Karen Hughes Beacom '95 is Chorus Master of Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra

December 16, 2017

Karen Hughes Beacom, a 1995 graduate of DePauw University, is the new chorus master of the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra of northern Michigan. She made her debut this week in performances of the "Messiah" at St. Francis Xavier Church in Petoskey.

"Beacom is the founder and artistic director of the Soo Opera in Sault Ste. Marie," notes the Petoskey News-Review. "She also is the director of music at Little Stone Church on Mackinac Island, artistic director of the Soo Theatre Project, director of the Lake Superior State University Chorus and an adjunct professor of music at Lake Superior State University. As a vocalist, soprano, Beacom also performs regularly with the Sault Symphony in Ontario ... Karen is the principal harpist for the Sault Symphony Orchestra, and has played with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, Marquette Symphony, Traverse Symphony Orchestra, Gaylord Chamber Symphony, Terre Haute Symphony and more."

Beacom, who was a music performance major at DePauw, went on to earn a master’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.