Vocal Vibes
Wednesday's at 2:00 pm
Hosted by Dr. Deborah Chandler

Vocal Vibes is Northeast Louisiana's most eclectic mix of opera, chord, vocal, Broadway, musical theater and folk music.

Deborah Chandler is Director of Choral Activities at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, is conductor and musical director of the Monroe Symphony Chorus, is Minister of Music at Northminster Church in Monroe, and hosts a weekly radio show, Vocal Vibes, on KEDM.

Dr. Chandler also serves as chairperson for the Louisiana American Choral Directors Repertoire and Standards Committee for Colleges and Universities. She was founding conductor of the Louisiana Lyric Opera and will serve as musical director for two upcoming shows at Strauss Theater in Monroe.

In the summer of 2008, she will teach at Florida State University as a visiting lecturer.

For over eighteen years, she served as a Director of Music in the Presbyterian Church (USA) denomination. She also taught music history and chorus at the Tallahassee Community College. At Florida State, Dr. Chandler studied with Dr. Andre Thomas, Rodney Eichenburger, Dr. Judy Bowers, and Dr. Kevin Fenton. She is conductor emeritus of the Tallahassee Civic Chorale and a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Music Educators National Conference, Pi Kappa Lambda, Alpha Chi Honor Society and an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma. In 1984, Dr. Chandler was selected as an Outstanding Young Woman of America. She received the Guardian Ad Litem Exemplary Service Award in 1993 and the Corinne Holleman Gridley Achievement Award in 1996. A music scholarship was established anonymously in her name at the Florida State University in 1994. In June 2003, she was chosen as one of ten conductors selected internationally to study with German conductor, Helmuth Rilling, at the Oregon Bach Festival. She was also selected in 2004 to conduct with Maestro Rilling at the first Toronto Bach Festival at the University of Toronto. In 2008, Dr. Chandler was nominated for the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council’s Artist of the Year and she stays active as a regional clinician and adjudicator.