GREAT FALLS — Grant Harville’s eight years as conductor of theGreat Falls Symphony will end this spring. But the show must go on. Harville has decided to leave his place at the podium so can spend more time with his family in British Columbia.
The symphony opened the position and received close to 230 applicants.
“The last time we did the search, when Gordon (Johnson) retired and we ended up hiring Grant, we had about 115 applicants,” said Hillary Shepherd, director of the Great Falls Symphony.
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A diverse committee of symphony stakeholders has narrowed the search down to six finalists. The finalists will be revealed to the public sometime in the Spring. They also have a list of backup candidates if any of the six happen to withdraw.
“So next season will be all about these six candidates that we bring in,” said Dusty Molyneaux, a symphony musician who also serves on the board and search committee. “Each one of them will have their own concert that they will have designed and programmed. Then they'll get to rehearse that with the orchestra. Basically they'll be here for about a week in a residency type situation.”
At this point, the conductor's position is not full-time. While living in Great Falls is not a requirement, engaging in the Electric City is encouraged.
“I think that it's more important to have a really strong presence in the community, somebody who's out there and is a public face and serving in a lot of different ways,’ said Shepherd.
“We were also looking for people that have experience working with kids because the matinee program and the youth orchestra program is an integral part of our particular set up,” said Molyneaux.
Other things the committee looks for are educational credentials, working with an orchestra the size of the Great Falls Symphony and experience in music direction.
Harville is not a member of the search committee, but feels they have quality conductors to choose from.
“He has seen the list of finalists and has given his blessing, from the side,” said Shepherd. “So he's very excited for us.”
Harville has some advice for his successor.
“The advantage of it is that Great Falls is a real place. And, you don't have to pretend that, the symphony is a community ensemble. It absolutely is,” said Harville. “So, really embrace that and lean into that. That is, wholly to your advantage as the new music director, to take advantage of that.”
Harville will have a chance to attend one of the symphony’s most popular fundraisers. The annual Black Tie and Blue Jeans event takes place, Friday March 7th at the Newberry.
The event is designed to raise money for the symphony's education program, in particualr, the youth orchestra.
“We try to make it really fun for everybody,” said Harville. “We have great bands come in and things like that. And, we have a dessert auction where we encourage, violence, you know, as you try to get the dessert that you want and things like that, those can get pretty hectic.”
