Three Tarleton singers selected for National Honor Choir
Jan. 5, 2009
STEPHENVILLE, TEXAS—Three out of 50 in a national contest isn’t bad. In fact, it’s great.
Three Tarleton State University singers—Allison Kelley, Erin Standifer and LaKrecia Bean—were selected through a national audition to be members of the 2009 American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) College and University Honor Chamber Choir.
Singers from across the United States auditioned for the group, but only 50 were selected. Tarleton singers represent 30 percent of the total number of singers (nine) selected from Texas.
“I am extremely proud of these students, their voice teachers and our entire music faculty as these three fine singers represent us in superb fashion at the national ACDA Convention in Oklahoma City in March 2009,” said Dr. Chuck Rives, director of choirs at Tarleton. “It is clear that the high level of vocal instruction given by Dr. Liz Wade and Mrs. Heather Hawk helped prepare these students to be competitive at the national level.”
Allison Kelley is a sophomore music education major from Stephenville. She sings soprano, and said her love of music goes back to her early childhood.
“For as far back as I can remember music has been a part of my life,” she said. “My dad is a musician—a retired band director from Stephenville.”
Kelley started singing in the high school choir her junior year, which is when she became serious about pursuing music as a career. She was a member of the Texas All-State Choir her senior year at Stephenville High School.
She took some time off after graduation to begin a family, but now is pursuing her musical career fulltime. Her love of music—classical opera in particular—has been passed down to her daughter.
“It must be in my blood because my 6-year-old daughter loves it,” Kelley said. “She was singing before she was talking.”
Erin Standifer is a junior music performance major from Bedford, Texas. She also sings soprano.
“I am really excited about being selected for the choir,” she said.
Standifer has a love for musical theater in particular and would like to perform and teach voice lessons after graduation. She, too, started at a young age in music.
“I started piano in second grade,” she said. “I started choir in fourth grade and then in junior high I was in band and choir. In high school, I concentrated on choir.”
LaKrecia Bean, who sings alto, is an English major from Garland, Texas, pursuing a minor in music. She hopes to become at teacher and eventually teach at the collegiate level.
“I feel really excited about it,” she said of being selected for the choir. “I wanted to try and wanted to do it and see if I could make the choir. I love to sing in the choral style. I can’t wait to go and meet up with other people from other schools and be with other singers.”
Bean has been singing since she was a child and became serious about her singing in high school. Her favorite kind of music to sing is contemporary Christian music with classical music and opera a close second.
The Tarleton singers will perform March 4-7 with the National Honor Chamber Choir, which will be under the direction of Gary Graden.
Graden studied at Clark University, the Hartt School of Music, the Aspen Summer Music Festival and the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm under Eric Ericson.
Graden is choral director at St. Jacob’s Church in Stockholm, Sweden. He has been on the faculty of Stockholm’s Musikgymnasium, where he founded and conducted the Stockholm Musikgymnasiums Chamber Choir. With this choir and the St. Jacob’s Chamber Choir, he has won grand prizes and first prizes in several of Europe’s most prestigious competitions.
His work as conductor and singer is documented on a long list of CD and radio recordings. He has taught conducting, held master classes and conducted professional choir around the world. He is the recipient of the “Johannes Norrby Medal” for his contribution to Swedish choral music. He was elected Sweden’s 2005 Choral Conductor of the Year.
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