Koinonia shines at Union Choral Music Festival

Twenty-seven Campion Academy students in the select choir, Koinonia, traveled to Union Adventist University in Lincoln, Nebraska to participate in the 2025 Union Choral Music Festival, January 29 through February 1. They joined over 200 students from Adventist academies across the Midwest, working together to perform six songs as a mass choir.

From Wednesday through Friday, students dove into the rigorous rehearsals, some lasting nearly 13 hours a day.

On Friday, students had the unique opportunity to record in Union’s new recording studio. The entire festival choir was recorded in groups, and one male and one female singer was chosen from each group to be the lead singer. The completed video was presented at the Saturday night concert, and students got to hear their voices edited together.

On Friday night for vespers, each academy had the chance to showcase their songs. Campion was the last school to sing and received a standing ovation for their performance of “He Never Failed Me Yet” featuring multiple soloists including Michael Shannon and Natalie Bryant. 

Marc Winokan commented on how he felt after performing, saying, “After our performance it was really exciting to see everyone cheering and screaming for us. I’m glad that it went well and we were able to praise God through our music.”

On Saturday morning, the schools joined together to sing six songs for the church service. Janey Padilla-Reyes reflected on the culmination of the rehearsals saying, “It was truly something that was prayed over and a message that the group brought to everyone.” One of these selections, “The Lord is My Shepherd,” was a new composition written specifically for this year's festival, and made its debut.

On Saturday evening, the 200 member choir performed it’s final concert. 

Students celebrated their hard work and accomplishments Saturday night with pizza and got to hang out with friends, play sports, swim and have fun at the Reiner Wellness Center. During their free time, students also enjoyed exploring downtown Lincoln. 

“Music fest was a lot of fun. Although the practices were extremely long and tiring, the opportunity to sing a debut song and hear the final outcome at the concert was worth all the labor put into it,” Toby Quillin concluded. 

Alexandra Cordoba, Student News Team

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