J. Arden Hopkin, Artistic Director (1999-2005)

An accidental enrollment in high school choir set J. Arden Hopkin on a career as a singer that has encompassed the operatic and musical theater stage, oratorio, the concert hall, and the recital platform. He earned his doctorate of musical arts and his performer’s certificate from the Eastman School of Music, his master’s degree in music from the University of North Texas, and his bachelor’s degree in music from Brigham Young University.

In 1999, Arden was appointed as the new artistic director of the Utah Valley Choral Society. The Board of Trustees approved a shorter name for the choir—Wasatch Chorale. In 2001, the chorale performed Mozart’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Jerold Ottley. A CD featuring original arrangements of folk songs and spirituals was released by the choir, and concerts were performed in St. George, Utah and Sacramento, California.

For many years, he served as the head of vocal studies at Brigham Young University and taught studio voice, French and Spanish lyric diction, and vocal pedagogy in the School of Music, where he spent his time training the next generation of voice teachers. He retired in 2014.
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For 18 months, 2014–16, he and his wife, Lorraine, filled a volunteer service assignment in Northern Israel under the auspices of the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. They volunteered in public and private schools teaching English through music. He also presented master classes for the University of Haifa and the Northern Galilee Chorale.