The voices of talented children will fill Stephens Auditorium with music during the Midwest Children’s Festival Wednesday evening.

The biannual festival, which begins at 7 p.m., will showcase three choirs performing separately and two featured soloists, says Sylvia Munsen, founder of the festival.

“The Festival provides an opportunity for young people in Iowa to hear and perform with students from other choirs,” says Munsen, associate professor of music.

The concept for the festival began in 1996 when Ames Children’s Choirs hosted a German choir, she says.

“[Since then] there have been visiting choirs from Hungary, Germany, the Czech Republic and [from across] the United States,” Munsen says.

As in the past two years, internationally known bass baritone Simon Estes, the F. Wendell Miller Distinguished Artist in Residence at Iowa State, will be a featured soloist.

This year, the Northern Iowa Children’s Choirs and the Concert Chorus of the Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus will share the stage with the host choir — the Concert Chorus of the Ames Children’s Choirs. In addition, 300 selected students from across the state will join to create a mass choir.

The mass choir, which will feature 415 students, will be joined at the end of the show by soloist Timothy Kuhn. Kuhn, who is originally from Pella, is working on a master’s degree from Indiana State University and will perform this fall with the Florida Grand Opera, Munsen says.

The mass choir will perform a new arrangement of “God Bless America” as the final selection, which will also feature the ISU brass and percussion ensembles.

Megan Marshall, director of the concert chorus of the Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus from Chicago, says this will be her choir’s first time participating in the festival.

“Experiences like this give the students a place to use and develop their musical skills,” she says.

Marshall says she tries to pick songs from various cultures for the chorus to perform. The concert chorus will sing songs from South America, two with Native American texts, one from an Australian composer and composer Leonard Bernstein’s “Plum Pudding.”

“It’s nice to include Native American songs because musically, they’re beautiful,” Marshall says. “It’s nice with that being part of our history in America.”

In addition to an audition process, students must show a strong commitment and desire for singing, she says.

“The most important thing we want to know is whether the student has a passion for singing,” Marshall says. “Being part of a chorus allows students to learn and grow in their musicianship, discipline and understanding of other musical styles that they might not have otherwise been exposed to.”

“Artistic opportunities are life changing,” Munsen adds. “The festival is a chance to showcase the great things young people are doing.”

What: Midwest Children’s Festival

Where: Stephens Auditorium

When: 7 p.m. Wednesdayto 5 p.m. Friday

Cost: $5 students, $10 public