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2026 ACDA Midwestern Region Conference February 25-28, 2026 Milwaukee, Wisconsin

P er f orming C hoirs
Performing Choirs

North Scott High School Stare at the Sun
Singers

Stare at the Sun was founded in 2018, with an in-
augural series of concerts presented in January 2019.
North Scott Singers is the flagship ensemble at North The ensemble originally comprised graduates from
Scott High School and have consistently received high Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music who
marks at state contests. Singers are consistently accept- sang under Donald Nally and were highly influenced
ed into the all-state program. The choir has performed by his work with the Crossing and Northwestern’s elite
in Chicago, New York City, Toronto, and the Kansas chamber choir, the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal
City Renaissance Festival. The ensemble has premiered Ensemble. Since the organization’s founding, the ensem-
three commissioned pieces by Moira Smiley, Connor ble has become much more varied and now consists of
Koppin, Paul Langford, and Julie Thomas. All North professional singers who are active throughout the Chi-
Scott Singers follow a solfège/takadimi curriculum and cagoland area. We are currently finishing up our fourth
receive voice instruction, culminating the year by per- full concert season, which consisted of three full concert
forming a solo. cycles, a Call for Scores, and a composer workshop with
an educational outreach component.
Lori Potts is the head choral director at
North Scott High School in Eldridge, A.J. Keller serves as associate director of
Iowa. She is in her thirty-first year of choral organizations at Northwestern Uni-
teaching at North Scott, where she leads versity. He recently conducted the world
three curricular choirs and two jazz choirs premiere of a commissioned work for
with over 180 participants. North Scott Choirs have Chicago’s Ear Taxi Festival. He has served
consistently received high marks at state contests. In as a chorus master with Chicago Opera Theater, cho-
2017, the North Scott Choir made their mark on the rus mastering premiere performances of works by Jake
all-state scene with nineteen students accepted and av- Heggie, Justine Chen, and Errollyn Wallen. He served
eraging fifteen to twenty-five ever since. The program as assistant chorus master for the world premiere of Da-
was featured on KWQC TV covering the success of the vid Lang’s prisoner of the state with the New York Philhar-
program. She credits years of adaptability, determina- monic in 2019. He is also internationally active, serving
tion, creative education, Paul Skyles at the junior high, as guest conductor in an artistic collaboration with the
and husband, Bruce, as being her keys to leaving a leg- Danish contemporary-music chamber choir Ensemble
acy of building the high school program from “nothing Edge, involving performances of Lang’s the little match girl
to something.” passion at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus.

56 CHORAL JOURNAL January 2026 Volume 66 Number 5