The Chattanooga Girls Choir will have a new face behind the podium for the 2004-2005 season. After four years with the Chattanooga Girls Choir, Artistic Director John Wigal is stepping down in order to concentrate on his full-time position at Church of the Good Shepherd on Lookout Mountain.

Lee University School of Music assistant professor LuAnn Holden has been selected to fill the position of artistic director and will begin working with the choir this summer. Mrs. Holden was selected from a pool of exceptionally qualified applicants from the Chattanooga area.

“Mrs. Holden impressed the interviewing committee with her years of experience as a choral music educator of children,” says John Dyer, Chattanooga Girls Choir founder and corporate board member. “We are looking forward to the new ideas LuAnn will bring with her to the choir and we anticipate a great 2004-2005 season!”

Mrs. Holden earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree with vocal emphasis from Wesleyan College and a Masters of Music degree in choral music education from Georgia State University. She has been a member of the Atlanta Symphony Chorus, which was conducted by the legendary Robert Shaw.

Mrs. Holden commented on her alma mater, “I attended undergraduate school at a college for women, so I have personally experienced the performance of standard repertoire that is suitable for the Chattanooga Girls Choir. The timbre and tone quality of well-trained treble voices are beautiful!”

Mrs. Holden has been a faculty member of the Lee University School of Music for eight years where her teaching responsibilities include music education methods classes and the supervision of music education majors during their student teaching experience. For the past two years Mrs. Holden has served as conductor of the Lee University Chorale and has directed the Lee University Children’s Chorale for the past seven years.

Prior to her position at Lee University, Mrs. Holden taught music in the public schools of Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee where her choirs consistently received superior ratings at choral festivals. She received the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts “Outstanding Teacher Award” and in 2002 received the “Who’s Who Among American Teachers” Award. Mrs. Holden has had several choral music reviews published in the American Choral Journal and is also an active choral clinician and adjudicator.

“I believe that my college choral experience, my career in public school music education as a choral director and my responsibilities as conductor of the Lee University Chorale and Children’s Chorale have prepared me well for the position of Artistic Director for the Chattanooga Girls Choir. I look forward to formally beginning my responsibilities with the CGC organization on August 1st,” says Mrs. Holden.

The Chattanooga Girls Choir is non-profit organization founded in 1987. The mission of the choir is to offer talented young ladies the opportunity to develop musicianship, vocal technique and performance skills. The choir is composed of over 120 girls from grades four through twelve. For more information about the Chattanooga Girls Choir or to schedule an audition, please call (423) 266-9422.