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The Appleton Boychoir, founded in 1979, celebrated its 40th anniversary during the 2018-2019 season. The choir has given musical training to thousands of boys, taking them all over the world and sending them on their way with stronger leadership skills, as well as a life-long love of singing. Many have gone on to successful careers in music, theatre, education, performance and teaching. Their travels inspired further studies of languages, music history, and peoples of the places they visited as members of the choir.

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Appleton Boychoir trip to Iceland in 2017

Our mission is to provide a life changing, musical experience for boys that builds:

  • Self Esteem
  • Leadership
  • Collaboration Skills
  • and Enriches the Community

The organization's objectives are to promote music literacy through education in theory and reading skills; expand the visibility of the choirs through high caliber tours and concerts locally and internationally; encourage family involvement and pride; and continue strengthening the financial viability of the organization.

Learn more about our performances and adventures.

Appleton Boychoir trip to Iceland in 2017
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OUR VALUES

EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION

Our professional music staff is our foundation. They know the importance of theory development and the benefit of bringing in other musicians for a multi-dimensional experience.

EXCELLENCE IN MUSIC

The high performance standards for the boys require teamwork, discipline and hard work.

EXCELLENCE IN PERSONAL GROWTH

From a total experience standpoint, the boys build poise, confidence, self-esteem, and learn how to be a member of a performing team. Just as important, the boys also make friends and have fun!

GROWTH THROUGH ADVENTURE

We also value the spirit of boys and their sense of adventure. We support this by exposing them to a wide variety of music genres, camps, and tour experiences.

ENRICHING OUR COMMUNITY

While we provide an enriching experience for the boys, we also give back to our community by sharing our talents through local concerts and collaborations.

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OUR PROGRAM

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REPERTOIRE CHOIR

GRADES 3-4

Boys may enter the Repertoire Choir, the Appleton Boychoir training program at any point during the season, although auditions will be scheduled in December and May. This is a probationary period that will develop the basic skills required to rehearse and concertize in a PERFORMANCE CHOIR. Repertoire Choristers will learn how to read music, hold a choral score, rehearse as a member of a choral ensemble, sing music in harmony, blend, and balance with other choristers, perform on stage, memorize and perform musically selected folk songs and concert material and there is no time limit at this level. Boys will be promoted as individually ready, into the Ambassador Choir as determined by the conductors and assistants. This will generally take place after behavioral and musical benchmarks are met and following a minimum of one semester of training, although the standard is at least one year at this level.

Benchmarks for Promotion into Ambassador Choir:

  • Able to focus and engage in lessons/rehearsals without causing distraction
  • Able to be kind to others and contribute to the betterment of the ensemble
  • Able to match pitches and sing in tune
  • Able to memorize words and music for songs as selected by the conductors
  • Able to hold, follow and read a choral score to the level determined by the conductors
  • Able to perform on stage in an engaging way without distraction
  • Meets attendance requirements (2 absences/Semester permitted without parent meeting)
  • Completes successfully all assigned Music Literacy Assignments
  • Meets other criteria as determined individually by the conductors
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AMBASSADOR CHOIR

GRADES 4-8

Boys in the Ambassador Choir are our musical representatives to the world, our flagship choir. They continue to learn how to sing music in harmony, blend and balance with other choristers, perform on stage in more challenging situations, sight-read music to a higher level, and memorize and perform musically selected concert repertoire. They concertize regularly in the Fox Valley and travel nationally/internationally on a rotating basis. It is expected that Ambassador Choir boys behave in a manner that reflects positively on the choir and our community. It is also expected that they will commit to rehearsing and learning music to a very high level and engage audiences through the highest levels of performance etiquette (facial expression, posture, eye contact, following the conductor, expressiveness, body movement, etc.). It is also expected that boys attend ALL rehearsals and performances. Two rehearsals per semester may be missed (excused or unexcused), after which point there must be a parent meeting. Dress rehearsals and performances are MANDATORY. The conductor(s) of the Ambassador Choir may, at his or her discretion, make exceptions as is in the best interest of the choir.

Benchmarks for Ambassador Choir:

  • Able to focus and engage in lessons/rehearsal without causing distraction
  • Able to be kind to others and contribute to the betterment of the ensemble
  • Able to match pitches and sing in tune
  • Able to memorize words and music for songs as selected by the conductors
  • Able to read a choral score and simple two-part music
  • Able to hold a harmony or melody part against another singer
  • Able to perform in an engaging way on stage without distraction
  • Contributes musically toward the betterment of the ensemble
  • Positively represents the Appleton Boychoir locally and abroad
  • Attends Summer Camp (REQUIRED)
  • Meets attendance requirements (2 absences/Semester permitted without parent meeting)
  • Completes successfully all assigned Music Theory Assignments (1st and 2nd year students)
  • Attendance for recording sessions and tours is expected unless there are extenuating circumstances
  • Remains in the choir until his voice changes or until the end of the 8th grade year
  • Meets other criteria as determined individually by the conductors.
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Chamber Singers Choir

ADVANCED CHOIR

ChamberSingers are auditioned from the larger Ambassador Choir by the beginning of October (sooner when possible). Singers will be selected based on core musicianship, vocal quality, tonal memory/reading ability, rehearsal skill, behavior and leadership. Any boy from Ambassador Choir will be welcome to demonstrate these skills and audition for the ChamberSingers. There is no maximum number; however, this will be a very high level choir.

The ChamberSingers are not only expected to follow all choir benchmarks and promotion protocol for the Ambassador Choir, but this is an opportunity for boys who have exceptional skills and an outstanding commitment to Appleton Boychoir.

The Appleton Boychoir ChamberSingers Choir rehearses on Mondays and Thursdays.

An important aspect of the ChamberSingers is that they must attend both rehearsals each week.

Boys only available once each week for rehearsal, must come on Monday and will not be eligible for the ChamberSingers. (Boys who miss regularly for music/drama/sports conflicts at their schools will only have the option of the Monday choirs).

The ChamberSingers represent Appleton Boychoir for special programs such as the Nutcracker with the Makaroff Youth Ballet and Fox Valley Symphony, Fox Cities Building for the Arts Young Audiences Series, as well as other events throughout the season.

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MEET OUR STAFF & BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dr. Kevin Meidl

Artistic Director; Ambassador Choir Director

Kevin Meidl is conductor and Artistic Director with the Appleton Boychoir. His association with the choir began in December of 1979 when, as a singer, he performed A Christmas Cantata (Arthur Honegger) with the Appleton Boychoir.  In the 1981-1982 season, he assisted with rehearsals and their summer programs at Ripon College.  He was officially hired in the spring of 1983 to be a conductor with an expanding choir program.  This season marks the fortieth year of his tenure conducting the Appleton Boychoir.

Meidl is past music department chair and director of choirs at Appleton West High School and a founding director of the Renaissance School for the Arts. In addition, he is founder and principal conductor of the Badger State Girl Choir. He is past president of the Wisconsin Choral Directors Association, and past president of the North Central American Choral Directors Association where he was responsible for the professional development of choral directors across the upper Midwest. He has studied conducting with Constantina Tsolainu, Kate Tamarkin, Robert Harris, and John Paynter. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, a master’s degree from Northwestern University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University.

As an international adjudicator and guest conductor, he conducts local ensembles, presents masterclasses, festivals, and workshops across the globe.  Recent engagements include Peru, Estonia, Greece, and China. Recently he guest conducted several choirs in Estonia including the famed Radio Girls’ Choir of Tallinn. His 2022-2023 conducting schedule includes performances in Argentina, Puerto Rico, Greece, France, Finland, Estonia, and Latvia. He is the founder and chief artistic director of Festival of Three which brings American ensembles together with world-class international ensembles in some of the world’s most renowned performance halls and cathedrals.  Through that program he commissions composers and premieres their works as part of the festival concert series.  Recent commissions include Ēriks Ešenvalds (Latvia) and Pärt Uusberg (Estonia)

Choirs under his direction have performed for fifteen state and regional conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, NAfME: The National Association for Music Education, the American Guild of Organists, the Organization of American Kodaly Educators, the Intercollegiate Men's Choruses, the Wisconsin Music Teachers Association, with the Milwaukee Symphony, the Fox Valley Symphony, the Pamiro Opera Company, and the Lawrence University Symphony Orchestra. The Badger State Girl Choir presented a solo concert in New York’s famed Carnegie Hall in April of 2014 for a nearly full house. Under his direction, the Appleton Boychoir performed in the renowned Rudolfinum Hall in Prague, the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, the historic Sheldon Theatre in St. Louis, and many other major venues around the world. His choirs have recorded a dozen albums including five with Delta Records and one produced and directed by Gunther Schuller featuring the music of Alec Wilder. They have performed in over thirty countries around the world; for the 50th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France and for Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.  In 2020 he was honored to conduct the Appleton Boychoir at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts (Milwaukee) for the American Choral Directors Association double-regional conference.

Kevin Meidl has conducted all-state choirs and regional honor choirs throughout the country and is in demand as a guest clinician and adjudicator. Most recently, he conducted the Minnesota All-State Boychoir, the 1,000 voice South Dakota All-State Chorus and the Wisconsin All-State Children's Choir. As a speaker he has presented on a variety of subjects on national conventions programs for NAfME and ACDA and has delivered keynote addresses at professional music gatherings across Midwest including recently the NDSU Music Education Symposium in Fargo where he will return in October as guest festival conductor. NextDirection: the national conference for high school students considering careers in choral music and the International Youth Symposium on Choral Music (Altötting, Germany) are among his professional initiatives. Meidl has written dozens of articles for professional journals and newsletters and is a contributing author to the newly released book "Brothers Sing On! Conducting the Tenor-Bass Choir." His research on scheduling and performance-based music classes has been presented in every state across the country and for the NAfME national conference in Phoenix (1998). Currently Meidl is researching the impact of WCDA on Wisconsin’s choral music as seen through the eyes of its presidents.

Dr. Meidl is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the International Federation for Choral Music, NAfME: The National Association for Music Education, the Voice Care Network, the Intercollegiate Men's Choruses, the Organization of American Kodaly Educators, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and Pi Kappa Lambda. He was selected as secondary educator of the year for the Appleton Public Schools in 1995 and received the Helble Outstanding Teacher Award in 2008. His biography is listed in recent publications of Who's Who in America, Who's Who among America's Teachers, Who's Who in American Education and several other honorary publications.

Abby Swaagman

Ambassador Choir Co-Director and Recruiting Liaison

Abby Swaagman is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire where she received her Bachelor of Music Education degree in choral and general music. She has taught music to all ages; from toddlers to adults.  Abby received her Kodaly training at Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, WI. She teaches elementary general music in the Appleton Area School District. Having been involved with the Appleton Boychoir since 2016, Abby has filled many roles within the organization. She has been Junior Choir Assistant, Senior Choir Director, Repertoire Choir Director, Junior Choristers Director, after school Program Director, Performance Specialist, Choreographer, Community Outreach Director, Recruiting Liaison, and Ambassador Choir Co-Director.

Anna Frato

Repertoire Choir Conductor

Anna Frato has served as a director of Repertoire Choir since 2016. Her music career includes teaching choral and music classes in Greenville Middle School in Greenville, Wisconsin; teaching choir, piano and general music in Buddy Taylor Middle School and Matanzas High School in Palm Coast, Florida; and directing the Beginning Choir at The Center of Young Creative People in Izhevsk, Russia.

Mrs. Frato received her first music training from a children’s music school in her native town of Izhevsk, Russia and proceeded to continue her studies, earning an associate degree from the Udmurt Republic College of Music, and attending classes in choral education at the Ural Mussorgsky State Conservatory in Yekaterinburg. In 1997 Mrs. Frato moved to the United States where she graduated summa cum laude from Stetson University with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and went on to earn a master's degree in Choral Conducting from Ithaca College.

Mrs. Frato’s additional experience includes directing the Peruvian community choral ensemble “Canticorum” in Miami from 1999 through 2000 and conducting the Flagler All-County Honor Elementary Choir in Palm Coast, Florida in 2008. She currently teaches music at Greenville Elementary and serves as a co-founder and a co-director of the Hortonville Area Community Choir.”

Kimberly Spielbauer

Principal Collaborative Pianist

Kimberly Spielbauer is a 2009 graduate from UW-Oshkosh with a Bachelor of Music Education (choral/general) with piano emphasis - studying under Ms. Beverly Hassel and Dr. Eli Kalman. She began accompanying soloists, ensembles, and church services as an early teen and flourished over the years - including choral directing (adult/children), choral accompanying, freelance music, and music director (at UWO Newman Center for five years and St. Mary and St. John parishes in Menasha for seven years). During college and post-graduation, she also has directed the Oshkosh homeschool choir, Oshkosh VSA Choir for adults with special needs, taught general music at St. Mary's (Greenville), and taught private piano lessons. She lives in Menasha with her husband Aaron and their six children, which they homeschool. Their oldest son, Charlie, is a Boychoir graduate, and George currently sings in the Ambassador Choir.

Sarah E. Wheeler

Collaborative Pianist

Sarah enjoys collaborating in musical theatre, vocal, choral, and instrumental music. She currently serves as a staff pianist at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, accompanies area choirs and theatre, and freelances in the Fox Valley. She is also a certified pharmacy technician.

Sarah has held staff positions at Interlochen Arts Camp, College Light Opera Company, Boston Ballet School, New York Opera Exchange, and Adelphi University. She freelanced in Boston and New York, playing for several revered Manhattan voice teachers as well as musical groups including the New Jersey State Opera, Berkeley Light Opera Company, and Village Light Opera Group. She has worked as a pianist with regional theaters including Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre and The Little Theatre on the Square. She has also performed in many students vocal and instrumental recitals at Lawrence and Boston Universities.

Originally from Waterville, Maine, Sarah received her Master of Music in Collaborative Piano from Boston University in 2010. She received her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Lawrence University in 2007. Sarah lives in Appleton with her husband, Aaron, and her dog, Lacey.

Audrey Moore

Choir Manager

Audrey Moore is a classical flutist, church musician and private teacher in the Fox Valley.  She teaches flute at Appleton West High School and at her home studio in Appleton.  In addition, she works at Appleton West High School as the Director of the Music Scholars Institute and the Badger State Girl Choir as their Manager.  She enjoys performing with various groups including the Wisconsin Symphonic Winds, the Appleton Boychoir, and the Badger State Girl Choir.  She is grateful for the opportunity to work with all the wonderful singers and families of the Appleton Boychoir!

Mrs. Moore has a Master of Music in Flute Performance from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance from Millikin University.  She has studied with Debbie Eddy, Mary Ellen Pool, Fritz Kraber, and Jacqueline Hofto.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chairman: Ryan Downs, President, Oh Snap! Pickling LLC.; Boychoir Graduate
Vice Chair: Vince Biskupic, Outagamie County Judge; Father of Boychoir Graduates
Treasurer: Amber Lewis, Secura Insurance; Mother or Ambassador Choir member, Jack Lewis
Secretary:

Members:
Daniel Flaherty, Godfrey & Kahn, Father of Boychoir Graduates
Abraham Liebeskind, Neonatologist; Father of Boychoir Graduates
Walt Rugland, Thrivent Financial, Retired; Grandfather of Boychoir Graduate
James Vosters, Elexo, Inc.; Boychoir Graduate
Jake Woodford, Mayor, City of Appleton, Ex-Officio

Founders:
Austin Boncher
James Heiks
Frank Rippl: 1947-2018

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