2013 ND ALL State

LHS well represented at ND ALL STATE MUSIC


The 47th North Dakota All-State Orchestra, Mixed  Chorus, Women’s Chorus, Band, Jazz Band, and Jazz Choir  was  held at the Bismarck Civic Center & Exhibition Hall in conjunction with the NDMEA Conference on March 21-23, 2013.












Morgan Uriell, a junior at Lakota High School, was selected as a member of the 2013 ND All State Women’s Chorus. Rehearsals began on Thursday, March 21, culminating with concerts on Saturday, March 23.   Morgan was one of 440 music students selected from over 2000 auditions held in January throughout North Dakota.  Also, of this year’s All State musicians,  only 55 were from Class B schools.  This is the third year Morgan has been selected to the ND All-State Music Festival,  having been a part of the Orchestra and Band her Freshman and Sophomore years.








The 2013 All State Festival was especially memorable as Lakota High School Alum, Lee Nelson , class of 1992, was the Guest Conductor for the Mixed Chorus. Lee, son of Gordon & Darlene Nelson, Lakota, had returned to North Dakota in 2011 as the All State Mixed Choir guest conductor only to have the concert cancelled due to a blizzard. 








Dr. Nelson is the Patricia R. Zahn Chair in Choral Conducting and director of choral activities at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Recently honored with the 2012 John O. Chellevold Award for Excellence in Teaching and Professional Service, Nelson conducts the Wartburg Choir and Ritterchor (men’s choir). He also teaches advanced conducting and applied voice and serves as artistic director of Christmas with Wartburg.







Nelson made his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall in 2011 and returned there to conduct the National Festival Chorus again in May, 2012. His national and international tours have earned overwhelmingly positive reviews. On the most recent tour of Hungary, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, local reviewers lauded Nelson’s innovative programming and the choir’s superior technique and choral tone. A sought-after conductor, Nelson has directed All State and honor choirs in Colorado, New York, Alaska, Mississippi, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Arizona, Iowa, Nebraska, and Manitoba, Canada. 





In December 2011, Nelson and the Wartburg Choir were invited to perform at the White House Holiday Concert Series. While in Washington, D.C., the choir also performed at the Washington National Cathedral for a worldwide simulcast of the Bethlehem Prayer Service. Most recently, Nelson was a featured conductor at the 2012 North Central American Choral Director's Association convention, where he conducted Stephen Paulus’ Holocaust oratorio To Be Certain of the Dawn with more than 360 musicians from six states.








Prior to his appointment at Wartburg College, Nelson served on the faculty at St. Cloud State University, where he received the SCSU Professional Achievement Award in 2008. Under his direction, the St. Cloud State Choir was invited to perform at the 2007 Minnesota American Choral Director's Association convention and toured throughout the Midwest and Canada. During a 2008 European tour of 2008, the St. Cloud State University choir premiered To Be Certain of the Dawn at Natzweil-Struthof, the site of a former concentration camp. Earlier in his career, Nelson received the Outstanding Young Choral Conductor of the Year, awarded by the Minnesota American Choral Directors Association, and won the 2005 National ACDA Conducting Competition in Los Angeles, Calif.

Dr. Nelson earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. He has done graduate work at Westminster Choir College and is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Arizona, where he earned his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees.