Huw Edwards

Sponsored by Ted & Tanya Jernigan

Huw Edwards begins his ninth season as Music Director of the Olympia Symphony Orchestra, having been selected after a yearlong audition process during the 2002-3 Season.  There has been a continued sense of excitement in Olympia following Huw’s appointment and Edwards is credited with greatly improving the quality of the Orchestra, selecting challenging yet rewarding programs and being very active in the community.  Last season, Intriguing Ties, was heralded as the best yet, with such memorable highlights as Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique Symphony, Brahms’ Violin Concerto with Denise Dillenbeck, and a collaboration with dancers from Ballet Northwest in a work by Alan Hovhaness.

Mr. Edwards is also the Music Director of the Portland Columbia Symphony in Oregon—a post he has held since 2000—and has consistently received critical acclaim from audiences, guest soloists and the press for his intense performances and daring programming.  Recent highlights have included Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony, excerpts from Verdi’s Otello, Bruckner’s valedictory Ninth Symphony at St. Mary’s Cathedral, as well as world premiere performances of commissioned works by several Pacific Northwest composers.

From 2002-5 Mr. Edwards was Music Director of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras and was a faculty member at the Marrowstone Music Festival from 1998 to 2005.  Mr. Edwards moved to Seattle after seven memorable seasons (1995-2002) as Music Director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic in Oregon, a tenure which included numerous innovations, a coveted ASCAP Award and landmark tours to Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Active as a guest conductor, Mr. Edwards has performed with the Oregon Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Eugene Symphony, Yakima Symphony and has worked with the symphony orchestras of Dallas and Memphis, as well as with ensembles in Illinois, New York, Idaho, Vermont, Utah, Minnesota, Oregon, Nebraska, Washington, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, and throughout the United Kingdom.  Following a long-awaited return to the Salem Chamber Orchestra last November, Huw was immediately engaged to conduct another concert there in April 2012.  In July, Huw was a guest conductor for the fourth time with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra in Madison, at their “Concerts on the Square”, before an audience of 28,000 people, and made his debut with the Northwest Mahler Festival Orchestra in June (Bruckner Symphony No. 8).

Born in Wales, Great Britain, Mr. Edwards holds degrees from the University of Surrey in England and Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Mr. Edwards came to the Northwest from Chicago, Illinois, where he was a lecturer at Northwestern University and a Doctoral candidate. Mr. Edwards has been active as a conductor since the age of 17 when he was appointed Music Director of the Maidstone Opera Company in England—a post he held for six years—and came to the United States in 1988 on scholarship to attend SMU in Texas. His principal teachers have been Simon Johnson and Barry Wordsworth (London), Anshel Brusilow and Eduardo Mata (Dallas), and Victor Yampolsky (Chicago).

Outside of music Huw enjoys golf, kayaking, Rhone wines, movies, the Chicago Bears, time with good friends and is a member of Olympia Crossfit Training—where he is indebted to Juanita, Rob and Scott for their encouragement amid mediocrity!