MUSICIAN SPOTLIGHT
Grant Harville
Reflections on Music, Community, Leadership, and Legacy
PAM LEMELIN
RURAL BEGINNINGS
Tell us about your upbringing and how it shaped your journey into the world of classical music.
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I grew up in nowhere Wisconsin, quite literally: it was a house without a street address that my dad built from the ground up. On one hand, I could describe my career journey as a rags-to-riches story, but on the other hand, I could say that my career in music was fostered in a more traditional way because of my family’s advocacy for music and education. Both perspectives are true. My dad grew up on a traditional dairy farm in the Midwest, while my
mom’s dad was a professor of religion at Oberlin College, where he wrote books about New England Protestant leadership and played the cello.
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My great-grandmother attended college in the late 1800s, which was quite rare for women at that time. Despite my dad coming from a long line of small farmers and my mom coming from the intellectual crowd, it was music that brought my parents together. They met because they both studied voice at the University of Wisconsin. After college, they were both semi-professional musicians; my dad was a church choir director, and my mom taught voice at a local university.
They made sure that my older brother and sister and I had lots of musical exposure from a young age. I’ve been singing since before I can remember, and I took piano lessons on a baby grand piano at home, and I also had instruction on viola and oboe. Involvement with classical music was something expected of me—not forced, but it was part of our life. We went to concerts, and all of us were required to play instruments and join the band or orchestra. I remember when my mom took me to see Dizzy Gillespie when I was a kid, not long before he died. She told me they were im provising, and I thought, “How can they just make it up?” It completely blew my mind. My siblings were always in musicals, so I was very familiar with that world. When I was 12, we moved to Madison, Wisconsin where artistic events were always happening at the university, and it was there that I got serious about playing tuba.
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LEADERSHIP AND ARTISTRY
What is your approach on the podium to producing artistically excellent performances?
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Leading the Great Falls Symphony through these different chapters has taught me the importance of balancing meticulous preparation with flexibility. I plan my rehearsals thoroughly, but I know that unexpected challenges will arise, and being able to adapt in the moment is crucial. My background as a tuba player helped me develop an ear for the ensemble as a whole—not just one part. That has been invaluable on the podium, where awareness and responsiveness guide every decision.
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One thing I pride myself on is sticking to the schedule I set. While flexibility is important, if you stray too far from your plan, you’re just borrowing time from other pieces that need it. I try to keep rehearsals within five minutes of the planned timing, ensuring each piece gets the attention it deserves.
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It may sound strangely mathematical, but I start by evaluating each piece—noting its length and assigning a difficulty score. I combine these factors to calculate how much rehearsal time each piece should receive. It’s an effective tactic and usually works out well. Most concerts allow for about 650 minutes of rehearsal, so I plan accordingly.
LOOKING BACK
What do you feel are your most significant contributions to the Great Falls Symphony during your tenure?
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It’s easy for me to look back at particular individual performances with pride—the Chaplin films, the Supaman collaboration, some especially nice Haydn concerts—but there are two things that I’m particularly proud of. The first is the expansion of our youth programs: We added a chamber music opportunity to our youth orchestra programming, which demands of young people a combination of collaboration and independence that hardly any other activity, in or out of music, provides. (It also allowed us to establish a percussion ensemble—a mainstay of any great youth orchestra.)
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A rehearsal during the pandemic, October 2020
Conducting the Youth Orchestra in 2018
Supaman
April 21, 2021
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Having lived in such a remote place, where the neighbors were acres away and unmapped woods out the back door, probably shaped me more than I know. Certainly I didn’t come to music as a career expectation or a way to realize ambition; it was about connection to the people around you.
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I think growing up in such a rural place is part of what brought me to Great Falls. Certainly it’s never felt “small”—when I was a kid, a population of 60,000 was the big city. I’ve always been drawn to the idea of running a smaller size community-centered Symphony where we could focus on doing our best work instead of the necessity of appealing to an international spotlight. That’s what drew me to Great Falls—a place to invest deeply and do meaningful work. (Also, I’ve always been a northern boy–the cold never bothered me anyway.) Concentrating on what truly matters has always been the most rewarding approach for me, and Great Falls has allowed me to do that.
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A CONDUCTOR IS BORN
What led you to transition from being a tuba player to stepping onto the podium as a conductor?
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My transition from tuba player to conductor was entirely unplanned. I was forced to take a conducting class in college, and something clicked. Suddenly, I realized I had been preparing for this all my life—studying conductors, analyzing scores, and understanding orchestration. It just made sense. My first opportunity came by conducting Gilbert and Sullivan productions, and from there, more doors began to open.
EMBRACING GREAT FALLS
Reflecting on your tenure in Great Falls, what moments stand out as pivotal in shaping your approach to leading the Symphony?
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When I first came to Great Falls, I was struck by the sense of community and the passion people had for the Symphony. I wasn’t looking to change everything overnight; instead, I wanted to understand and be part of the culture that already existed here.
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Looking back at my time with the Great Falls Symphony, it feels like my tenure has been shaped by three distinct and segmented periods, rather than a smooth trajectory.
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I arrived in the summer of 2017 and officially started in September, giving me about two and a half years before March of 2020, when the pandemic forced us to change our focus. The next two and a half years were marked by COVID-19 and its challenges. We shifted from regular performances to recorded programs, smaller audiences, and limited ticket sales or free concerts.
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Even as we gradually returned, our programming had to remain flexible, with smaller orchestras and built-in options.
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The third phase was shaped by a more personal event: becoming a dad, which, as any parent knows, gets you thinking in new ways about the future and the shape of your life.
Kim, Mathilde, and Grant during the 2023 holidays
​​The other actually took place behind the scenes: Establishing a master agreement—a concrete set of rights and policies—for all of our musicians. Particularly when confronted with COVID, it became clear that governance and policy was giving us trouble, and we needed to do a better job establishing exactly who we were and what our expectations were. This is something that took several years (and will likely continue to be tweaked into the future), with tons of long hours from our musicians and staff.
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It wasn’t glamorous work, but it was essential to ensure that musicians had clear understandings and that the system ran smoothly. It’s the kind of change that doesn’t make headlines, but it profoundly affects the Symphony’s overall health and ability to build.
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As I prepare for my final season, I look back with deep gratitude for the journey we’ve shared. The past few years, especially navigating the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, were about resilience and adaptation.
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We found new ways to keep music alive, even when it meant performing for smaller audiences or adapting our programs. I remain in awe of the devotion this community has to its Symphony.
LOOKING AHEAD
What advice would you offer to the next music director stepping into your role?
To whoever steps into this role next, I’d say: Come in ready to dream big. This community is eager for bold, innovative ideas, and they’ll support you if you lead with authenticity and respect. Don’t be afraid to challenge norms and push boundaries—but do so while listening to the voices around you.
To the people of Great Falls, thank you for embracing me and sharing in this incredible journey. The Symphony belongs to everyone who believes in the power of music to inspire and connect.
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Keep nurturing this great Symphony. Music thrives on collective passion, and as long as we continue to cherish it, the future will be bright.
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–– Grant Harville
Youth Orchestra chamber ensemble November 2022
Thank you!
Your gifts to the Symphony are an investment in the future of our community. Your support will continue to enrich the lives of our youth and ensure the vibrancy of the Great Falls cultural landscape.
Join us in this harmonious journey, and let’s shape a brighter future through music.