Andrew Major

Bio

Andrew Major is a dynamic choral artist committed to crafting narrative concert experiences that explore the complexities of life in the 21st century. Hailing from Bozeman, Montana, Andrew has a proven track record of culturally relevant programming, innovative collaborations, and community building as the artistic director of Roots in the Sky, an amateur-turned-professional chamber choir he founded in 2012 as an undergraduate at Montana State University. In additional to his work with Roots in the Sky, Andrew serves on faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he helps administer a comprehensive choral program that serves more than 400 singers. At UIUC, Andrew teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in choral conducting and literature and directs the Varsity Men’s Glee Club and the Oratorio Society, a symphonic choir comprising students, staff, faculty, and community members of all stripes.

Andrew holds graduate degrees in choral conducting from the Bienen School of Music (DMA and MM) at Northwestern University, where he studied with GRAMMY Award-winning conductor Donald Nally. During his doctoral residency, Andrew was the assistant conductor of the school’s flagship choral ensemble and in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic served as chorus master for Northwestern Opera Theatre’s pioneering, virtual production of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. Soon after, Andrew served as the assistant conductor of the Apollo Chorus of Chicago during their 150th anniversary season, helping to prepare performances of historic and modern symphonic works including Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St. John Passion, and Stacy Garrop’s Terra Nostra as well as preparing members of the Apollo Chorus for performances of Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito and Don Giovanniwith the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the 2022 Ravinia Festival.

An active ensemble singer, Andrew’s recent and upcoming engagements include performances with Music of the Baroque, the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, Chicago Opera Theater, Stare at the Sun, and with the GRAMMY Award-winning chamber choir The Crossing. In his 2024-25 season, Andrew made his Carnegie Hall debut with The Crossing and led Roots in the Sky’s presentation of Handel’s Messiah with Baroque Music Montana, the region’s first historically informed performances of this enduring masterwork.

In his 2025-26 season, Andrew will join The Crossing for performances with the Boston Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra and for their annual Month of Moderns in June 2026 and will also prepare the University of Illinois Oratorio Society for performances of the Duruflé and Verdi Requiems and Poulenc’s Gloria. A dedicated advocate for new works, Andrew has performed more than 50 world premieres and is especially looking forward to conducting the US premiere of Karin Rehnqvist’s Silent Earth with the University of Illinois Oratorio Society and Symphony Orchestra. Andrew also continues to serve as the music director at Northminster Presbyterian Church in Evanston, Illinois.