For 31 years, Circle the State with Song (CSWS) has been an integral part of Indiana’s choral landscape. This program is a statewide choral festival for elementary and junior high/middle school choirs. Nearly 5,000 youth from hundreds of different schools participate in Circle the State each spring at one of 12 sites throughout Indiana.  Over 15,000 community members attend these concerts annually. 

At this time, IMEA continues to actively monitor the COVID regulations and the CDC and state health department responses to activities allowed during the ongoing COVID pandemic. Currently, IMEA is planning to continue moving forward with all CSWS and Honor Choir opportunities for the 2021-2022 school year, including the performances at the 2022 IMEA PD Conference in Ft. Wayne this coming January. When we do make decisions regarding performances we are doing so with the coordinators for some level of local control based on the feedback of the teachers in their area. This won’t make everyone happy as some will view it as too cautious or not cautious enough, but we hope that some majority consensus will come through that allows us to then work with local health departments to host a safe event.

We are comforted by the knowledge that we hosted all of the all state and honor ensembles in May and June in a safe environment that saw no outbreak of Covid cases. We will use that knowledge and the advice of state and local health departments and the CDC to make as safe a decision as possible when it comes to our events as always.