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Carillon Women's Chorale
Carillon Women's Chorale was formed in 2001 by Karen Nevins for adult women from all walks of life. In 2016, Carillon Women's Chorale acquired their 501(c)3 non-profit status, making all gifts and donations fully tax deductible as allowed by law. Repeatedly, adults say that their choir experiences in high school and college were some of their most memorable moments of youth. It was that same haunting memory that motivated Karen Nevins to pursue choral music after raising her family of three children. Having retired from teaching choral music in public schools for 20 years, teaching private voice since 1984 and five years at Adrian College, Karen cultivates choral excellence in literature selections and the performances of Carillon Women's Chorale.
Membership in Carillon assures its singers the continued joy of singing and a cultural break from their daily routine of life. A choral colleague once said, "Unlike a painting, music is instantaneous. It lasts for only a moment and it's gone." Each magical musical moment allows us the opportunity to remove ourselves from the stresses of daily life, refreshing the soul, renewing the spirit, and creating better balance in our lives. As founder of Carillon, Karen holds dear many memorable musical moments with Carillon Women's Chorale and with her Lincoln High School choirs. The enthusiasm and expertise of Carillon Women provides renewed affirmation that music is essential to Carillon. As ACDA-MI Repertoire and Standards Chair for Women's Choirs (1999-2001), Nevins is well aware of the wealth of wonderful literature available to women's choirs. Early church literature was not written for womens' voices, Karen has explored the music of the baroque Ospedali Composers (i.e., Vivaldi, Hasse, Porpora, etc) who recognized women's voices as articulate instruments of virtuosity. These composers challenged the young Venetian girls with glorious works for advanced women's choirs. While Carillon performs a wide variety of literature in their seasonal performances, her goal is for Carillon Women's Chorale to awaken a new sense of community appreciation for the variety of ethereal and wondrous literature composed specifically for women's choirs.