Vernon Taranto Jr. has been Director of Choral Activities at St. Petersburg College since the Fall of 1996. During his tenure the SPC choruses have grown in stature and ability reflected in recent performances attended by capacity audiences in and around St. Petersburg, the region, and abroad.

In seasons past, the 130-voice SPC Concert Chorus has undertaken numerous performances of great choral literature some of which are: John Rutter's Gloria and his Requiem, Mozart's Grand Mass in C Minor, the Vivaldi Gloria, C.P.E. Bach's Magnificat, Mass in Time of War by Josef Haydn, Randall Thompson's The Peaceable Kingdom, Frostiana, and Testament of Freedom, Händel's Messiah, the Fauré Requiem, and Howard Hanson's spectacular Song of Democracy.  Notable recent adventures include the acclaimed ten-day "Musical Ambassadors Tour of Russia" in which the SPC Madrigalians performed for delighted audiences in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Orenberg (Siberia)!                       

Dr. Taranto received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1983 from Louisiana State University where he studied with Peter Paul Fuchs (opera conducting and production), Richard Aslanian (opera and music theater), Paul Knowles (studio voice), L. Bruce Jones (instrumental and choral conducting); and he performed choral music under the baton of master choral director, Dallas Draper.   His training in Music Theory and Composition was directed by Dinos Constantinides, Kenneth Klaus, Paul Louis Abel, and James Drew.

His professional career includes a five-year tour of duty with The United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C., nine performance tours of Japan (with his wife-singer, Mary Ann), and two presentations of his original musical compositions at Carnegie Hall, NYC.  His music has been recorded on numerous CDs, and has been published by Pro-Art, Augsburg, Latham Music, Lorenz, and others.

Many will remember The Tampa Bay Symphony’s performance, in February, of Vernon’s Capriccio and Fantasie Waltz, a symphonic “scene” drawn from his ballet “The Bird Vendor.”  Tonight’s concert marks the second collaboration between Dr. Heller and Dr. Taranto, and the first which brings together the formidable forces of The Tampa Bay Symphony and The SPC Concert Chorus.