John Morris Russell
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Bio
A master of American musical style, John Morris Russell has devoted himself to redefining the American orchestral experience. Beginning his eleventh season as conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the wide-range and diversity of his work as a conductor, collaborator and educator continues to reinvigorate the musical scene throughout Cincinnati and across the continent. As Music Director of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina, Mr. Russell leads the classical subscription series as well as the prestigious Hilton Head International Piano Competition; he also serves as Principal Pops Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, following in the footsteps of Marvin Hamlisch and Doc Severinsen. As a guest conductor, JMR has worked with many of the most distinguished orchestras in North America.
With the Cincinnati Pops, Mr. Russell leads performances at historic Music Hall, concerts throughout the region, as well as domestic and international tours--including Florida in 2014 and China/Taiwan in 2017. He returned to China in January of 2019 to conduct concerts with the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra. His visionary leadership at The Pops created the “American Originals Project” which has garnered both critical and popular acclaim in two landmark recordings: American Originals (the music of Stephen Foster) and American Originals 1918 (a tribute to the dawn of the jazz age) for which he was awarded a GRAMMY Nomination for “Best Classical Compendium”. In 2020 the American Originals Project continued with King Records and the Cincinnati Sound with Late Night with David Letterman musical director, Paul Shaffer, celebrating the beginnings of Bluegrass, Country, Rockabilly, Soul and Funk immortalized in recordings produced in the Queen City. Mr. Russell has contributed six albums to the recorded legacy of The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, including the latest, Voyage, in 2019. In 2016 Mr. Russell, The Pops, and CET Public Television began its online American Soundscapes video series, which has surpassed one million views on YouTube. JMR is also instrumental in the continuing development the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s wildly successful Classical Roots initiative, which he helped create nearly two decades ago to celebrate African American musical traditions. He still leads concerts on the Lollipops Family Series that he first conducted in 1995 as Assistant Conductor of the CSO and Pops.
The Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra has enjoyed unprecedented artistic growth under John Morris Russell’s leadership since 2011; concert attendance has blossomed and the orchestra has doubled its number of concerts. Mr. Russell leads the orchestra in eight masterwork subscription concerts annually, and as with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, he continues to reveal his deep passion for Classical and early Romantic orchestral literature. Under his guidance the HHSO has sparked collaborations with regional ensembles and performers that continue to widen the reach of the orchestra, including Hilton Head Dance Theatre, Charleston Southern University, the Savannah Children’s Choir, Georgia Southern University and Claflin University.
He is in his seventh season as Principal Pops Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2021/2022 season. He made his debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the fall of 2014, and later that season was named the third conductor to hold the position. Mr. Russell’s concerts at the BPO reflect the diversity of American musical styles: from Classics to Jazz, Hollywood to Broadway, Country Western to Rhythm&Blues.
Mr. Russell’s recent collaborations around the world include Aretha Franklin, Emanuel Ax, Amy Grant and Vince Gill, Garrick Ohlsson, Rhiannon Giddens, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jon Kimura Parker, Ann Hampton Callaway, Michael McDonald, Cynthia Erivo, Cho-Liang Lin, Sutton Foster, George Takei, Megan Hilty, Ranky-Tanky, Steve Martin, Edie Brickell and the Steep Canyon Rangers, Over the Rhine, Katharine McPhee, Brian Wilson, and Leslie Odom, Jr. 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, Milwaukee, the Minnesota Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Colorado Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and New York City Ballet. He regularly leads the National Orchestral Institute and Festival in College Park, Maryland, one of the nation’s premiere training orchestras. Mr. Russell has also conducted important new works with Cincinnati Opera, including its first production of Hans Krasa’s Brundebar in 2000, and in 2019, the world premiere of Blind Injustice, based on the book by Mark Godsey, was released on CD last year.
As Music Director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra between 2001-2012, JMR fostered a decade of unprecedented artistic growth and invigorated musical life in the Windsor-Essex region of Canada. He conducted over forty world premieres with the WSO, many of which were presented on seventeen national broadcasts for CBC Radio 2, and the orchestra’s first nationally televised production for the CBC series “Opening Night”. His recording of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra earned Mr. Russell and the WSO its first Juno nomination for “Best Children’s Album” in 2008. A two-time recipient of Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor’s Award for the Arts, as well as the Ontario Arts Council’s Vida Peene Award for Artistic Excellence, Mr. Russell also received the Herb Gray Harmony Award by the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, and became the first recipient of the Arts Leadership Award by the Windsor Endowment for the Arts. In 2011 the University of Windsor awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Law degree and the following year was named the WSO’s first Conductor Laureate.
John Morris Russell is widely considered one of North America's leaders in orchestral educational programming. From 1997 to 2009 he helped develop and conducted the LinkUP! educational concert series at Carnegie Hall, the oldest and most celebrated series of its kind, created by Walter Damrosch in 1891 and made famous by Leonard Bernstein. 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, he created the Peanut Butter n’ Jam series for young children, Family Jamboree and the One Community—One Symphony project with dozens of local high school performing ensembles. He also spearheaded the creation of The Windsor-Essex Youth Choir and the Windsor Symphony Youth Orchestra. In Hilton Head, Mr. Russell began the HHSO Music Bridges program, 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. Over the last decade in Cincinnati, Mr. Russell is often seen conducting school ensembles throughout the region and leads Educators Conducting Workshops with the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Concert Orchestra to help hone the skills of area band and orchestra directors.
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.
September 2022
With the Cincinnati Pops, Mr. Russell leads performances at historic Music Hall, concerts throughout the region, as well as domestic and international tours--including Florida in 2014 and China/Taiwan in 2017. He returned to China in January of 2019 to conduct concerts with the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra. His visionary leadership at The Pops created the “American Originals Project” which has garnered both critical and popular acclaim in two landmark recordings: American Originals (the music of Stephen Foster) and American Originals 1918 (a tribute to the dawn of the jazz age) for which he was awarded a GRAMMY Nomination for “Best Classical Compendium”. In 2020 the American Originals Project continued with King Records and the Cincinnati Sound with Late Night with David Letterman musical director, Paul Shaffer, celebrating the beginnings of Bluegrass, Country, Rockabilly, Soul and Funk immortalized in recordings produced in the Queen City. Mr. Russell has contributed six albums to the recorded legacy of The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, including the latest, Voyage, in 2019. In 2016 Mr. Russell, The Pops, and CET Public Television began its online American Soundscapes video series, which has surpassed one million views on YouTube. JMR is also instrumental in the continuing development the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s wildly successful Classical Roots initiative, which he helped create nearly two decades ago to celebrate African American musical traditions. He still leads concerts on the Lollipops Family Series that he first conducted in 1995 as Assistant Conductor of the CSO and Pops.
The Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra has enjoyed unprecedented artistic growth under John Morris Russell’s leadership since 2011; concert attendance has blossomed and the orchestra has doubled its number of concerts. Mr. Russell leads the orchestra in eight masterwork subscription concerts annually, and as with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, he continues to reveal his deep passion for Classical and early Romantic orchestral literature. Under his guidance the HHSO has sparked collaborations with regional ensembles and performers that continue to widen the reach of the orchestra, including Hilton Head Dance Theatre, Charleston Southern University, the Savannah Children’s Choir, Georgia Southern University and Claflin University.
He is in his seventh season as Principal Pops Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2021/2022 season. He made his debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the fall of 2014, and later that season was named the third conductor to hold the position. Mr. Russell’s concerts at the BPO reflect the diversity of American musical styles: from Classics to Jazz, Hollywood to Broadway, Country Western to Rhythm&Blues.
Mr. Russell’s recent collaborations around the world include Aretha Franklin, Emanuel Ax, Amy Grant and Vince Gill, Garrick Ohlsson, Rhiannon Giddens, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jon Kimura Parker, Ann Hampton Callaway, Michael McDonald, Cynthia Erivo, Cho-Liang Lin, Sutton Foster, George Takei, Megan Hilty, Ranky-Tanky, Steve Martin, Edie Brickell and the Steep Canyon Rangers, Over the Rhine, Katharine McPhee, Brian Wilson, and Leslie Odom, Jr. 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, Milwaukee, the Minnesota Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Colorado Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and New York City Ballet. He regularly leads the National Orchestral Institute and Festival in College Park, Maryland, one of the nation’s premiere training orchestras. Mr. Russell has also conducted important new works with Cincinnati Opera, including its first production of Hans Krasa’s Brundebar in 2000, and in 2019, the world premiere of Blind Injustice, based on the book by Mark Godsey, was released on CD last year.
As Music Director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra between 2001-2012, JMR fostered a decade of unprecedented artistic growth and invigorated musical life in the Windsor-Essex region of Canada. He conducted over forty world premieres with the WSO, many of which were presented on seventeen national broadcasts for CBC Radio 2, and the orchestra’s first nationally televised production for the CBC series “Opening Night”. His recording of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra earned Mr. Russell and the WSO its first Juno nomination for “Best Children’s Album” in 2008. A two-time recipient of Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor’s Award for the Arts, as well as the Ontario Arts Council’s Vida Peene Award for Artistic Excellence, Mr. Russell also received the Herb Gray Harmony Award by the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, and became the first recipient of the Arts Leadership Award by the Windsor Endowment for the Arts. In 2011 the University of Windsor awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Law degree and the following year was named the WSO’s first Conductor Laureate.
John Morris Russell is widely considered one of North America's leaders in orchestral educational programming. From 1997 to 2009 he helped develop and conducted the LinkUP! educational concert series at Carnegie Hall, the oldest and most celebrated series of its kind, created by Walter Damrosch in 1891 and made famous by Leonard Bernstein. 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, he created the Peanut Butter n’ Jam series for young children, Family Jamboree and the One Community—One Symphony project with dozens of local high school performing ensembles. He also spearheaded the creation of The Windsor-Essex Youth Choir and the Windsor Symphony Youth Orchestra. In Hilton Head, Mr. Russell began the HHSO Music Bridges program, 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. Over the last decade in Cincinnati, Mr. Russell is often seen conducting school ensembles throughout the region and leads Educators Conducting Workshops with the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Concert Orchestra to help hone the skills of area band and orchestra directors.
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.
September 2022