The voices of over 300 ISU students will resonate Sunday as the music department presents the annual Collage of Choirs concert.

This year’s concert marks the Collage of Choirs’ 21st annual event at Iowa State and the first Collage coordinated by James Rodde, who is the recipient of the Louise Moen Endowed Chair in Music.

Rodde and his wife Kathleen, who is directing the Oratorio Women’s Choir and the University Chorus, joined the choral music faculty this fall. They came to Iowa State from the University of North Dakota.

Rodde said it has been very rewarding working with ISU students thus far.

“Everyone that walked into this room to audition for a choir was warm and kind and respectful of choral music and what we’re trying to do here,” he said.

Since it takes place on parent’s weekend, Rodde expects to have a nice turnout for the concert.

“It’s going to be a chance for our choirs to get out and each sing, and it’s a chance for their parents to come and hear what we’ve done,” he added. “They’re doing very well. The kind of responses we’ve been getting from the students and from our own ears, my wife’s and mine, as we listen to the groups, has been encouraging.”

In the few months since the Roddes have joined the music department’s faculty, they have made several changes which the students said are for the best.

“We used to have an Oratorio Choir and a University Choir, but what [Rodde] did was he made the Oratorio Choir bigger and broke it into two groups. I think it’s worked out really well,” said Susan Hsu, a senior in computer science and accompanist for the Oratorio Men’s Choir.

“With the University Chorus, we have a really excellent group of women this year for it. It’s typically been mixed in the past so, this being the first year of just having all women’s University Choir, we have a really enthusiastic group,” said Steph Kasper, sophomore in music performance and member of the University Chorus.

Kasper said this is the big concert for all the choirs because it showcases every choir at the university and it really tells everyone where you are.

Kasper agreed with Rodde that the choirs would give excellent performances.

“I feel that we’ve come a long way. We have definitely improved. I actually didn’t join the choir until a couple of weeks into the semester, but since I’ve been in it I can definitely hear an improvement,” she said. “I think this concert will just make a name for us and it’ll say `this is who we are and what we can do.'”

Hsu, the only female involved with the 100-voice Oratorio Men’s Choir, which is directed by James Rodde, said her role brings two things she loves most in life all to one place.

“Music and men, all at once,” she said.

The choirs will perform a wide variety of music such as David McIntyre’s “Ave Maria,” J. David Moore’s “Miss Celie’s Blues” from the movie “The Color Purple,” and “Prayer,” an award-winning student composition by Whitney Berry. The song is dedicated to the memory of the 14 women who lost their lives in the Montreal Massacre.

“I’d have to say my favorite song is `Hoj, Hura, Hoj!’ [a song performed in the Czech language]. It’s a really neat piece because some of the musical elements within it make it a really moving piece,” Kasper said. “It’s actually a traditional song calling all the shepherds in the mountains of the Czech area. It echoes and it should be really cool in Stephens [Auditorium].”

Rodde said his favorite piece is called “I Thank You God,” a spiritual by Gwyneth Walker, which he calls brilliantly written and very moving.

Shelby Sievers, freshman in music, and Hannah Keeling, sophomore in music, will accompany the University Chorus and the Oratorio Women’s Choir, respectively.

The Collage of Choirs promises to be an afternoon of entertainment for everyone.

The concert will begin Sunday at 3 p.m. in Stephens Auditorium and is expected to last for about an hour.

Tickets for the Collage of Choirs are $4 and are available at all Ticketmaster locations. For more information call Tammy Krock at 294-3831 or Ticketmaster at 233-1888.