CCM alumnus Alex Gartner.
CCM alumnus Alex Gartner (BM Music Education, 2012) has been named the new Artistic Director of the Pensacola Children’s Chorus (PCC) in Pensacola, Florida.
Gartner will take over for Allen and Susan Pote, who founded the organization in 1990 in conjunction with the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra.
Gartner’s new appointment ends a long and fruitful partnership with both CCM and the Cincinnati Children’s Choir (CCC), which began in 2000 when he joined CCC as a young choir member and performed with them in their international choral festival, “Worldsong.” Later, during his undergraduate studies, he rejoined the CCC; starting as an accompanist and student intern, he later rose to become the Richard Wesp Assistant Conductor, a position he held until his recent hiring by the PCC.
“Alex has special gifts that uniquely meet the needs of the Pensacola Children’s Chorus,” said CCC Founder, Managing Artistic Director and Conductor Robyn Lana. “He has grown tremendously throughout his years with CCC. It is with great pride, as his mentor, to see him become Artistic Director of his own program. A bright future is in store for Alex and for the Pensacola Children’s Chorus.”
In addition to his work with the CCC, Gartner has been very active in the local music scene. As a choral director, he has served as the director of traditional music and worship at Epiphany United Methodist Church in Loveland, Ohio. He has also served as music director for numerous local theatre productions and founded the Commonwealth Artists Summer Theatre, a summer theatre program based in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, that serves high school students in the Cincinnati metro area.
The Pensacola Children’s Chorus.
This theatre experience and his CCC experience will be merged in his new job in Pensacola. With over 300 students spread throughout seven different youth choirs, the PCC combines traditional children’s choir pedagogy and repertoire with the showmanship of musical theatre. The organization continues to collaborate regularly with the Pensacola Symphony and also works often with the Pensacola Opera and the University of West Florida.
For more information, please visit www.cincinnatichoir.org.
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Story by CCM alumnus Kevin Norton (DMA Saxophone, 2015)
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