Following Jeff Christmas’ departure from the College last semester, Kari Francis has joined the music department as lecturer and director of choral activities.

Leading the Chamber Choir and managing student a cappella groups, Francis joins the College in a period of rebirth and growth for the Department of Music. After finding community in a cappella groups at the University of California, San Diego, Francis channeled her passion for music into directing and arranging.

“I did find some musical homes with the a cappella groups on my campus and that was where I felt like I could take the theory and …  creative techniques that I was cultivating,” Francis said.

Francis then pursued a master’s degree in music education from Columbia University’s Teachers College and another in choral pedagogy and education at the Eastman School of Music. After working several years with students throughout the New York City public school system, she returned to the classroom for her doctorate in choral conducting.

For Francis, coming to Bowdoin is a dream come true.

“I described this vision to my partner at the time, which was that I would love to be at a little liberal arts college, somewhere in New England and with a chapel on campus. I didn’t expect any of it to come true, but there was always just this little pipe dream,” Francis said.

However, the path was not easy. Francis initially applied for a job at Bates College but is grateful that fate led her to Bowdoin.

“I remember I was so heartbroken when I didn’t get the Bates job,” Francis said. “I was gutted. But then I saw the Bowdoin job come up, and I thought ‘Oh my gosh. I gotta do it.’”

Francis described her approach to music as one of student-led learning and inclusion.

“No music department should have the monopoly on all the music that’s happening on campus. It’s just so wonderful to see when students can organize a thing and have control and a say in every part of it,” Francis said. “I think that’s just all part of a bigger package, and you can’t put it in a curriculum, because it’s the organic magic that you could never really capture in a bottle.”

Francis is particularly excited to debut a new sound from the College’s choral groups.

“If someone comes to our concerts, they see something that is so very clearly made by and sounds like students at Bowdoin,” Francis said. “It’s not just a generic choir with a generic venue and generic clothing. That’s not to criticize the standards and the canon of ways of performing. However, I do want students to walk away and feel like they have a voice.”

Her style is also marked by the fusion of non-traditional methods into a traditional medium.

“Thinking of these very standard formats of what a choir looks like and sounds like, we can take inspiration from the parts that feel authentic or feel helpful, but at the same time, we can find a delightful messiness in challenging the boundaries of those formatting traditions,” Francis said.