Director of Music and Fine Arts

317-252-5515 | MFA@SecondChurch.org

Michelle L. Louer received the doctoral degree in choral conducting from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, studying under Jan Harrington, Carmen Helena-Téllez and Thomas Dunn. She holds both Master of Music and Master of Divinity degrees from Yale University where she graduated summa cum laude, and a Bachelor of Music in piano and church music, magna cum laude, from Stetson University. In addition, she studied with noted conductors Fiora Contino and Joseph Flummerfelt.

Dr. Louer is in her twelfth year as the Director of Music and Fine Arts at Second Presbyterian Church where she leads a comprehensive program for children and adults, providing vocal and instrumental opportunities for education, ministry, and performance. Dr. Louer conducts the 70-voice Sanctuary Choir and the Beecher Singers (a professional chamber choir) and oversees a talented music staff that directs children and youth music, handbell ensemble, wind ensemble, and a vibrant fine arts area.

She is a former Adjunct Professor of Choral Music at Butler University, and prior to her appointment at Second, served on the faculties of University of Evansville and Oklahoma City University, and as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Kokomo (Indiana) Symphony Orchestra and Chorus for 3 years.

Dr. Louer has led the Sanctuary Choir in annual performances of choral/orchestral masterworks, including Beethoven’s Choral Fantasie with André Watts, J.S. Bach’s Johannes Passion with Alan Bennett (Evangelist), Verdi’s Requiem, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, Poulenc’s Gloria, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.

For six seasons, she served as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Bach Chorale Singers of Lafayette, Indiana where she was known for innovative programming of works such as James Whitbourn’s Annelies and a retrospective of the choral music of Leonard Bernstein. In the summer of 2016, Dr. Louer led choral groups on a performance tour through Germany and parts of the Czech Republic. Equally comfortable leading orchestras, she has conducted Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 (“New World”), Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1, and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1919), and in 2018 served as Guest Conductor of the 14th Annual International Festival of the Aegean in Syros, Greece. Dr. Louer also serves on the Sacred in Opera Committee of National Opera Association.