• September 1st,  2026- CDA Teacher Membership Fee (Required for Honor Choir Registration)

• PLEASE NOTES - We will no longer have pre-registration. Audition numbers with not be assigned by CDA. Teachers may assign their own audition numbers for the purpose of their own record keeping. 

• Friday, September 18th, 2026 - High School Audition Submission Form due by midnight (Honor Choir Teacher Letter/Process)

• Monday, September 28th, 2026 - Results Posted HERE

• Friday, October 16th, 2026 - All Honor Choir Student Fees Due ($40 per student)

  • Mail to Naomi Naquin - 400 S College St., Minden LA, 71055

  • School checks written to District VIII CDA

• Tuesday, November 12th, 2026 - 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. - Rehearsal - Airline High School (required)

• Monday, November 16th, 2026 - 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. - Rehearsal - Airline High (required)

• Thursday, November 19th, 2026 -5 p.m. - 8 p.m. - Rehearsal - Location TBD (required)

• Friday, November 20th, 2026 - All Day - Honor Choir Event - Location TBD (required)

  • Students and teachers will be present for the entire day.

  • Schedule for Friday, November 20th: TBA

  • Program for Friday, November 20th: TBA

Alissa Mercurio Rowe, serves as Associate Professor and Galante Chair and Director of Choral Studies at Louisiana State University where she conducts the LSU A Cappella Choir and leads the graduate choral conducting program. Under her leadership, the choral area has established an annual choral conducting intensive for aspiring conductors and a high school choral festival that serves hundreds of music educators annually. The choral area also holds an annual choral composing symposium providing a workshop space for Louisiana composers. In 2025, the LSU choirs performed abroad with the Vox Anima Festival in London and with Grammy Award-winning soprano Hila Plitmann. Dr. Rowe regularly commissions works and is an avid supporter of new music.

Dr. Rowe is an active adjudicator and guest conductor and has conducted numerous All-State and District Honor Choirs. She presented research on Individual Assessment in the Choral Rehearsal at the International Conference on Arts and Humanities and at the 2019 National

American Choral Directors Association Conference. Prior to Dr. Rowe’s appointment at Louisiana State University, she served as Director of Choral Activities, vocal area chair, and head of graduate studies in music at Southeastern Louisiana University. While at Southeastern

Louisiana University, Dr. Rowe received the President’s Award for Excellence in Artistic Activity. She also received the President’s Award from St. Tammany Parish President, Patricia C. Brister, as Musical Artist of the Year in St. Tammany Parish.

Dr. Rowe is also an accomplished soprano having performed as a soloist with the Tallahassee Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony, New Hampshire Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra (Mexico). She also performed and recorded

three roles in David Schiff’s opera Gimpel the Fool with Third Angle, Portland Oregon’s renowned new music ensemble. Dr. Rowe is a versatile performer who regularly performs a wide variety of works such as the Beethoven’s Mass in C, Messiah of Handel, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Schubert’s Mass in G, as well as opera roles in La Cenerentola, The Consul, Magic Flute and La Perichole, among others. Rowe released the album “Defining French Arias of Early 19th Century New Orleans” in October 2021 on Centaur Records.

Dr. Rowe holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Louisiana State University, a Master of

Music in Conducting, a Master of Music in Vocal Performance, a Bachelor of Music in Vocal

Performance and Teacher Certification K-12 from the University of Michigan.