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77th J. Elwood Roberts
Mars Hill University Choral Festival
Dr. Edith A. Copley, Clinician/Conductor
February 6-7, 2026
Dr. Edith A. Copley is a regents’ professor emerita at Northern Arizona University. During her 31-year tenure at NAU in Flagstaff, she conducted the Shrine of the Ages Choir, Chamber Singers, and taught courses in undergraduate and graduate conducting, secondary choral methods, and graduate choral literature. Prior to her NAU appointment, Dr. Copley taught secondary choral music for seven years in Iowa and four years at the American International School in Vienna, Austria. She has received numerous honors, including the NAU Centennial Teacher of the Year, Arizona Music Educator of the Year, AZ-ACDA Lifetime Achievement Award, The Weston H. Noble Award from her alma mater, Luther College, and most recently, the 2025 Arizona Choral Educators Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Copley has served the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) in various leadership roles over the last 30 years, and is currently ACDA National President. She has contributed articles and chapters for several publications and has conducted all-state choirs in over 30 states. Dr. Copley has conducted international choral festivals in Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, Luxembourg, Tasmania, England, Australia, China, Oman, Turkey, Ireland, Austria, and France. In retirement, she continues to be in high demand as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and conference clinician.
History of the festival
J. Elwood Roberts – Mars Hill University
CHORAL FESTIVAL
The J. Elwood Roberts – Mars Hill University Choral Festival was established in 1949 by the late J. Elwood Roberts as an effort to improve choral music in the high schools of western North Carolina. While in the beginning the “clinic” was comprised of about fifteen schools in the closely-surrounding area, this annual event has grown into one of the premiere choral festivals in North Carolina and, prior to COVID, was the longest, continuously-running festival of its type in the southeast. Each year over 800 students from approximately 100 high schools audition for the Festival Choir.
In the early years students were selected by their directors to sing in the choral clinic. Quite often, a double quartet from each high school would participate. As the event continued to grow, reaching a size of 400 non-auditioned singers, it was decided that a better format would be to reduce the size to approximately 325 voices and have the singers audition at selected high school sites. This practice was put into effect for the clinic of 1970. After selection, the singers prepare the music and attend one of seven zone rehearsals held in January. With the help of high school zone coordinators this practice has proven very effective.
Guest conductors have included some of the most prominent choral musicians in the United States.
J. Elwood Roberts came to Mars Hill College in 1944. He served the music department in several capacities, most notably as an instructor in music theory. He also directed the choir at Mars Hill Baptist Church. Mr. Roberts died in 1966 at the age of 52.
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Click Here for :
Account of Choral Festival History by Jim Williams