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Laura Lane

Emeritas Professor of Music

Meet Professor Lane

Laura Lane

Years at Knox: 1983 to 2023

"I am constantly researching new repertoire for the choir I direct—Nova Singers. I regularly commission new works and arrange for the composers to come, work with the choir, and attend the premiere. I am currently studying the choral music of Estonia and of Central and South America. My long-time love of contemporary American music continues to be a priority for me and I am particularly interested in discovering young women composers."

Education

D.M.A., Choral Conducting, 1989, University of Iowa.
M.M., Choral Conducting, 1981, Westminster Choir College.
B.A., Music and French, summa cum laude, 1979, Washington University.

Teaching Interests

Choral conducting, opera, music history, renaissance and baroque, private voice lessons.

Selected Professional Accomplishments

Honors/Grants

  • Harold Decker Award, Illinois ACDA, 2018
  • National Endowment for the Arts, for Nova Singers/Monroe Crossing concerts, workshop, and community outreach, 2016-2017. 
  • Three Exceptional Achievement Awards for her work with choirs, awarded by the Knox College Personnel Committee, 2000, 2007, 2016.
  • Knox Faculty Research / Creative Work Grant: World Choral Symposium: South Korea, 2014.
  • Headliner Clinician, Wisconsin ACDA, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2013.
  • Judge, Illinois Arts Council Panel for Music Grants, 2013.
  • Philip Green Wright Prize for Distinguished Teaching, 2006.
  • Knox College Choir selected to perform at Carnegie Hall, New York City, 2005.

Conducting

Nova Singers: A World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass, Galesburg, IL and Davenport, IA , February 13 - 14, 2016.

Nova Singers: Voices of the Prairie, Galesburg, IL and Davenport, IA , April 2016 (collaboration with The Midwest Paint Group, the Figge Art Museum and composer Abbie Betinis).

Nova Singers: Peace, Galesburg, IL and Davenport, IA , October 8 - 9, 2016.

Nova Singers: A Nova Christmas, Galesburg, IL and Davenport, IA , December 16 - 17, 2016.

Nova Singers: Dancing the Mystery, Galesburg, IL and Davenport, IA , February 18 - 19, 2017.

Nova Singers: A Capella Masterworks, Galesburg, IL and Davenport, IA , April 22 - 23, 2017.

Knox College Choir, Galesburg Community Chorus, Monmouth Chorale, plus orchestra: Brahms Requiem, Galesburg, IL, May 13, 2017.

Guest conductor, with Manhattan Concert Productions; conducted the Haydn Lord Nelson Mass with festival chorus and orchestra, March 22, 2013.

Conductor, Galesburg Community Chorus, Knox College Choir and members of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony, Brahms Requiem, Orpheum Theatre, May 16, 2009.

Conductor, J.S. Bach, Mass in B Minor, Galesburg and Moline, 2009.

Conductor, Nova Singers in featured performance, Iowa State ACDA, Mason City, Iowa, July 21, 2008.

Conductor, IMEA District VII Festival, Senior High Choir, November 17, 2007, Crystal Lake, Illinois.

Guest conductor, Wisconsin ACDA Collegiate Honor Choir; Conductor, Wisconsin Choral Directors' Association Collegiate Honor Choir, January 2006.

Guest conductor, New England Symphonic Ensemble and combined choirs with MidAmerica Productions at Carnegie Hall, New York City, March 2005.

Conductor, Senior High Chorus, Illinois Music Educators Association District II Convention, Rock Island, Illinois, 2002.

Conductor, Nova Singers, American Choral Directors Association Central Division Convention, Chicago, Illinois, 2002.

Conductor, All-State Chorus, Illinois Music Educators Association Annual Meeting, 2001.

Presentations

Clinician, SLUH Choral Clinic, St. Louis University High, 2010.

Clincian with Knox College Choir as "Demonstration Choir," Illinois Music Educators Association, 2010.

Clinician, IMEA State Convention, January 30, 2010, "The Art of Singing in Tune" Peoria, Illinois.

Clinician, Christ Church of Oak Brook Choral Festival, October 16-19, 2009, Oak Brook, Illinois.

Clinician, Iowa ACDA Convention, July 22, 2008, "Text, The Key to Expressive Singing" Mason City, Iowa.

Clinician, Wisconsin Choral Directors’ Association Collegiate Honor Choir, January 12-13, 2006, Appleton, Wisconsin.

Recordings

Knox College Choir, France Tour 2017. 

"Mystery and Light," Nova Singers, 2011.

Knox College Choir, Tour 2008.

"Steal Away," Nova Singers, 2007.

"Mid-Winter," Nova Singers, 2007.

Knox College Choir, Tour 2006.

Knox College Choir, Tour 2005.

"There is No Rose," Nova Singers, 2004.

Knox College Choir, Tour 2003.

Knox College Choir, Fauré "Requiem" and Tour 2002.

"What Sweeter Music," Nova Singers, 2001.

"Constellation: A Nova Collection," Nova Singers, 2000.

Knox College Choir, European Tour 1999.

Campus & Community Involvement

  • Conductor, Nova Singers, Galesburg, Illinois; Moline, Illinois; Bishop Hill, Illinois.
  • Conductor, Galesburg Community Chorus, Knox College Choir and members of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony, Brahms Requiem, Orpheum Theater, May 16, 2009.
  • Repertoire and Standards Chair for College and University Choirs for the Illinois ACDA
  • "Text: The Key to Expression," taught at Wisconsin ACDA.
  • Clinician, Illinois Music Educators Association annual meeting.
  • President, Illinois Choral Directors Association.

what students say

  • Laura is passionate about her work and strives to cultivate that passion in her students. She is dedicated to expanding the repertoire of her choirs. This provides each singer with the opportunity to sing three or more different languages and a wide range of musical styles in one concert. Laura is more to her students than just a professor or a conductor; she is a friend.

    Ashley Palar

    Anthropology & Sociology Major