Back To The Stage: Leelanau Children’s Choir and Youth Ensemble Season Begins Its 29th Season

In a whirl of welcome-back jitters and joy, the Leelanau Children’s Choir and Leelanau Youth Ensemble (LCC/LYE) has kicked off its 29th season, with auditions closing at the end of this month.

Longtime choir director Margaret Bell says, ”There is nothing quite like the power of singing together in the same room at the same time,” noting “after COVID this will be a rebuilding year for us.” 

She adds, “We learned a lot from scaling back our concerts, making adjustments in spacing and sound last year. We know that we will need to be flexible with rehearsals and performances – but most importantly, we will gather to sing.”

The two choirs, comprised of singers ages 8 through 18 years old from across Leelanau County, rehearse in the Leland Methodist Church on Monday evenings. The goal has stayed the same since Bell started with the organization in 1992: “To work together to grow as singers and a family to present the best performance possible. I love watching the joy of music light them up from inside.” 

The young choral performers offer a madrigal concert in early December and a spring cabaret later in the season. For LCC/LYE’s 25th anniversary, alumni came from across the region and country to sing with their up-and-coming counterparts. Among the alumni is Asher Carlson, originally of Leland, who says being part of a children’s choir in his home county helped pave the way for his professional music career. Carlson is now a clarinetist with the Venice Symphony Orchestra in Florida, and a music professor at the collegiate level there, and here in the region each summer at the Interlochen Clarinet Institute. 

“One of the biggest things Margaret got across to us was how much of a family we were. It was such a lovely thing to be in that space and really care for each other.” He adds that a deep understanding of “performance as a group effort” was a guiding light for him as a student at Florida State University (FSU), where he competed as part of the collegiate a capella group Reverb, an experience, he jokes, was “regrettably very close” to the 2012 hit movie Pitch Perfect. In all seriousness: Reverb became the 2013 International Championship of Collegiate A Capella (ICCA) South Region Champions and won best overall for choreography at the 2013 ICCA Finals. (Hear Carlson as part of FSU’s Reverb covering Capital Cities’ “Safe And Sound” here.) 

Juliana Lisuk, who grew up in Leelanau County and is now Volunteer Coordinator at Inland Seas Education Association, says her experience in the LCC/LYE choir “allowed me to connect with other like-minded peers from across the county. It taught me how to find community through music.”

She adds that the madrigal concert was a touchstone for many: “Singing ‘The Boar’s Head Carol’ was always a favorite. The space was transformed into a magical feast, and it marked the beginning of the winter season for me.”

The madrigal shows left a lasting impression on Suttons Bay’s Zane Schwaiger as well, “Many of the songs were classical pieces that have been around couple of hundred years, so there is a richness in that. The songs I learned 25 years ago have stayed with me. They LIVE in me.”

The magical scene each year is complete with Renaissance costumes and an elaborate table with “a taxidermy boar’s head we called Fluffy. Margaret is good at throwing some lighthearted songs and humor in with the sacred music. It’s a joyful atmosphere,” says Schwaiger.

It’s a touchstone for the greater community as well. “People tell me how the madrigal is their holiday tradition. I do not know them, and they do not have a singer in the concert. They just love the kids and the music,” says Bell.

Schwaiger, whose daughters ages 12 and 16 now sing in the choir, notes that the LCC/LYE creates a special choral sound: “Kids ages 8 through 18 — from Suttons Bay, Glen Lake, St. Mary, homeschool — often sing together, and that range of ages and voices in a choir is very unique.”

Bell adds, “People might be surprised that even the youngest in the choir memorize 20-plus songs for a concert and make costume changes all on their own.”

In her long tenure as choir director, Bell is known as nurturing and challenging at the same time. “We care for each other in and out of rehearsal and performance,” she says.

Schwaiger says of the lasting legacy of the LCC/LYE: “Margaret is a strong force. She is facing the choir when she’s directing, but I wish the audience could watch her. It is really great for those kids to sing under someone who is so present with the music and who is so passionate, and who has those expectations for them.”

Because of this, she notes, “Many of these kids build their musical resumes in the choir and there are many who went on to professional careers.” Just a handful: Gillian Weeks is now is a singer/performer in New York City; Chris Smith is locally known for his solo work (he plays solo this Friday, Oct. 1 at Rove Estate and Saturday, Oct. 2 at Two K Farms Cidery & Winery) and the Broom Closet Boys; Megan Popp is a singer and private vocal teacher; Hunter Bell and Lexi Schaub are both singer-songwriters.  

Says Bell, “I am proud of any and all of my students, including those that have stayed with music. The only credit I hope to take is that I instilled a love and passion for music that stays with them for forever.”

Pictured: Asher Carlson singing from the musical "Mary Poppins" at the 25th Anniversary Alumni Concert; the Leelanau Children’s Choir and Youth Ensemble spring cabaret and madrigal concerts.