Dr. Alicia Canterbury Vorel leads St. Louis Children's Choirs Chorale 2E program in Edwardsville, where she is an Assistant Professor in Music Education at Southern Illinois University. A Georgia native, Dr. Canterbury is an experienced public school educator focusing primarily in elementary general music and children’s choirs teaching grades K-8. She is a respected speaker on music education and is Orff Level 1 and 2 certified.
A little more than a year ago, she and Dr. Moore had conversations about making music with children throughout the region by expanding the Choirs' presence into Illinois. Dr. Vorel started her first session in August 2024 and is looking forward to adding new classes with different grade levels next year.
"It has been a fulfilling experience and has allowed our preservice teachers at SIUE to engage in real-world teaching situations and experiences to learn," says Dr. Vorel.
It has to be the students. It's been amazing to observe how much our singers have grown musically since August. For example, our ensemble sightread a brand-new piece with little guidance from me or Charlie, our accompanist.
I love their willingness to try—they take risks musically and are not afraid of being wrong. They are unbelievably patient and kind to each other and love a good laugh during rehearsal!
I am very excited about opening new ensemble levels in Edwardsville so that we can help more children experience high-quality music education. In addition, Chorale will be participating in a choir exchange with two ensembles from other locations in the United States in May. It will be a lot of fun!
