays from 1:30 to 2:20.

This ensemble performs music from the thirteenth century through the present, including works written especially for it. University Singers has performed repeatedly for state conventions of the Nebraska Choral Directors Association and the Nebraska Music Educators Association, and at regional and national venues including the North Central Division Conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, regional and national meetings of the Music Educators National Conference, and regional ACDA conventions. In 2001, 2008, and 2016, the choir was featured on a prestigious 8:00 pm solo performance at Carnegie Hall. The have toured internationally and will tour France in 2020 via generous funding from the Hixson-Lied Endowment, the Dean's office, and the Glenn Korff School of Music.

It has performed with numerous orchestras and has worked under renowned composers, pedagogues, and conductors/artists/scholars/performers (reading like a Who’s Who): Dale Warland, René Clausen, Don V Moses, Lee Kjelsen, Joshua Rifkin, Jeremy Jackman, Weston Noble, Simon Carrington, Sir David Willcocks, William Hatcher, Malcolm Dalglish, Anton Armstrong, Ann Howard Jones, Phil Mattson, Bobby McFerrin, William Warfield, Mack Wilberg, Eph Ehly, André Thomas, the Swingle Singer, Doreen Rao, and the late Moses Hogan, Margaret Hillis, and Robert Shaw (at least four times), to name just a few.

Under the current director, Dr. Peter A. Eklund, a list of recent and planned repertoire includes Bach's B Minor Mass, the Duruflé Requiem, Britten's War Requiem, the Verdi Requiem, Tallis’ 40-part motet Spem in Alium, Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42 and Elijah, Honegger’s King David, the Brahms Requiem (three times: once in German, once in English—both with full orchestra, and also the London version with duo pianos), Orff's Carmina Burana (numerous times), Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, the Fauré Requiem, the Mozart Requiem, Walton's Belshazzar’s Feast, Liszt’s Christus, Hindemith’s When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, Bruckner’s Mass #2, Handel's Messiah, Beethoven's Mass in C, Puccini's Messa di Gloria, Haydn's Harmoniemesse and Lord Nelson Mass, Jongen's Mass Opus 130, and Petr Eben's Prager Te Deum. Further, it has participated as the chorus the operas Elixir of Love and La Bohème.

The choir has a rich list of distinguished alumni that have gone on to lead choirs and music departments at major universities and Schools of Music across the country over the last 130+ years (and at least two alums have gone on to be ACDA National Presidents).