Marion was born August 14, 1947, in Bridgeton, New Jersey, to Paul Willem van der Loo and Christine Boice van der Loo. Her parents, who met as singers in a church duet, filled the family home with music. Marion sang in her Methodist minister father’s churches from the time she was able to talk, and she believed when they listened together to a recording of Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” that it was the most beautiful music she had ever heard.
While she grew up to have a career in journalism, Marion also sang professionally with The Philadelphia Singers under the direction of Michael Korn, and left her corporate job to accept a full scholarship at Temple University, where she graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Opera Performance. After singing opera roles for four years she found choral music gave her greater joy, and was hired to sing with choruses and orchestras at venues including the Kennedy Center and the Academy of Music, and with conductors including Riccardo Muti and Georg Solti.
Drawn to the challenge of conducting, Marion earned a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting from Temple University. She conducted and directed numerous choruses on the east coast and in Chicago before studying for two years in the Doctoral conducting program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She then was offered the dual position of Music Director of the First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, which she held for 10 years, and the Illinois Symphony Chorus, which she held for 12 years. She was an adjunct assistant professor of voice at Millikin University for ten years and founder and director of the Prairieland Voices ensemble.
For 14 years, until her retirement, Marion was music director of the Springfield Choral Society, enlivening rehearsals with her keen sense of humor while challenging singers to learn and master complex works, including Bach’s “Mass in b minor” and Rachmaninoff’s “All Night Vigil,” in languages including Russian, Czech, French, Italian, German, Chinese, Spanish, and Latin. She continued to write, publishing a book of poems, some of which were set to music and performed by the Choral Society. She directed the Choral Society with orchestra in performances of Handel’s “Messiah” which became a Springfield holiday tradition. She led choir members on concert tours of Scotland and England, Spain, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, and France, where she was thrilled to conduct the singers in the entire Sunday morning Mass at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, a high honor reflecting the caliber of the community chorus she had shaped.
Marion felt strongly and cared deeply about music and its power to move and unite, about the musicians she cajoled and challenged to create it, and about those who suffered hardship or loss. She gave her best and inspired others to give theirs. She was generous with her knowledge and talent, and grateful for the opportunity to share them.
Marion is survived by her wife Alice Edwards, step-mother Audrey Smith van der Loo of Egg Harbor Township, NJ, sisters Kathy Sheetz (Timothy) of Akron, PA, Constance Yost (James) of Upper Deerfield, NJ, cousin Suzanne Koller (Dennis) of Shiloh, NJ, nieces Sandra Sheetz Wyllie, Lori Sheetz Herson, Heidi Yost Sray, and nephew Paul Yost.
Memorials may be made to Food for the Poor, Heifer International, Doctors Without Borders, the Springfield Choral Society, the Central Illinois Foodbank, and the Illinois Innocence Project.
Bisch Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Please see www.bischandsonfuneralhome.com for details regarding the memorial service on Saturday, February 27, 2021 at 11 am at Cathedral of St. Paul, 815 S. 2nd St., Springfield, IL 62704.
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