Choir Directors
Adult Mixed Choir
David R. Davidson
NOTE: No more sopranos or altos will be accepted. Tenor and bass singers are encouraged to join.
David R. Davidson, a nationally recognized church music and choral clinician, is director of music and arts at Highland Park United Methodist Church, Dallas. He has been the director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus since 1993, performing with critical acclaim in Dallas, Eastern Europe and South America. He also is an adjunct instructor of choral conducting and handbells at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. Davidson served as director of music at Highland Park Presbyterian Church from 1985–2003. He has been a handbell and choral clinician for Montreat Music and Worship Conferences. Visit his church web site at hpumc.org.
Women's Choir
Therees Tkach Hibbard
NOTE: The women's choir gladly accepts more singers.
Therees Tkach Hibbard has conducted choirs ranging from young children to professional singers and has served as adjudicator, workshop leader and guest conductor for numerous choral organizations in Great Britain, Ireland, Europe and North America, and recently in Hong Kong. Before joining the faculty at the School of Music in the Hixson-Lied College of Fine & Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she worked for twelve years as a choral conductor, singing tutor and university lecturer at several U.K. colleges and universities in the London area. Her work as a movement specialist has created unique opportunities to work with choirs and conductors from around the world. In addition to conducting, she has also performed professionally as a vocal soloist and chorus member in London and the United States. Visit the college web site at unl.edu/music.
Handbell Choir
Jill Mahr
Note: The handbells choirs are closed.
Jill Mahr is instructor of music in handbells and flute at St. Olaf College. She conducts both the St. Olaf Handbell Choir and the Chapel Ringers and oversees the Manitou Handbell Choir, which is student conducted. At her church in Northfield, Bethel Lutheran, she directs the Grace Notes, a children’s handchime choir, and Ring Forth, a teen bell choir. Mahr is past secretary of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers Area VII. She is principal flute of the Mankato Symphony and teaches flute privately in her home. Visit the St. Olaf College music program at stolaf.edu/depts/music
Choir Connection
Teen Choir (rising 7th through 12th grades)
Christopher Aspaas
Christopher Aspaas, an assistant professor of choral and vocal music at St. Olaf College, received his B.M. in voice performance from St. Olaf, his M.M. in choral conducting from Michigan State University, and his Ph.D. in choral music education at Florida State University. At St. Olaf, Aspaas conducts the St. Olaf Chapel Choir, an upper-class mixed ensemble of 120 voices, and the 88 first-year student men of the Viking Chorus. In addition, he teaches choral conducting, choral literature and private applied voice. Aspaas is also serving as the guest conductor of Magnum Chorum, a 40-voice mixed chorus based in the Twin Cities, and as the Phyllis and Richard Duesenberg Concert Choir chair for the 2008 Lutheran Summer Music program at Gustavus Adolphus College. Visit the St. Olaf College music program at stolaf.edu/depts/music
Youth Choir (rising 4th through 6th grades)
Elizabeth Shepley
Elizabeth Shepley is the artistic director of the highly respected Northfield Youth Choirs program, conducting the Treble Choir, Con Brio and Concert Choir. She serves as director of children’s choirs at Bethel Lutheran Church in Northfield and is on the adjunct faculty at Luther Seminary as the instructor of children’s choral techniques and repertoire. Shepley has a Master’s degree from the University of St. Thomas with an emphasis in Kodaly, a bachelor’s degree in music education from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., and holds certifications in Orff-Schulwerk and Kodaly methodologies. She was instrumental in developing the House of Hope Presbyterian Church Choir School in St. Paul, Minn. and served as its director for more than a decade. In addition, she has taught music education in both public and private schools, chaired inner city music programs in Minneapolis and St. Paul, served as president of the Twin City Choristers Guild, and has led conferences and festivals choirs nationwide. Visit the web site for Northfield Youth Choirs at www.northfieldyouthchoirs.org
