Megan Higle

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Megan Higle’s passion for teaching children and youth music began in 1999. Megan earned a Bachelor degree in Vocal Performance summa cum laude from Marygrove College (Detroit) and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Oakland University (Rochester, MI). She is presently serving First Presbyterian Church of Lansing as their Director of Music, teaches K-8 General Music at Montessori Children's House of Lansing, is the Music Director of the Dewitt Community Singers, and is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Lansing Children’s Choir.

 

Since moving to Lansing in 2014, Megan has worked to bring choral music to her community. The Chancel Choir at First Presbyterian has hosted a Spring Concert yearly, works include; Requiem (Gabriel Fauré), Rejoice in the Lamb (Benjamin Britten), Mass in G (Franz Schubert), A Little Jazz Mass (Bob Chilcott), St. Nicholai Mass (Joseph Haydn). and  Songs for the Journey (Kevin Siegfried). The Chancel Choir also provides special music during December, recent works include Christmas Cantata  (Daniel Pinkham), Winter Rose (Joseph Martin), The Seven Joys of Christmas (Kirke Mechem), Christus Natus Est (Cecelia McDowall) and Christmas Day (Gustav Holst).  In July 2016, Megan programmed the historic Ballad for America (Earl Robinson) cantata which included singers, poets and speakers from the community and area churches. The chancel choir participated in the Midwest Hunger Project through Michigan State University, where the choir premiered a choral work at a performance at Wharton Center (Michigan State University).  Megan was the director of the Mass Choir of two premiere works for this project as well.  In March 2019, the Chancel Choir performed at the Refugee Benefit Fundraiser (East Lansing, Michigan) where over $11,000 was raised.

 

As Director of the DeWitt Community Singers (DeWitt, Michigan), Megan has worked to program accessible, challenging and engaging pieces for the singers and the audience. In March 2019, the choir participated in, and helped organize, a Community Choir Festival. The choir, in October 2019, performed Mass of the Children (John Rutter) to present to the community along with the DeWitt Middle School Choirs. In October 2022 performed Canticles of Light (Bob Chilcott) with orchestra and the DeWitt Middle School Treble Singers. The choir is currently in preparation for their first ever choral tour of Europe (Italy) in April 2024.

 

The Lansing Children’s Choir strives to bring music to any child in the Lansing area. To this end, the choir presents two or three concerts yearly and engages in a variety of events throughout the local area. The Choir has performed the National Anthem for: the Harlem Globetrotters (Breslin Center, Michigan State University – 2018, 2019), Lansing Lugnuts (Lansing, Michigan – 2017-2023), Inauguration of Mayor Andy Schor (Lansing, Michigan – 2018). The Choir sang for the Midwest Hunger Project at Michigan State University, the DeWitt Community Choir Festival, Refugee Services Benefit Fundraiser and the United Nations Michigan Chapter Annual Meeting. 

 

Megan is an active vocal coach and piano teacher in Lansing and East Lansing. Her kind and generous nature allows students to learn, appreciate and experience music in a nurturing setting, cultivating a love of music that will carry them throughout their lives. 

 

She has served as Music Director for Project DayDream (Birmingham, Michigan): shows included Seussical the Musical, Wizard of Oz, Beauty and the Beast. Rent, Willy Wonka Jr., Little Mermaid Jr., Annie, Cinderella and Lès Miserable. She was Adjunct Faculty at Marygrove College (Detroit, Michigan) where she taught courses in Ear Training, Music Technology, World Music and Music Appreciation. She also served as instructor for the Institute of Music and Dance while at Marygrove teaching voice class, vocal coaching and piano to school age youth in the city of Detroit.

 

Megan has served as the Assistant Conductor of the Oakland Chorale, Oakland University Chorus and Oakland Symphony Chorus (Rochester, Michigan) under the direction of Dr. Michael A. Mitchell and served as Special Lecturer for the Oakland University Chorus while Dr. Mitchell was on sabbatical. She worked under Suzanne Mallare Acton (Rackham Symphony Choir, Royal Oak, Michigan) as her conducting intern for two years. 

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In 2020, Megan was appointed to the Mayor's Commission for Art and Culture for the City of Lansing. She also gave a "choral ted talk" to teachers gathered for the annual summer MSVMA (Michigan School Vocal Music Association) in July 2020.

 

Megan brings positive energy and love of choral music to all facets of her work enabling her to be an active choral clinician and adjudicator for middle school and high school choirs throughout the state. She is an adjudicator for the Sutton Foster Ovation Awards and is an active member of The American Choral Directors Association serving as the Repertory and Resources Chair for Children and Community Youth Choirs for Michigan. She is also a member of The Michigan School Vocal Music Association, Chorus America and Music Teachers National Association.