Full of Wonder

LYNDA R. HASSELER, D.M.A., assumed the directorship of the renowned Capital University Chapel Choir in July 1990, and is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities in the Conservatory of Music at Capital University, in Columbus, Ohio, where she directs the Chapel Choir, Choral Union, and teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting. In partnership with Craig Courtney, she is co-editor of the Capital University Choral Series published by Beckenhorst Press. She graduated from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and received her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in conducting from Michigan State University.

Nurturing Capital University’s rich choral legacy, the choirs under her direction have received numerous invitations to perform for multiple music regional and national conferences and festivals, have been awarded gold medals in world choral competitions and have toured nationally and internationally. Dr. Hasseler is passionate about dynamic programming, creating concerts that tell a story. Reflective of her commitment to perform music from a global and inclusive perspective, she creates concerts that feature diverse programming, staging, and a range of choral tone colors unified by a narrative theme. As a clinician and guest conductor, she frequently performs regionally, nationally, and internationally with singers of all ages, and serves on juries for international competitions. As a singer, Dr. Hasseler has performed, toured, and recorded nationally and internationally with professional choral ensembles including the Robert Shaw Festival Chorus and the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus.

Above all, Dr. Hasseler loves making music with the students and community members in the ensembles she directs. A passionate believer in the power of choral singing to open minds, soften hearts, and transform lives of both the singers and the listener, she will tell you that making music in engaged choral rehearsals and concerts, crafting an expressive phrase, and shaping beautiful choral tone with the “best students in the world” are some of the most meaningful moments life has to offer. None of those things can compete, however, with the joy of being a mom to twenty-five-year-old Hannah, the “best daughter in the world.”

CAPITAL UNIVERSITY CHAPEL CHOIR 

Since its first appearance on Palm Sunday 1929, the Capital University Chapel Choir has upheld the rich Lutheran heritage of fine choral singing and enjoys national and international acclaim as a premier collegiate choral ensemble. The Chapel Choir is a select chorus, composed of students who are majoring in music as well as many other academic disciplines at Capital. Considered the Conservatory of Music’s elite choral ensemble, the Chapel Choir is known for their performance of a broad and inclusive range of choral literature, flexible and expressive choral tone, and commitment to storytelling through song.

The Chapel Choir has been honored with invitations to perform for numerous state, regional, national and international conferences and conventions, including the American Choral Directors Association, the National Collegiate Choral Organization, the Ohio Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and for INTERKULTUR at the World Choir Games Competition held in Cincinnati, Ohio, where they won gold medals in the Mixed Choir and Musica Sacra competitions.

The choir’s long-standing touring tradition has sent them around the world, leveraging the transformative power of music to connect people from diverse cultures including England, Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, China, South Africa, Oman and Ireland. The Chapel Choir, along with the Choral Union, and composer Jake Runestad, was awarded the 2018 American Prize, Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music. The year 2019 was an especially exciting year for the choir. In February of 2019, the Chapel Choir was invited to perform the premiere of the Brock Commission A Silence Haunts Me by Jake Runestad at the ACDA National Conference in Kansas City. In March of 2019, the Chapel Choir performed under the direction of guest composer and conductor Eric Whitacre on Mees Hall stage in a Gala concert celebration of 100 Years of Music at Capital University. In June 2019, the Chapel Choir was joined by the Choral Union, to sing festival concerts on an international tour to the Netherlands and Belgium, featuring the music of Jake Runestad.

On March 8, 2020, the Chapel Choir performed the Carnegie Hall premiere of A Silence Haunts Me, followed by a performance of Dona Nobis Pacem by Ralph Vaughan Williams with professional orchestra and featuring Capital University alumni as the soloists. And three days later, the World Health Organization declared a global COVID-19 pandemic and all live performances ceased. Sustained by the joys of 2019 and their last concert of 2020, and their commitment to create transformative experiences through beautiful singing, the Chapel Choir continued to meaningfully make music in every way possible throughout the pandemic. And now, three years later, the choir is thrilled to be performing concerts on tour in the Midwest and Spain in 2023.