Page 38 - CJSeptember25

Alan Harler

(1940-2025)

Alan Harler became Mendelssohn Club’s twelfth music director
in 1988 and was named artistic director in 2009. He is a former
Laura H. Carnell Professor and Chairman of Choral Music
at Temple University’s Esther Boyer College of Music. After
retiring from Temple, he continued to inspire rising conductors
by creating the Mendelssohn Club Conducting Apprenticeship
Program. Harler was a strong advocate for new American
music. He was founder and director of the Contemporary Vocal
Ensemble of Indiana. During his tenure with Mendelssohn Club,
he commissioned and premiered fifty-eight new compositions.
Alan was honored with Chorus America’s prestigious Michael
Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional
Art, and the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia’s Honorary
Lifetime Membership for a Distinguished Contribution to the
Musical Life of Philadelphia. Alan’s extraordinary contributions
to the musical community and his passion for new American
choral music touched countless lives.

36 CHORAL JOURNAL September 2025 Volume 66 Number 2