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Together In Hope Project has announced that GRAMMY©-nominated conductor Brian A. Schmidt has been named Executive and Artistic Director.
The board of Together In Hope Project has announced the appointment of GRAMMY©-nominated conductor Brian A. Schmidt as the new full-time Executive and Artistic Director of the organization. Together In Hope Project is a nonprofit whose mission is changing lives through music with a purpose: focusing the transformative power of music on issues of our shared humanity. Schmidt begins his tenure as Executive and Artistic Director in July 2022 and his first artistic projects will be in 2023.
Schmidt’s appointment concludes a national search to find a candidate capable of managing both roles which the board believed would be critical for this new phase of organizational growth.
The Together In Hope Project was founded by Gary Aamodt and Celia Ellingson in late 2017. They funded the commission of Kim André Arnesen’s Holy Spirit Mass to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. During 2017, Aamodt and Ellingson sought and received an invitation from the Vatican to perform this music in Rome for the 501st Reformation anniversary. The Together In Hope Choir was created to bring this music to Rome.
The Together In Hope Project saw meteoric success in its first project and began planning its next project, “The Stranger”. “As the Board was planning for the future, we were faced with a choice,” says Gary Aamodt, Board Chair and co-founder of Together In Hope Project. “We could bring our 2022 project to fruition and be done, or we could try to keep the momentum going, build the organization, and expand our local presence and impact in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. After much reflection, we decided to move forward and conduct a national search. We knew we were on the right track when we found Brian.”
Schmidt is an established conductor with two decades of experience in the choral field—founding, developing, conducting, and leading choirs at universities, churches, and in both community and professional non-profit organizations. He is currently Associate Professor of Choral Music and Director of Graduate Choral Studies at Baylor University where he founded the International Choral Conducting Masterclass (ICCM), an intensive summer program providing training for the next generation of young conductors. He has released eight commercial recordings, and received three GRAMMY© nominations with the South Dakota Chorale, a professional choir he founded and conducted in Sioux Falls, SD.
Schmidt’s tenure as Executive and Artistic Director begins July 2022 and artistic programming for 2023 will be announced later this year. Current Artistic Director Mark Stover had previously shared his intentions to leave the organization and was praised by Aamodt as having “done a terrific job for us and helped bring the organization a long way.” Stover will lead Together In Hope Project’s world premiere performance of The Stranger in Trondheim, Norway, this summer and in Minneapolis-St. Paul in October. Commenting on his successor, Stover stated, “I hold Brian in high regard. He is an excellent choice for this full-time position to lead the Together In Hope Project into the future.”
“There is a lot of excitement about Brian taking on this new role. It was clear to all of us that he was the right person for this new position,” says Celia Ellingson, Board member and co-founder. “He’s a superb conductor with a unique and inventive approach to programming, leadership, and building organizations. We are thrilled to imagine what’s next for Together In Hope Project.”
Reflecting on his new role leading the organization, Schmidt said, “Our world is crying out for healing, and we are reminded daily that we live in a divided society. The arts are a critical tool for us to better understand the world around us and to better understand one another. Through Together In Hope Project, I see the great work already done—and great potential. I am inspired to serve the Project’s mission to change lives through the transformative power of music. And as a native Minnesotan, my family and I are eager to return home and begin engaging in this work in a community we hold dear.”
For more information about the Together In Hope Project, visit togetherinhopeproject.org.
Brian A. Schmidt is a GRAMMY©-nominated conductor with a twenty-year career focused on developing meaningful musical experiences for audiences and artists alike. Schmidt has a passion for championing unsung musical heroes—past and present—and is known for presenting modern premieres of rarely heard and newly discovered composers. He is currently Associate Professor of Choral Music and Director of Graduate Choral Studies at Baylor University where he founded the International Choral Conducting Masterclass (ICCM), an intensive summer program providing training for the next generation of young conductors.
Schmidt founded the South Dakota Chorale in 2009, conducting and leading the organization through rapid growth and recognition. The Chorale released several acclaimed recordings which Gramophone Magazine described as “luminous,” Audiophile Audition called “stunning,” and the ensemble was hailed as “one of the most exciting choral ensembles in America” by Sounds Choral (WWFM). Their 2017 recording of Tyberg Masses, received three GRAMMY© nominations including ‘Best Engineered Album, Classical,’ ‘Best Surround Sound, Classical,’ and ‘Best Choral Performance.’ His discography includes recordings found on Pentatone, MSR Classics, Gothic Records, and Oxford University Press Music.
As a guest conductor, Schmidt has appeared with St. Jacob’s Choir of Stockholm, Phoenix Chorale, Magnum Chorum, Boston Early Music Festival, The Rolling Stones, and at ACDA’s National Conference. In 2022, Schmidt will guest conduct the British Colombia Honour Choir in Vancouver and in 2023, he will make his Lincoln Center debut leading the choral music of Ola Gjeilo, presented by Distinguished Concerts International New York. More at brianschmidtmusic.com.
Together In Hope Project is a U.S. nonprofit organization whose mission is changing lives through music with a purpose: we focus the transformative power of music on issues of our shared humanity. To carry out this mission, Together In Hope Project designs projects that elevate important and relevant issues through music to awaken and activate people of conscience to work toward a world where all are respected, included, and welcome.
The Together In Hope Choir, currently under the direction of Artistic Director Mark Stover, is a community of premier artists from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The Together In Hope Choir is known for its artistically excellent and spiritually moving performances of “music with a purpose.”
Its current project, “The Stranger,” is being developed in partnership with USA for UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency). The world premiere performance of a new work by Kim André Arnesen, The Stranger, will be the opening concert of the Trondheim International Olavsfest on July 28, 2022, in Trondheim, Norway. U.S. premiere performances will be October 15-16, 2022, in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Media Contact: Jen Rogers / [email protected]
