"The Voices" Pearl River Community College 

LaDona Tyson, Director 

“The Voices” is an elite performing group at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, MS. They serve as representatives of PRCC, singing at campus, community, and recruiting events throughout the year. In recent years, the group has performed at the Louisiana ACDA Conference, the Briarcrest Invitational, and the 2022 ACDA Southern Division Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Voices are excited to return to the competition stage this year, after winning the 2024 Athens ICCA Quarterfinal and taking home Best Choreography. With multiple albums to their name, The Voices are no strangers to the recording studio — in 2025, they added another milestone by earning their first CARA Award for Best Country Song. The mission of The Voices is to demonstrate the “Wildcat Way” (Pride, Respect, Class, and Character) through meaningful performance and student leadership. All members of The Voices receive full-tuition service awards. 

Long Beach High School Concert Choir

   The Long Beach Concert Choir has a long and valued history of commitment to excellence. As having been
acknowledged as one of the finest high school choral programs in the South, the Concert Choir,
and its additional ensembles, during the past 38 years, has received countless superior ratings at
district, state, and national levels.

    Under the direction of conductors, Joanne Edwards, Joel Dunlap, and Terry Walker the LBHS Choir pursued cultural studies while performing for audiences in Canada, Mexico, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Spain,
Switzerland, England, Scotland, and throughout the United States. The choir has performed for
Presidents Reagan and Bush, and, for over 25 years, hosted the Gulf Coast Choral Festival - a
festival that eventually became the largest choral festival in the state. In 1997, the Concert Choir became the first South Mississippi High School choir to perform a solo performance at New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall as well as singing in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. the Choir has performed solo concerts at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Canterbury Cathedral and St. Paul’s Church in London and La Madeleine and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. In the summer 2014, the choir made a concert tour to Austria and Switzerland. Summer 2018 the Concert Choir completed a performance tour of some of the most prestigious venues throughout Italy. The Choir has also performed large-scale musicals such as Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”, “Les Miserables”, “Phantom of the Opera”, “Oklahoma”, and“Into the Woods.

    The Concert Choir was selected to perform and received a standing ovation on their solo performance at the Mississippi State Convention of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and returned in the spring of 2018 for another feature performance. The Concert Choir was also selected to perform at the 2019 and the 2024 Louisiana American Choral Director Conference as a featured choir.

    The Long Beach Concert Choir, under the direction of Tammy Carney, is honored to be a performing choir for the MMEA and ACDA Conference. 

Mississippi Choral Artists

The Mississippi Choral Artists was founded in the fall of 2023 and has quickly become one of North Mississippi’s most active and sought-after choral ensembles. Composed primarily of longtime friends who previously sang together in the University of Mississippi Concert Singers, the group was formed to continue a shared passion for excellence in choral performance. United by a deep love of singing and the lasting connections forged through music, MCA presents a diverse range of repertoire spanning from the Renaissance to the present day. Dedicated to artistic excellence, Mississippi Choral Artists is committed to delivering high-quality choral performances and meaningful musical experiences to audiences both near and far.

Center Hill High School Select Women

Allen Sanders, Director

The Select Women’s Chorus is Center Hill High School’s top auditioned treble ensemble, with a strong emphasis on vocal excellence, musicianship, and sight-reading. Members of the ensemble are involved throughout Center Hill High School in athletics, student government, honor societies, clubs, band, and numerous other organizations.

Select Women’s Chorus has a long history of excellence, consistently earning Superior Ratings and Sweepstakes at State Performance Assessment, Riverland Choral Festival, and Bluff City Choral Festival. Under the direction of Catherine Feazell, the ensemble performed twice at the Mississippi ACDA/MMEA State Conference and was selected to perform at the 2020 Southern Division ACDA Conference in Mobile, Alabama. Under the direction of Allen Sanders, Select Women’s Chorus returned to the Mississippi ACDA/MMEA State Conference in 2024.

In 2024, the Center Hill High School Choral Program traveled to New York City to perform at Carnegie Hall under the direction of André Thomas, Anton Armstrong, and Jeffrey Ames. In June 2026, members of the program traveled to London, England, where they performed the music of Dan Forrest with VOCES8.

The Select Women’s Chorus is proud of its tradition of excellence and the many students who have helped build that tradition at Center Hill High School. They are honored to return to the MMEA/MSACDA State Conference in 2026.

Mississippi State University Singers

Dr. Nicholas Cummins, Director of Choral Activites

The Mississippi State University Singers, founded in 2011, is the university’s flagship choral ensemble under the direction of Dr. Nicholaus B. Cummins. Comprised of approximately 48 undergraduate students representing a wide range of academic disciplines, the ensemble is dedicated to the highest standards of artistic excellence and serves as a musical ambassador for Mississippi State University.  Performances regularly include both accompanied and a cappella literature, with repertoire drawn from composers such as Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, J.A.C. Redford, Henk Badings, and Heinrich Schütz, among many others.

The ensemble is committed not only to performance excellence but also to artistic collaboration and innovation. State Singers has worked with distinguished composers and conductors, including Michael Trotta, Andrea Ramsey, and Mark Hayes, providing students with opportunities to engage directly with leading voices in the choral field.

State Singers presents full-length concerts both on and off campus, participates in interdisciplinary and collaborative projects, and performs for a wide variety of university and community events. The ensemble has been featured at state and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association and the National Association for Music Education, reflecting its commitment to excellence and national engagement.

Internationally, the choir has toured Spain, France, Austria, and the Czech Republic, earning recognition for its artistry and cultural exchange. In 2016, the ensemble performed at the White House, marking a significant milestone in its history. Through its commitment to artistic excellence, educational growth, and meaningful performance experiences, the Mississippi State University Singers continues to uphold a tradition of choral distinction while preparing the next generation of musicians and leaders.

Oxford Middle School Advanced Girls Choir

Dr. Hannah Ardrey, Director

The OMS Advanced Treble Choir is an auditioned ensemble at of 7th and 8th grades singerrs dedicated to musical excellence, expressive performance, and artistic growth.  Performing repertoire across genres, languages, and styles, these students present music at a high level while balancing involvement in band, theater, dance, athletics, robotics and other school activities.  Students have opportunities to perform at school-wide events and concerts as well as volunteer at various athletic and community events.  Many have earned placement in the MMEA/ACDA Mississippi All-State Honor Choir over the past two years and consistently receive All-Superior ratings at State Performance Assessment.  This ensemble rehearses daily during a 75 minute class block and once a week after school. 

Over 650 students in 7th and 8th grades attend Oxford Middle School, but four years ago, the small but. mighty OMS Choir only had 12 students.  Today Room 308 welcomes over 80 singers spanning three choir classes- OMS Boys Choir, OMS Girls Choir and the OMS Advanced Treble Choir. The mission of OMS Choir is to provide a safe space for students to develop confidence, strengthen musicianship skills, become collaborative leaders, and embrace lifelong advocacy for choral music.

Northwest CC College Ranger Chorale 

Ranger Chorale is Northwest Mississippi Community College’s premiere choral ensemble, comprised of music majors and non-majors from a variety of fields of study. The ensemble presents numerous on-campus performances and serves as the primary touring ensemble and recruiting arm for Northwest Choirs. They perform a variety of repertoire from various musical periods and regularly premieres new works, including Dylan Tran’s Color All Maps New. Ranger Chorale is excited to perform at this year’s conference!

Desoto Central High School Aurora

Dr. Jantsen Touchstone, Director 

Aurora, the flagship ensemble of the DeSoto Central High School choral program, is an

auditioned SSAA choir composed of students in grades 9 through 12. The ensemble is dedicated

to developing independent music literacy and delivering passionate performances of choral

works spanning a diverse array of languages, styles, and historical periods. Aurora holds a

distinct commitment to championing the works of women composers throughout music history.

Aurora students are also engaged in a wide range of other activities within their community and

school including archery, cross country, softball, student council, horseback riding, and the local

community choir, CoroRio.

Distinguished by a tradition of excellence, Aurora consistently earns Sweepstakes Awards at the

State Performance Assessment. The choir has also secured Best-in-Class honors at the Music in

the Parks, Bluff City, and Riverland Choral Festivals, culminating in being named the 2026 Bluff

City Choral Festival Super Grand Champion. Aurora is honored and grateful to be selected to

perform at the 2026 MMEA/MSACDA State Conference.

University of Southern Mississippi Chorale 

Dr. Gregory Fuller, Director

The Southern Chorale has a long history of excellence at Southern Miss, the most comprehensive School of Music in Mississippi. Membership consists primarily of junior and senior music majors and graduate students studying conducting and voice. The ensemble has been chosen by blind/refereed audition to perform at state, regional, and national conferences on sixteen occasions over the past twenty years, including two national and three regional conventions. In addition to appearances across North America, the Chorale has been featured at festivals or concert series in Austria, The Czech Republic, England, Estonia, France, Hungary, Italy, Jamaica, Latvia, Mexico, Norway, Romania, South Korea, Spain, and Sweden. The Southern Chorale has premiered or participated in many important premieres of new oratorio and extended works, including composers Richard Burchard (Et Lux Et Tenebrae Lucet: Requiem for the Forgotten, Stabat Mater, The Seven Last Words), John Cheetham (Gloria, Propheta Lucis), Tõnu Kõrvits (Canticle of the Sun, St. Michael Songs, U.S. premieres of Moorland Elegies, Kreek’s Notebook), James Mulholland (Missa Romanitca, a cappella version), Ed Penhorwood (An American Requiem), Jonathan Rodgers (extended double choir arrangements of popular groups like Chicago, 5th Dimension, Phil Collins, Little River Band, Marvin Gaye, Paul Williams) , Mack Wilberg (The Prodigal), and Luigi Zaninelli (Trinity Mass). The group is known for innovative programming.