Dr. Ken Harned is a choral conductor and music educator with experience leading high school, collegiate, and community choruses. Most recently, Dr. Harned served as a visiting Director of Choral Activities at Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, Wisconsin and Oklahoma Panhandle State University. He has also taught at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and St. Charles Community College and spent over ten years teaching high school choir and band. In addition, Ken worked as a Guest Talent Coordinator with the Disney Performing Arts program at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from The Ohio State University, a Master’s degree in Choral Music from the University of Southern California and a Doctor of Arts from Ball State University.
Harned studied conducting with James Gallagher, Maurice Casey, William Dehning, and Jeffrey Pappas. Other professors with a profound influence on his teaching style include Lynn Bielefelt, David Wilson, Doug Amman, Jane Page and Tim Lautzenheiser. As a choral performer, Ken has had the opportunity to sing on stage with notable celebrities including Angela Langsbury, Joanna Gleason, Estelle Getty, Jerry Herman, Liz Callaway, Stephen Schwartz, LeAnn Rimes, Conan O’Brien, and Weird Al Yankovic.
The study of men’s chorus rehearsal techniques and TTBB repertoire are the primary focus of Harned’s research. For his doctoral dissertation, he studied the transcription techniques of Ralph Vaughan Williams and created a transcription of Dona Nobis Pacem for men’s chorus, brass septet, organ, and percussion. Other scholarly interests include teaching music literacy, choral rehearsal techniques, and the choral music of Leonard Bernstein.