Artistic Staff & Singers

Mary Kay Geston has led Great River Chorale since 2010. Previously she taught at University of Northwestern–St. Paul, University of Colorado–Boulder,  Northern State University, University of Wisconsin–River Falls, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities and Morris, Concordia University–St. Paul, and St. Olaf College. She has prepared choirs for the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra, directed all-state and honor choirs across the U.S., and was a guest conductor in Taiwan and South Korea.  Choirs under her direction have performed at state, regional or national conferences of Chorus America, ACDA, MMEA, and SDMEA, and she has presented sessions at professional conferences of ACDA, MMEA, SDMEA, AGO, NAfME, and NATS. She sang professionally with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers, at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Charles Dutoit, and as a soloist with the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra, the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra, and the Longmont Symphony. Geston is a past president of ACDA North Central Region and ACDA-MN, and past chair of the F. Melius Cristiansen Endowment Fund Committee. She received ACDA-MN’s 2012 Choral Director of the Year award. She has a DMA in choral literature and conducting from University of Colorado–Boulder, an MM in choral conducting from University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, and a BA in vocal performance and teaching certification from North Dakota State University.