Events
Chorale Series
For a Better World
Saturday
Nov 14, 2026
7:30PM
Sunday
Nov 15, 2026
3:00PM
St. Patrick Co-Cathedral
215 N 31st St
$10-40
The concert explores the question: What makes for a better world? In the Baroque era, composers often looked beyond this life toward heaven, as in J.S. Bach’s Ruht wohl, which offers solace and hope in the future. Modern composers such as Elaine Hagenberg and James Deignan turn our attention to the present and the power of love, gratitude, and action, showing us that building a better world begins with us in the here and now.
The concert will showcase around 70 minutes of music.
DR. STEVEN HART | CONDUCTOR
Dr. Steven Hart, now in his eighteenth season as the Billings Symphony Chorale Director, is a professor of music at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, where he teaches private voice, vocal pedagogy, and conducting. He completed his PhD at the University of Colorado, his MM at the University of South Dakota, and his BM at Western Michigan University.
Dr. Hart is active as a guest conductor and has presented master classes and clinics in California, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. He is a three-time guest conductor at the Annual International Conducting Workshop in Varna, Bulgaria. He also enjoys mentoring young conductors in conducting technique and repertoire.
An accomplished author and presenter on choral music, Dr. Hart serves as the Collegiate Repertoire and Standards Chair for the Montana Choral Directors Association. In preparing music ensembles for performance, Hart combines sports psychology, neurolinguistics, theater, music history, and vocal pedagogy, to create the conditions for peak aesthetic experience. He recently received the Outstanding Montana Choral Educator award for excellence in teaching, student connection, leadership, and community advocacy.
Dr. Hart comes from a family of professional musicians. He began his performing career at age 9 in the title role of the musical Oliver and at age 10 performed the title role of the Menotti opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors. Hart enjoys hiking, skiing, tennis, and international travel.