H. Robert Reynolds is the Principal Conductor of the Wind Ensemble at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. This appointment followed his retirement, after 26 years, from the School of Music of the University of Michigan where he served as the Henry F. Thurnau Professor of Music, Director of University Bands and Director of the Division of Instrumental Studies. In addition to these responsibilities, he has also been, for over 20 years, the conductor of a professional ensemble, The Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, which is made up primarily from members of the Detroit Symphony. Robert Reynolds has conducted recordings for Koch International, Pro Arte, Caprice, and Deutsche Grammophon. In the United States, he has conducted at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center (New York), Orchestra Hall (Chicago), Kennedy Center (Washington, D. C.), Powell Symphony Hall (St. Louis), and the Academy of Music (Philadelphia). In Europe, he conducted the premiere of an opera for La Scala Opera (Milan, Italy), and concerts at the Maggio Musicale (Florence, Italy), the Tonhalle (Zurich, Switzerland), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam, Holland) as part of the Holland Festival, and at the 750th Anniversary of the City of Berlin. He has conducted numerous premiere performances and has won the praise of composers: Leslie Bassett, William Bolcom, Aaron Copland, Michael Daugherty, Henryk Gorecki, Karel Husa, Gyorgy Ligeti, Darius Milhaud, Bernard Rands, Gunther Schuller, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and many others for his interpretive conducting of their compositions. Mr. Reynolds holds degrees in Music Education and Performance from the University of Michigan where he was the conducting student of Elizabeth Green. He began his career in the Onsted Michigan Public Schools, then moved to Anaheim (California) High School before beginning his university conducting at California State University at Long Beach. He subsequently moved to the University of Wisconsin prior to his tenure at the University of Michigan. He received the Citation of Merit from the Alumni Association of the School of Music at the University of Michigan for his contributions to the many students he has influenced during his career. Professor Reynolds is Past President of the College Band Directors' National Association and the Big Ten Band Directors' Association. He has received the highest national awards from Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Kappa Psi, the National Band Association, and the American School Band Directors' Association, and he was awarded the "Medal of Honor" by the Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic. He is the recipient of a "Special Tribute" from the legislature of the State of Michigan signed by the leaders of the House, Senate and the Governor. Currently he is one of three members serving on the National Awards Panel for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and in 2001 he received a national award from this organization for his contributions to contemporary American music. His frequent conducting appearances have included (among others) the Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, Oberlin Conservatory, Northwestern University, the National Arts Camp at Interlochen, and the National Wind Ensemble each year at Carnegie Hall. Robert Reynolds has been a featured conductor and lecturer at international conferences in Austria, Norway, Belgium, England, Holland, and Switzerland. He has conducted in many of the major cities of Japan and his numerous visits to Sweden include concerts with the Stockholm Wind Orchestra, Linkoping Wind Orchestra, and the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra. He has served as master teacher for the Sverges Orkesterforeningars Riksforbund in Stockholm, Gothenberg, Udevalla, Orebro, and Linkoping, Sweden. In addition to being the master conductor/teacher for the Europaisches Seminar fur Dirigenten von Blasorchestern at the Bundesakademie in Trossingen (Germany), the Austrian Wind Band Conductors Association, the Mid-Europe Conference, and the wind conductors of Slovenia, he is the only American to have conducted the famed Kongelige Musikkorps Koncertfond (Royal Danish Band) of Copenhagen, Denmark. Many of his former students now hold major conducting positions at leading universities. Click here to close this window