Brandon Horrocks has “never not been singing,” and it’s “like a dream” when he can marry the two worlds he occupies: orchestra and choir.
On Dec. 7, he’ll be conducting the Great Falls Symphony in their annual Christmas concert, a holiday tradition for many, that’s nearly sold out.
Horrocks is the third candidate in the symphony’s search for a new conductor this season, its 67th.
Each of the season’s six concerts will feature a finalist for music director and conductor.
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It’s a two year search process that began last season, drawing 238 applications from across the globe, according to Hillary Shepherd, the symphony’s executive director.
The symphony established a 12-person search committee composed of conductors, musicians and those with administration experiences.
They broke into teams of three, with each reviewing about a quarter of the applications, whittling the list down to 13 candidates who were asked to answer a set of questions on video, Shepherd told The Electric this spring.
The full search committee reviewed those responses and further narrowed the list down to six candidates with two alternates.
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The top six were scheduled for the season’s concerts and started programming, which “gets perspective of how they think,” Shepherd said. “Programming is a vessel by which to achieve an artistic vision.”
“Really amazing programs” are planned for the search season and “our community will be involved” through surveys and events, Shepherd said. “It’s going to be a pretty amazing time getting to know everybody. It will be fulfilling and exciting for everybody involved and the community gets a say in making sure the next maestro or maestra is the perfect fit for Great Falls.”
The Salt Lake area native who’s currently teaching at Texas A&M University -Kingsville, said Sunday’s concert is a good kickoff to the season and attendees will hear some familiar classics, but also likely be introduced to new music.
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The concert includes the traditional audience carol sing-a-long and the version of Sleigh Ride that most people recognize for the holidays, but also a version of the piece by Englishman Frederick Delius, which is likely unfamiliar to many.
The choir will join for a piece by Robert Shaw that Horrocks said will be popular and the arrangement “is pretty spectacular.”
The symphony will also perform a piece by Utah-based composer John Paul Hayward that is a lullaby sung by a mother to her newborn child.
Horrocks grew up in music but spent about 20 years in the nonprofit world, much of that time with the Boys and Girls Club in Utah and California.
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He was laid off when the organization restructured and said it was a chance to evaluate, “what do I want to do now.”
Horrocks said his passion was in music and headed back to school for conducting, adding a masters and doctorate in orchestral conducting to his bachelor’s in vocal performance.
Working with community symphony groups in the Salt Lake area, Horrocks said he’d gone about as far as he could go there and wanted to branch out into regional orchestras.
Coming across the job opening in Great Falls, he said he knew Montana had a good reputation for orchestral music and had heard from some colleagues what’s happening on the music scene in the state.
“Despite challenges, there’s a lot of growth happening,” he said of Montana, particularly Great Falls.
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In considering the current opening at the symphony, Horrocks said that he believes the role of a music director, particularly for a regional orchestra that’s community based, is to be a community figure who’s engaged in arts advocacy and education to build relationships “that are lasting and meaningful.”
Great Falls already appeared to him to value music education through the music coordinator at Great Falls Public Schools and what he’d seen in the community.
Many participate in music education in some fashion growing up or in school, and Horrocks said they need to rekindle that excitement and energy to bolster the local arts community.
Nowadays, attention spans are short and there’s many distractions for kids and adults alike and we’ve lost sight of “what do we value and why.”
Music education goes beyond the basics of learning to play an instrument or read music, he said, and “those kinds of experiences can be really transformational.”
From a larger community perspective, Horrocks said that Great Falls having traditional music forces in town shows its relevance and “shows you value artistic endeavors,” which can be a draw, even if it’s not always branded that way, “if you have a vibrant arts scene that resonates with people.”
It’s also “a testament to the town” and something the community can be proud of as part of the city’s identity and “a strength when they can showcase a strong arts culture.”
Horrocks said that kind of community pride is often seen in local sports, but it “can be the same sense of pride for people in community that they have something that is revered and respected” in the arts.
Musicians don’t always do a good job engaging the community about who they are and what they do, he said, so those in the community are probably familiar and aware that the symphony exists, but aren’t engaged or connected with it.
The majority of Great Falls Symphony musicians live in Great Falls and are proud of what they do as musicians, Horrocks said. It’s something that can be showcased and ties back to music education, since like him, concert goers are more likely to come back for another concert, listen more intently or research a musician or piece, if they understand what’s happening or know something about music.
“There’s this wall that exists sometimes” between the public and musicians, particularly in classical music, and it’s something they’ve done to themselves, Horrocks said, and they have a responsibility to do more to educate the public.
He said he doesn’t want people to feel like they’re dumb if they don’t know something about music.
“We’re surrounded by [music] whether we’re aware of it or not,” Horrocks said, and musicians have an obligation to explain why it’s unique, relevant and important.
“Music should be fun,” he said, as they get a group of people together to give some time and play some music. “We feel great about that. That’s our job, that’s amazing that that’s our job.”
If people can see them enjoying what they do, it’s helpful and they need to humanize musicians, he said.
Often, the big names in music are put on a pedestal, but they’re people with regular lives in addition to their irregular talents.
An example, he said, is Beethoven, who is a huge name in classical music, but he didn’t like to shower and people of his day talked about how he smelled.
It’s funny, Horrocks said, and humaizes those talented composers and musicians, making them more accessible to the public.
Most of the time, Horrocks said, musicians are cool, decent people with a talent.
