Montana Youth Symphony to Debut in Missoula with UM Senior’s Winning Composition

By Abigail Lauten-Scrivner, UM News Service

MISSOULA – The Montana Youth Symphony will make its Missoula debut at the University of Montana on Sunday, Aug. 2, and feature the premiere performance of an award-winning composition by UM music composition senior Chris Valian, among other works. 

Composed of 65 of Montana’s most talented young musicians ranging from age 16 to 25, the symphony will take stage at UM’s Dennison Theatre at 3 p.m. Tickets to the concert range from $5 to $20 and are available online at the Montana Youth Symphony website. 

Valian’s original composition “Summit,” which was unanimously selected as the winner of the symphony’s annual composition competition by a panel of adjudicators, will open the concert. The piece pays homage to the ancient grandeur of the five mountain ranges watching over the Missoula Valley.

Valian said it was difficult to articulate the honor of having his piece selected for performance by a group of such talented peers. 

“It’s really flattering to be acknowledged as competent enough to warrant being played by musicians like that,” he said. “It’s not just that I’m having a symphonic work performed, but it’s some of the best young musicians in the state.”

A longtime musician originally from Miles City, Valian decided early on in high school to pursue music professionally. Ever since then, everything he’s done – including attending UM’s School of Music – has been in pursuit of that goal.

“I wouldn’t be content with doing anything non-creative,” he said. 

Valian is primarily a guitarist but plays most types of instruments, with the exception of brass. It wasn’t until 2020 though that he began composing original music under the tutelage of Bryan Curt Kostors, UM assistant professor of composition and theory. 

Working with Kostors has been instrumental, Valian said, noting that he could continue studying with him and still have infinite things to learn. Kostors especially helped Valian become less hesitant with his composition, encouraging him to be bold and simply try things – even if they don’t work. 

“It took a while to get good, but I learned fast and I was dedicated to writing almost every day for a while,” Valian said. 

Eventually he developed his own style and figured out what feels right harmonically and tonally. Valian’s compositions tend to explore the depth and complexity of particular emotions rather than embodying a narrative experience. 

With “Summit,” Valian found himself marveling at the five mountain ranges surrounding Missoula and how they’ve shadowed the land for tens of millions of years. 

“These are the same mountain ranges known to the Kalispel, Bitterroot Salish and Kootenai peoples for as long as humans have inhabited the area,” Valian wrote in a description of his composition to the Montana Youth Symphony. “The age of these mountains is hard to comprehend and reminds us of how short our lives are in the perspective of history.”

Valian’s intention is for the piece to evoke a sense of wonder at what the mountains have seen, and if they could speak, the stories they would tell.

“They’ve seen everything – they've been here long before any of us and will outlast all of us,” he said. “They’re more concrete than anything we know. Any building, any person, any relationship. Those mountains will be there. And that’s scary but beautiful and also sad.”  

Valian won the Montana Youth Symphony’s composition competition after being encouraged by several UM faculty to enter. In addition to having his piece played professionally at the concert, he received a $1,000 prize. Valian noted his appreciation for the mentorship, support and encouragement consistently available at the School of Music. 

“I think the whole music school gives students a lot of opportunities to get their music performed, and that’s really valuable to growing musicians,” he said. “A lot of the professors are super willing to give feedback and work with you, even if you're not in one of their classes at the time.”

After graduating next spring, Valian intends to keep composing music – hopefully in Missoula. 

Providing high-level opportunities to burgeoning musicians is also the spirit of the Montana Youth Symphony, said UM School of Music Lecturer Adam Collins, who also serves on the symphony’s board of directors.

“We want it to be a high-level orchestra, but we also want it to be something that’s attainable so that we’re nurturing the next generation as well,” he said. 

Formed in 2021, the growing Montana Youth Symphony brings together musicians from across the state for an intensive week of rehearsals, mentorship and music-making. A large portion of the 65-member group are UM students and alumni, all of whom join after a competitive process judged by adjudicators. 

“It includes exceptionally talented high schoolers, graduate and undergraduate students, and then young professionals at the beginning of their career,” Collins said. “It’s an interesting cross-section where there’s really natural mentorship.”

Another aim of the symphony is to provide more professional playing and training experiences in Montana – a largely rural state – to Montana musicians.

“It’s a way of bringing people who might have gone out of state for college back again to Montana,” Collins said. “The goal is for them to see themselves in Montana again as a musician, and maybe they'll move here or make their professional lives here.”

The Aug. 2 concert will be led by internationally acclaimed conductor Sir Donald Runnicles, who collaborates with the Montana Youth Symphony every year. One of the world’s most sought-after conductors, Runnicles serves as music director of the Grand Teton Music Festival and chief conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic, and he regularly appears with leading orchestras and opera companies around the world. 

“Major professional orchestras are in line waiting for him,” Collins said. “So the fact that he’s working with students who are in high school, I mean, that’s a unique experience.”

His continued work with the Montana Youth Symphony offers young Montana musicians an opportunity to rehearse and perform under the direction of a conductor of international renown.

After opening with “Summit” – which will be conducted by Gordon Johnson, music director emeritus of the Great Falls Symphony Orchestra – the concert will continue with Jean Sibelius’ stirring “Finlandia” and conclude with Johannes Brahms’ monumental Symphony No. 1.

Collins said the spirit of the concert will be one of triumph and happiness expressed through the compositions performed, as well as the excitement of the nascent musicians performing them. 

“I think it’s going to be a very uplifting experience,” he said. “I want Missoula to share in this joy.”

The Montana Youth Symphony provides its summer festival experience at no cost to participating musicians. Meals, travel and housing throughout the festival week are provided by the organization, ensuring that musicians can participate regardless of financial circumstances.

Donations can be made online to support the 2026 Montana Youth Symphony festival and its participating musicians. 

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Contact: Adam Collins, lecturer, UM School of Music, 406-243-6880, adam.collins@umontana.edu.