Karrie Been, Conductor of Primo, has been teaching general music for 16 years, mostly in the Kimberly School district. She is currently teaching at the new Woodland School in Kimberly. Previously, she taught in Franklin, Wis., where she taught elementary music as well as middle and high school choirs and worked as the orchestra conductor of the high school's musical theatre production. Been graduated from Carroll College with a degree in music education and earned her master's degree in music education with a Kodaly emphasis from Silver Lake College. She was the founding chair of the Association of Wisconsin Area Kodaly Educators (AWAKE) Children's Choir Festival and served on the Wisconsin Choral Directors Association (WCDA) choir festival committee as a festival coordinator in Waukesha. She has served Lawrence University's Conservatory of Music by inspiring future music educators, and working as cooperating teacher and practicum advisor.
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Karen Bruno is artistic director of the Girl Choir program and conductor of Cantabile, Bel Canto and Ragazze choirs. She received her bachelor’s degree from
Bruno serves as the Children's Choir Repertoire and Standards Chair for the North Central Region of the American Choral Directors Association, is a member of the VoiceCare Network, and serves on the committee advocating the Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP) method of teaching. She is a past staff member for the Wisconsin School Music Association's (WSMA) Treble Honor Choir and has conducted numerous clinics for middle and high school choirs as a WSMA adjudicator. She has served as state treasurer and convention registration chair for the Wisconsin Choral Director's Association (WCDA) and as a conductor in its annual Singing in Wisconsin festival. She is a two-time recipient of WCDA's Five-Star Award, receiving the honor in 2003 and again in 2004 and was recognized in 2006 with an award given by her hometown of
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Amber Evey Schmidt, conductor of Intermezzo, graduated from Lawrence University in 2005 with a degree in choral and general music education. She student taught in the Appleton Area School District and was awarded the Pi Kappa Lambda Award for excellence in Music Education . While at Lawrence, Evey performed with the Women's Choir, Concert Choir, and Vocal Jazz Ensemble. While new to Intermezzo this year as its conductor, Evey has been actively involved in the Girl Choir program for many years. She was the manager for Intermezzo for four years and a conducting intern for Cantabile for one year. Evey taught elementary general music in Mequon and is now teaching elementary general music in Kiel, Wisconsin. Evey is a member of the Wisconsin Music Educators Association (WMEA) and the Wisconsin Choral Directors Association (WCDA). In 2006, she was the chair of WCDA's All-State Children's Choir. For the past three summers, Amber has been a counselor and instructor for the Academy of Music Band Camp where she taught music theory, guitar, and voice.
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Patricia Merrifield, conductor of Ragazze, teaches elementary general music in the Appleton Area Schools where she has also taught general and instrumental music at the middle school level. Mrs. Merrifield holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Michigan State University and teaching certification and Master’s Degree in Music Education with a Kodaly emphasis from Silver Lake College. Previous to entering teaching, Mrs. Merrifield worked in the orchestra management field. Mrs. Merrifield is a past Board member of the Association of Wisconsin Area Kodaly Educators (AWAKE), has co-chaired the AWAKE Singing Games Festival, and is a member of the Wisconsin School Music Association and Music Educator’s National Conference.
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Cheryl Meyer,
conductor of Allegretto, received her Bachelor of Music degree from UW-Madison
and joined the Academy in 1992 as a conductor in the Girl Choir program.
A vocal music specialist with the Appleton Area Schools,
she is an advocate for the Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP)
method of teaching. Meyer is an active member of the Wisconsin Choral Directors Association (WCDA),
having served as a conductor for Singing in Wisconsin, co-chair of the state
Children's Honor Choir, and currently as Wisconsin's Repertoire and
Standards Chair for Children's Choirs. She is also a member of the
Wisconsin Music Educators Conference and an adjudicator for the
Wisconsin School Music Association.
Contact Cheryl Meyer
