LMC Concert Choir and Middle School Honors Choir Unite to Celebrate Female Composers Oct. 28

BENTON HARBOR, MICH. – Top middle school singers will unite with Lake Michigan College's Concert Choir to celebrate the artistic brilliance and creativity of women who have enriched choral music during Illuminate: Shining a Light on Female Composers and Arrangers. The free performance will happen at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28 on the LMC Mendel Center Jenkins Theatre stage, located on the College’s Benton Harbor campus at 2755 E. Napier Ave.

The concert features a diverse repertoire spanning centuries, from sacred Baroque works to contemporary compositions, including folk arrangements from around the world. The program highlights the remarkable range and cultural depth of how women composers have contributed to choral music across different eras and traditions.

The performance is a collaboration between the LMC Visual & Performing Arts Department and the Michigan Vocal Music Association District 6 Middle School Honors Choir Invitational. It will feature the LMC Concert Choir directed by Rebecca Derbas-Selvidge paired with the voices of more than 60 top middle school choir students from across the area under the direction of Megan Farison.

Among the planned selections performed by the LMC Concert Choir are “The Word Was God” by Rosephanye Powell, “Ave Regina Caelorum” by Isabella Leonarda, “Wanting Memories” by Ysaÿe M. Barnwell, and “Through Love to Light” by Elaine Hagenberg.

The MSVMA D6 MS Invitational Choir will perform “Kimineero (The Carrion Crow),” a folk song arranged by Linda Spevacek; “Round, Rolling Moon,” composed by Amy F. Bernon; “Thula Klizeo,” a song by Joseph Shabalala and arranged by Leanne MacDonnell; and “Sing to Me” composed by Andrea Ramsey.

The two choral groups will come together for the concert finale, “Be the Change (with This Little Light of Mine)” by Laura Farnell.

“Bringing the young middle school voices together with our established concert choir members creates a vocal synergy that is pure magic. This promises to be a very special performance,” stated Rebecca Derbas-Selvidge, LMC music lecturer and choir director.

Students are selected for the Michigan Vocal Music Association District 6 Middle School Honors Choir by their choir directors to participate in the all-day experience being held for the third year in a row at LMC. The day culminates for the students in a public concert performance. It is directed by guest conductor Megan Farison, a well-known choral conductor, musician, author, and podcaster for the Sing, Coach, Conduct podcast.

Derbas-Selvidge directs the LMC Concert Choir, a mixed-voice choral ensemble comprised of LMC students and community members from throughout Berrien County and beyond.

Tickets are not required for this free general admission event.

About the directors

Rebecca Derbas-Selvidge, director of LMC Vocal Chamber and LMC Concert Choir, holds a Bachelor of Music in Choral Education degree from Western Michigan University, a Master of Arts degree from the University of South Florida, and a Certificate of Musical Theatre Performance from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City.

She has performed with various ensembles including Lake Effect Jazz Big Band under the direction of Steven Reed, Gold Company under the direction of Dr. Steve Zegree, WMU Chorale under the direction of Dr. James Bass, and VOICES LMC. She has also performed at the International Association of Jazz Educators conference in Toronto and has appeared on several albums including WMU Gold Company’s “Who Could Ask for Anything More” and “30,” Tim Hauser’s “Love Stories,” and “Ditties for Kiddies,” a benefit CD for Little Kids Rock.

With a master's degree in music education and twenty years of experience as a voice coach and choir director, Megan Farison has cultivated a dynamic teaching style that blends vocal and choral pedagogy, empowering both individual singers and ensembles.

Farison taught for ten years at secondary schools across Michigan and Indiana, leading choral programs and theatrical productions. She then served five years as Director of Music and Arts at Memorial Presbyterian Church in Midland, Michigan, followed by a role as Interim Choir Director at Saginaw Valley State University in 2022. In 2021, she founded the Lux Women's Choir, now in its fifth season.

Her leadership extends beyond the classroom through presentations at music education conferences and service with organizations including MSVMA (District Manager, State Festival Coordinator), ISSMA (Board Member), ACDA-MI (Secretary), and the CMU Choir Alumni Association (President). Farison is the author of the memoir "Dissonance" and host of the podcast "Sing, Coach, Conduct," featuring guests such as Andrea Ramsey, Roger Emerson, and Dr. Jerry Blackstone.

About the Lake Michigan College Visual & Performing Arts Department The Visual & Performing Arts Department allows students to reach new levels of excellence through classroom instruction and public performance. Many programs, including instrumental and vocal music, theatre, and dance, are based in the Lake Michigan College Mendel Center, the only performing arts center of its kind in southwest Michigan. Here, LMC students have opportunities to study the performing arts in a venue that attracts thousands of patrons annually. Programs including drawing, painting, and graphic

design allow students to explore the possibilities in the visual arts. Auditions are held for select ensembles that perform on the same stages as world-renowned touring acts. Students in any major also have opportunities to audition for Broadway musicals and plays and join two different vocal ensembles, string and wind ensembles, a pop-rock ensemble, and jazz band. One of only two colleges in Michigan to carry the prestigious All-Steinway designation, LMC has a team of highly qualified faculty that bring real-world expertise to the classroom.

For more information about the LMC Visual & Performing Arts department and performances, visit lakemichigancollege.edu/arts, email mmccaffrey@lakemichigancollege.edu, or call 269-927-8876.