Beer Choir, with Mike Engelhardt

Speaking with conductor and composer, Mike Engelhardt about his unique project, Beer Choir! This is something that is expanding the choral world one microbrew at a time! Listen for information on how to start your own chapter for free. Support our sponsor for this episode: KI Concerts Listen   Bio Michael Engelhardt is a freelance choral music composer, conductor, and innovator. He frequently combines historical choral material with pop, contemporary, and electronic elements, creating a new sound that is compelling to academic and general audiences alike. His works have been featured at All-State Conferences in Texas, Minnesota, Kansas, Colorado, Virginia, and at multiple ACDA National and Regional Conferences. His compositions have been featured twice on the Carnegie Hall stage. Many of his pieces are published by Walton Music and Hinshaw Music, and he has several self-published works available at www.mikeemusic.com. As a clinician and guest conductor, Michael has conducted the West Virginia ACDA All-State Honors Chamber Choir and the Oklahoma All-State Vocal Jazz Chorus. He has had the great fortune to collaborate with major artists such as Ben Folds (from NBC’s The Sing Off), Abraham Laboriel (bass player for Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and others), Patti Austin (Grammy award-winning vocalist), Kerry Livgren (Kansas), the Kansas City Chorale (Grammy award-winning choral ensemble), Cantus (men’s ensemble), and Chapter 6 (jazz a cappella group). Michael is also the founder of Beer Choir LLC, an organization devoted to drinking great craft beer while singing loudly in public. The organization has chapters in major cities across the USA. In 2017, Beer Choir will host 3 events during the ACDA National Conference in Minneapolis. A native of Woodstock, Illinois, he holds degrees from Millikin University (Decatur, Illinois) and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.  Michael lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife and two children. Links www.mikeemusic.com www.beerchoir.com Beer Choir Facebook Page Mike’s Twitter Beer Choir Twitter Support the show on