Alan Harler became Mendelssohn Chorus’s twelfth Music Director in 1988 and served as Artistic Director from 2009-2015. Upon his retirement, Harler remains involved with the chorus as Conductor Laureate. Maestro Harler served as Laura H. Carnell Professor and Chairman of Choral Music at Temple University’s Esther Boyer College of Music.

He is a strong advocate for new American music. He was founder and director of the Contemporary Vocal Ensemble of Indiana. During his tenure with Mendelssohn Chorus, he has commissioned and premiered 58 new compositions, including Julia Wolfe’s Anthracite Fields (2013), David Lang’s battle hymns (2009), Jennifer Higdon’s On the Death of the Righteous (2009) and Pauline Oliveros’s Urban Echo: Circle Told (2008) in his 20th anniversary season. Other major commissions are Robert Moran’s Requiem: Chant du Cygne (1990), Charles Fussell’s Specimen Days (1992), Robert Stern’s Returning the Song (1994), Cynthia Folio’s Touch the Angel’s Hand (1994), James Primosch’s Fire Memory/ River Memory (1998), Charles Fussell’s High Bridge (2003), and Andrea Clearfield’s The Golem Psalms(2006) and Tse Go La (2012). Maestro Harler conducted Mendelssohn Chorus in a critically acclaimed recording of the Moran Requiem for Argo/London Records in 1994. In 2012, Innova Records released a CD “Metamorphosis” featuring the Higdon, Primosch, and Clearfield commissions for large chorus and orchestra. As conductor of the Temple University Concert Choir, he has presented many Philadelphia premieres, including Moran’s Hagoromo, Alfred Schnittke’s Requiem, and Arvo Pärt’s Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Secundum Joannem. If you would like to support Alan’s vision, contribute to the Alan Harler New Ventures Fund.

In 2004, Alan Harler received the Emanuel Kardon Foundation Award for “contributing to the vitality and excellence of the Philadelphia arts community.” In 2007, Harler received the Elaine Brown Award for Lifelong Service to Choral Music, given by the American Choral Director’s Association. In 2009, he was honored with Chorus America’s prestigious Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art, and the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia’s Honorary Lifetime Membership for a Distinguished Contribution to the Musical Life of Philadelphia.