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
Erin Appel
Patti Arntz
Lori LaBelle Bartz
Amy Christie
Stephanie Eckhoff
Gloria Fredkove
Caroline Hardyman
Jan LeClair
Penny Meier
Becky Pansch
Melani Schwartz
Schele Smith
Mary Stolee
Yi Fang "Clare" Tan
Maya Tester
Lisa Theisen
Saijen Weihe
Kim Wetteland
Sarah Weyers
Sarah Wiechmann
Alto:
Claire Baker
Linda Burk
Jessie Clausen
Monica Degeneffe
Rosalie Eldevik
Meghan Gilpin
Kristin Hella
Jenn Jensen
Emily Karlsrud
Elliana Meier
Jan Ohm
Megan Pamperin
Madeline Smoot
Lisa Streckert
Stephanie Sulzbach
Sheri Williams
Stephanie Young-Teske
Mary Younggren
Jamie Anderson
Michael Atherton
Mark Eckhoff
Ryan Ecklund
Scott Flancher
Isaiah Hollman
Hunter Illsley
Jay Johnson
Nathan Karlsrud
Matthew Keranen
Jordan Kleist
Jim Norquist
Ken Williams
Bass:
Jordan Boucher
Joshua Clausen
Dan Digre
David Erickson
Clint Faust
Daniel Gebur
John Hatlestad
Michael Karlsrud
Kyung Ko
Jordan McGowan
Wayne Peterson
Richard Rogers
Dana Skoglund
Jonah Snyder
Paul Theisen
John Torvik
Scott Witebsky