Michelle Trunk, Collaborative Pianist, East Central Minnesota Chorale

Charles Moe, Artistic Director, East Central Minnesota Chorale

A native of East Central Minnesota, Charles Moe has been the conductor of the East Central Minnesota Chorale since 2017. He is also the Vocal Music Instructor at Princeton High School where he conducts the curricular and extra curricular choirs, teaches Intro to Guitar, and teaches individual voice. He is also an assistant director for Princeton High School’s annual fall musical, as well as the artistic director for PHS’s biennial Madrigal Dinner. Prior to his position at Princeton he served on the staffs of Hutchinson High School (MN) and Underwood Middle and High Schools (IA), as well as the staffs of churches in Iowa and Minnesota. Groups under his direction have performed at the MN state music educators conference in 2016 and 2019. He is active as a clinician, guest conductor, composer, and arranger. Charles holds degrees and certifications from Luther College and Bemidji State University. He resides in Princeton with his wife, Abby.

Board of Directors

Michele Skeim, President

Randy Hatch, Vice President / Equipment Manager

Lowell Becker, Treasurer

Jean Pauly, Secretary

Jessica Janorschke

Anne Mundt

Kari Vaughn

Pam Wilhelm

Personnel:

Jean Knight, Business Manager

Steve Tou, Bookkeeper

Our History

Michelle joined the chorale in the fall of 2024. She has been involved with music most of her life. Michelle began piano lessons at a young age and began accompanying choirs at her home church of Immanuel Lutheran in Princeton during her middle school and high school years. She attended Golden Valley Lutheran College and Concordia College St. Paul, where she accompanied the choirs and soloists and got involved accompanying the theater department during their musical rehearsals and performances. Once Michelle graduated from college, she landed her first church organist position at Trinity Lutheran in Princeton, playing for many church services, funerals, weddings, soloists, and the choir. Michelle moved to North Branch where she was an educator in the North Branch Area Public Schools. She quickly became involved with the choir and children’s music at Trinity Lutheran church in North Branch and began accompanying the Middle School choir in North Branch. Currently, Michelle has found herself as Director of Traditional Worship/organist at Cambridge Lutheran Church in Cambridge and has been there since 2016. She also has the privilege of being the accompanist for the Cambridge High School choirs, Isanti Middle School choirs, and the Prime Times Singers. She also loves playing in the pit band for Play Inc performances. Any down time that Michelle finds she is reading, quilting, spending time with her two daughters, and traveling and camping with her husband, Ron.

The East Central Minnesota Chorale (ECMC) is a civic choir representing the five county area of East Central Minnesota. The ensemble was founded and led by David Clarke, former director of choirs at Cambridge High School, in 1981. The Chorale has been privileged to have many accomplished directors over the years, Dr. Dennis Port (Bethel University Choir, retired), Dr. Mark Potvin (Luther College), Joseph Osowski (St. Michael-Albertville HS), and most recently, Charles Moe (Princeton HS). In 2010 the Chorale expanded to include Unum Vox, a high school honors choir from the five county area high schools. UV was founded and led by Dr. Mark Potvin and has had only two directors since its inception, Mark and Tonya Barnes. ECMC has performed in a variety of locations across East Central Minnesota, the Twin Cities, and other locations across the state. The Chorale has been selected twice to perform at the Minnesota State Convention of the American Choral Directors Association. A conscious effort is made to include music from a variety of eras, cultures, and genres. The Scholarship Concert raises money to present scholarships to graduating high school seniors who plan to continue singing at the college level.

Unum Vox

In spring of 2010, ECMC applied for and received one of the inaugural Arts and Cultural Heritage ("Legacy") grants to form Unum Vox, a regional honor choir for students in schools that service Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, and Pine counties. Unum Vox (translated as "one Voice" and pronounced "oonoom vocks") is an elite choir designed to enrich the typical high school choir experience by allowing students from various schools to excel in a common pursuit of quality singing. The hope of the East Central Minnesota Chorale is to solicit the participation of serious 10-12 grade choral students from area schools to sing in an ensemble whose artistic capabilities cater to their desire to perform at the highest level possible. Unum Vox engages singers in conversations about choral literature, teaches healthy singing, and introduces students to music from a diverse set of world cultures. Student singers take the skills and experiences from weekly rehearsals home to share with their peers in the hopes of enhancing their leadership in their high school ensembles.