The North Dakota Music Hall of Fame proudly inducts Dr. Tom Porter, a composer, conductor, educator, and choral director whose career has shaped music education and choral performance across North Dakota and beyond for more than five decades.
Early Life and North Dakota Roots
A native of Mandan, North Dakota, Porter’s early years in music were shaped by piano lessons from the Sisters of Annunciation Monastery, band and choir experiences at Mandan High School, and the newly formed music program at what was then Mary College. As a student he directed the singing group Sweet Love, arranged and directed the music for the Miss North Dakota Pageant under Jane Gray Stewart, performed a concerto with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra during its Bismarck residency, and performed at the Papal Youth Rally in Denver. Though he taught private lessons and directed choral ensembles from high school on, Porter considers himself an “accidental” music educator, since his early pursuits were in performance and composition.
Education
Porter graduated with honors from the University of Mary in Bismarck (BA, Music), DePaul University in Chicago (MM, Music), where he studied French horn with Ethel Merker and composition with Raymond Wilding-White, the University of Notre Dame (MA, Theology/Liturgical Studies), and the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (DMA, Choral Conducting), studying under Dr. Eph Ehly and Dr. Charles Robinson.
Career Highlights
For twelve years, Porter served as Director of the Office of Worship for the Diocese of Bismarck, founding a diocesan choir and publishing his first works with GIA Publications. From 1994 to 2008, he was Professor of Music and Department Chair at Bismarck State College, where he revised the music curriculum, oversaw planning of the Leach Music Center, and launched the BSC ChoirFest; he also served two years as President of the North Dakota ACDA and received a Larry Remele Fellowship from the North Dakota Humanities Council. In 2008, Porter returned to his alma mater as Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department at the University of Mary, where his choirs performed at Carnegie Hall, St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel in Rome, La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, and Lourdes over his 14-year tenure. He oversaw the founding of the university’s sacred music degree, MA in Music program, and Sacred Music Certificate.
Composition and Legacy
Porter’s choral works often celebrate North Dakota’s cultural heritage, including “Prairie Wind,” “Prairie Sketches,” “Lewis and Clark Suite,” “Songs of the Prairies,” and “A Prairie Storm,” alongside commissions for organizations such as the North Dakota Music Teachers’ Association, the Bismarck-Mandan Civic Chorus, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, and the Grand Forks Master Chorale, as well as soundtracks for two North Dakota Public Broadcasting documentaries. Now in his thirty-fourth year as director of the Bismarck-Mandan Civic Chorus, Porter has led the group to two Carnegie Hall performances and expanded arts access across western North Dakota. His honors include the University of Mary Outstanding Alumni Award, the Bismarck State College Outstanding Faculty Award, the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce Crystal Apple Award, the North Dakota Outstanding Choral Director award, and the North Dakota Governor’s Award for the Arts.
Selected Compositions
- Prairie Wind (2020), SATB/SAB/SA with piano — North Dakota Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship
- Hoe Down (2017), SATB/TTBB with piano four hands — commissioned by the Central Dakota Children’s Choir
- A Prairie Storm (2009), SATB a cappella — commissioned by the Grand Forks Master Chorale
- Ten Thousand Miles and Cripple Creek (2006) — commissioned by the San Francisco Girls Chorus
- Lewis and Clark Suite (2003), SATB with orchestra — Lewis and Clark Signature Event commission
- White Promise (1998) — performed on “A Prairie Home Companion” by the University of Minnesota Choir
- We Remember, We Believe (1996) — commissioned by the Diocese of Bismarck
- We Come with Joy (1994) — commissioned by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians
- Let Us Be Bread (1987), Communion Song
- By My Side (1984), Wedding Solo
Personal Life
Tom Porter is the son of Kenneth and Patricia Porter. He and his wife, Jenifer, have five children and twelve grandchildren.
Legacy
From his roots in Mandan to concert stages around the world, Dr. Tom Porter’s decades of composing, conducting, and teaching have left a lasting mark on North Dakota’s musical life. He will be formally inducted into the North Dakota Music Hall of Fame on September 20, 2026.