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Mark Hickman (Director) |
Mark has loved choral music all his life, but also brings a breadth of experience and interest in his musical taste.
Mark was heavily involved in musical theater performance in his youth, having played lead roles in such musicals as Godspell, West Side Story, Kismet, and Jesus Christ Superstar.
Mark also performed opera and operetta works, including leading roles in Cosi Fan Tutte and The Magic Flute.
Throughout most of his life, though, the primary musical outlet and musical love has been choral music.
Mark met his wife Susan (also a Touch of Class member) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while they were both members of the Bach Chamber Choir. At the time, Mark was also singing in an Episcopal church choir, in a synagogue choir, in a nightclub act at a Playboy club in Lake Geneva WI, and in a children's musical show "The Ballad of the Brementown Musicians." (Mark was Cocky Locky). To say the least, music has been a part of their life and their relationship ever since.
After Mark and Susan were married, he went back to school for an engineering degree, and he has been working for Hewlett Packard ever since. As they raised their children, music often took a back seat, but never left their lives completely. With children raised and out of the house, music has again become a larger part of their lives, and both of them started singing with Touch of Class last fall.
While this will be Mark's "directorial debut" (since his days student teaching many years ago), Mark will be building upon an excellent foundation from his Music Education degree at University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, and his many years of singing in a variety of types of choral groups.
Mark's main goal in choral performance is to achieve a "unity of spirit," both within the singing group, and between the choir and the audiences. This coming together as one is a particularly special aspect of choral singing that has to be experienced to be understood. It is his hope that you get to experience this at least once in your life.
Mark met his wife Susan (also a Touch of Class member) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while they were both members of the Bach Chamber Choir. At the time, Mark was also singing in an Episcopal church choir, in a synagogue choir, in a nightclub act at a Playboy club in Lake Geneva WI, and in a children's musical show "The Ballad of the Brementown Musicians." (Mark was Cocky Locky). To say the least, music has been a part of their life and their relationship ever since.
After Mark and Susan were married, he went back to school for an engineering degree, and he has been working for Hewlett Packard ever since. As they raised their children, music often took a back seat, but never left their lives completely. With children raised and out of the house, music has again become a larger part of their lives, and both of them started singing with Touch of Class last fall.
While this will be Mark's "directorial debut" (since his days student teaching many years ago), Mark will be building upon an excellent foundation from his Music Education degree at University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, and his many years of singing in a variety of types of choral groups.
Mark's main goal in choral performance is to achieve a "unity of spirit," both within the singing group, and between the choir and the audiences. This coming together as one is a particularly special aspect of choral singing that has to be experienced to be understood. It is his hope that you get to experience this at least once in your life.