Platteville Children's Choir
Auditions are held in late April/early May and August for Apprentice Singers, Choristers and Cantabile.
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Music Explorers is open enrollment until spaces are filled. There are two sessions: Fall and Spring.
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Music Explorers
Vocal Hearing sign up
Meet Our Staff
Kelsey Duss
Music Explorers
Director
Kelsey Duss has been teaching general and vocal music since 2010. She taught general music and choir in the Shullsburg School District for five years and has been teaching at Westview Elementary in Platteville since January 2016. Kelsey teaches first through fourth grade general music at Westview. She also worked for Rising Star Theatre Company in Dubuque, Iowa for six summers as their youth music director. She is a 2010 graduate of Clarke University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education and a 2015 graduate of University of Wisconsin- La Crosse with a Master’s Degree in Education. She lives in Platteville with her husband Brian and their two daughters, Scarlett and Eliza.
Juli Clayton
Apprentice Singers Director
Juli Clayton is the High School Band and Choir Instructor at Cuba City. She directs the Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Concert Choir, and Vocal Jazz. Ms. Clayton has a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. In addition to her duties at Cuba City High School, she is also a member of the Dubuque Chorale, the National Association for Music Education, and the Wisconsin Music Educators Association.
Her favorite pastimes include traveling, reading, watching the Packers and going to movies. She is an avid fan of Doctor Who and has been known to color from time to time. Her current favorite band is Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
She is originally from Boscobel, Wisconsin and grew up on a dairy farm near Gays Mills, Wisconsin. She and her husband, Cody, live in Benton with their dog, Bolero.
Ray Calderon
Choristers Director
Ray Calderon serves as the Director of Vocal Arts and General Music Educator for the school district of Potosi, State Council Chair of Music In Our Schools Month for the Wisconsin Music Educators Association (WMEA), Adjunct Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Vocal Technician on faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, as a Certified Adjudicator for the Wisconsin State Music Association (WSMA), and a Jerry Awards reviewer for the Overture Center for the Arts. Mr. Calderon holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the Hartt School of Music; earned his Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music, and Certificates of Achievement in Music from Harvard University, Yale University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A recipient of numerous arts awards, he has been praised by Opera News and the New York Times for his performances, appearing as a featured artist nationally and internationally, in collaboration with numerous prestigious artists and affiliations including on Broadway and the Metropolitan Opera in his native New York. He continues to perform regionally with Madison Opera and the Madison Symphony Orchestra Chorus.
David Murphy
Cantabile
Fall Director
David Murphy teaches vocal music at Lancaster Middle & High School, and he leads choirs at two churches in Lancaster. He holds a Masters degree in Education from UW-Platteville and a Bachelors of Music from UW-Madison. Mr. Murphy is a member of ACDA, NAfME, and the VoiceCare Network. This fall, he begins his 31st year as a teacher. He is excited to work with PCC and Cantabile another season.
His wife, Patricia Leh-Murphy, is an accompanist for various churches and the Platteville Children’s Choir. The Murphy kids are students, musicians, and athletes; they have all participated in the Platteville Children’s Choir. Mr. Murphy has been part of the Platteville Children’s Choir program since 2016.
Ashley Calderon-McHugh
Cantabile
Spring Director
Ashley Calderon-McHugh is the Choral and Musical Theatre Director, General Music Teacher, and Music Theory Adjunct Instructor at Mineral Point. She is a WSMA Registered Adjudicator, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp Faculty Member, MP Opera House Board Member, and private voice studio instructor. Mrs. Calderon-McHugh was an Adjunct Instructor at New York University Steinhardt while earning a MM in Classical Voice and an Advanced Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy. She earned a MA in Vocal Performance and a BM in K-12 Music Education from Eastern Illinois University. Mrs. Calderon-McHugh performs locally with Fresco Opera, Characters 2 Life, and Pop Factory Players.
Marcia Russell teaches students in general music and choir at Platteville Middle School. She has a Masters of Music in Music Education from Kent State University, and a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance and General/Choral Music Education from Lawrence University. Ms. Russell is an active member of ACDA and NAfME, and serves as the past-chair of the Wisconsin Music Educators Association’s Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance project (CMP). She has been a conductor with the Platteville Children’s Choir for over 20 years and is a past conductor with the Madison Youth Choirs.
