Sibelius Violin Concerto

SUPPORTING THE MUSIC

We thank the following businesses, foundations, and public organizations that supported the HHSO during the 2020-2021 season (a year in which a program was not printed) and/or have committed support during the Orchestra’s 2021-2022 season.

OFFICIAL HOTEL Sonesta Resort Hilton Head Island SERIES SPONSORS Coastal Home Coligny Plaza PERFORMANCE WEEKEND SPONSORS Boys, Arnold Wealth Management Charter One Realty The Cypress of Hilton Head Forsythe Jewelers Group 3 and Pyramids Hilton Head BMW SERG Group

PERFORMANCE SPONSORS

Anonymous Hilton Head Dental Team McGriff Insurance Services/PURE Insurance Rockfish Seafood and Steaks at Bomboras T-Mobile TidePointe, A Vi Community SPECIAL EVENT SPONSORS Beach Properties Dividend Assets Capital, LLC Engel and Völkers LOCALLife Royal Restrooms

SOUNDWAVES EVENT SPONSORS

Curry Printing HHI, Inc. Island Funeral Home and Crematory

PARTICIPATING SUPPORTERS

Carey and Company The Greenery Mercedes-Benz of Hilton Head South State Bank

HHIPC SPONSORS

Correll Insurance Custom Audio Video, LLC The Great Frame Up Herrin Piano Hilton Head Lexus Rice Music House Savannah Hilton Head International Airport Steinway & Sons

OTHER BUSINESS SUPPORT The Bargain Box Courtyard by Marriott Hilton Head Island thefrenchguyphotography HHI Motoring Festival and Concours d’Elegance FOUNDATIONS Breedlove Foundation Coastal States Bank Community Commitment Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation Heritage Classic Foundation Community Foundation of the Lowcountry PUBLIC SUPPORT Hilton Head Island Office of Cultural Affairs Town of Bluffton Town of Hilton Head South Carolina Arts Commission

This list is compiled as of September 30, 2021. Additional support committed after the printing of this program book will be recognized elsewhere. Occasionally, mistakes and omissions occur. Please let us know if there is an error in your listing.

A master of American musical style, John Morris Russell has devoted himself to redefining the American orchestral experience. In his tenth season as Music Director of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, he continues to invigorate the musical life of the Lowcountry as conductor, collaborator and educator, and leads the orchestra’s classical subscription series as well as the prestigious Hilton Head International Piano Competition. Mr. Russell concurrently serves as Conductor of the world-renowned Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, with which he earned a GRAMMY Nomination in 2019, as well as Principal Pops Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, following in the footsteps of Marvin Hamlisch and Doc Severinsen. The Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra has enjoyed unprecedented artistic growth under Maestro Russell’s leadership; concert attendance has blossomed, the orchestra has doubled its number of concerts, and performs regularly off-island, throughout the region. Under his guidance the HHSO has sparked collaborations with regional ensembles and performers that continue to widen the reach of the orchestra, including the Hilton Head Dance Theatre, Charleston Southern University, the Savannah Children’s Choir, Georgia Southern University and Claflin University. Mr. Russell’s collaborations around the world have included Aretha Franklin, Emanuel Ax, Amy Grant and Vince Gill, Garrick Ohlsson, Rhiannon Giddens, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jon Kimura Parker, Ann Hampton Callaway, Michael McDonald, Sutton Foster, George Takei, Megan Hilty, Steve Martin, Edie Brickell, Over the Rhine, Brian Wilson, Leslie Odom, Jr., and Paul Shaffer. Widely considered one of North America’s leaders in orchestral educational programming, Mr. Russell helped develop and conducted the LinkUP! educational concert series at Carnegie Hall between 1997-2009 - the oldest and most celebrated series of its kind, originally created by Walter Damrosch in 1891 and made famous by Leonard Bernstein.

In Hilton Head, Mr. Russell began the HHSO Music Bridges program in 2015, engaging thousands of school children from Bluffton to Hilton Head Island in ensemble visits and full orchestra concerts, while integrating the musical culture of Gullah and Lowcountry traditions into presentations and programming. The Sound Discoveries series Mr. Russell developed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 1997 remains a leading model for educational concerts across the country. In Windsor, Ontario he created the Peanut Butter n’ Jam series for young children, Family Jamboree and the One Community-One Symphony project that engaged a dozen high school performing ensembles.

As a guest conductor, Mr. Russell has worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, New York Pops, and the National Symphony of Washington, D.C. He frequently conducts Canadian orchestras including Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver, and has led the orchestras of Pittsburgh, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Dallas, and Milwaukee as well as the New York City Ballet.

John Morris Russell earned degrees from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles and Williams College in Massachusetts, and has studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, and the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors in Hancock, Maine.

JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL

JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL

MUSIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR

“Mr. Russell is in his tenth year as Music Director of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. The HHSO has enjoyed unprecedented artistic growth under Maestro Russell’s leadership; concert attendance has blossomed, the orchestra has doubled its number of concerts, and performs regularly off-island, throughout the region.”