A week of music will culminate with performances by the top student musicians in the region Wednesday, and a show by an internationally acclaimed vocal group Thursday.

About 150 students participating in choir, band and string ensemble are scheduled to arrive Monday for the Southeast Honor Festival, three days of rehearsals and workshops capped by three performances at the Chilkat Center. Shows start 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26.

“Women of the World,” an internationally acclaimed vocal group that performs songs from around the globe, takes the stage at the auditorium of the Chilkat Center starting 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 27.

Jason Muccino, Haines High School’s music teacher, said the honor festival finale will feature a mixed bag of festival and classical music performed by students from 11 schools. Fourteen Haines choir students will participate, he said, including seniors Rachel Haas, Alex Habra, Mori Hays, Madeline Andriesen and Dylan Palmieri.

The honor festival comes to Haines only once every four years.

For students from a small school like Haines, the festival is a rare chance to be part of a large, focused ensemble led by college-level guest conductors, Palmieri said this week. “We rehearse for two-and-a-half days and the music we can do is a lot more advanced,” creating a bigger and more refined sound than residents might hear at holiday concerts and graduation, he said.

Haines Arts Council president Tom Heywood said described “Women of the World” as four a capella singers – Ayumi Ueda (Japan), Giorgia Renosto (Italy), Annette Philip (India), and Deborah Pierre (United States) – renowned for their shows that honor global folk traditions.

They sing in 29 languages, and “explore and celebrate the differences in ideologies and cultural tenets that exist in the daily lives of women all over the world,” according to the website of Harmony Sweepstakes, an a capella festival.

The arts council’s Matt Whitman has seen the group perform. Although their songs weren’t familiar, the group’s strong stage presence and the meaning behind the songs came through, he said. “The songs grab your attention as the root of culture. Their show kind of brings the world to you,” Whitman said.

The group has shared the stage with artists including Bobby McFerrin – who calls their music “beautiful and spirited” – as well as Angelique Kidjo, Mario Frangoulis, and the Boston Pops Orchestra. Their venues have included Carnegie Hall, Blue Note Jazz Club, and United Nations.

The group strives to engage in and support peace-building efforts, and other movements that help foster unity, according to the festival website.

“Women of the World” is making a 10-city tour of Alaska and also will perform at Haines School, Heywood said. They’ll perform to percussion accompaniment, he said. “This is very much a family-friendly event, but I think it will appeal to all ages,” he said.

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