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Our Chorus

Our Chorus

André Strydom

Chorus Master
Read Bio
SOPRANO

Bobbie Barger
Brenda Butts
Maureen Delaney-Lehman
Julie Falls
Carol Figura
Meg Hargreaves
Dianna Heinzelman
Eleanor Hill
Perry Hodgson
Julie Pierpont
Jamie Platte
Charlotte Rakich
Dibby Smith
Cheryl Staats
Pat Stevens
Sue Stewart
Alicia Webster
Amanda Wilkin

Alto

Jean Fought
Meg Ideker
Ann Irish
Millie Janka
Ruth Music
Julie O’Brien
Mary Anne Smigulec
Jan Stewart
Sharon Zimmerman

Tenor

Adrian Boyer
John Hickerson
Brian Horning
Jamie MacKenzie
Chris Olson
Bob Pattengale
Richard Scott
John Young

BASS

Barrie Bates
Rick Breitenbecher
Jim Graves
Bill Henry
Mark Heydlauff
Jeff Kozisek
Frank Nemecek
Steve Spencer
Gary Stewart
Ken Stewart

Born in South Africa, André Strydom began piano, organ, composition, and vocal studies while still in high school. In 1982, he founded the Johannesburg Chamber Choir and Orchestra which he conducted for the next ten years. During this time he was on the medical staff of the Johannesburg General Hospital’s Department of Cardiology, eventually leaving medicine to pursue a career in music. He received his Licentiate Diploma (LTCL) in Piano Teaching from Trinity College of Music (UK).

In 1992 André arrived in the United States to study orchestral conducting under Prof. Gerhard Samuel at the Univ. of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. In 1998 he was selected to participate in the 1998 Karelia International Conducting Master Class in St. Petersburg and Petrozavodsk, Russia. He returned to Russia the next three summers to continue conducting studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with the renowned Prof. Ilya Alexandrovich Musin.

In addition to orchestral conducting, André has held church music appointments in Ohio, Arkansas, and Michigan. In 2018 he was appointed Organist and Director of Music Ministries at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Petoskey. He has also been Principal Pianist with a number of orchestras and was Adjunct Professor of Music (Piano) at the Univ. of Arkansas, Pine Bluff from 2007 to 2013.

Principal piano teachers include Sofia Moshevich and Laetitia van Onselen, and principal organ teachers include Nicholas Head, Charlotte van der Merwe, and Dr. David Mulbury.

In 2020 he became Chorusmaster for the GLCO, preparing the Chorus for annual
performances of Messiah, and past performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Gwyneth Walker’s Great Lakes Cantata, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Morton Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna. In 2022 André was appointed Music Director of the Little Traverse Choral Society, a position he continues to hold.

Sierra Watson

Bassoon

Sierra Watson is pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts in Bassoon Performance at Michigan State University under the instruction of Michael Kroth. Currently based in East Lansing, Michigan; she frequently appears with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, and will serve as Second Bassoon of the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra beginning July 2026. In addition to performing, Sierra also maintains a private bassoon studio of middle and high school students from mid-Michigan and is the coach of the Spartan Youth Wind Symphony bassoon section. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Bassoon Performance from Ball State University in 2021 and her Master of Music in Bassoon Performance from Michigan State University in 2023. While at Ball State, she was the winner of the 2019-2020 Undergraduate Concerto Competition. During her time at Michigan State, she has been a member of the Symphony Orchestra, Wind Symphony, Chamber Winds, and the Goat Rodeo Reed Quintet. Her primary teachers include Michael Kroth, Keith Sweger, and Bill Jobert. When she is not playing bassoon or making reeds, you can find her spending lots of quality time with her pet rabbit Stevie.

VERN CAMPBELL

Co-Principal Trumpet

Vern is Co-Principal Trumpet in the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra (GLCO).  Vern studied trumpet with Dr. Dennis Horton, trumpet professor at Central Michigan University while in high school and later as a university student.  Before obtaining his doctorate degree at Michigan State University and completing a medical residency in ophthalmology, Vern performed two years with the Blue Water International Symphony.  Vern relocated to Petoskey in 2000 and continued his trumpet studies with Scott Thornburg, professor of trumpet at Western Michigan University. He joined the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra in 2012 and eagerly anticipates each performance. He especially enjoys playing with the orchestra’s brass quintet. Vern enjoys visiting his wife’s family and friends in Shanghai and traveling throughout China. He is an avid cyclist and skier.

Eric Lawson

Assistant Concertmaster

Violinist, violist, conductor and professor Dr. Eric Lawson has had a varied career in performance and education. Past performances as a conductor, soloist and lecturer have taken him to Austria, Brazil, China, Germany, Romania and Scandinavia. Before returning to his home state of Michigan, he was based in North Dakota where, in addition to serving as a violin instructor at Bismarck State College, Jamestown College, and the University of Mary, he was also concertmaster of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra and established the Bismarck-Mandan Youth Symphony. Other former academic appointments have included Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Central College in Pella, Iowa and the University of North Dakota where he founded the string program and the UND Chamber Orchestra.

Here in Michigan, Dr. Lawson as been very active with the Alpena Symphony Orchestra as its concertmaster, conductor and president of the board. He also performs with many other orchestras in Northern Michigan and participates in the Traverse Symphony as a first violinist, in the Gaylord Symphony as concertmaster and as assistant concertmaster in the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra.

And finally, in what has been one of the most important experiences of his life outside of music, he also served almost four years as an Alpena County Commissioner, representing Ossineke and Sanborn Townships. In addition to serving as chair of the Salary and Personnel Committee, he also served on the Airport, Ambulance, District Court, Circuit Court Management and Jail Committees. He also represented Alpena County in Gaylord with the Northern Michigan Regional Entity Substance Use Disorder Board and continues to serve on the Northeast Michigan Community Mental Health Board. Dr. Lawson resides in Ossineke with his wife and two children.