Jami Lercher, the University of St. Thomas’ new choir director, discusses her love of music and her desire to teach it. Lercher took over the program this year after three years of turnover. (Chris Calvert/The Crest) 
A student leads the choir through a vocal warm-up, going through a scale. (Chris Calvert/The Crest) 
Mindy Eschedor, accompanist for the Chamber Singers and Concert Choir, smiles in her office during an interview. (Chris Calvert/The Crest)
St. Thomas Chamber Singers and Concert Choir welcomed professor Jami Lercher as their new director this fall after three years of turnover.
The Chamber Singers and Concert Choir haven’t had a consistent director since Albert Pinsonneault, who held the position from 2019 to 2024. These frequent changes have given the choirs less opportunities to connect with their directors and learn consistently, which Lercher hopes to change.
“The students were hungry to have someone who’s going to invest and care about them, and that is not meant to be any remarks about anyone previously,” Lercher said.
Mindy Eschedor, who has been the accompanist for the Chamber Singers and Concert Choir since 2014, said that “there has been a little changing of the guard.”
When Eschedor joined the department, Angela Kasper had been the director since 1999. After Kasper left to take a different position, she was replaced by Pinsonneault, who filled her role for five years. Pinsonneault then notified the department in the spring of 2024 that he would be leaving.
The university conducted a search for an interim professor, and TJ Harper was hired for the 2024-25 school year. He was later chosen for a permanent tenure-track position.
However, Harper decided to leave St. Thomas, notifying the department in late May 2025. Former Augsburg University professor Kristina Boerger was hired for the 2025-26 school year. She then retired, and Eschedor said Lercher was the top choice for the position.
Senior Joshua Ojo, who has been a member of the Chamber Singers since he was a first-year, said that he joined a “choir that was used to their director, so it was more like a family.” Pinsonneault, or “Dr. P,” as the students called him, was the director when he joined.
“When Dr. P left, a lot of people left with him. So it was kind of like having to rebuild every year since I got here with a new director,” Ojo said. “I think it’s been hard for the students, as well as the directors, because they’re not coming into a well-knit choir.”
Ojo said that the number of students in Chamber Singers went from nearly 40 in his first year to about 24 in his second year. He said that this could also be attributed to other factors, like graduation.
Eschedor noted that “every director brings their own philosophies to their leadership.” She said that the directors, while each a highly-skilled musician, were taught differently and therefore imparted their knowledge on the students in different ways.
“I think of a sports team, right? If you get a new coach every year, the playbook’s going to be different every year,” Ojo said. “So, when it comes to choir, the way people learn — or the way I learned — was different each and every year, and it gets tough because there are a lot of concepts that I didn’t know with other directors because they teach differently.”
Lercher has always loved music and said she knew she wanted to teach music since she was a junior in high school. She has taught all levels of education, starting with elementary and middle school before eventually spending 12 years at Roseville Area High School.
“I loved what I was doing enough that I wanted to do it at the collegiate level, so I could teach people how to teach, not just teach,” Lercher said.
In addition to her education experience, Lercher sings with the professional group Renatum. She is also a member of the American Choral Directors Association and the National Association for Music Education.
This is not Lercher’s first time working at St. Thomas. In 2010, she worked as an adjunct professor for the women’s chorus. Lercher said she enjoyed the experience she had during that time and said “the students are still so warm and eager and earnest to make beautiful music together.”
She acknowledged the decrease in choir members in recent years, which she said “is understandable with so much turnover with the position,” but she said she is hoping that numbers will climb back to previous counts.
“To be able to come to a place that needs (community) so desperately, I felt like I was the right person at the right time for this job,” Lercher said. “And already we’re starting to build a culture and starting to build pride and starting to build that connection.”
Ilah Daood can be reached at daoo3174@stthomas.edu.
Christopher Calvert can be reached at calv4769@stthomas.edu.
