Meet Our Emeritus Conductor
Austin Thorpe
Former Conductor
Austin Thorpe
Austin Thorpe grew up in San Diego, CA before moving to Utah to study choral music. He is a 2017 recipient of the Sorensen Legacy Award for Excellence in Music Education, an award presented by the Utah State Office of Education. He currently teaches at Herriman High School, where he started his teaching career in the fall of 2011.
Under his direction, the HHS Chamber Singers performed at the UMEA mid-winter conference in February 2015, and have received straight superior scores at their region and state festivals the last five years, being one of two Utah high school chamber choirs to maintain this current streak. The HHS Vivace were featured performers at the 2017 UMEA mid-winter conference, rising to prominence as the premier high school women’s ensemble in Utah. The HHS A Cappella Choir has received superior scores at their region and state festivals the last three years. The Chamber Singers won the 2015 Classical 89 Christmas competition, and were featured on their station in March of 2016 for their live Highway 89 program. In 2016 Mr. Thorpe comissioned composer Bradley Nelson to write a piece for the Chamber Singers and for 2017 he commisioned Jane Fjedsted to write a piece for Vivace and composer Christopher Bradford to write a piece for the Chamber Singers, establishing a tradition of commissioning new works.
In addition, he has conducted the Christ United Methodist Church Chancel Choir since the fall of 2010, and was adjunct faculty at Westminster College conducting the Westminster Chorale from 2011-2015. He conducted the Herriman Orchestra from 2014-2016 and has conducted the newly formed Kensington Singers for their innagural year. Since 2013, he has served as the Repertoire and Resource chair for High Schools for the Utah Chapter of the American Choral Directors Assocation, and on the UMEA Choral Committee.
He earned a Master of Music Degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Utah under the direction of Dr. Barlow Bradford. Previous to this he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Choral Music Education from the University of Utah studying with Dr. Jessica Nápoles. He has studied conducting with Barlow Bradford, Brady Allred (both grand prize winners of the European Grand Prix Choral Competition), and James Jordan; receiving further instruction from Dale Warland, Volker Hempling, and Jonathan Velasco.
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He sang for Dr. Brady Allred in the Salt Lake Choral Artists organization from 2006-2011, competing with the award winning Salt Lake Vocal Artists in Spain in 2010 and for the 9thWorld Symposium on Choral Music in Puerto Madryn, Argentina in 2011. Mr. Thorpe also sang with the internationally recognized University of Utah Singers for five years under Brady Allred, traveling to nine European countries and Israel. In 2009 he competed with the Singers in the prestigious Martoberdorf, Germany International Chamber Choir competition, where they won first prize. He has also sung under Dr. Barlow Bradford with the Utah Symhpony Chorus. Starting in the fall of 2017 he will be continuing his music study at Florida State University as a PhD candidate in Choral Conducting/Music Education, studying with André Thomas, Kevin Fenton, Judy Boweres, and Clifford Madsen. Austin and his wife Nicole are parents of four children: Calvin, Deric, Anne, and Graham.
