Longtime Hartford Symphony Orchestra Music Director Joins Hartt’s Faculty

The Hartt School of the University of Hartford is pleased to announce that Edward Cumming, outgoing Music Director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, has been named Associate Professor of Conducting and Director of Orchestral Activities at The Hartt School. The full time tenure track appointment follows a year-long national search that considered more than 150 candidates.

During the 2010-2011 academic year, Cumming served as Hartt's Interim Director of Orchestral Activities while simultaneously concluding his nine-year tenure with the Hartford Symphony.

In his new position, Cumming's duties will include overseeing The Hartt School's orchestral activities, including conducting the Hartt Symphony Orchestra, which typically gives six full-length programs per year, and whose members include undergraduate and graduate students from throughout the United States and abroad. He also will teach conducting, score reading, and related courses.

"After many years in the profession, my main focus will now be teaching and making music with very gifted young musicians," said Cumming, who conducted his final HSO concert Saturday night to a capacity audience at The Bushnell's Mortensen Hall. "I could not be happier with this new development. It is what I've always wanted to do, and to be doing it in Hartford, a city I love, is an added bonus."

"We are thrilled to welcome Maestro Edward Cumming to The Hartt School as our new Associate Professor of Conducting and Director of Orchestral Activities," said Hartt Dean Aaron Flagg. "His depth of experience with professional orchestras, his passion for working with young people, and his demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and collegially are just some of the reasons for his selection. In addition, as The Hartt School seeks to develop its historic relationship with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and connections with other professional orchestras, Edward's reputation, knowledge, and openness to new ways of thinking will prove invaluable."

During his tenure at the Hartford Symphony, the organization was cited frequently for its artistic growth and programming imaginativeness.

Prior to coming to Hartford, Cumming was Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony, where he also he served as Music Director of the nationally-acclaimEd Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, one of five orchestras invited to the biennial National Youth Orchestra Festival in 1998 and 2002. During his tenure as Resident Conductor of the Florida Orchestra in Tampa, he was Assistant Professor of Music at the University of South Florida.

Cumming has conducted the Philharmonic orchestras of Los Angeles, Rochester, and Buffalo, as well as the San Diego, Oregon, San Antonio, Santa Barbara, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras and the Boston Pops. In June 2010, he made his South American debut with the Filarmónica de Bogotá, conducting Schoenberg's Pelleas und Melisande on short notice. He also has conducted widely in Europe and Asia.

Cumming earned a Doctorate in Music in 1992 from Yale University, were he studied with Otto-Werner Mueller. As an undergraduate at the University of California at Berkeley, he was awarded the prestigious Eisner Prize for Creative Achievement in the Arts. In May 2010, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Trinity College.

The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford that offers innovative degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920, Hartt has been an integral part of the University of Hartford since its charter merged the then Hartt School of Music, the Hartford Art School, and Hillyer College to create the University in 1957. 2010 markEd Hartt's 90th year of providing world class performing arts education to students in Greater-Hartford and around the world. With more than 400 concerts, recitals, plays, master classes, dance performances, and musical theatre productions a year, performance is central to Hartt's curriculum. For more information about The Hartt School, visit www.hartford.edu/hartt.

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