CALLING ALL DAWNS

Lajos Gergó was born 1957 in Körmend, Hungary. He is not a professional musician, he plays the guitar and founded the Lumen Christi Gospel Choir 1998. During this 20 years he took the Choir to different International Choir Competitions with good results.

Lumen Christi Gospel Choir was founded in Budapest 1998. The mixed voice choir has about 20 members. The Choir has started its work in the Catholic church Rákospalota MÁV-telepi Jézus Szíve Templom and gave its musical service during holy mass for many years. During the past 20 years the Choir gave many concerts in different places: churches, theaters, festivals. They have published 5 music CD-s and participated in six international choir competitions with good results. For instance In European Choir Games, Magdeburg they won silver medal in the Champions Competition of gospel/spiritual category in 2015 and In the International Choir Competition, Budapest they won gold diploma in gospel/pop/modern category in 2017.

 

Monica Schneider-Henseler's initial musical education included piano and classical singing lessons. Her professional qualification as a state-registered respiration, speech and voice teacher was extended in the year 2000 by the qualifying course at the Music Academy of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, to that of a Level C3 choir director. Advanced training in leading gospel choirs awoke in her the enthusiasm for this music, which is why she founded the gospel choir Joy 'n' Glory. She has been directing Joy 'n' Glory since then. She has augmented her qualifications by further training, such as in Complete Vocal Technique and Voice Embodiment.

Our gospel choir Joy 'n' Glory was founded in 2000 with the aim to sing Black Contemporary Gospel. Joy 'n' Glory is a registered, non-profit organization. We are non-denominational and independent. We are constantly working on voice training, presentation, intonation and rhythm. In workshops we are supported by national and international speakers. We regularly organize concerts for the benefit of various local institutions or accept invitations to charitable performances. We have been able to increase our level of popularity beyond local borders enormously with appearances on radio and television due to our invitation to Carnegie Hall.

Steve Eubank graduated from Friends University in 1973 and completed graduate work at Washburn University, Kansas University, University of Missouri at Kansas City, Friends University, Baker University and Washington University. He is a former president of the Kansas Choral Directors Association and former Repertoire and Standards Chair for Southwest ACDA. He received the Harry Robert Wilson award for outstanding contributions to Kansas Choral Music and was selected as Teacher of the Year by the Kansas Federated Music Clubs in 2002. In 2010 he was inducted into the Kansas Music Educators Hall of Fame. He has led the LCC since 2002.

Founded in 1975, the Lawrence Civic Choir has served as a cornerstone for local singers. The only mixed-voice choral organization in Lawrence, Kansas, not affiliated with a university or church, the LCC welcomes anyone who has a love of music and a desire to learn and grow as a musician. ​Many of the choir’s concerts have been joint productions with other Lawrence groups, such as the Lawrence Community Orchestra. The choir has also taken tours in various European countries and has sung at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. This will be our second appearance on the Carnegie stage.

Robert Norris is the director of Music Ministries at Easley Presbyterian church in Easley, S.C. Mr. Norris received a master's Degree in Music in 2000 and has spent the last 20 years directing choral and instrumental groups from pre-school to adults. Robert, his wife, and two daughters, live in Anderson, S.C.

Easley Presbyterian Church Choir is a 40 member group leading worship through music to the glory of God.

Director of Choirs at Mineral Area College in Park Hills, MO., Harry Cecil, born and raised in Kansas City, earned his B.M. in Vocal Performance and B.A. in Music at Truman State University, and earned his M.M. in Choral Conducting from the University of Missouri-Columbia. At Mineral Area College, Mr. Cecil oversees three choral ensembles and the Applied Voice Studio. He also serves as an Assistant Conductor to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra In Unison Chorus. Before Mineral Area College, Harry Cecil was a high school vocal music teacher in St. Louis.

Mineral Area College (MAC) is located in one hour south of St. Louis in Park Hills, MO. The music department provides stellar music education and enriching experiences through three choral ensembles and numerous instrumental groups. MAC choral ensembles have excelled in the state of Missouri and on the national stage. In March 2019, the MAC Singers performed at the national conference of the American Choral Directors Association. It is an honor to perform here at Carnegie Hall.

Kim Schultz is the Conductor of the Summit Ensemble of the Colorado Springs Children's Chorale, as well as the Outreach Coordinator for the organization. Kim also serves as Music and Communications Director at First Christian Church, where she conducts the Chancel, Handbell, and Children's Choir, as well as leads the Youth Praise Band. In 2019, the Summit Ensemble will sing at the Colorado Music Educators Association conference in January and at Carnegie Hall in June. She founded and directed the Chamber Singers of the Colorado Springs Chorale for 8 years, and served as Associate Conductor for the Colorado Springs Chorale for 3 years. She is the Artistic Director for X-VOX: Generations Joined in Song, a festival bringing singers of all ages together to perform a major work with orchestra each spring. She has been honored to be a guest clinician for Colorado Springs District 11, Arkansas Valley Schools, the Colorado Springs School, and many local and national music festivals. She also sings with the Evans Choir, a professional ensemble based in Denver. Kim received her Masters of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver, where she served as the graduate teaching assistant for choirs. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Music and History from Duke University in Durham, NC. Originally from Washington, D.C., Kim has lived in Colorado Springs for 19 years. She and her family love the Colorado lifestyle and playing in the mountains as much as possible.

Summit Ensemble is an auditioned community choir for high-school aged young people. The Ensemble represents some of Colorado Springs’ best high school singers from over 24 high schools in the Pikes Peak Region. They perform 20-30 times per year throughout the community. Their repertoire ranges from classical to jazz. The Ensemble performs regularly throughout Colorado Springs and the state of Colorado. The Summit Ensemble has performed at Carnegie Hall several times, most notably several years ago under the baton of Eric Whitacre in a presentation of his Paradise Lost. After working with the Ensemble in New York City, Judith Clurman, a member of the conducting faculty at the Juilliard School, said, “Hearing a group such as yours and talking with members of your ensemble make me feel that there is a future for classical music in America. Congratulations! Keep up the good work.” These fine young singers have traveled to Japan on numerous occasions as guests of the Japan-American Summit, with performances in Tokyo, Hiroshima, Yamagata Prefecture, Shizuoka, Noto, and Fujioshida. In June of this year the Ensemble traveled to Japan once again to serve as musical ambassadors. Additionally, the Summit Ensemble has traveled to England, Scotland, Wales, South Africa, Australia, and to Italy where they performed in Venice, Florence, and at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. These young people, whether traveling out of town or singing in local schools, demonstrate good citizenship and are positive role models. They achieve a standard of musical excellence that makes them a group in demand for performances throughout the Pikes Peak region and beyond.

Margaret Bell is a choral conductor and a private voice/piano teacher in Leland, Michigan. She's been the Director of the audition-based Leelanau Children's Choir and Youth Ensemble for 26 years. Sacred choral music and working in churches has been an important part of her entire career. She is currently the Director of Music and Worship at the Leland Community United Methodist Church. Margaret has directed the Gospel Mass 12 times as well as having performed in the piece. She is extremely excited that members of her choir have the opportunity to perform this inspiring piece at Carnegie Hall.

The Sanctuary Choir is an SATB volunteer group that enhances Sunday Worship and special services. They perform a board range of sacred music from traditional to contemporary, gospel to jazz. The choir presents two major works during the year, one at Christmas and the other at Easter. Their season ends with a celebration of sacred music every June. The Leland Community United Methodist Church choir has been an important part of the worship services at the church for over 40 years.

Gretta Taylor is an accomplished pianist and educator who has directed the Marionettes Chorale since 1974. Under her baton, the Marionettes — and several school choirs — have performed, with great success, major choral works never before performed in the Caribbean, and won top prizes at local and international choral festivals. She holds a Master of Arts degree (University of Toronto) and Diploma in Education (University of the West Indies), and has completed several courses in choral conducting in Britain. Gretta received Trinidad & Tobago’s Hummingbird Medal Gold (1990) and a Mayoral Award (2018) for outstanding services to music and culture.

Founded in 1963 in Trinidad & Tobago, the Marionettes Chorale comprises 120 singers across its adult, youth, and children’s choirs. The group has won several awards both at home and at international choral festivals, along with the praise of distinguished musical figures like John Rutter, Philip Ledger, Andrew Carter, Gwyn Arch and Dr. John Havelock Nelson. They have toured extensively in the Caribbean, United Kingdom, and North and Central America. Their wide-ranging repertoire includes western classical, spirituals, gospel, opera and musical theatre, and their home-grown calypso and steelpan music, all of which feature on their seven live albums.

Singing Earth Divine is a community choir created by Jua Amir (Choir Director) and Crystal Petit (Artistic Director), two American artists living in Paris, France.  
 
Jua came to France with the Broadway musical, "The Lion King,” and has since  played in “ Hair," "Freedom Opera Gospel," and numerous other shows. He is also the vocal coach of some of Europe’s most successful singers and largest musical theater productions. 


The S.E.D. choir has over 100 members and is open to all! They perform regularly in France throughout the year, and are known for their "joie de vivre,” authentic self-expression, and open hearts! They sing a repertoire of gospel, pop, musical theater, and original compositions and are accompanied by Remy Zeller on piano. 

Tabea Naeven and Julius Brühl are young, talented music students at the University of Münster and have already gained a lot of musical experience: as members of different ensembles and bands, as participants in multiple musical projects, in creating their own musical compositions and directing choirs as well. They have been two very dedicated members of the Junger Chor Münster for four years now and volunteered to direct our choir since the end of 2018.

The Junger Chor Münster was founded by Harald Berger in 1992 and has become an established choir in the area of Münster. Over the past few years, we have participated in many different musical projects, choir competitions, even TV-shows and performed during several events. It has been our tradition to host yearly concerts during the summer and Christmas season. We like to maintain a good mix of classical, gospel and pop pieces in our singing repertoire and value not just a good performance but engaging our listeners and bringing across our love and passion for the music.

Jean-Luc Dutoit is a multi-instrumentalist musician. He took over the direction of Madrijazz Lausanne in 2000 and the Montreux Gospel Singers in 2004 . As the true soul of these choirs, he chooses the repertoire, arranges the songs and composes some of them. He has been collaborating for several years with the Barnabé Theatre in Servion as a musician, singer, director, and musical comedies creator. He brings together classical and jazz orchestras, and makes the arrangements. Jean-Luc is a committee member of the Gospel' Air festival, which brings together many choirs every year from the French-speaking Switzerland and neighbouring countries. He has been the artistic director since 2013 and directs the ensemble choirs, uniting about 700 performers.

In 2000, Jean-Luc Dutoit took over the direction of Madrjazz and gradually introduced a repertoire of urban and modern gospel, pulsed by funk and soul. Madrijazz celebrated its 20th and 25th anniversary at the Casino of Montbenon in Lausanne in a crammed room and an overexcited atmosphere. Other highlights in the choir’s life have been the musical Cyrano, the recording of 4 CD’s, the different Gospel’Air festivals, and the different concerts at the Montreux Jazz Off-Festival. Madrijazz organized the 13th edition of the festival Gospel’Air in 2016 in Lausanne. The festival gathered 800 singers and musicians, as well as children choirs and one of the city’s orchestra. Madrijazz has also experienced different choir exchanges in Quebec and France, and more are already planned until 2022.

Barbara Kopra has been the Artistic Director for Waimea Community Chorus for the past 13 years, supporting the growth of the group from 28 to 78 singers. Under her direction, the chorus has become a closely knit 'ohana sharing their love of music and passion for singing. Ms. Kopra teaches Performing Arts Classes at Hawai'i Preparatory for Grades 6 - 12.

Waimea Community Chorus is pleased to announce that in 2018, the group became part of the Outreach Program for Kahilu Theatre located in Waimea. The chorus was formed 26 years ago, following a community theatre production of "Man of La Mancha" and has continued to grow and thrive through the years. The chorus presents two major concerts a year: a traditional holiday concert in December and a themed concert in the Spring. If you are ever on the Big Island please check out the Chorus and Kahilu Theatre.

Rodd Bauck is a native of Pierre, SD and a graduate of T.F. Riggs High School. He has been the choral director at T.F. Riggs beginning with the 2010-2011 school year. The Riggs Chamber choir has been under his direction since that time, and was formed one year prior to his direction.

The T.F. Riggs Chamber choir began in the Spring of 2009. Since that time, it has grown from 16 members to 25 members. The ensemble sings all a cappella literature to the highest standard, from Classical and Baroque to pop and jazz. They have made a name for themselves in the state of South Dakota singing at a variety of South Dakota conventions including the department of Tourism, South Dakota ACDA, Associated School Board, and for South Dakota Administrators.

Christer Løvold was born 1973 in Oslo. He studied organ and conducting (under Eric Ericsson) at the “Norwegian Akademy of Music”, completed with honors in 1996. He continued his organ studies with Guy Bovet, Basel and graduated with the soloist-diploma in 2000.

Christer participated in numerous concerts as soloist or accompanyist on organ, cembalo or piano. As conductor he directed various impressive performances in Norway, Switzerland and Germany, among others the “B Minor Mass” by J.S. Bach, the “Requiem” by Mozart and Fauré, “A Ceremony of Carols” and “Rejoice in the Lamb” by Britten as well as musicals like “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “My Fair Lady” and “Annie”.

Christer’s concert activities led him to visit the United States, Latin America, Africa, Japan and all of Europe and he performed at various big European Festivals (Gstaad, Aosta). Christer also composed various compositions in the field of stage music as well as film music. He also recorded organ works for Swiss National Radio.

Swiss Gospel Singers is a new choir with more than 100 members that was founded out of four choirs of Christer Løvold. Additional singers are also invited to be part of this extraordinary project choir. Since more than 15 years Christer Løvold and his gospel choirs and friends in Switzerland have developed a reputation in the music scene as ensembles with their own style of gospel, where they just want to deliver music that is high on emotion as well as disciplined in frazing and precession. "If I work on the B minor mass of Bach or on Amazing Grace – my devotion to sound and interpretation is the same" - Christer Løvold