Lakeland College

Janet L. Herrick

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Position: Associate Professor of Music; Director of Choirs and Handbells

First year at Lakeland: 1993

Courses taught: Concert Choir; Frauchenchor; Lakeland Singers; Applied Voice; Handbells; Advanced Choral Conducting; Choral Writing and Arranging; Vocal Pedagogy and Literature; Secondary Choral Methods

Biography:

Janet L. Herrick, Associate Professor of Music and Director of the College Choirs and Handbells at Lakeland College, is a graduate of Pennsylvania's Mansfield University (B.S. Music Education) and Texas Christian University (Master of Music in Voice Performance/Pedagogy) where she was elected to Pi Kappa Lambda, music's most prestigious honor society. Prof. Herrick also holds a Masters Equivalency in music education from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. She taught choral and classroom music for over two decades in the Williamsport Area School District (Pa.) - MENC's first Exemplary Music Program Award recipient. She came to Lakeland from Fort Worth, Texas where she served as Assistant Choirmaster at University Christian Church and was director of the Texas Christian University Vocal Jazz Ensemble. She was later named interim Director of Choral Activities at TCU.

Professor Herrick has conducted at numerous MENC and ACDA conferences in the Northeast and Texas and conducted the Lakeland College Concert Choir's performances at the Wisconsin Choral Director's Association conferences in 1996 and 1999. She is a frequent guest conductor and clinician for scholastic and civic choruses and has prepared choruses for symphonies in Texas, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. On numerous occasions she has guest conducted the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra. Prof. Herrick has performed in choruses or master classes conducted by Robert Shaw, Richard Miller, Eduardo Mata, Helen Boatwright, John Giordano, Robert Harris, Ronald Shirey, and many others.

In 1991 she was named to Mansfield University's Music Alumni Honor Roll and was honored as Mansfield's Distinguished Educator of 1994. Ms. Herrick is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Music Educator's National Conference and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. She is the founding conductor of the 120 voice Sheboygan Symphony Chorus and the 20 voice Sheboygan Symphony Singers and performs as section double bassist with the Sheboygan Symphony.

At Lakeland she founded the Lakeland College Frauenchor, a powerful large ensemble for women.  She directs the Lakeland College Concert Choir, a mixed voice touring choir of no more than 36 students.  Eleven fellowships are awarded to students who make up the popular Lakeland Singers.  The "Singers" perform contemporary Christian music along with some vocal jazz and show tunes.  The Lakeland College Schilcutt Handbell Ensemble is relatively new group at the College.  Students in the handbell ensemble perform a wide variety of music, including many rock-handbell arrangements written by Prof. Herrick.

Prof. Herrick has an extenseve background in musical theatre - both on stage and off.  The music department collaborates with the theatre department for the production of a large scale musical each spring.