Artistic Staff

Conductor Claire Fox Hillard brings a unique flair to the podium, establishing an outstanding rapport with musicians and audience alike. His music mastery and energy elicits the very best from musicians, inspiring them to perform at peak ability, to which audiences and critics have responded with great enthusiasm. A versatile conductor, Hillard pursues a busy and varied career as Music Director of both the Albany Symphony Orchestra and the Meridian Symphony Orchestra; as the founder and Artistic Director of OPERAlbany and as guest conductor worldwide.

As guest conductor throughout the world, making his European debut in 1994, he has conducted the Karlovarsky symfonicky orchestr and Moravian Philharmonic in the Czech Republic, L'Orchestre Chapelle de Lorraine in Brussels, Filarmonica "Banatul" and Filarmonica Paul Constantnescu in Romania, Orquesta Sinfonica de San Pedro Sula in Honduras, the Kharkov Philharmonic in Ukraine, the Baltic Philharmonic, National Russian Philharmonic in Tomsk. Among the orchestras in the U.S. he has conducted are the Abilene Philharmonic, North Arkansas Symphony, Flagstaff Symphony, Tupelo Symphony, West Shore Symphony and the Quad-City Symphony.

Maestro Hillard has received training from many notable conductors of our time: James Dixon, Leonard Slatkin, Pierre Boulez, Maurice Abravanel, Jorge Mester and John Barnett. A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, he began piano and violin studies at an early age and at the age of 18 made his conducting debut. At age 25, after earning masters and doctorate degrees from The University of Iowa, Hillard became one of the youngest conductors appointed Music Director of the St. Joseph Symphony Orchestra and the Missouri Western Philharmonia.

Maestro Hillard is the recipient of the American Symphony Orchestra League's Helen M. Thompson Award "acknowledging his outstanding achievements as a conductor who demonstrates great career potential" and in 1999 received the Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Award for his efforts in building racial unity in Albany. He was recently recognized as one of "40 outstanding leaders in Georgia under 40" by Georgia Trend Magazine.

Maestro Hillard's commitment to music education is seen each season as he conducts numerous innovative educational, family and children's concerts. He has served as conductor of the Albany Area Youth Symphony, and has been a faculty member of the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts and regularly conducts university, college, and honors orchestras.