Mary Hopper pic
Mary Hopper, Professor of Choral Music and Director of Performance Studies at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music conducts the Wheaton College Men’s Glee Club and the Women’s Chorale and is a frequent conductor for the Wheaton Opera production. Both of her choirs have appeared on ACDA conferences. The Women’s Chorale has been invited to sing at two National Conferences (Salt Lake City and New York City) and four Central Division Conferences including a 2012 appearance in Fort Wayne. The Men’s Glee Club appeared on the 2014 IMEA conference under Dr. Hopper’s leadership. She has toured both nationally and internationally with both choirs.
Dr. Hopper is currently National President of the American Choral Directors Association and was conference chair for the ACDA 2015 National Conference in Salt Lake City. She has served ACDA on the state and division levels since 1983 when she was a member of the planning committee for the Central Division convention. Since then she has held positions as Central Division Women’s Choir R & S Chair, Illinois State Treasurer, Illinois Newsletter Editor, Illinois State President, and Central Division President.
She has been honored by Wheaton College with a Senior Teaching Achievement Award and the Distinguished Service to Alma Mater Award. In 2014 Illinois ACDA awarded Dr. Hopper the Harold A. Decker Award in recognition and appreciation of the significant contribution she has made to choral music.
Truth, Integrity, Brotherhood. These are the core values that comprise Wheaton’s only all male choral ensemble. The Wheaton College Men’s Glee Club is an experience steeped in tradition; now in its 111th year, the ensemble continues to provide audiences both local, in the United States (spring tour to Dallas/Fort Worth in 2016) and abroad (most recently to France in 2012) a unique combination of musical vitality and esprit de corps. Whether it be a lively spiritual, a Bach motet, a Russian hymn, or a catchy secular song the Glee Club’s musical diversity will be sure to have something for everyone. The Glee Club consists of students from all over the United States and the world who are pursuing various areas of academic study at Wheaton College.