An artistic partner with the Valley Academy for the Arts, Neenah, Wisconsin
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ABOUT OUR STAFF
 KEVIN MEIDL Artistic Director Vivace Choir Conductor Coro Angeli Conductor Dr. Kevin Meidl is director of choirs and music department chair at Appleton West High School. He has taught junior high school and high school choral music in Appleton for the past twenty-eight years. In addition, he is the artistic director and principal conductor with the Appleton Boychoir…a treble choir of young boys currently celebrating their thirtieth season. In 2006 Meidl co-founded the Badger State Girl Choir in partnership with the Valley Academy for the Arts in Neenah, Wisconsin. As conductor and artistic director of this ensemble, he leads nearly one hundred elementary and middle school girls in a diverse performance-based program inclusive of both music and dance. Meidl is currently president of the North Central Division of the American Choral Directors Association. In this position, he oversees the professional development of several thousand school, church, community and university conductors from across the upper Midwest. He serves as a voting member of the national choral directors board, and is past president of the Wisconsin Choral Directors Association. Meidl’s choirs have performed for state division and national conferences of the American Guild of Organists, the Organization of American Kodály Educators, the Music Educators National Conference, the American Choral Directors Association, the Intercollegiate Men’s Chorus Association, and the Wisconsin Music Teachers Association. They have performed with the Milwaukee Symphony, the Fox Valley Symphony, the Green Bay Symphony, and for the official presidential visit of George W. Bush in Appleton. He has conducted choirs for ceremonies commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France, for Pope John Paul II in Rome, and in some thirty other countries around the world. Meidl’s choirs have produced a dozen recordings and have been featured on national radio programs in the Netherlands, Russia, and Mexico. Graduates of his choir programs have entered the ranks of the music education profession and are creating choral music across the country. In the Appleton Public Schools alone there are three music educators who are graduates of his program Meidl has studied conducting with Constantina Tsolainou, currently director of choral activities at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia; with Kate Tamarkin, music director of the Charlottesville and the University of Virginia Symphonies in Charlottesville, Virginia; and with Robert Harris and John Paynter at Northwestern University. He holds degrees from Lawrence University Conservatory of Music and the School of Music at Northwestern University. In addition, he has studied Kodály methods at Silver Lake College and is completing post-doctoral work at Boston University. As an adjudicator, conductor, clinician, and lecturer, Meidl is in high demand across the United States including recent events in Virginia, Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota. He was a featured presenter at the National Music Educators Convention in Phoenix, Arizona, and most recently was the keynote speaker for the Iowa Choral Directors Association Convention. He is widely published in professional journals across America. A leader in international choral music education, Meidl created the International Youth Symposium on Choral Music in Altötting, Germany, and the national conference for high school students considering careers in choral music called NextDirection. He has developed various initiatives in support of music education in Wisconsin including confabs for choral directors, music repertoire banks, summer choir camps and the highly successful “Immersion Day” concept for divisional ACDA conferences. His most recent initiative is the Summer School Consortium Choir Camps…entering its fourth year, this program has impacted hundreds of children from thirteen school districts across the Fox River Valley. Dr. Meidl is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the Music Educators National Conference, the International Federation for Choral Music, the Organization of American Kodály Educators, Pi Kappa Lambda, and past president of the Gamma Zeta Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He was selected as Secondary Teacher of the Years in 1996 for the Appleton Area School District and most recently, in 2008, as the Helble high school Teacher of the Year. His biography is listed in recent editions of Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, Who’s Who in the Midwest, Who’s Who in American Education, and several other honorary publications.  Laura Schlichting Administrative Assistant |
Autumn Meyers is in her third year with the Badger State Girl Choir as conductor of the Prima Choir and Coro Angeli Accompanist. Hailing from Neenah, Wisconsin, Mrs. Meyers is a 2004 graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. She received a Bachelor of Music in choral music and general music. After leaving Stevens Point, she taught for the Green Bay Area School District as an elementary general music specialist and for the Rosendale Brandon School District, where she was responsible for the secondary choral music program. Mrs. Meyers is in her third year with the Appleton Area School District. She teaches Women’s Choir and Prima Voce at Appleton West High School, as well as choral music at Madison Middle School. Bridget Duffy is in her first year as Director of Choirs and Vocal Activities at Oshkosh North High School. Previously Duffy spent two years as Director of Choirs and Vocal Music at Lourdes High School and St. John Neumann Middle School, Oshkosh. In 2009, Duffy graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Choral and General Music Education. In college she participated in the chorus of several UW operas and as an alto soloist with the Madison Bach Musicians. She also spent time abroad in Ghana, France, Germany, and Northern Ireland. An Oshkosh native, Duffy is active in the local music community, frequently acting as a vocal soloist, accompanist, and organist, as well as participating in community choirs and local theatre companies. She teaches private voice and piano lessons and is a counselor and teacher at the Madison Summer Music Clinic. Duffy is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Music Educators National Conference, and the Wisconsin Alumni Association. Don VerKuilen is 17 years old and a Native of Appleton Wisconsin. His love and passion for music and the organ started before Don could even walk or talk. As a baby, when Don was in church, the only time he was quiet was when the organ was playing. When he could finally learn to stand, he would stand backwards in the pew and stare up at the organ, waiting for it to play again. At the age of three when Don was in pre-school, his teacher would play the piano every morning. One morning Don sat on the bench after she was done playing and played back exactly what the teacher was playing. This was the tell tale sign that Don was destined to be a musician. Today, music is one of the biggest parts of Don’s life. He plays 11 instruments and sings. He was a singer in the Appleton Boy Choir and is currently in his school choir. Don is head organist at First Presbyterian Church in Green Bay. He has won many competitions for the piano and the organ. He was recently selected as one of three finalists in the National Albert Schweitzer organ competition in Connecticut and competed in front of a live audience and world famous organists as judges. He was the first person from Wisconsin to compete in this competition. Don not only performs in churches as part of the worship service, he also performs regular concerts for the public to share his gift of music with the world. |
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