CSC to host 46th High Plains Band and Choir Festival

The honor band and choir will rehearse both days and perform a final concert for the public in Memorial Hall’s Auditorium Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 5 p.m.

Dr. Benjamin T. Keller, a retired choral and music department coordinator, will be the Honor Choir Guest Conductor. In 2014, Keller was honored to receive the Outstanding Choral Director Award for the State of Washington from the American Choral Directors Association. In 2000 and again in 2006 he was selected as the Outstanding Music Educator for the Mountain Region of the Washington Music Educators Association. 

He has a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with a major in Choral Conducting from the University of Arizona. Keller has wide experience in all aspects of choral music, having directed church choirs and taught music on all levels for 40 years.

Dr. Michael Knight, director of bands at CSC since 2017, will serve as the Honor Band Conductor. He previously taught at the University of Delaware where he conducted the Wind Ensemble. Knight has taught at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin and at the University of Missouri and was conductor of the St. Norbert Community Band and the Southeast Iowa Concert Band.