Claire Fox Hillard named president of International Conductors Guild

Jan. 31—VALENCIA, Spain — Claire Fox Hillard, the music director and conductor of the Albany Symphony Orchestra, has been elected to serve as president of the International Conductors Guild.

Hillard, who has served as treasurer of the Guild for past four years, was elected during the nearly 50-year-old 501(c)(3) nonprofit service and membership organization's recent international conductor conference here. The conference was held in collaboration with La Asociación Española de Directores de Orquesta and with the support of Berklee College of Music Valencia.

"It's an honor that the membership would think me capable of doing the job," Hillard said Tuesday. "This organization's purpose is to promote the art and the profession of conducting, and that's something I support wholly. I look at this as an opportunity to give back to a profession that has been such an integral part of my life."

More than 100 conductors from around the world attended the three-day event, which included scholarly presentations by expert conductors, a conductor workshop featuring Mozart recitatives and arias and native Spanish Zarzuela, panel discussions, conductor round-tables, plus around-the-clock mentoring and counseling. The International Conductors Guild, formerly the Conductors Guild, was founded in 1985 and has been holding an annual conference since at least 1996.

Each ICG conference includes the annual membership meeting for the election of officers and directors of the association as well as the ICG Board of Directors meeting, presentations and awards for outstanding service to the ICG, mentoring and consulting for any conductor making a request for this service, participation in the dress rehearsal and concert of the local/host orchestra, in this case the Orquesta de Valencia with Artistic Director and Conductor Alexander Liebreich, and a conductor retrospective.

In addition to Hillard, Christopher Blair was elected as vice president of the Guild; Julie Sorensen, secretary; Robert Whalen, treasurer; Julius P. Williams, immediate past president; and John Farrer was named to a newly created emeritus past president position.

"Both of the two most recent past presidents told me I had no idea of the amount of work that comes with the position," Hillard said. "And it's held true; I'm already getting one or two phone calls a day concerning Guild business."

Hillard said much of the first year of his two-year term will be devoted to devising a strategic plan that will help keep the Guild relevant to the new generation of conductors.

"The strategic plan is a big undertaking," he said. "We've seen monumental change — in the art and profession of conducting — over the almost 50 years the Guild has been in existence, and there has been tremendous change just in the last five or six years, when you think about the impact of COVID."

A native of Grand Rapids, Mich., Hillard made his conducting debut at the age of 18. At age 25, after earning masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Iowa, he became one of the youngest conductors to be appointed music director of a professional orchestra. He received training from several notable conductors, including James Dixon, Leonard Slatkin, Pierre Boulez, Maurice Abravanel, Jorge Mester, and John Barnett.

Hillard brings years of expert conducting and orchestra experience to the president's position. In addition to serving as music director/conductor of the Albany Symphony Orchestra, he is an associate professor at Albany State University, and conductor for the Gulf Coast Steinway Society Concerto Competition. Hillard previously served as music director of the St. Joseph (Mo.) Symphony, the Missouri Western Philharmonia, the Meridian (Miss.) Symphony Orchestras, and as music advisor to the Cobb Symphony Orchestra. He also has served on the faculty at Indiana State University and Missouri Western State University.

"I am very excited to take on this new role with the International Conductors Guild," Hillard said. "The ICG is a forward-thinking membership and service organization that continues to impact the conducting industry. We have lots of work to do, but I am confident our members will join us as we make plans for our 50th anniversary in 2025 and beyond."

The International Conductors Guild Conference in Valencia was attended by conductors from more than 16 countries and 30 states in the U.S.

The ICG will announce the location and plans for the 2024 ICG Conference within the next few months. Membership in the ICG is open to conductor who understand the ICG mission and work to help their colleagues around the world. More information about this year's International Valencia Conference may be found on the ICG website at www.internationalconductorsguild.org.