CSU Pueblo Choir Invited to Perform at Carnegie Hall and fundraises to meet goal
*This story is part of the CSUPueblo Alumni Give Campaign, highlighting how donations to #LoveCSUP Give Day directly impact student opportunities and success. Your contribution helps make extraordinary experiences like this upcoming Carnegie Hall performance possible for CSU Pueblo students.
The hallways of CSU Pueblo’s music department buzzes with artistic energy. Practice music wafts from behind doors and through the hallways. Bulletin boards are plastered with posters for upcoming classes and recitals. Mentally, a countdown calendar is going, marking the days until April 19, 2026—the day the CSU Pueblo choir will take the stage at one of the most prestigious concert venues in the world: Carnegie Hall.
Dr. Jennifer Bruton, the choir director at CSU Pueblo says the invitation came after the choir performed alongside the Colorado Springs’ Soli Deo Gloria, last fall. The director of Soli Deo Gloria, already invited to perform at Carnegie Hall, was so impressed by CSU Pueblo’s performance that an invitation was extended to join them for the memorial concert honoring Peter Tiboris, founder of MidAmerica Productions.
For a small regional university choir that has been rebuilding in recent years, this opportunity represents a tremendous achievement, which given how far the program has come is a bug deal.
“This is just my third year here at CSU Pueblo, and I was tasked with rebuilding a program that had kind of declined in numbers,” Bruton explains.
The decline in numbers was attributed to various factors, including the pandemic and other challenges. Despite having a relatively small number of students, the choir director was able to prepare them to perform at a level comparable to larger community choruses with highly skilled musicians.
The Challenge Ahead
The choir’s announcement last month was met with enthusiasm from the campus and local community, but the road to Carnegie Hall is paved with financial challenges. Each student faces a cost of $2,325 for the trip—a substantial sum for many in this regional comprehensive university.
“The total cost for each student to participate is over $2,000, and the choir is relying heavily on CSU Pueblo’s annual giving day to raise funds,” Bruton notes, adding that their initial fundraising goal is $10,000 to help reduce costs for students.
For many choir members, this represents their first opportunity to perform on such a prestigious stage, and some worry that financial constraints might prevent them from participating. Bruton hopes to have between 10 and 15 students make the journey, though she would love to bring more if possible.
“My choir program has about 30 to 35 students in it. About 50 if you count my musical theater students ,” she says. “We are a relatively small program to get an invitation of this magnitude.”
More Than Just A Performance
As the choir shifts its focus to preparing for the Carnegie Hall concert—in addition to their regular performance schedule—Bruton emphasizes that this opportunity goes beyond just the music. The choir will perform Mozart’s Requiem as part of a memorial concert for Peter Tiboris.
“It’s not just that we’re getting to go sing at Carnegie Hall, but we’re going to get to sing a piece that is a requiem, it’s a mass for the dead in honor of someone who gave so much to the international music community,” Bruton reflects. “So it’s kind of a really cool full circle moment.”
For Bruton, who previously performed at Carnegie Hall with MidAmerica Productions, the invitation carries special sort of homecoming. “It’s a cool full circle moment to know that someone I had worked under and admired as an internationally renowned conductor that now I’m going to be a part of his memorial concert.”
Community Support
Fundraising efforts have already begun, with the choir planning on hosting performances, organizing raffles, and reaching out to alumni and local businesses for support. The university’s annual giving day has become a focal point of their strategy, with students taking to social media to spread awareness and encourage donations.
The choir is heavily relying on money donated to the school through the 2025 #LoveCSUPueblo Give Day – its ninth annual #LoveCSUPuebloGive Day, including a 24-hour online fundraising initiative running from noon on Thursday, April 24 to noon on Friday, April 25, 2025. This year’s campaign aims to raise $70,000 to directly support student success and enhance the ThunderWolf experience.
Community members who have attended recent performances, including a past concert with the Pueblo Choral Society, have begun contributing to the cause, moved by the dedication of these young musicians.
“We want to be good representatives and ambassadors for choral music education, music education in general and in our area,” Bruton says passionately. “And to raise awareness and show students who are from little communities like Rye or Salida or wherever, that performing at Carnegie Hall is an attainable thing.”
