The American Festival Chorus was founded in the summer of 2008 with Dr. Craig Jessop as Artistic Director and Conductor, and Dr. Cory Evans as Associate Director. The American Festival Chorus brings together 250-300 talented singers from a 50-mile radius, including many students from the Music Department at Utah State University and several local high school choral conductors.
The professional American Festival Orchestra is composed of USU music faculty, outstanding musicians in the community and the Northern Utah region and select senior USU students Principal strings are the Fry Street Quartet, hailed in the New York Times as “a triumph of ensemble playing.”
Thanks to our Supporters:
The American Festival Chorus and Orchestra gratefully acknowledge our supporters. Without them, the choir could not exist.
AFC One of 2012's Best
Edward Reichel praised the American Festival Chorus as one of the Top 15 Concerts of 2012.
American Festival Chorus – Craig Jessop is without doubt one of the most perceptive choral conductors today. During his tenure as music director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir he brought back the richness of sound that characterized the ensemble during its golden age. And as music director of Logan’s American Festival Chorus Jessop took a small regional choir and turned it into one of Utah’s most respected vocal ensembles. Their performance of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion last August was a study in subtlety and nuance and powerful for its emotional expressiveness.
