Singers in Accord Choral Ensemble was created in 2009. It is uniquely organized as a singer-led choral ensemble dedicated to enriching lives and building community through the power of choral music. The group collaborates with a new conductor, performing artist, or artistic ensemble in each concert to create distinctive concert experiences for its singers and audience members. Singers in Accord strives to enrich the cultural life of the community through outreach, education and innovative performances. Singers in Accord is a 501c3 non-profit corporation.
The ensemble was originally founded in 1996 as World Voices by Dr. Karle Erickson, Artistic Director . At each of its concerts, World Voices focused on the music of a particular culture or region of the world. In 2009, the board of directors of World Voices turned leadership of the organization to a new board made up of six singers from World Voices. The new board changed the name of the ensemble to Singers in Accord and changed its artistic model to one of inviting different conductors to collaborate with the singers as artistic partners to create each concert program. Since 2009, Singers in Accord has worked with 13 different conductors.
Dr. Angela Broeker, Director of Choral Activities at the University of St. Thomas, said this about Singers in Accord:
"The ensemble model first brought to the United States was from Europe, where kings and queens and various other heads of state built top-down hierarchical models that contained a single leader responsible for structure and policy. But here in the United States, where our country is based on shared governance, doesn't it make sense to have a choral ensemble where singers take ownership? You've created an ensemble hungry for varied approaches to the choral art, an ensemble committed to collaborations, and an ensemble always open to the sharing of new ideas. A forward-looking ensemble committed to 21st-century values!"
Singers in Accord has no paid staff but is run by singer / Team Leaders who also function as its board. The eight teams which lead the organization are: Artistic, Concert Planning, Marketing, Process Control, Technology, Financial, Fund Raising, and Administration.
Listen to recordings from past concerts
The Singers in Accord ensemble
Patti Arntz
Jan LeClair
Penny Meier
Laurie Meyers
Becky Pansch
Melani Schwartz
Schele Smith
Mara Sorenson
Melanie Watson
Sarah Weyers
Soprano 1:
Kim Wetteland
Alto:
Judy Arnstein
Etta C Bernstein
Hannah Braasch
Monica Degeneffe
Rosalie Eldevik
Gloria Fredkove
Mary Gail Hadley
Callie Koleske
Elizabeth Mangold
Wendy Mullins
Jennie Schut
Lisa Streckert
Stephanie Sulzbach
Susan Troselius
Sheri Williams
Stephanie Young-Teske
Alto 2:
Jody McCormick
Michael Atherton
David Braasch
Ken Duvio
Hunter Illsley
Matthew Keranen
William Mills
Michael Mullins
Gustavo Rodriguez
Tyler Rooks
Paul Stever
Ken Williams
Bass:
Jeff Bowar
Mark Countryman
Dan Digre
Pierre Gingerich-Boberg
John Hatlestad
Sheldon Klukas
Paul Nevin
Taylor Quinn
Dana Skoglund
Carl Sorenson
Peter Watson