CAROLINA CONFERENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2025
COST
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The cost is $35.00 for each participating student.
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You may register 2 free sponsors for 1-20 students and 1 additional free sponsor for every 10 more students (21-30, etc.).
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It is $15 for all other sponsors and non-participating children.
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The charges above per person will cover all meals and lodging during the festival.
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If you are coming early or staying later you will need to make arrangements with our Music Festival coordinator, Nancy Parra, at nancy.parra@pisgah.us
SCHEDULE
Thursday, February 27
9:00 AM Registration (Library)
9:30 AM Welcome & Worship
Student will have various practices Thursday & Friday
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Friday, February 28
6:30 PM Final Performance
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Mount Pisgah Academy is proud to host the annual Carolina Conference Music Festival. During this special event, approximately three hundred young musicians from schools across the Carolinas will culminate in a two-day music festival, ending with a special concert. The festival will be held February 27-28, 2025, with the concert on Friday evening.
Professional guest clinicians from various locations around the United States have been invited to lead the students in grades 5-12 in symphony and handbells.
Registration deadline is February 13, 2025.
WHAT TO BRING
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Bedding/Sleeping Bag
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Air mattress or foam pad
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Pillow
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Towel & Shower Shoes
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Toiletries
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Waterbottle
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Instruments (band, bells, strings)
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Casual clothes & shoes
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Performance clothes & shoes (black pants or skirt, white shirt or blouse)
CLINICIANS & MUSIC - 2025
BAND & STRINGS CLINICIAN - CHESTER CASWELL
BAND & STRINGS MUSIC
Chester Caswell is a seasoned music educator and performer with a rich history of inspiring students and audiences alike. A 1970 graduate of Southern Adventist University in Tennessee, he earned his Bachelor of Music Education with a focus on the euphonium. Chester’s career has taken him across several states, teaching music at various levels and building programs that have left a lasting impact. From initiating a school band in Louisville, KY, to directing comprehensive music programs in Chattanooga, TN, and leading school bands and choirs in Roanoke, VA, and Columbia, SC, Chester has dedicated decades to fostering musical excellence.
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Chester’s leadership extended beyond the classroom, earning a Master’s in Educational Administration in 1999 and serving as principal of Adventist Christian Academy in Charlotte, NC, for seven years. During this time, he initiated a school band and strings program and hosted a Carolina Conference Music Festival. His influence continued as a band clinician for the Carolina Conference Music Festival in 2011 and 2013. Since retiring in 2015, Chester has remained deeply involved in music, teaching private lessons, performing with the Charleston Community Band, and serving as a music librarian and publisher.
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Currently, Chester continues to share his passion for music through his work with the Ooltewah SDA Church Sanctuary Choir, Brass for Worship, and HIS Symphony Orchestra. With a career spanning over five decades, Chester’s commitment to music education and performance exemplifies his unwavering dedication to the transformative power of music.
CHOIR CLINICIAN - ED PELTO
CHOIR MUSIC
Ed Pelto taught at MPA, directing in the music department for seventeen years. He also taught Freshman Bible, Algebra I & II, Geometry and STEM. He is married to Joy Pelto, and they have two children, Alyssa and Benjamin, who graduated from MPA in 2011 and 2013 respectively. He is honored to have been able to raise his family in one of the world’s most beautiful settings, and among such good friends. After MPA, he and Joy joined their children, who have started their careers in San Antonio, Texas. He is currently working toward certification in computer networking, having completed certification as a computer technician, and most recently built and published a couple of Linux servers. In his own words, “I want to try something different while I still can.” His hobbies include music, technology, computer games, Amateur Radio (kn4dew) and electronics. He praises God daily for making life so abundant.
Children of the Heavenly Father - Jeremy S. Bakken
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African Alleluia - Jay Althouse
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HANDBELL MUSIC
HANDBELL CLINICIAN - LIVIA LIGA
Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho - arr. Martha Lynn Thompson
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Fanfare on Old Hundreth - David Angerman
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A Song of Thanksgiving - arr. Michael Helman
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Livia Liga is the type of person whose nobility of soul is best expressed through music. She was born in the country of Romania, but is living in the United States with her family for the
last 25 years.
Mrs. Liga graduated from Carmen Sylva Art Academy in Ploiești, Romania, has a Bachelor in Music Pedagogy from the Conservatory at Transylvania University in Brasov, Romania, and has a Master degree in Violin Performance from Andrews University. She was
part of different music groups as a vocalist or as an instrumentalist, including a cappella group “Trio Celest”, Brasov Philharmonic Orchestra, Campina Orchestra, Piatra Neamt Orchestra and more.
In the last 20 years, Mrs. Liga has diversified her passion for music by actively participating in multiple projects in the field of choral, instrumental, and pedagogical activity. She was concertmaster of the Andrews University Symphony Orchestra, traveled on various tours with the “Trio Celest” group and the “Heralds of Hope” choir, collaborated with multiple schools and universities, recorded several albums, is the co-conductor of the “Heralds of Hope” choir, guest conductor for music camps in the US and abroad, and contributed in various capacities to multiple music festivals.
Mrs. Liga is passionate about working with children and young people and enjoys helping them discover the secrets of music, experience teamwork (choir, string orchestra, bell choir, recorder band), and share their musical talents with others.
Since 2017 Mrs. Liga has been teaching music and coordinating the Music Department of the Tri-City Christian Academy in High Point, North Carolina.
In her spare time, she enjoys listening to music, hiking, crocheting, coloring, and traveling to new places.