Former Eastview Choral Director Leads New Women's Choir in Lifelong Enjoyment of Singing

As choir director at , Judy Sagen always maintained a certain philosophy about teaching her students to sing.

“My goal was always to encourage the enjoyment of singing so that they would be able to do that life long,” she said.

Now, though Sagen is retired, she’s still encouraging a love of singing for the 110 women in the Minnesota Valley Women’s Chorale, a non-audition women-only choir in its inaugural season this fall. Its counterpart is the nine-year-old Minnesota Valley Men’s Chorale, under the direction of retired choir director Steve Boehlke.

The women’s group has many south-of-the-river members, but also women from across the metro, all of a range of ages and vocal experience; their first concerts are scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Apple Valley.

“It is a huge choir and we’re just having a ball,” Sagen said.

Not wanting to “retire-retire,” after leaving District 196 last school year, Sagen scouted within the community for members for a new choir, and contacted many families of the 13,000 students she taught in her 36 years in District 196 schools.

She found people like Catherine Besonen, an Eastview parent who had studied voice for most of her life. Eventually, her family took over much of her time.

“I thought it was time to give myself some enjoyment,” Besonen said. She said Sagen has been great at helping the choir learn and improve, while making the experience enjoyable.

“She works you hard with a huge smile on her face,” Besonen said. “She’s just so electric as a leader.”

Beth Pederson, whose children Sagen also taught at Eastview, said it’s great to be back singing after a 10-year hiatus. Rehearsals have been “very fun and very energizing,” she said.

What Sagen tells the group is that the real art of vocal music is being able to share emotions through the songs, rather than just singing the notes, Pederson said.

Feeling out the emotions in a song is especially possible in a single-gender ensemble, where there’s ample room for camaraderie to develop.

“You can just kind of talk about things and share things,” Pederson said.

This weekend’s concerts, held in conjunction with the men's chorale, will feature a cross-section of music genres, Sagen said, from classics and foreign language pieces to Broadway and folk sounds. The groups will end each concert with a combined-ensemble piece.

Sagen said the men’s and women’s chorales likely will continue to collaborate, but will also take advantage of the great music written for each gender to sing separately.

She also said she’d like to incorporate some type of service work into the women’s chorale’s future.

Regardless of the group makeup, Sagen said one idea will always ring true: “It’s for the enjoyment of music.” 

IF YOU GO:

What: Minnesota Valley Men’s and Women’s Chorales' fall concerts

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Where: Friday at , Saturday at

Price: $5 donation requested