APPLETON, WIS. — The Lawrence Academy of Music Girl Choir presents “Songs of Travel” at 2:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. December 9 in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The concert includes songs of actual travel along with songs about other countries and cultures, songs about the journey of the spirit, and songs about our own personal life journeys.
On the program are works by Eric H. Thiman, Charles Collins, Nick Page, Gustav Holst, along with a Norwegian folk song, an African-American spiritual, a Cajun French folk song, American folk songs, a French folk song, and a Taiwanese folk song.
In addition to celebrating travel, the Girl Choir will celebrate its 15th anniversary and the introduction of two new conductors, Karrie Been and Dan Van Sickle, at the concerts.
Been, the new conductor for the Primo choir, has been teaching general music for 16 years. She is currently teaching at Woodland School in Kimberly. She graduated from Carroll College with a degree in music education and earned her Master’s degree in music education from Silver Lake College. Girls in third and fourth grade make up the Primo choir. Van Sickle is the new conductor for the Intermezzo choir, which consists of girls in fifth, sixth, and seventh grades. Van Sickle graduated from the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in 2004 with degrees in choral and general music education and piano performance. He has been the choral director at Xavier High School in Appleton for two years.
Other conductors for the performances are Karen L. Bruno, conductor of the Cantabile and Bel Canto choirs and the artistic director of the Girl Choir program; and Cheryl Meyer, conductor of the Allegretto choir. Girls in grades seventh, eighth, and ninth make up the Cantabile choir, while the Bel Canto choir is for girls in grades nine through 12. The Allegretto choir consists of girls in grades four and five.
About 275 girls from over 50 public, private, and home schools in the Fox River Valley participate in the Lawrence Academy of Music Girl Choir.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for senior citizens and students. Tickets are available at the Lawrence University Box Office, located in the Music-Drama Center or by phone at 920-832-6749. Tickets, if available, will also be sold at the box office beginning one hour before each performance.
