Anne Harrigan opens the Billings Symphony’s 75th Season with acclaimed guest violinist Gil Shaham. It is bittersweet opening for the symphony, as Harrigan passes the baton to a new conductor in the summer of 2026.
In her 20th year as the Symphony’s Vincent W. & Janet M. Carpenter Music Director, Harrigan is celebrated internationally for notable projects, including the U.S. premiere of Shaun Davey’s A Brendan Voyage, a concerto for uilleann Irish pipes and orchestra; a production of Guys and Dolls, featuring an almost all POC (people of color) lead cast; collaborations with the late Montana photographer Michael Sample; and the world premiere of Buffalo Crossing—A Northern Cheyenne Story, featuring 14 guest artists from Indian Nations. Harrigan says the collaborative projects are important to a community.
“What I’ve learned about like this, not only this one but the other collaborative projects we’ve done, it’s not just the product, it’s the process.
It’s the process of getting to know the Northern Cheyenne elders. It’s the process of understanding why this took so long, because the story was so important to tell and there had to be a great deal of thought into how this story was told, and so it took five rerecordings of the narrative over the course of a year because it was that important.”
At 19, while studying violin at the Peabody Institute of Music Harrigan founded the Johns Hopkins University Chamber Orchestra. She earned her master's in conducting from Yale University under Otto Werner Mueller. In 1983, she founded the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra and transformed it into one of the country's premier chamber orchestras.
Anne also conducts the Battle Creek Symphony and has served as Music Director for the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra (1983-2004) and the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra (1994-2005).
The Billings Symphony’s 75th season kicks off Saturday night at the Alberta Bair features violinist Gil Shaham. Asked if she had a favorite in the upcoming season, Harrigan was quick on the uptake.
“That level of brilliance of virtuosity and the joy that he brings with his playing, I mean he will be the greatest guest artist that has performed with the Symphony since the 50th anniversary when James Galway was here. So yes, I do have a favorite!”
In the full interview, Anne Harrigan shared more thoughts about the Billings Symphony’s rebroadcasts on Yellowstone Public Radio, the proactive attitude of the orchestra and the community regarding live classical music, the physicality of conducting, and the industry’s resilience to economic shifts.
