By Zeke Sorenson
Laramie County Community College’s Chorale and
Cantorei Singers are singing to a new tune this semester
because of the new director, Nancy Cornish. Originally
from Lawrence, Kan., Cornish, directed choirs while
taking three years of coursework toward her doctorate
in music at the University of Kansas.
In addition to her director responsibilities, Cornish
is also teaching music theory and history courses. Cornish
is already preparing for the first choral concert of
the season and making some plans as well. “The
students are very motivated,” she said. “They
work hard in the classroom, and it’s really nice
to see such positive attitudes from everyone.”
LCCC has two choirs: Chorale—a group open to anyone
interested in singing, and the Cantorei Singers—a
select auditioned group. This semester’s Cantorei
Singers is considerably smaller than it has been in
the past. Cantorei Singers for the fall semester are
as follows:
• Beth Burge
• Elizabeth Schmidt
• Kim Sims
• Lindsay Bierma
• Ashley Hirst
• Janet Wilson
• Curtis Kettler
• Josh King
• Bart Ulbrich
• John Diggs
• Zeke Sorenson
• Mark Wilson
The first choral concert featuring Chorale and the Cantorei
Singers will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23, at a
location still to be announced. The repertoire will
be sacred literature ranging from the 1600s to the present.
The music will include sacred polyphony, music with
two or more independent melodic lines, to modern-day
gospel.
Cornish said she is also hoping to take the choirs to
sing at local churches as well as before other civic
groups.
As for Cornish’s plans for the future, she said
she is looking into creating two new vocal groups: a
contemporary jazz choir and a men’s choir. However,
the groups probably won’t be seen until the 2004-2005
academic year.