Artis—Naples' chorus directors run wide, from Nintendo to 300 student stable
Jeremy T. Warner, Memphis-area choral director and composer, is the new Naples Philharmonic Chorus director, and Barbara Sletto, founder of Iowa's Heartland Youth Choir, will direct the Naples Philharmonic Youth Chorus.
The announcement came Monday from Artis—Naples. In a news release on the appointments, CEO and President Kathleen van Bergen called them "strong, talented additions to the artistic team, and we are fortunate to have their energy shaping the sounds of both ensembles.”
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Warner and Sletto succeed James Cochran, a founder and long-time director of both the Naples Philharmonic Chorus and Naples Philharmonic Youth Chorus. He retired in 2020.
For the 2021-22 season, Jeffrey Faux, former artistic director of Fort Myers Symphonic Mastersingers, led the Naples Philharmonic Chorus as interim director. Sletto served in the interim role for the Naples Philharmonic Youth Chorus before she accepted the position.
Since 1998, Warner has held numerous director positions, including for the Memphis Men’s Chorale and Memphis Women’s Chorale, Memphis ChoralArts and the Salzburg College Chorale. He has prepared professional choirs for touring performances in choral-orchestral settings, most recently in the tour of the "Legend of Zelda" — based on the Nintendo series — with music depicting the mythical stories and characters in its fantasy action adventures.
His international tour experience includes performances in Austria — at the World Choir Games in Graz and for the International Choral Competition in Spittal an der Drau. Warner completed his master of music in choral conducting at the University of Memphis and his bachelor of music in theory and composition at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee.
Sletto is founder and former artistic program director for the Heartland Youth Choir, with more than 300 central Iowa singers in seven ensembles and short-term groupings. She continues to serve it in summer programming and as a consultant.
Sletto has also served as artistic director of the Iowa Youth Chorus, the Des Moines Children’s Choruses, the Anderson Area Children’s Choir of Indiana and the Lakes Treble Choir of Minnesota. She also has served as an adjunct professor at Drake University.
Warner's first concert will be an early pops program, Nov. 1-5, featuring the Naples Philharmonic Chorus in Hollywood epic themes, including "Gone With the Wind" and "The Way We Were." Late in the season, the chorus sings a Brahms' choral work, "Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny)" April 13 and 15.
Harriet Howard Heithaus covers arts and entertainment for the Naples Daily News/naplesnews.com. Reach her at 239-213-6091.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Nintendo 'Zelda' tour, 300+ chorus Artis—Naples music leaders skills
