One of the nations leading music programs for young musicians, the 39th Summer Choral Institute at Kansas State University will be performing a free public concert at 11 a.m. Thursday on the wing of the Space Shuttle Endeavor at the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson.  

The Kansas State University Summer Choral Institute, now in its 39th year, is one of the nation’s most unique summer programs for High School Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors. Forty of the nation’s top high school choral music students are selected each year to attend the KSU Summer Choral Institute including Great Bend native Ethan Wedel.

Students participate in an intensive week of rehearsals, masterclasses, private coachings, musical performances, lectures, piano classes, as well as team-building and character building exercises. The leadership staff of SCI are among the top performers and educators in their respective fields. Students from the Summer Choral Institute continually find that this Institute makes a significant and lasting impact on their lives as musicians and people.

The Institute has previously collaborated with the Symphony in the Flint Hills, the Eisenhower Presidential Library, and hosted the first-ever State Day of Singing.  This year, the Institute pairs up with the Smithsonian-affiliated Cosmosphere International SciEd Center and Space Museum, for a week of music education and leadership training. 

Sponsored by the Master Teacher Institute for the Arts, students accepted into the Institute receive a full scholarship which covers all expenses (tuition, room, board, admissions etc.) for the six days and five nights on the campus of Kansas State University.  The public is invited attend to either of their free public concerts at the Cosmosphere and at 2 p.m. Saturday at the All Faiths Chapel on the campus of Kansas State University.   

For more information, please visit summerchoralinstitute.com.