Wasatch Chorale

26/11/2025

Come join us in our concert next week with the TSO. Tickets can be purchased here: http://thetso.org/

Timpanogos Symphony Orchestra. Inspiring, Educating, and Building Community with Classical Music.

13/11/2025

Are you excited yet!? One (or two) more days until you get to see these talented musicians in the flesh!

Our current director, Alison Unsworth, has been involved in choral music her whole life. She earned her bachelor’s degree in choral education from Brigham Young University and her master’s degree in choral conducting from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.

She has taught music in elementary, middle, and high schools, and has directed community adult and children’s choirs in North Carolina and Utah. Alison is an active choral singer, having sung with the Durham Civic Choral Society, the Vocal Arts Ensemble, and the Duke University Collegium Musicum in North Carolina, as well as the Utah Chamber Artists, the Salt Lake Vocal Artists, and the Choir of the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Alison has toured throughout the United States, China, and Europe as a choral singer. She took Wasatch Chorale on tour to New York City for the Chorale’s 50th anniversary in 2025.

For over thirty years she taught private piano, voice, and conducting lessons, and is a frequent accompanist. In addition to the Wasatch Chorale, she currently conducts the Sterling Singers, a community choir based in the Salt Lake Valley. Additionally, Alison recently began working on the new hymnbook project for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She and her husband, Andy, have five children.

If you didn't know much about Alison before now, you may have recognized her name because of her husband, Andrew Unsworth, who is a Tabernacle Organist at Temple Square. Now that you've read her impressive background, you can see what amazing talent their family holds! (Did I mention they met at BYU in a music class?)

We are so blessed to be under the direction of such a talented conductor, and have leaned so much from Alison!

Have you bought your tickets yet?? Get them now before they sell out!!

12/11/2025

We're almost caught up now!

Jennifer Heder, Artistic Director from 2017-2019, earned her bachelor’s degree in music education in 2013 and her master’s in choral conducting in 2016 from Brigham Young University. While studying, she was a member of BYU University Singers, Concert Choir, and Women’s Chorus. She served as alto section leader for multiple choirs and toured with BYU Singers to China in 2015 and Arizona in 2016.

While completing her graduate work she was able to teach various conducting courses offered through the university and direct the University Chorale. She was also the graduate assistant for Singers, Women's Chorus, and Concert Choir. She was the cofounder of Utah Collegiate Singers and the co-conductor from spring 2013 through spring 2014.

During the years the Wasatch Chorale was under Jennifer’s direction, the choir performed masterworks including Schubert’s Mass in G and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass. (We are singing a selection from this Mass this weekend!) The choir collaborated with the Utah Valley Symphony on performing Schubert’s Mass, and also collaborated with the Provo High School Chamber Singers and the Sego Lilly Singers, a children's choir.

At the same time Jennifer was artistic director for Wasatch Chorale, she was also the director of choirs at Spanish Fork High School where she taught the Chamber Singers, Concert Choir, Men’s Chorus, and Women’s Chorus. She also taught music theory and history classes through the National AP and UVU Concurrent Enrollment programs. She was a member and active participant in the professional music organizations UMEA and ACDA.

​Jennifer has been the director of Choral Studies and the City Singers at Fresno City College since 2022, where she has helped the choral and voice programs evolve. She earned her doctorate of musical arts degree in choral conducting at Michigan State.

Did you catch the piece we're singing this concert listed in the bio above? Also look out for a fun revivalist song by Aaron Copland!

Who has been your favorite conductor we've learned about so far?

11/11/2025

Drum roll please... Our next guest conductor joining the choir this weekend is the one and only Reed Criddle! We're almost caught up to the present, as Dr. Criddle conducted the choir from 2011-2017.

Reed Criddle earned his doctorate of musical arts degree in conducting at the University of Michigan and his master’s of music in choral conducting at the Eastman School of Music. From Stanford University, he received his master’s degree in East Asian Studies and his bachelor’s degree in vocal performance and Chinese.

During Reed’s eight-year tenure, he was instrumental in elevating the artistic profile of the community choir. His leadership was characterized by expanding the Chorale's repertoire to include major works with orchestra, such as Mozart's Requiem, Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem, and Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, alongside sophisticated a ca****la literature. He also challenged the ensemble with complex and diverse programming, fostering significant musical growth among the singers. The Wasatch Chorale solidified its role as a vital cultural institution within the Wasatch Front, providing high-quality choral music experiences for both performers and audiences.

Reed is professor of music and director of choral activities at Utah Valley University, where he conducts the Chamber Choir and Deep Green (tenor-bass choir), and teaches conducting, lyric diction, and voice.

In Fall 2024, Reed was a visiting professor of choral music and interim associate director of choirs at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, where he conducted the University Choir, Michigan Youth Chamber Singers, and the 100-voiced University of Michigan Men's Glee Club in its 165th season.

Named a U.S. Fulbright Senior Scholar to Taiwan in 2018, Reed is an ardent advocate for multiculturalism and a foremost ethnomusicologist of Chinese Buddhist chant. His compositions and arrangements span a wide range of sacred and secular topics and have been performed worldwide by a large variety of ensembles.

What an impressive resume! We have had the privilege of performing with Dr. Criddle's UVU groups in recent seasons as well, and he is a delight. The two pieces he selected for us this concert have incredible messages - you'll definitely want to listen to the lyrics in "Choose Something Like a Star" and "I Know I've Been Changed."

How many conductors do you think we have left??

10/11/2025

I bet you've been wondering, was that all of the conductors? Where is the rest of the information? Well you don't have to look far, because here is a spotlight on our next director who will be joining us this weekend!

Dyanne Riley was our Artistic Director from 2005-2010, and is a native of San Diego, CA. She earned her bachelor’s degree in music from San Diego State University. She earned her master’s degree in music from Brigham Young University. During her graduate studies, she directed BYU’s Women’s Chorus and University Chorale for a year each. She began teaching at Utah Valley University in January, 1994. When she retired in 2010, she was the director of choral activities, conducted the auditioned choirs, and taught advanced choral conducting, advanced music theory, voice, and other courses.

In 2004, Dyanne was appointed as the assistant director of Wasatch Chorale, a 120-voice community choir in Orem, Utah, and as artistic director from 2005–2010. Under her leadership, 48 members of the chorale accepted the invitation of MidAmerica Productions to travel to New York City, rehearse for three days, then sing Duruflé’s Requiem in Carnegie Hall as part of a 250-voice choir. A second invitation to sing in Carnegie Hall came in May, 2008, where the choir sang Rutter’s Requiem, under the baton of John Rutter, himself. Finally, she took the choir on tour to England and Scotland in 2010.

While in Utah, Dyanne sang in the Tabernacle Choir on Temple Square for ten years. For five years she also served as the vocal specialist to the new Tabernacle Choir members studying in the Training School on Temple Square.

After retiring, Dyanne and her husband, Mike, served two missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They moved to Gilbert, Arizona in 2015. They are the parents of 5 children, 16 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren.

So many cool things! Now tell me, what is your favorite fact you just learned about Dyanne??

09/11/2025

Have you been waiting with baited breath for our next spotlight??

J. Arden Hopkin was our Artistic Director from 1999-2005. An accidental enrollment in high school choir set Arden on a career as a singer that has encompassed the operatic and musical theater stage, oratorio, the concert hall, and the recital platform. He earned his doctorate of musical arts and his performer’s certificate from the Eastman School of Music, his master’s degree in music from the University of North Texas, and his bachelor’s degree in music from Brigham Young University.

In 1999, Arden was appointed as the new artistic director of the Utah Valley Choral Society. The Board of Trustees approved a shorter name for the choir—Wasatch Chorale. In 2001, the chorale performed Mozart’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Jerold Ottley. A CD featuring original arrangements of folk songs and spirituals was released by the choir, and concerts were performed in St. George, Utah and Sacramento, California.

For many years, he served as the head of vocal studies at Brigham Young University and taught studio voice, French and Spanish lyric diction, and vocal pedagogy in the School of Music, where he spent his time training the next generation of voice teachers. He retired in 2014.
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For 18 months, 2014–16, he and his wife, Lorraine, filled a volunteer service assignment in Northern Israel under the auspices of the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. They volunteered in public and private schools teaching English through music. He also presented master classes for the University of Haifa and the Northern Galilee Chorale.

The two pieces Arden selected for next week's concert are really special! The first is from the Mozart Requiem, mentioned above, which is very stunning. The second is an arrangement of "I am Bound for the Promised Land" by locally famous composer, Robert Millet, who actually stepped in to conduct Wasatch Chorale when we were in between conductors!

What song are you looking forward to most so far in this upcoming concert?

07/11/2025

Here's our next spotlight! This was our second conductor, and if you come to our concert next week you will get a chance to not only meet her, but see her conduct the choir in two of her all-time favorite pieces the choir performed under her tutelage. If you are a Mack Wilberg or John Rutter fan, you won't want to miss this concert!

Lois Johnson (Artistic Director from 1980-1999) became a musician studying piano and violin as a child. She continued in her musical interests by earning her bachelor’s degree in music and her master’s degree in music from Brigham Young University. She also did post-graduate work at Indiana University. While at BYU she was a graduate teaching assistant and voice instructor.

Just as the name of the Civic Oratorio Society was changed to Utah Valley Choral Society in 1980, Lois Johnson became the director. She retained the baton for eighteen years and established a yearly concert series that included a bit of everything—introduction of the works of local composers and arrangers, Broadway show tunes, choral favorites, oratorios, and classical masterworks and they sang in Provo, Springville, Orem, Park City, and Midway.

Lois instituted Choral Society’s first annual Messiah Sing-In in 1983, which was held in the Provo Tabernacle that year, and continued for the next sixteen years. She also organized many choir festivals and choir firesides that included choir voices from all over the valley.

The Choral Society performed in the musical “Threads of Glory,” the Temple Square concert series, the Mozart Festival in Midway, and in Provo’s Freedom Festival in a musical created by Lex de Azevado. Concerts included Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte, Brahms’ Requiem, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mozart’s Requiem, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
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Lois was the director of choral activities at American Fork High School and Lone Peak High School. She also enjoys sports, reading, gardening, and . . . music.

What do you have in common with Lois?

06/11/2025

History time!

When the Wasatch Chorale was first started, it went by a different name, and had a different (followed by several different) conductor.

Jacob Bos, Artistic Director 1974-1980, was a native of Groningen, the Netherlands. He studied vocal and instrumental music at the Groningen School of Music and at the Royal Conservatory of Music, in The Hague. He was a bassoonist with the Dutch Royal Navy Orchestra and later principal bassoonist for the Haarlem Orchestra. He founded and directed the Haarlem School of Music and the Zaamdan School of Music. He played chamber music with Isaac Stern and Yehudi Menuhin. He also performed with other orchestras in Germany, France, and Italy. He was a member and president of the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam from 1941 to 1950.

He taught at Brigham Young University as a professor of music and attained emeritus status. He was also the originator and first conductor of the Utah Valley Symphony and the Utah Valley Children’s Chorus. Jacob also founded the Civic Oratorio Society, which was renamed the Utah Valley Choral Society, and recently officially renamed the Wasatch Chorale.
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Of note, during his tenure, the Civic Oratorio Society sang Handel’s Judas Maccabeus, Bach Cantatas #1 and #80 in a Christmas concert with the Provo High School Acapella Choir, Mendelssohn’s St. Paul Oratorio, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Faure’s Requiem. The group often collaborated with other professional musicians and high school student musicians.

We are grateful for the efforts of Jacob in starting the wonderful choir we love today!

06/11/2025

FIVE amazing conductors return home for ONE concert highlighting their favorite songs with the Wasatch Chorale. Who are you coming to see? Nov 14 & 15, at the Provo Community Congregational United Church of Christ. WasatchChorale.org/tickets

23/10/2025

All former Wasatch Chorale directors return to the podium for a once-in-a-lifetime tribute to the music and memories that shaped our choir over five decades! Come see which pieces were these directors' favorites.
Choose from one of two concert nights at 7:00 PM, or select the deluxe package which includes the Saturday concert at 7pm AND the pre-concert lecture at 6pm where we'll discuss the 50-year history of the Wasatch Chorale with all the past conductors - plus reserved premium seating at the front included!
You don't want to miss this unique concert 🎵 .

Pre-Concert Lecture: Saturday, Nov 15, 6pm Concert: Friday or Saturday, Nov 14 & 15, 7pm Location: 175 University Ave., Provo, UT 84601 ​All former Wasatch Chorale directors return to the...

09/06/2025

Going live at 11:45am
Mountain time

07/06/2025

Join us for our concerts in New York City.