ABOUT
The River heights chorale
Our Mission
The River Heights Chorale is a community choir, dedicated to promoting lifelong choral performance and education. We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in West St. Paul, Minnesota. We appreciate your ongoing support to help us share our love of music.
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Our Director
Aaron D. Kapaun is the Artistic Director for the River Heights Chorale. Mr. Kapaun taught vocal music for 16 years including 13 of those years as director of vocal music at Two Rivers High School (then Henry Sibley) in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.
He holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Minnesota-Duluth and a Masters of Arts in Music Education from the University of St. Thomas. Mr. Kapaun was nominated for Minnesota Teacher of the Year three times and was named a District Innovator of the Year in 2008 in School District #197.
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He lives in Eagan with his wife, two children, and two dogs.
Our Accompanist
Kristen Doty joined River Heights Chorale in 2025. She began taking piano lessons at age 5 from her mother, who was a private piano teacher, and continued on with various teachers throughout her younger years and into college. She accompanied her church and school choirs throughout high school as well as playing for Calliope Women's Chorus here in the Twin Cities from 2007 to 2009. Kristen loves having music as a central focus in her life again and is proud to be a part of the River Heights Chorale.
She lives in Mendota Heights and is married with 3 boys.
Our History
The River Heights Chorale began in 2006, as the Gar Lockrem Community Choir (GLCC) in honor of the late high school choir director, Garland O. Lockrem, who passed away that year.
Mr. Lockrem taught music theory and choir at Henry Sibley High School in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, from 1956 to 1981. He championed strong music programs as part of the regular school curriculum at a time when music was not highly regarded as an academic discipline. Today, we know much more about the important benefits that music education has on the intellectual and emotional development of children, as well as on the mental health of adults.
At the conclusion of Gar’s funeral service on May 26, 2006, former students were invited to step onto risers and sing some of his favorite hymns. The risers were quickly filled, and could not accommodate all who came forward to sing.
The GLCC performed its first concert just seven months later, in December 2006, under the direction of Gar’s daughter, Terolle Turnham, herself a renowned public school music teacher and Minnesota Teacher of the Year. Another former high school teacher, William E. White, took over as music director in the spring of 2007. In the fall of 2010, Mr. White passed the baton on to the current director, Aaron Kapaun, who then held Gar’s former role at Henry Sibley.
Many of the current singers never knew Gar personally; but most were inspired by teachers who, like him, instilled in their students an understanding of the art and science of music, a sense of ethics, and a life-long passion to learn and to sing.
In September 2013, GLCC changed the name of its performing group to The River Heights Chorale, to reflect the broader range of its membership.
The River Heights Chorale performs two seasons in a year, including two concerts in December and two in April. The chorale rehearses Tuesday nights from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., from September through mid-April.