When We Love
(program subject to change)
Vita de la mia vita
William Hawley
Denn er hat seinen Engeln Befohlen
Felix Mendelssohn
Amor de mi alma
Z. Randall Stroope
Alleluia
Eric Whitacre
Set me as a Seal
René Clausen
Brief Intermission
If Ye Love Me
Thomas Tallis
A Boy and a Girl
Eric Whitacre
O Lux Beata Trinitas
Andrej Makor
My Bonnie Lass She Smileth
Thomas Morley
She Walks in Beauty
Paul Mealor
When We Love
Elaine Hagenberg
Please enjoy this Spotify playlist of the concert selections
Sopranos
Jenny Cade
Beth Campbell
Sara Croghan
Emma Kerr
Mercedes McCann
Hannah Moes
Erin Small
Altos
Mandy Bowker
Piper Butler
Cinnone Knight
Shelly Larson
Rose Phillips
Karla Vandersloot
Tenors
Webster Crist
Derek Larson
Russell Milburn
Dillon Moes
Basses
Jack DeTombe
Chris Johnson
Kurt Prond
Quinn Sigler
Daren Small
Michael Thomson
Judith Diana, accompanist
Welcome to our concert!
The 2024-25 school year represents my twenty-fourth year teaching music at Montana State University-Bozeman. In those many years, I have been fortunate to teach and learn from the many fine singers who have gone through the music program at MSU, many of whom studied voice with me and sang in the Opera Montana opera chorus when I directed that ensemble.
I had long wondered if bringing this collection of singers together into a chamber choir might be possible and dreamed of having the opportunity to form this ‘dream team’ of many of Montana’s (and perhaps the region's) finest singers/musicians.
This dream was realized in 2023 with the formation of the Montana Choral Artists and it's first annual concert on Palm Sunday 2024.
The majority of the singers in Montana Choral Artists studied private voice with me in their time at MSU and/or sang in the Opera Montana opera chorus or the Bozeman Symphonic Choir when I led those ensembles. I know their incredible voices and their personalities, and they know me; the opportunity for us to enjoy making music together again, for me to be able to mold these incredible soloists into a choir that sings not only for an audience, but for each other, is something really meaningful for all of us. I hope that you sense this and enjoy this second annual concert of the Montana Choral Artists.
Jon Harney
Conductor
Jon Harney is a professor of music at Montana State University-Bozeman and received his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, where he studied under Weston Noble, and Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Vocal Performance from the University of Minnesota where he studied with Clifton Ware. As a tenor soloist, he has sung more than twenty-five principal and supporting roles in opera, operetta, and major works with orchestra and chorus. Performances in Montana have included several appearances with Opera Montana as well performances as tenor soloist with the symphonies in Bozeman, Butte and Great Falls.
Harney was chorus master for Opera Montana from 2001-2015 preparing the opera chorus for twenty productions and was conductor of the Bozeman Symphonic Choir from 2011 to 2022. He started serving as conductor of the Great Falls Symphonic Choir in 2024.
Prior to coming to MSU, Harney was on the voice faculty of Macalester College and directed high school choirs in the North St. Paul school district. In 2001, Dr. Harney joined the MSU-Bozeman music faculty where he teaches studio voice lessons and voice-related classes. In 2002, he was selected as one of twelve voice teachers nationwide to participate in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Intern Program working under master teacher Elaine Bonazzi. Harney was selected to sing in the Westminster Choir College Chamber Choir in residence in Florence, Italy in summer 2008 singing under the direction of Joe Miller and in July 2010 sang under the direction of Dale Warland as part of the Festival Chorale at the Minnesota Beethoven Festival.
His students have gone on to graduate voice programs at Boston University, the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Manhattan School of Music, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, the University of Oregon and Mannes School of Music.
Concert Sponsored by
Peggy Bennett and Harley Quick
Michael and Sharon Beehler
Renèe and Stuart Westlake
Regina and Walter Wunsch
The Montana Choral Artists is comprised of singers from Montana and the surrounding area who are committed to the highest caliber performance of choral music through a program of rehearsals and concerts that enrich, educate, and entertain the community and foster the public’s appreciation of high quality choral repertoire.