GREAT FALLS — The Great Falls Symphony will welcome the fifth of six conductor candidates to lead the orchestra on Saturday at the Mansfield Theater as they search for a permanent replacement for Grant Harville.
Ian Passmore says a strong sense of community piqued his interest in the Montana opening.
Tim McGonigal reports - watch the video here:
Passmore’s journey to the podium wasn’t a traditional one. When the band he later played with in college came to his elementary school, he was hooked on the idea.
"I knew in the way that most little kids kind of want to be astronauts and all this sort of fantastical stuff. I knew I had to be a conductor," Passmore said.
At around 8 years old, his grandmother encouraged him to read everything he could about conducting classical music. In junior high and high school, under the urging of the band director, he tried his hand at the craft.
"I always say that I actually was a conductor first, because I actually learned how to conduct a full couple of years before I learned an instrument," Passmore said.
The North Carolina native, who serves on the conducting staff of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, has friends in both the Bozeman and Missoula Symphonies. He says a strong sense of community was a big reason he applied for the job in Great Falls.
"I think that, strong symphony orchestra is really integral, to that, to having a strong community to developing that sense of family," Passmore said.
Passmore leads the youth orchestra program at the Charlotte Symphony and says he’s impressed with the Great Falls Symphony’s commitment to education, which he says is a concept that can benefit all ages.
"We hear education, we think kids. But how many adults are out there that don't know, about classical music or what the offerings are or what music can do in their lives, in the community?" Passmore said.
His band director who encouraged his conducting ambitions is also one of his biggest musical influences.
"His name is Philip Riggs. He was, the very first recipient of the Grammy Award for Music education when the Grammy Foundation started giving out Grammy Awards," Passmore said.
Watch the extended interview here:
He compares his musical philosophy to a big tent, not just focusing on the classics, but expanding musical horizons for concertgoers.
"Maybe they want to come to hear a movie concert or a video game, or a holiday concert or a rock band with the orchestra or something like that. So it's looking for ways, to provide other opportunities, while not already diminishing the things that are really important," Passmore said.
On Saturday night at 7:30, he’ll lead the orchestra in a program called “Echoes of Resilience,” featuring the symphonic choir. It starts with “Our New Day Begun” by Omar Thomas.
"That'll be followed by the Brahms 'Schicksalslied', which features the symphonic choir. Nancy Hill Cobbs' shades and illumination is at the end of the first half, and then Sibelius Fifth Symphony is our grand finale," Passmore said.
Passmore will also be available to meet the audience during a pre-concert talk at 6:30 in the theater.
This article has been lightly edited with the assistance of AI for clarity, syntax, and grammar.
