Dr. Joseph P. Nadeau

Artistic Director

This season marks Dr. Nadeau’s 11th year with Heartland Men’s Chorus. This is also his 15th year as an active member of GALA Choruses Inc., an international association of more than 190 gay and lesbian choral groups.

Joe began his work with Heartland Men's Chorus in the fall of 1998, after serving as assistant director and interim artistic director of the Denver Gay Men's Chorus. Joe received a master's degree in choral conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Dr. Eph Ehly. Joe recently completed his Doctor of Music Arts in Choral Conducting at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

Joe has directed many instrumental and vocal ensembles on the community level and on regional/international tours of New England, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Canada, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and France. He has also served as clinician and adjudicator for several regional and state music festivals.

Joe is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the Music Educators National Conference, the National Education Association, the Chorister's Guild, and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians.

Rick Fisher

Executive Director

Rick Fisher has served as Executive Director of Heartland Men's Chorus since 1997. One of his notable accomplishments is surviving 4 years at the Philadelphia College of Bible. Upon finding that their degree was useless in obtaining employment, he decided to become a church musician.

He put himself through bachelor's and master's programs in Church Music at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J., by founding, building and running a window-cleaning service. After graduating in 1990, Rick began a new career in church music and eventually sold the cleaning service.

In 1995, his church position was abruptly terminated when Rick came out, revealing that he was gay to his minister. Relocating (for love) to Kansas City, Missouri, Rick discovered HMC and GALA choruses, and with them a job that brought together everything about which he is passionate.

Lamar Sims

Accompanist

Lamar Sims, a native of Selma, AL, is starting his fifth season with Heartland Men’s Chorus.

Most recently, Lamar lived and worked in Dallas, TX, as a freelance pianist, teacher of voice and piano, and vocal coach and accompanist. He also enjoyed serving in a variety of capacities with the Turtle Creek Chorale and The Women’s Chorus of Dallas.

Lamar received his early music training through church and school music programs in addition to private piano study. He received B.M. and M.M. degrees in piano performance with emphasis on vocal accompanying and chamber music from University of Maryland College Park.

While in the greater Washington, D.C. area, he worked with a wide variety of performers, churches, and arts organizations including Prince Georges Civic Opera, Prince Georges Philharmonic, Cathedral Choral Society, and Friday Morning Music Club, just to name a few.

Already feeling at home, Lamar is an active and creative part of the Kansas City community.

Rick McAdams

ASL Interpreter

Rick has been a certified sign language interpreter since 1983. As part of his professional experience, Rick has been executive director of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Counseling Services of Wichita, Ks., and an adjunct faculty member of the Sign Language Interpreter Training Program at Maple Woods Community College. He also has a B.S. degree in psychology from Kansas Newman College in Wichita. Rick is one of only a few individuals in Missouri with expertise both in the field of deafness and substance abuse counseling.

As a freelance sign language interpreter, Rick has experience ranging from surgery to the performing arts. He has interpreted music styles from rap to opera with performers such as Romanovsky & Phillips, Fred Small, and The Fabulous Flirtations. He has interpreted theatrical productions for the Unicorn, Coterie, Kansas City Repertory and Folly theaters, and he coordinates interpreter services for the Renaissance Festival.

Since the holiday concert of 1995, Rick has been the principal interpreter for Heartland Men’s Chorus, and is grateful to the chorus for helping him brush up on his Latin, French, Hebrew, Russian, and Swahili.