The Kankakee Valley Performance Choir is a non-profit organization committed to helping talented young people achieve musical excellence. Our young choir members will gain a new appreciation for the inspirational power of music while enriching the cultural life of the community. As this wonderful group shares their musical talents with growing audiences throughout the Kankakee area and beyond, they are touching hearts and lifting spirits, while also building memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.

The choir has members ages 10-18 from all over the greater Kankakee area. The cities of Kankakee, Bourbonnais, Bradley, Manteno, St. Anne, Limestone and Aroma Park are all represented.

KVPC was formed in the fall of 2007 by musical director, Marla J. Barnard. An advertisement was placed in the newspaper and auditions were held. Around 25 students came to audition for the choir, and about 20 of them received member status. KVPC started out their first semester small, performing at a function for the local YMCA, and several other small concerts, concluding the season as a featured act in the annual Christmas show of The Crazy Horse Bunch at the Aroma Park United Methodist Church.

In the spring of 2008, what started out as the idea to perform a spring concert featuring several songs from favorite Broadway musicals soon turned into a full-fledged, main stage production. Broadway Bound was born. Written by Emily Hotz, the show was held on the stage of the Lincoln Cultural Center Auditorium and was extremely well received by the community, drawing large crowds at both the 2:00pm and the 7:00pm performances.

At the cast party for Broadway Bound, the directors gave each choir member an index card and asked them to anonymously write down one wish. These wishes became the foundation for the choir's 2008 Christmas production, Wish, also written by Emily Hotz. Wish was also held at the Lincoln Cultural Center stage and once again attracted large crowds, despite terrible weather and much of the area losing power.

Emily, our director, brings several years of theatrical experience to the choir, having worked at Second Stage Threatre in New York where she developed over ten Off-Broadway and Broadway productions that include the original staging of the Tony Award winning musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Emily is also proud to have closely assisted renowned stage director, Mary Zimmerman on the New York production of The Notebook of Leonardo DaVinci. In Chicago, Emily is actively involved with the Junior Board Looking Glass Theatre. She serves on the host committee at About Face Theatre, and is also a supporter of the Goodman, Steppenwolf and House Theatre Company. Emily studied Dramatic Literature at Northwestern University in Evanston, where she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree. Emily possesses a genuine enthusiasm, rare exuberance and unique ability for cultivating and instilling in young people, a love of the performing arts. We are truly fortunate to have her with us!

Since the time she was three, Marla’s natural ability for music was readily apparent. Her formal piano lessons began at the age of eight, and continued into young adulthood with two years at Illinois Wesleyan University. Marla and her father, Spencer Barnard, formed the musical group, The Crazy Horse Bunch, which has been performing for over 30 years. While residing in Eagle River, Wisconsin for twenty summers, she directed the Camp Nicolet Choir for Girls, instilling in hundreds, the pure joy of choral music. Marla is an accomplished song writer as well - writing songs that lift and inspire the human spirit, as was evidenced in our December 2008 production of Wish with the songs Make a Wish, and A Song For Ryan's Mother. Marla earned her BA in Social Sciences Education from GSU and her MA in School Administration from ONU. She proudly served the students of District 111 for 15 years as a Social Sciences teacher and KHS assistant principal, and now works in the private sector as Director of Staff Development and Human Resources for Educators Advancement Group. Through it all, Marla takes her love of music to a whole new level with the Kankakee Valley Performance Choir. She is enjoying this incredible journey with these incredible kids and is really looking forward to future choir performances.

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