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Go west, young singers: Monmouth College Chorale to travel to Colorado, Kansas City during spring break

by Barry McNamara

Monmouth, Ill. (02/28/2023) — The Monmouth College Chorale and Chamber Choir will head for the Rockies during the upcoming spring break at the western Illinois school.

The 30-student Chorale will perform three times in Colorado, including two public performances. On their way out west, the students will sing in Lincoln, Nebraska, and they'll perform in Kansas City on their way home. All of the public performances are free and open to the public.

"These experiences are always fun and a great recruiting opportunity for us," said Chorale director Tim Pahel, who selects students from within the Chorale to perform in the Chamber Choir. "Both groups are singing very well, the students are excited, and I think the performances are going to be excellent."

The Chorale will open its spring break tour with a 7 p.m. performance March 4 at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lincoln.

The next night, also at 7 p.m., the Chorale will sing at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Denver.

On March 6, the Chorale will interact with students at Grandview High School in Aurora, before continuing its performances at 7 p.m. March 7 at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs.

The Chorale will then head back toward Monmouth, stopping in Kansas City for a 7 p.m. performance March 8 at Holy Family Catholic Church.

Being on the road in March is an annual element of the Chorale's schedule, but Pahel and the students also enjoy performing for their "home" crowd, which they will do at 7:30 p.m. March 18 in the College's Dahl Chapel and Auditorium.

Some of the selections that the Chorale and Chamber Choir will perform include "Sing Joyfully" by William Byrd (1543-1623), "When I Fall in Love" by Victor Young (1900-1956), the traditional folk song "Shenandoah," and "Dawn and Dusk" by Ken Steven (b. 1993), featuring a solo by Gabriela Madu '23 of Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Pahel holds a bachelor's degree from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, a master's degree in piano performance from the University of Illinois, and a doctorate in choral conducting from the University of Iowa, where he studied conducting with Timothy Stalter.

Pahel has toured with the Chorale both nationally and internationally, including trips to Austria, the Czech Republic, Spain, Italy and twice to New York City to perform in Carnegie Hall. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2018, conducting the Monmouth Chorale and other high school and college choirs and the New England Symphonic Ensemble in a performance of Vaughan Williams's Dona nobis pacem.

An active member of the American Choral Directors Association, Music Educators National Conference, the Illinois Music Educators Association, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Pahel is a frequent adjudicator for high school solo and ensemble contests as well as a clinician for large group contests and festivals.

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Members of the Monmouth College Chorale are pictured during a recent performance.

The Monmouth College Chorale and Chamber Choir are directed by Tim Pahel.

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