Over the past 11 years, Janeal Krehbiel and Marilyn Epp have built a Lawrence tradition.

The sisters are the artistic talents behind the Lawrence Children’s Choir, a group of about 75 young singers in fifth through ninth grades that have performed 22 concerts, completed about eight tours and recorded three CDs.

Marilyn Epp, longtime pianist for the Lawrence Children's Choir, is moving to North Newton, where her husband has taken the position of president at Bethel College.

But now the sisters’ professional partnership is ending. Epp is moving to North Newton, where her husband, LaVerne, will begin a two-year stint as president of Bethel College.

The move signals the end of an era in the Lawrence music community and the end of the sisters’ continual conversations about the vocal needs of individual students, the tempo of compositions and the nature of singing.

“She is a phenomenal musician with an incredible ear,” Krehbiel said of her sister. “It scares me to be without her.”

Musically rooted

Epp and Krehbiel grew up in Moundridge, a central Kansas town of about 1,800 residents that is steeped in Swiss-German Mennonite heritage.

“The music tradition was very strong,” Epp said, adding that she and her siblings were involved in vocal and band programs in school and choral activities at church.

Epp said she took piano lessons “from age 4 on.” Later, in Lincoln, Neb., she taught and accompanied in the public schools, directed a private piano studio and performed as a staff accompanist for the University of Nebraska. She also taught choral music and piano at Bethel College.

After moving to Lawrence in 1987, she began accompanying Kansas University students and other music students and groups.

Krehbiel, who also took music lessons as a youngster, spent 18 years as the children’s choir director at the Bethel College Mennonite Church and taught K-12 vocal music in the Denver public schools and in Hesston schools.

In 1990 Krehbiel and her family moved to Lawrence. She taught at South Junior High School before getting her current position at Southwest Junior High School.

A year after Krehbiel arrived in town the sisters formed the Lawrence Children’s Choir. Epp said her sister was the driving force behind the choir.

“She started the choir and I’ve been along for the ride,” she said.

	The Lawrence Children’s Choir returns to town today after a five-day tour in the Los Angeles area.While in California, the singers performed at California State University in Northridge; with the Los Angeles Children’s Choir at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Altadena; and at a choral festival at El Camino College in Via Torrance.They also visited Universal Studios and Hollywood, spent time on the beach and took a cruise.

Krehbiel, on the other hand, makes no bones about the fact that her sister is “the better musician of the two of us.”

“She can just read anything. She can sit down at a piano and know what (the music is) suppose to sound like,” Krehbiel said. “We’ve learned a lot from each other.”

They also have developed a clear vision for the choir, which allows them to be brutally honest with each other. If Krehbiel’s conducting is not up to par, Epp points it out. If Epp is dragging the tempo, Krehbiel quickly notes that.

“I have a lot of respect for her choral ability, and she has to respect my piano playing,” Epp said. “We both went to Bethel College and had a conductor who was a dictator. He said that you can’t direct by committee.”

Krehbiel agreed.

“We tell each other exactly how we feel and spare few words,” she said.

Moving on

Today, Epp, Krehbiel and their young singing charges are returning from a five-day tour to the Los Angeles area.

At the end of the school term, Epp, who works as a para-educator for the gifted program at Free State High School, will begin packing up her music and other belongings for the move to North Newton. In the meantime, Krehbiel will begin the interviewing process to find a pianist to replace her sister.

“One person has expressed interest,” Krehbiel said, adding that a pianist will need to be hired by the end of June. “Rehearsals begin in mid-August, but we make a rehearsal CD for the kids in the summer.”

Epp is sure a talented replacement will be found.

“There are many better pianists in this town,” she said. “Janeal will get to hand-pick this one. Someone else should get to do this it’s a nice job.”

If she leaves anything behind in Lawrence, Epp said she hopes it’s a sense among the young singers that they are special.

“I feel such a sense of pride in the kids and I hope they understand what it is to have music in their lives. Through 9-11, world wars, disasters and family tragedies, something that’s a mainstay is music.”