Dexter native performs with CMU Chorale at ACDA Convention

FAYETTE, Mo. — Central Methodist University student Tres Hampton, from Dexter, Mo., will perform with CMU’s elite singing group, the Chorale, at the National American Choral Directors Convention (ACDA) on March 2.

The choir was carefully selected as one of six in Missouri invited to sing for the 40th anniversary celebration of the Robert Ray Gospel Mass.

This took place Saturday, March 2 at the Kaufman Center in Kansas City. There will be two performances that day, and both are sold out.

Selected by the director of the Mass, the Chorale was chosen because of its growing reputation around the state as a quality ensemble, according to CMU Director of Choral Activities Claude R. Westfall.

Additionally, the Chorale will perform the Gospel Mass on Sunday, March 3 as part of the March Concert, along with CMU’s Conservatory Singers under the direction of Dr. Laura Wiebe.

The Robert Ray Gospel Mass is a longtime tradition that has become a seminal work of African-American music performed by choirs and churches all over the world.

Hampton, a freshman, is a music major at Central Methodist.

Since its founding in 1854, CMU has evolved into a university that confers master’s, bachelor’s and associate’s degrees through programming on its main campus in Fayette, Mo., and through extension sites and online.