Huw Edwards (conductor)

Edwards became conductor and music director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic (PYP) in 1995, following Jacob Avshalomov's forty-year tenure to become the orchestra's third conductor. He was selected unanimously by a twelve-person committee from a field of more than one hundred candidates, and was officially handed the baton by Avshalomov at the season opening Riverside Classics concert on 30 August.[8][13][14] After Avshalomov conducted the first half of the concert, Edwards completed PYP's set with performances of works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.[13][15] The program for the first subscription series concert, which received positive reception,[16] included: Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco Overture, Ralph Vaughan Williams's Serenade to Music, and Paul Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber.[15] In addition to the four season subscription concerts performed at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, the 1995–1996 season included performances at the Newport Performing Arts Center in Newport and The Resort at the Mountain near Mount Hood,[17][18] as well as in Eugene, Salem, and Newberg.[19] In 1996 the first interactive Children's Concert was broadcast live via satellite across Oregon.[20][21] The collaboration between PYP and Multnomah Community TV continued beyond 1996; in 1998 concerts were streamed as far away as Tucson, Arizona, and a 1999 recording became a finalist in the national Hometown Video Festival.[22]

Released on 27 March 1998, Fountain of Youth became the orchestra's sixth commercial recording on Compact Disc (previous recordings were vinyl or cassette). The compilation album included works recorded at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall during seasons seventy-three and seventy-four.[23] In January 1999, Portland Parent published an article by Edwards titled "The Role of Classical Music in the Lives of Young People", which discussed the benefits of classical music to child learning development.[24] The 1998–1999 season included performances in Salem, Newberg, Welches, St. Helens, and Milwaukie and Longview, Washington in addition to the regular subscription series. On 10 February 1999 the orchestra opened a Portland Trail Blazers game at the Rose Garden performing The Star-Spangled Banner.[20]

During Edwards' seven years with the orchestra, he and other PYP representatives established a peer mentor program which partnered orchestra musicians with low-income students with little access to music education,[25][26] and earned the ensemble its second ASCAP award for "Adventurous Programming and Commitment to Contemporary Music".[9][21] He made five recordings and led the orchestra on two tours: in April 1998 the Philharmonic represented the United States at the Banff International Festival of Youth Orchestras in Canada,[20][23] and the orchestra toured Australia and New Zealand in 2000.[9][21] The tour included performances in Auckland, Brisbane, Canberra, Armidale, Newcastle, Sydney, and Melbourne.[27][28] Edwards also recorded Gabriel Fauré's Requiem at St. Mary's Cathedral as a collaboration with Cantores in Ecclesia.[10][29] Edwards left PYP in 2002 and was succeeded by Mei-Ann Chen.[21] Guest conductors during PYP's 2007–2008 season included Ken Selden, director of orchestral studies at Portland State University, former Seattle Symphony conductor Alastair Willis, along with former PYP conductors Edwards and Chen.[30][31]

He became music director of the Seattle Youth Symphony at the start of its sixtieth season (2002–2003), putting him in charge of 1,000 young musicians participating in the symphony and its four preparatory orchestras as well as the organisation's outreach programs and the Marrowstone Music Festival program.[32] Edwards increased the Seattle orchestra's repertoire by performing works by British composers of the 20th century and by premiering works by American composers such as John Mackey.[33] One Seattle Post-Intelligencer contributor wrote that Edwards made a "fine choice" for the ensemble, noting that he "nurture[d], coache[d] and encourage[d] his musicians". Furthermore, she claimed that his program notes were a "model of clarity and fascinating detail".[34] Edwards remained music director of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra until 2005.[33][35] He has stated the following about working with young musicians:

[With young musicians] You have to teach and explain more. You have to fire their imagination. With professionals, you look for clarity and consistency. With students, you have to motivate and explain, using different approaches. Their attention span can come and go. It is unpredictable. From first rehearsal to performance, they will come a long way. I am very big on team work, and I tell them they are part of a team and individual egos are less important.[2]

Edwards began serving as music director of the Portland Columbia Symphony in 2000.[36] His year-long audition process for the music director position with the Olympia Symphony Orchestra began during the 2002–2003 season.[5] The season also marked his fifth with the Marrowstone Summer Music program, where he remained until 2005.[2][5] In 2010, Edwards was one of four finalists for the conductor position with the Yakima Symphony Orchestra.[4]

In April 2012 Edwards announced his resignation at the end of his twelfth season with the Portland Columbia Symphony, citing exhaustion from the commutes between Olympia and Portland as the reason.[37] He has been named Conductor Emeritus and Principal Guest Conductor and returned for the 2012–2013 season finale concert.[38]

During the final performance of the Olympia Symphony Orchestra's 2014–15 season it was announced that Edwards had signed a ten-year contract extension as its conductor.[39] In September 2019, he announced that although several years remained on his contract, the 2019–2020 season would be his final season with the Olympia Symphony Orchestra.[40]

In May 2012, Edwards accepted the orchestra conductor position at the University of Puget Sound, a private liberal arts college located in Tacoma, Washington.[41]