Choir of the West has been selected to perform at the pretigious American Choral Directors Association 2005 National Convention in Los Angeles. The choir was chosen from a record number of applications from throughout the United States and around the world. Participation and performance at the February ACDA convention will follow the Choir of the West tour of Northern California.

The choir has performed with the Pacific Lutheran University Symphony Orchestra, the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, among others. Repertoire includes Bach’s Mass in B Minor and St. John Passion, Handel’s Dixit Dominus, Vaughan Williams’s Hodie, Poulenc’s Gloria, and Britten’s Cantata Misericordium and War Requiem. The choir also has produced numerous recordings, including Rachmaninoff’s Vespers, three Christmas CDs, a Scandinavian concert tour, and Richard Nance’s Credo, a part of his Mass for a New Millenium, along with works by Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Stanford, Jennefelt, and Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.

Kathryn Lehmann, conductor, is a PLU graduate who performed with Choir of the West as a student. As Director of Choral Activities at PLU, she has earned a reputation for developing the voice in a choral setting. Lehmann directs the University Men’s Chorus and Choir of the West, both selected to perform at the 2004 Washington Music Educators Conference, where Lehmann also was guest lecturer. Before coming to PLU, she was the Director of Vocal and Choral Activities at Oregon State University, where she was given the Stewart award in 1996 for faculty development and excellence. She is currently completing her doctorate in musical arts in choral conducting through the University of Colorado, Boulder.