Vancouver’s Chor Leoni has picked a new person to lead the all-male singing group.

Erick Lichte, a choir conductor from Portland, Oregon, has been appointed as the group’s new artistic director, effective September 2013.

Lichte told the Straight he has long admired the roughly 60-member amateur choir. He said he looks forward to continuing group traditions like the Remembrance Day concerts but also to trying new things.

“I’m so thrilled to be a part of this organization and I’m even more excited to be able to share the sorts of programming—the fun, the serious, the important, the silly programming—that I have in mind for this group.” Lichte said.

Lichte got to know the choir members better when he went on tour in Europe with them this summer as associate conductor.

“When you spend days upon days in a bus with no air conditioning in 33-degree heat, you get to know a lot about one another. And they’re just remarkable people,” he said.

Lichte will replace Chor Leoni founder and current artistic director Diane Loomer, who will move into a new role as the choir’s conductor emerita.

Loomer said she will miss working with the choir so closely but she looks forward to having more time for other projects.

“I feel that is going to be a wonderful, wonderful transition for the choir,” she said.