The Drake Choir

The Drake Choir is the University's select touring ensemble, performing regionally on an annual basis and internationally every four years.  

The Drake Choir is the University's select touring ensemble and is one of four choruses that provide singing opportunities for more than 250 students at Drake. The choir tours throughout the United States annually and internationally every four years. The ensemble has appeared in major venues in Austria, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Wales, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland. In May 2019, the Drake Choir performed in several locations in the south of France, as well as in Rome, Assisi, Florence, Salzburg, and Vienna. The ensemble, which presents four on-campus concerts each year, has collaborated on an ongoing basis with the Des Moines Symphony, most recently in performances of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The Drake Choir has sung in Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall and has been featured on conference programs of the American Choral Directors Association.

The ensemble consists of 80 singers who are first-year students through seniors and who represent every College of the University. Auditions for returning students take place in April and for new students during the weekend preceding the start of the fall semester.

Meeting Times: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 3:30pm-5:00pm

Conductor: Dr. Eric Barnum, Director of Choral Activities

The Drake Choir Recordings