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Richard Bjella, Conductor
For the past 20 years Richard Bjella has conducted the White Heron Chorale. Bjella is also the Director of Choral Studies at Lawrence University, Conservatory of Music, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Under his direction are the Concert Choir, Chorale, Collegium, and in the past the Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Chamber Singers and the Choral Society at Lawrence. Mr. Bjella also teaches a preparatory program for student teachers and supervises their progress in the student teaching process. Bjella is musical director of the White Heron Chorale, a 75-member community choir coming from the expanded Fox Valley Area. The Lawrence Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, Vocal Jazz Ensemble and the White Heron Chorale have performed at state and regional American Choral Directors Association Conventions in recent years. The vocal Jazz Singers received a Downbeat award for outstanding Vocal Jazz performance with Downbeat magazine last year as well. He also teaches conducting, choral methods, and supervises student teaching at Lawrence. He studied with Don V Moses at the University of Iowa and has had the pleasure of working with Robert Shaw, Eric Erickson, Frieder Bernius, Helmuth Rilling, Margaret Hillis, Doreen Rao, and Dale Warland in master classes. Bjella has conducted in Prague, Paris, Lucerne, and London and has guest conducted over 350 festivals throughout the United States including recent appearances as the Wisconsin, Delaware and Missouri All-State conductor and upcoming appearance with the Illinois All-State in 2004. He also made his Lincoln Center debut in April 2003.
Bjella is Past President for the Wisconsin Choral Directors Association, was program co-chair for the NC ACDA Convention 2000, current chair of the NC ACDA for Community Choirs, and a member of the Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP) leadership task force for the Wisconsin Music Educators Association. He has served on the board of the WMEA for student activities, division chair of Youth and Student Activities of ACDA and as chair of the Visions committee for WCDA.
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