Cardinal Singers welcome a new director

     This 2014-2015 school year, the Cardinal Singers are welcoming a new director with open arms and open voices. Wendy Mahr, accompanied by last year's director, Patti Chasek, has taken over the responsibility of controlling the flow of both music and Chadron High students.

     Mrs. Alcorn at the elementary school was the one to inform Mahr of the open position. Mahr was speaking with Mrs. Alcorn about working at the school when the principal brought up the role. "I was in a choir group in high school, and I thought that it would be fun."

     Mahr plans to introduce more jazz music to the Cardinal Singers, stating that she "likes the music, and thinks it would be good for [Cardinal Singers] to learn." She hopes that she will be able to take the show choir to the Jazz Festival again because she thinks that it is a really unique and fun opportunity for high school students. 

     Mahr works with a number of different choirs, volunteering at the middle school during the school year and working with adults during the summer. "I don't prefer working with one group over another," she smiles as she continues. "You can definitely be more sarcastic with high schoolers than with middle schoolers, because they're more young adults than teenagers."

     Mahr graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley with a psychology major. Originally, she planned on leaving with a music education degree, but knew the challenges of actually becoming a music teacher. "You know, it's really hard to get a music job at schools, because most of the positions are already filled."