NMU music education alumna Rachel Beeksma has been hired as associate artistic director of the Milwaukee Children’s Choir and artistic director of a new satellite program, the Lake Country Children’s Choir. The U.P. native has taught students of all levels throughout Michigan, New Jersey and Wisconsin. She also has performed with several notable groups, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony and Vienna Philharmonic.

Beeksma met her husband Zachary, also a music educator, at NMU. Both went on to complete their master’s degrees in music education at Westminster College in Princeton, N.J. While there, Beeksma studied conducting with James Jordan. To see a newspaper feature story on her appointment, click here. See her biography on the Milwaukee Children’s Choir website here.