Porter: Three Decades of Excellence 

Tom Porter has dedicated his life to the promotion and development of the arts in this region, composing, arranging, directing, teaching and performing music in a myriad of ensembles and events over the last 40 years. The Mandan, North Dakota, native has initiated and collaborated on concerts that have touched the lives of people across the state of North Dakota.

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                                                                                      This year marks Porter’s 33rd year as director of the                                                                                                  Bismarck-Mandan Civic Chorus. In this capacity, he                                                                                                  expanded arts opportunities to new audiences,                                                                                                        developing and directing annual programs introducing                                                                                            young people to opera and choral music, conducting                                                                                              run-out concerts to small communities across western                                                                                              North Dakota, and collaborating with a wide variety of                                                                                            arts organizations from children’s choirs to symphony                                                                                                orchestras, from art schools to dance schools. Porter                                                                                                began his musical journey as a teenager, writing and                                                                                                arranging music for the Miss North Dakota pageant                                                                                                  under the direction of Jane Gray Stewart, performing

                                                                                      with the newly formed Bismarck-Mandan Symphony                                                                                                Orchestra and Bismarck-Mandan Civic Chorus, and                                                                                                  composing songs and directing local church groups. He                                                                                          graduated with honors from the University of Mary, DePaul University in Chicago, the University of Notre Dame, and the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. 

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Porter was the Director of the Office of Worship for the Diocese of Bismarck for 12 years. During that time, he founded a diocesan choir and provided in-service training for parish musicians throughout western North Dakota. He directed music for the 75th and 100th anniversaries of the Diocese, as well as the installation/ordination of three bishops, and served as a representative to the national board of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. Porter hosted two regional conventions of the National Pastoral Musicians, influencing the lives and ministry of hundreds of church musicians from the Midwest.

From 1994 to 2008, Porter was a professor of music at Bismarck State College. During his tenure at BSC, he revised the music curriculum, expanded the department, oversaw the building of the Leach Music Center, developed the BSC at the Belle concert series, and began the BSC ChoirFest.  His students from BSC have gone on to careers as professional performers, teachers and composers. He chaired the committee that coordinated the Bismarck regional performances of the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Leonard Slatkin; received a Larry Remele Fellowship from the North Dakota Humanities Council to research and present programs on American Folk Songs; and coordinated state-wide performances of the American Masterworks project funded by the National Endowment of the Arts.

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From 2008 to 2024, Porter served as a Professor of Music and Department Chair at the University of Mary, where he directed Concert Choir and Vocal Jazz, taught music theory, conducting, and sacred music, and founded the Master of Music program. His choirs toured the upper midwest as well as international tours to Austria, Italy, Spain, and France, including performances at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice and St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

An avid composer for most of his life, Porter has written compositions in a variety of genres and for a variety of ensembles from classical solos to commercial jingles, from orchestral overtures to church hymns.  Presently, his compositional efforts are focused on choral music, both secular and sacred, and often feature lyrics that promote an appreciation for North Dakota’s cultural heritage. Prime examples of this musical influence include Prairie Sketches for solo piano, five movements that depict eras of North Dakota, including “The Land,” “Dakotah,” “Homesteading,” “Dustbowl,” and “Centennial;” Songs of the Prairies, an eight-movement set of pieces for choir and piano with texts by North Dakota pioneer women; and a set of American folksongs for women’s choir, violin, and piano.

Many organizations have commissioned works by Porter, including the North Dakota Music Teachers’ Association, Bismarck-Mandan Civic Chorus, National Association of Pastoral Musicians, San Francisco Girls Chorus, Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra, Missouri Valley Chamber Orchestra, Central Dakota Children’s Choir, and high school and church choirs across the region. He was twice appointed as a composer-in-residence with the Faith Partners program of the American Composers Forum.  His music is performed world-wide in churches and concert halls, including Carnegie Hall and Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. He also contributed to the soundtracks of two documentaries by North Dakota Public Broadcasting, Prairie Churches and Homesteading.

Partners program of the American Composers Forum.  His music is performed world-wide in churches and concert halls, including Carnegie Hall and Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. He also contributed to the soundtracks of two documentaries by North Dakota Public Broadcasting, Prairie Churches and Homesteading.

A published composer for over thirty years, Porter’s works are included in a number of major church hymnals and in the catalogues of publishers including GIA Publications, Heritage Music Press, Laurel Press, Roger Dean Music, Alliance Publications, Choristers Guild, and Concordia Publishing Company, including:

Lux aeterna (Pepper Music Editor’s Choice), 2012

A Prairie Storm, 2008

Die Engel, 2008

Ten Thousand Miles, 2007

Cripple Creek, 2007

O nata lux (Pepper Music Editor’s Choice), 2005

People of the Willows (Pepper Music Editor’s Choice), 2004

Saw You Never, 2004

Snow/Summer, 2004

White Promise, 2002

All Good Gifts, 2002

What Color Is the Music (Pepper Music Editor’s Choice), 2001

By My Side (A Wedding Song), 1988

Assembly Mass, GIA Publications, 1986

Porter served as musical director of six productions at Sleepy Hollow Summer Theater in Bismarck, and he has produced, directed or performed in benefit productions for Young Life, Ruth Meiers Hospitality House, Abused Adult Resource Center, United Way, God's Child Project, and the ND Mental Health Association.  He has served on local, state, regional, and national boards, including the North Dakota Council on the Arts, Central Dakota Children’s Choir, Bismarck-Mandan Civic Chorus, National Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions, and the American Choral Directors Association. He has presented papers and workshops at state, regional and national conferences, and has conducted honor choirs throughout the Midwest

Tom Porter’s musical contributions have influenced people around the world, yet he chooses to live, teach, write, and perform in North Dakota. Thousands of students have benefitted from his passion for the arts, and people and communities across the state have experienced the beauty of performances of music that he has written or directed. He serves his community and North Dakota as an artist, educator, and resource person.

Porter is the son of Ken and Pat Porter of Mandan. Tom and Jenifer Porter live in Bismarck and have five children and nine grandchildren.

HONORS AND AWARDS

University of Mary Outstanding Teaching Award, 2024

University of Mary Regents' Award, 2018

North Dakota Governor's Award for the Arts, 2013

North Dakota Choral Director of the Year, 2003

Waging Peace through Singing Competition, Top Honors, 2003

Euphonia! Composition Competition, First Prize, 2002

Crystal Apple Award in Higher Education, 2002

Bismarck State College Faculty Achievement Award, 1997

University of Mary Outstanding Alumni Award, 1989

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