Jan Bickel, Mezzo-Soprano retired from her position as Director of Vocal Studies/Professor of Music at Saint Xavier University in 2015. In addition to her work in the applied voice studio, she taught courses in Italian, French, German and English Diction for Singers, Operatic and Art Song Literature, Vocal Pedagogy, and Vocal Technique. She was the Director/Conductor of the University Chamber Singers, the University Chorale, and the Opera Workshop.

Dr. Bickel holds the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music from Saint Mary’s College at Notre Dame, the Master of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from the Chicago Conservatory, and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from the American Conservatory of Music. She has been heard frequently in the Chicago area with Chamber Opera Chicago, as Madalena in Rigoletto, Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro, and as both second and third lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute in separate performances. She appeared in the Chicago premiere of Daron Hagen’s Shining Brow (the story of Frank Lloyd Wright) with the Chicago Opera Theater. Her orchestral appearances include The Chicago Symphony, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Kankakee Valley Symphony, Mid-Columbia Symphony, and the Wheaton and Southwest Symphonies.

Jan has been heard frequently as a recitalist in Chicago at the Chicago Cultural Center for the Musicians Club of Women “Award Winners in Concert” series, and at Saint Xavier University on the concert series “Xavier Classics at Noon.” She has performed as a choral and ensemble singer with Midwest opera companies and choral organizations, including the world renowned Music of the Baroque Ensemble under the direction of Thomas Wikman, the DesMoines Metro Opera, and is the alto member of the Chicago based Lake Shore Singers vocal quartet.