CLAIRE FOX HILLARD
Dr. Hillard was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the AlbanySymphony Orchestra in 1988, following an international search. He began his tenure with the orchestra in the 1988-1989 Season as the orchestra’s fourth Music Director. Hillard also serves on the music faculty at Darton College, as Music Director and Conductor of the Meridian Symphony Orchestra, and theArtistic Director of OPERAlbany. Maestro Hillard is a recipient of the prestigious Helen M. Thompson Music Director’s Award from the American Symphony Orchestra League, acknowledging his outstanding achievement as a conductor who demonstrates great career potential. He made his European debut in 1994 conducting the Karlovarsky Symfonicky Orchest in the Czech Republic. Since that time he returned to conduct in the Czech Republic as well as Ukraine, Romania, Honduras, Poland and Russia. In this country Hillard has conducted the Abilene Philharmonic, Quad-City Symphony, West Shore Symphony, Flagstaff Symphony, North Arkansas Symphony, Tupelo Symphony, Cobb Symphony, and Symphony of Southeast Texas.
Prior to his appointments in Albany and Meridian, Hillard served as Music Director and Conductor of the St. Joseph Symphony Orchestra and was an Assistant Professor of Music at Missouri Western State College. He has also served as the Conductor of the Indiana State University Orchestra, Terre Haute Youth Symphony, and has conducted for the opera workshop at the University of Iowa.
Hillard brings to each season an exciting blend of major symphonic, choral, ballet, and operatic repertory. His programming is noted for its diversity, which includes standard repertory, unfamiliar works by familiar composers, new works and compositions by American composers. He has received multiple First Place ASCAP Awards for Programming of Contemporary Music. He has worked with such composers as Virgil Thompson, Ulysses Kay, Ellen Taffee Zwilich, Steven Paulus, James Oliverio, Alvin Singleton, Samuel Jones, Adolphus Hailstork, and Libby Larsen.
A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Hillard earned his BA in Music from Calvin College in Grand Rapids. He was awarded his MA and DMA degrees from the University of Iowa, where he studied conducting with the distinguished James Dixon. Hillard has also studied conducting with William Hibbard, Daniel Kovats, and Harold Geerdes. He has participated in master classes with Leonard Slatkin, Jorge Mester, Otto Strasser, H.C. Robbins Langdon, John Barnett, and at Carnegie Hall with Pierre Boulez.
As a violinist, Hillard has held several posts as concertmaster, performance associate, and teacher. His playing experience includes concertmaster of the Danville Symphony Orchestra, concertmaster of the University of Iowa Symphony, violinist with the Quad-City Symphony Orchestra, member of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra and Performance associate with University of Iowa’s Center for New Music.
Hillard has served on the juries of the Wideman International Piano Competition and the Singer’s Resource Service.
Hillard currently serves as a member of the Music Panel of the Georgia Council for the Arts and is a Board member of the Albany Area Arts Council. He is a graduate of Leadership Albany and a member of the Albany Rotary Club. Hillard holds professional memberships in the Conductor’s Guild, Metropolitan Opera Guild, and is a professional affiliate member of the American Symphony Orchestra League.