About the Minnetonka Chamber Choir

The Minnetonka Chamber Choir is an internationally recognized performing and touring ensemble for young women in grades 9-12. It offers an advanced repertoire for experienced vocalists.

The Chamber Choir rehearses on Thursday nights from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Minnetonka Arts Center on 7, 18285 Hwy 7, Minnetonka (on the east side of Minnetonka High School), a suburb outside of Minneapolis. Auditions are arranged at a mutually agreeable time in August, September or January.

The Chamber Choir performs at least seven times in concert and at selected church services throughout the concert season. Each year, the Chamber Choir attends a music festival after the school year. In the summer of 2012 the choir will be participating in a children's choral festival in Washington, D.C.

To learn more about our Youth Choirs, click here to enjoy our 12-minute video presentation featuring Roger Hoel and Leanne Kampfe, the music directors of the Chamber and Concert Choirs, past and present choir managers, parents and members.

Click here to download and listen to a sampler track from our 2007 CD "For the Dawn Has Come" including excerpts from Hotaru Koi, The Snow & De Profundis.

Festival 500 Choral Festival - Oregon

Specific Objectives

These objectives are designed for choir members who have excelled in musical skills and demonstrated leadership.

To develop independence in working on and in learning repertoire
To increase and develop physical and mental stamina within rehearsal and concert situations
To continue development of vocal technique for consistency of placement and focus
To sing with confidence in mixed quartets, develop line in singing and perform cappella music
To be constantly alert to the properties of the score provided by the composer or editor, earning sensitivity to the intangible considerations of text and musical line
To be competent and consistent in all performance demands
To be encouraging and supportive to fellow choir members
To hear and continually evaluate one's own voice for blend and accuracy with neighbor, section and group
To sing with consistency of breath and relaxation of the jaw for resonance and brilliance in tone production
To strive for beauty and consistency of vocal quality
To sing vowels with roundness and pure pronunciation, consonants with clear articulation and delivery
To continue to learn a variety of foreign languages in vocal music
To continue to study more advanced concepts in music theory
To be competent and consistent with responsible integrity
To memorize 90 minutes of music

Music Theory Objectives

To build on the music theory objectives of the Concert Choir

Goals of the Chamber Choir Tour Experience

Rehearse and perform with people of similar age and music conductors from different parts of the world
Gain an intimate insight into the lives, cultures, religions, faiths, values, mores, politics and understandings of different parts of the world
Learn to absorb, understand and live by the life patterns of different lands, religions and cultures of the world
Rehearse and perform indigenous music particular to various parts of the world, composed by natives of those diverse locations, thus gaining insight into the cultures of those areas
Learn to be dramatically flexible and controlled

Getting into the spirit at the
Minnetonka Symphony Orchestra "Spooktacular Concert"

About the Director

Roger Hoel is the conductor of the Chamber Choir as well as MAM's Music Director and conductor for three other MAM ensembles. It was under his direction that the Chamber Choir took Fifth Place at the 1999 Eisteddfod "World Choral Olympic Competition". Roger is also the music director of the Apollo Male Chorus, one of the oldest continuously performing male choruses in the United States. Roger has studied choral conducting the Dr. Olaf C. Christiansen and Dr. Kenneth Jennings of the St. Olaf Choir, and with Dr. Paul Ensrude and Dr. Gerhard Track of the Vienna Boys Choir.

About the Accompanist

Patty McPherson is the Chamber Choir Accompanist and is an active soloist and chamber musician in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Patty holds an M.M. Degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and a B.M. From Boston University, where she was a student of Bela Nagy. She also was a faculty member of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she supervised the festival's accompanying program.

Currently on the faculty of the Saint Paul Conservatory of Music, as well as maintaining a private studio at home, Patty collaborates with several Twin Cities choirs, including the Minnetonka Chamber Choir, the Minnetonka Symphony Chorus, the Apollo Male Chorus and Partners in Praise Girls Choir.