The Salina Chorale is planning its spring concert.

According to the organization, they will present a 2026 Spring Concert called “Growth,” under the direction of Keri Boley.  The group will perform at the Sacred Heart Cathedral this Sunday, March 22nd at 4 p.m., presented in two acts.

The first half, Act 1, focuses on the theme of “Becoming” – specifically “Birth and Childhood” and “Love and Relationships.” Songs include:

• The Awakening by Joseph M. Martin
• Circle of Life from The Lion King
• Children’s Prayers to God by C.M. Shearer
• Happy Together, recorded by The Turtles
• Lullabye by Daniel Elder
• Embraceable You by Gershwin
• Come to Me, O My Love by Allan Robert Petker

The second half of our concert, Act 2, centers on “Becoming Whole” – with themes of “Reflection, Gratitude and Growth;” “Challenges and Perspective;” and “Legacy and Spirit.” Songs include:

• For the Beauty of the Earth by John Rutter
• Good Timber Grows by Roger Emerson
• Seasons of Love; That Lonesome Road; When I’m Sixty-Four, recorded by The Beatles
• Cloth of Glory by David L. Brunner
• Just a Closer Walk With Thee.

The moving piece called Cloth of Glory was a commission in honor of 9/11 by David L. Brunner, who described it as “a song of mending, of rising from the ashes.” He added, “Out of the fire, the tribulation, shines the ‘brittle, fragile cloth of glory.’”

Keri Boley began her inaugural season as director of the Salina Chorale in Fall 2024. She has taught choral music at Southeast of Saline Junior and Senior High School for 15 years. In addition to teaching choir and music appreciation classes, Boley directs SES musicals, has served as an adjunct faculty member at Kansas Wesleyan University, and works as a clinician and judge for regional honor choirs and festivals. Previously, she taught choral and general music for 17 years in the Ellsworth/Kanopolis school district and served as director of the Salina Symphony Youth Choir (formerly the Holiday Singers). A proud graduate of Kansas Wesleyan University, Boley is honored to create music alongside the dedicated individuals who volunteer their time, energy, and voices to the Salina Chorale.

Dr. Gustavo do Carmo became the Salina Chorale Collaborative Pianist in August 2025. Gustavo is a distinguished pianist, educator, and collaborative artist. His career spans solo performances, teaching, and extensive collaborations with choirs, orchestras, vocalists, instrumentalists, and dancers in both the United States and Brazil. Currently, he serves as an Assistant Professor of Music and Collaborative Pianist at Kansas Wesleyan University. In addition, he holds the position of Collaborative Piano Chair for the Kansas Music Teachers Association (KMTA) and is a highly sought-after teacher and adjudicator for numerous piano festivals, clinics, and competitions.

The Salina Chorale is a community chorus dedicated to the promotion of choral music, and it is open to all adults who desire to sing ensemble music. High School Juniors and Seniors are welcome to be members provided they already sing in their High School Choir. Freshmen and Sophomores in High School may join the Chorale if approved of by the director, who will determine if their voices are mature enough to sing the kinds of songs, and in the vocal ranges, that are required of the Chorale singers.

The Salina Chorale performs annually its spring concert and its “Carols of Christmas” holiday concert, and also joins with the Salina Symphony as a chorus for some of its performances — including the Symphony’s two “Christmas Festival” concert performances in the Stiefel Theatre, presented every other year, most recently in 2025. Alternating years, the Chorale does not participate when the Salina Symphony performs “The Nutcracker Suite” as the holiday concert.

This spring 2026, the Chorale will join with Kansas Wesleyan University singers to provide the chorus for two Salina Symphony performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. First, in Hutchinson at the Fox Theatre at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, 2026. And second, in Salina at the Stiefel Theatre at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 3, 2026.

The Chorale is an outgrowth of the Salina Community Chorus, which was begun in 1961 under the
direction of Mr. John Sample. The group was reorganized as the Salina Chorale in January 1979.​ The
preceding music director for the Salina Chorale, Bill Tuzicka, directed the group for 16 years, from 2009
to spring 2024, before retiring and moving with his wife Susan to Iowa. Since August 2024, this group of
talented singers of all ages from the greater Salina community has been under the very talented and
inspiring direction of Keri Boley.

In May of 2025, the Salina Chorale was formally incorporated in the state of Kansas as a non-profit organization, and as such was given the official name Salina Chorale Inc. And then, in early August 2025, the Salina Chorale was successful in achieving 501(c)3 organizational status from the IRS, which now makes us a Federally Tax-Exempt nonprofit charitable organization with all the rights and privileges that come with this official designation.