A choir of angels can be heard on campus this weekend.The Iowa State University music department is co-sponsoring the sixth annual Midwest Children’s Choir Festival along with the Ames Children’s Choirs this Friday at 7 p.m. in Stephens Auditorium.”They consist of mainly elementary-aged and middle- school-aged children,” said Sue Haug, chair and associate professor of music. “It’s for the unchanged voice.”Three featured choirs at this event include the Chorale of the Des Moines Children’s Choruses, directed by Eugene Wilson; the Saint Louis Symphony Children’s Choir, directed by Barbara Berner; and the Ames Children’s Concert Choir, directed by Sylvia Munsen, assistant professor of music. Joining these choirs will be 200 select singers from across Iowa, making a mass choir with more than 400 members.International opera star and Iowa State artist-in-residence Simon Estes will perform “Hymn to Freedom” with the Ames Children’s Concert Choir, as well as two selections with the mass choir. One of Estes’ mass-choir performances will be a new arrangement of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Munsen and Michael Golemo, assistant professor of music and director of bands.”Last year, the children were so thrilled to be singing with Simon Estes,” Haug said. “They feel as if they are a part of something bigger than themselves.”The children also got to talk to Estes after the performance last year. Haug said there was a line backstage for over an hour waiting for Estes to sign autographs. “He was happy to give to the children,” she said.Munsen, director of Ames Children’s Choirs, brings in choirs from out of state and even out of the country every year. This event, as well as others, is to provide a nurturing environment for children who love to sing and to support each other. “It opens up the children’s eyes as to what choirs from other parts of the country are doing,” Haug said. “This concert is a wonderful sight and sound for all of the proud parents, friends and community members.”The children are so well behaved and beautifully prepared,” she added. “They sound like angels.”Tickets are available through Ticketmaster and are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors.