Harley, Frances Mikkelson, 1914-2005.

Born September 24, 1914; died February 7, 2005. Composer, choral director, co-founder of the TRI-M Music Honor Society. While a student at Mundelein College, Frances Marjorie Mikkelson met Alexander Harley who she later married in 1946. Frances continued to study music including choral arrangement with Walter Aschenbrenner, and composition and orchestration with Leo Sowery at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago where she earned her Master of Music Degree. With the help of Aschenbrenner, Frances published 45 choral compositions through Carl Fischer Music Publications. Frances also directed a large number of choral groups including the St. Lukes Lutheran Adult Choir, the Park Ridge Men's Choir, and the Illinois Men's Chorus, in addition to privately teaching music in her home -- a practice that continued over 35 years and totaled well over two thousand students. In addition to her continual involvement in the community as a teacher and volunteer, and also to her many public performances, Frances was a co-founder of the TRI-M Music Honor Society (originally titled TRI-M Maine Music Masters) with her husband, Alexander, at the Maine Township High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. The society today is an internationally recognized organization that honors outstanding youth academic and musical achievement.