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Dr. Erin Plisco selected for international choral competition

October 12, 2025 by Lynn Lansdown

Associate Director of Choral Studies Dr. Erin Plisco is one of 16 semifinalists selected for the fourth edition of the Romano Gandolfi International Competition for Choral Conductors.

Plisco, an associate professor in the Department of Music, will compete in Parma, Italy, Nov. 28-30, 2025. She is one of only two Americans selected for the competition.

“This competition seeks to elevate choral music worldwide and help competing conductors to establish an international conducting career,” she said.

The event will be live streamed.

Brings international experience to competition

Dr. Erin Plisco

Plisco has a wealth of international experience already, having served as a fellow for the American Choral Directors Association’s International Conductors Exchange Program in 2023. But she has never competed at this level before.

“I have not experienced anything quite like this,” Plisco said. “Internationally, I have traveled with my own choir and participated in choral exchanges, and I have also participated in several international conducting masterclasses. But never something as competitive as this!”

Plisco first learned about the competition through an email invitation to apply. She submitted her application in July and was notified in September that she had been accepted. As part of the application process, Plisco sent her curriculum vitae and video recordings of her conducting. The jury based its selections on career accomplishments and conducting ability, according to Plisco.

World renowned pianist Charl du Plessis to perform Oct. 20

October 11, 2025 by Lynn Lansdown

Internationally acclaimed pianist Charl du Plessis will present a solo concert at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20 in C. Minor Recital Hall on Missouri State University’s Springfield campus. Doors open at 7 p.m.

The concert is part of the William T. White recital series and sponsored by the Department of Music and the Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities. It is free and open to the public.

Du Plessis is a Steinway Artist and piano lecturer at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

“Charl du Plessis is a one-of-a-kind musician and performer,” said Dr. Cameron LaBarr, Clif and Gail Smart professor of music and director of Missouri State’s choral studies. “This performance on Oct. 20 is not to be missed, especially considering the wide variety of musical genres that will be explored.”

Performance mixes classical and jazz

During his solo concert, du Plessis will perform a mixture of classical and jazz-inspired compositions. Featured music includes selections from Bach, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington and Astor Piazzolla. Afterward, du Plessis will invite audience members to suggest any piece of music. He will then improvise a performance of that piece.

“Personally, I’m hoping right after some Rachmaninoff and Chopin, he can throw in the theme song from ‘Murder, She Wrote’!” LaBarr laughed.

Du Plessis visited the Springfield campus in March 2025 when the University of Pretoria Camerata toured here.

“I have known Charl for some years now, but we only recently had the opportunity to work together during our March 2025 tour and recording project,” LaBarr said. “Having him play alongside Parker Payne, MSU artist-in-residence and collaborative pianist with the MSU Chorale and the University of Pretoria Tuks Camerata, was an absolute dream for everyone involved.”

Du Plessis will be featured on the next album to be released by Missouri State’s Chorale. The album is a collaboration with the University of Pretoria Camerata from South Africa.

Weeklong activities include performances and masterclasses

In addition to his solo concert, du Plessis will also join Missouri State’s Men’s Chorus and Women’s Chorus at their concert at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 in the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts. It is free and open to the public.

On Oct. 17, du Plessis will engage with the music department’s jazz and piano students in masterclasses. He will also play piano for the Choral Gala at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Old Glass Place.

Get tickets for Choral Gala

About Charl du Plessis

Charl du Plessis rose to fame when he was the youngest pianist in Africa to be named a Steinway Artist in 2010. He studied with master piano teacher Joseph Stanford at the University of Pretoria and was the first student to complete a doctoral performance degree specializing in classical and jazz piano.

Du Plessis has won numerous awards and has collaborated with several preeminent musicians and orchestras. He lives in Pretoria, South Africa.

Photo provide by Charl du Plessis.

Dr. Cameron LaBarr appointed committee member of World Symposium on Choral Music

September 25, 2025 by Lynn Lansdown

Missouri State University’s Dr. Cameron LaBarr has been appointed to the artistic committee of the next World Symposium on Choral Music (WSCM). The symposium will be held Aug. 23-28, 2026, in Macau, China.

LaBarr is the Clif and Gail Smart Professor in Music and director of choral studies in the Department of Music.

As part of the committee, LaBarr will help create the entire program of events, including concerts, lectures and workshops for the symposium.

Describing the WSCM as a true “coming together of current ideas from so many distant places,” LaBarr noted that it offers endless opportunities “for deep, enriching cultural engagement.”

The WSCM symposium is an initiative of the International Federation of Choral Music (IFCM). The IFCM holds the event every three years.

Missouri State University hosts 28th annual President’s Concert

April 18, 2025 by Lynn Lansdown

The Missouri State University President’s Concert celebrates its 28th year with performances of Jocelyn Hagen’s “The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci” and Adolphus Hailstork’s “I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes.”

The concert begins at 3:30 p.m. April 27 at the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts.

Admission is free and open to the public.

The university’s Grand Chorus and Symphony Orchestra will perform under the direction of Dr. Erin E. Plisco, associate director of choral studies in the Department of Music.

The Grand Chorus, which has over 200 student participants, is prepared by Plisco and Dr. Cameron LaBarr, Clif and Gail Smart Professor of Music and director of choral studies.

The orchestra, prepared by orchestra director Dr. Yi-Ping Chen, has roughly 60 students.

Women’s Chorus fundraising campaign in full swing through Nov. 30

November 18, 2024 by Lynn Lansdown

The Missouri State University Women’s Chorus recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for its first international concert tour.

The tour launches in May 2025 and covers five cities throughout Germany and the Czech Republic.

“This concert tour offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students to travel and share their music with international audiences and to engage with international choirs and conductors,” said Dr. Erin Plisco, associate director of choral studies and associate professor in the Department of Music.

The fundraising campaign runs through Nov. 30 and has set an initial goal of $25,000. Funds will be used to defray travel costs, Plisco said.

Currently, over 80 students participate in the chorus.

Hard work brings increased national recognition

Founded in 2014, MSU’s Women’s Chorus has achieved national prominence and has steadily increased its number of invited performances at state, regional and national conferences, Plisco noted.

Plisco assumed direction of the chorus in 2018.

“Our students are dedicated and hardworking,” she continued. “The group rehearses for 50 minutes, three times per week, and gives several performances on and off campus throughout the year.”

As one example of the group’s dedication and growing prestige, Plisco cited their blind invitation to the 2023 American Choral Directors Association.

“Receiving an invitation to perform at the national ACDA conference is considered by many in the choral field as the height of achievement in choral ensemble performance in the United States,” Plisco explained. “It is a highly competitive and coveted honor that not many conductors and choirs experience in their lifetime.”

Audiences can view several of the ensemble’s performances through the MSU Choral Studies Youtube platform. The group plans to record and release six more videos this year, Plisco said.

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