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International Conductors Guild

Officers - 2025-2026 

 

Dr. Claire Fox Hillard - President 

  • Music Director and Conductor,  Albany Symphony Orchestra  
  • Associate Professor - Albany State University 

Claire Fox Hillard is Music Director and Conductor of the Albany Symphony Orchestra, an Associate Professor at Albany State University and serves as conductor for the Gulf Coast Steinway Society Concerto Competition. He currently serves as the President-elect of the International Conductors Guild.  Hillard previously served as Music Director of the St. Joseph Symphony (MO), the Missouri Western Philharmonia, the Meridian Symphony Orchestras (MS), and as Music Advisor to the Cobb Symphony Orchestra.  He has also served on the faculty at Indiana State University and Missouri Western State University. 

A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Hillard began piano and violin studies at an early age and made his conducting debut at the age of 18.  At age 25, after earning his masters and doctoral degrees from The University of Iowa, he became one of the youngest conductors to be appointed the Music Director of a professional orchestra.  He received training from several notable conductors of our time including James Dixon, Leonard Slatkin, Pierre Boulez, Maurice Abravanel, Jorge Mester, and John Barnett.  Maestro Hillard is the recipient of the League of American Orchestra’s distinguished Helen M. Thompson Award.  Georgia Trend Magazine has honored him as one of the “outstanding leaders in Georgia.” The Meridian Council for the Arts honored Hillard with its Artist’s Achievement Award and he has been awarded a Dream Award from Albany’s annual King Celebration.  Hillard currently serves as Vice-President and Treasurer of the International Conductors Guild; he is a member of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Authority; and has served as a music panelist for the Georgia Council for the Arts.  

Hillard made his European debut in 1994 conducting the Karlovarsky symfonicky orchestra.  Since that time he has returned to conduct that orchestra as well as the Moravian Philharmonic in the Czech Republic, L’Orchestre Chapelle de Lorraine in Brussels, the Filharmonica “Banatul” and Filharmonica Paul Constantnescu in Romania, the Orquesta Sinfonica de San Pedro Sula in Honduras, the Karkov Philharmonic in Ukraine, the Gdansk Philharmonic in Poland, the National Russian Philharmonic, the Orquestra Sinfonica Caxias do Sul in Brazil and the Academic Philharmony of the City of Astana, in the Republic of Kazakhstan.  Among the orchestra he has appeared with in this country are the Abilene Philharmonic, West Shore Symphony, North Arkansas Symphony, Tupelo Symphony, Flagstaff Symphony, Cobb Symphony, Quad-City Symphony and Symphony of Southeast Texas.   

Hillard’s programming is noted for its diversity and blend of major symphonic, choral, operatic repertory, American compositions, and the premieres of new works.  He has received seven ASCAP awards for minnovative programming and collaborated with a wide variety of composers and artists including Virgil Thomson, Aaron Copland, Alvin Singleton, Adolphus Hailstork, Hilary Hahn, Anthony McGill, Itzhak Perlman, Ruth Laredo, William Warfield, Ray Charles, actresses Debbie Reynolds, fiddle player Mark O’Connor, Chris Brubeck, and the Billy Taylor Trio.

 

 Mr. Christopher Blair - Vice President 

    - Principal/Chief Scientist of Akustiks
   - Music Director, Laurel Beach Casino Orchestra

 Internationally acclaimed for his expertise in acoustical design of concert halls and opera houses, Christopher Blair   has become increasingly in demand as a guest conductor of orchestras around the world. In recent years Blair has   appeared in   concert with the Bolivian National Orchestra, the Porto Alegre (Brazil) Symphony Orchestra, the San   Diego Symphony Orchestra, the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Tianjin (China) Symphony Orchestra, the New Haven Symphony, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, the Vidin (Bulgaria) Philharmonic, and the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra. Since February 2018 Chris has enjoyed multiple engagements with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Falcón in Coro, Venezuela, resulting in an invitation to conduct that country’s National Philharmonic in 2021. In the course of his acoustical consulting activities he has led rehearsals of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, the Minas Gerais (Brazil) Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica and the Bogotá (Colombia) Philharmonic among many others, working closely with their Music Directors to improve the sound of their performance halls. He currently is Music Director of the Laurel Beach Casino Orchestra, a professional chamber orchestra created in 2013 to attract new audiences to orchestral music utilizing an informal and intimate cabaret format.  

Following his undergraduate studies at the University of Vermont in Music and Mechanical Engineering, Mr. Blair earned two simultaneous Masters degrees: one in Orchestral Conducting from the New England Conservatory, and the other in Acoustics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Early professional conducting appointments included the Music Directorships of the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra of Boston, the South End Symphony and Choral Society, the Melrose (MA) Symphony Orchestra, the Brown University Orchestra (where he was also Chairman of the String Program), and the position of Artistic Director of the Boston Light Opera.  During his tenure at each of these organizations, he was known for his popular and innovative programming, and in particular his efforts to reintroduce unjustly neglected symphonic compositions to modern audiences. 

In his parallel career as Principal Consultant/Chief Scientist at AKUSTIKS, based in Norwalk, Connecticut Blair's current projects include the new David Geffen Concert Hall at Lincoln Center, acoustic upgrades and renovation of the Cincinnati Music Hall, a new concert hall for the National Symphony of Costa Rica, a new recital hall in São Paulo, and a new concert hall in Seoul, Korea. Prior work includes new concert halls for the Nashville Symphony and the Minas Gerais Philharmonic, a new recital hall for SUNY-Fredonia, a new addition to the Cleveland Institute of Music, renovations to the Boston Opera House, major renovations of the Eastman Theater along with a new recital hall for the Eastman School of Music, plus major projects in the USA, Mexico, Canada, Thailand, Columbia, Chile, and Brazil.  Recent project openings include the Ordway Concert Hall in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Tobin Center in San Antonio, Texas, the Smith Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, the new Centro Cultural Julio Mario Santo Domingo in Bogota, Colombia , the new Teatro Bicentenario in Leon, Mexico, the new Sala Placido Domingo in Guadalajara, and  renovations to the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. A few significant projects, prior to his work at AKUSTIKS, include Singapore's Esplanade Performing Arts Centre, Lucerne's Cultural and Congress Centre, the City of Culture in Galicia, Spain, and Brazil’s famous Sala São Paulo.   

Chris has been a member of the teaching faculties of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Massachusetts, Brown University, and Yale University..


 Dr. Julie Sorensen - Secretary

 - Former Music Director and Conductor - Idaho State Civic Symphony Orchestra
 - Former Assistant Professor - Idaho State University

Dr. Julie Sorensen comes to ISU from Lubbock, Texas, where she earned her Ph.D. in Fine Arts with a specialty in Orchestral Conducting from Texas Tech University. While in Lubbock, Sorensen served as the assistant conductor for the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra where she conducted for family, children's, and holiday concerts. She has also served as the assistant director for symphonies at Texas Tech University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Sorensen holds a B.A. in Music and Flute Performance from the University of Wyoming and an M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
 
In the fall of 2011, Sorensen joined the music faculty at Idaho State University as an Assistant Lecturer in Music Theory, Aural Skills, Music Appreciation and History. In the fall of 2015, Sorensen became the applied instructor of flute at ISU, where she teaches a strong studio of flutists and is the artistic director of the ISU flute choir. Sorensen is also an adjudicator for both flute and orchestra in and around southeast Idaho. She actively participates in the ISU marching band camps as well as the Summer Institute for Piano and Strings. As a chamber and orchestral musician, Sorensen performs with the City Creek Winds faculty wind quintet and served as the principal flute for the Idaho State-Civic Symphony. While at ISU, Sorensen has also been the conductor for the ISU productions of Into the Woods and Double Blind Sided. In 2012, she organized and directed the first full student chamber symphony orchestra at ISU.
 
In 2016, Sorensen was appointed as the artistic director and conductor for the Idaho State-Civic Symphony Youth Orchestra, a position which she still holds. For the 2017-18 season, she served as the interim conductor for the Idaho State-Civic Symphony. After a nationwide search, she was selected as the permanent artistic director and conductor of the Idaho State-Civic Symphony beginning with the 2018-19 season. 

Dr. Scott Woodard - Treasurer 

 - Music Director - West Virginia State Philharmonic Orchestra
 - Music Director - Butler Symphony Orchestra (OH)

Scott E. Woodard, D.M.A. is a dynamic American conductor known for his expressive musical leadership and commitment to storytelling through sound. A native of West Virginia, Dr. Woodard currently serves as the Music Director of the West Virginia State Philharmonic Orchestra and the Butler Philharmonic Orchestra, reflecting his growing prominence in the American orchestral scene.

Dr. Woodard has conducted a wide array of ensembles across the United States and internationally, including the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Ohio Valley Symphony Orchestra, Huntington Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Philharmonic, Macon Symphony Orchestra, and the Florence Chamber Orchestra in Florence, Italy. His international engagements have included leading the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra in St. Petersburg, Russia. His repertoire spans from core masterworks to contemporary compositions, and his programs often explore music as a vehicle for cultural dialogue, regional identity, and emotional resonance.

In addition to his conducting work, Dr. Woodard is a dedicated educator. He serves as Director of Orchestral Activities and Professor of Conducting at West Virginia State University, where he mentors the next generation of musicians and music educators. His passion for community engagement and arts advocacy is evident in his work with youth orchestras, school programs, and interdisciplinary collaborations throughout Appalachia and beyond.Dr. Woodard earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from Boston University, and he has participated in masterclasses with internationally renowned conductors Leonid Korchmar and Pyotr Gribanov. He also holds degrees in music education and performance and brings over three decades of experience in both academic and professional settings. 

With a clear artistic vision and a deep belief in the transformative power of music, Dr. Woodard continues to inspire audiences, musicians, and students alike with performances that are as intellectually engaging as they are emotionally compelling.

Dr. Julius P. Williams - Immediate Past President

     
       - Conductor,  Ebony Longar Symphony Orchestra
       - Music Director and Conductor -  Trilogy Opera Company
       - Music Director and Conductor - Boston College’s Berklee Contemporary Symphony                                                                           Orchestra
       - Professor of Composition and Conducting, Berklee College of Music  

 

Julius Penson Williams is an award-winning conductor, composer, recording artist, educator, author and pianist. named Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of the Year . His career has taken him from his native New York to musical venues around the globe, and has been involved virtually in every musical genre. Maestro Williams Carnegie Hall conducting debut was with the “Symphony Saint Paulia" Inaugural concerts in New York. He has conducted American Orchestras in Dallas, Buffalo, New Jersey, Oakland, Hartford, New Haven,Akron, Vermont, Knoxville, Sacramento, Paducah, Norwalk, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Savannah, Harlem Symphony , Color of Music Festival Orchestra, and the New Works Orchestra . He was Music Director of the Washington Symphony (1998-2003) which was the official Orchestra of Washington, DC. He was also the Conductor of the Pulitzer Prize performance of Anthony Davis Opera Central Park Five/Five originally premiering and preparing the work For Trilogy An Opera company. His past positions include, Artistic Director of the Music Festival of the Costa del Sol in Spain, and Artistic Director of the School of Choral Studies of New York State Summer School of the Arts for Ten seasons, He has conducted on tour the Oberlin Conservatory Opera and the Cleveland Opera Theater receiving rave reviews for the performances of the Opera “Harriett Tubman” and the World premiere of the Opera Edmonia at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan broadcast on Michigan Public Television. Julius conducted a Gala performance with the Dallas Symphony at the Black Academy Third Annual Riverfest Festival in Dallas Texas. In the past, he has served as Assistant Conductor to the late Maestro Lucas Foss with The Brooklyn
Philharmonic and with the American Symphony in New York.     He is currently Artistic Director and Conductor of the Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra in Boston and Music Director and Conductor of the Trilogy An Opera Company in New Jersey, he served as Composer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra" Composer In Residence, Project” (2018-20) He also serves as a cover (understudy) conductor to the Boston Pops Orchestra (BSO) in Boston and has served as a cover conductor to the Rhode Island Philharmonic. Most recently he was the conductor of the Academy Award eligible film Sky Blossom. he was guest conductor of the Color of Music Festival in South Carolina featuring the wonderful artist Vanessa Williams .
In 2022 he appeared with the Inner City Youth Orchestra at the League of American Orchestras National Conference and also with the National Chorale and Orchestra at David Geffen Hall in New York ,recent past season included performances as Guest conductor at the Isabella Gardner Museum Boston Series , OneWorld Festival Orchestra in Virginia ,the Color of Music Festival Orchestra in Sacramento, the Monteux Festival in Maine, and a gala performance with the group “Sweet Honey and the Rock” at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston , and the Celebrity Series of Boston with the Berklee Contemporary Orchestra. He also served as an adjudicator in New York for Opera America and as a commentator with the Boston Lyric Opera. He composed the music “Dreams” for the Boston Children’s Choir “Raising the roof concert”: concert televised on National Critically acclaimed television and recorded on their 2010 CD.
Julius wrote and was commissioned to write the music to the score to Those Heroes Who Healed a Nation for the dedication of the Shaw 54th regiment memorial performed in 2022 by the Bostons Childrens Chorus and as well for the 2022 Boston Pops July 4 spectacular performed and world premiere the orchestral version on National Television with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by Keith Lockhart. In addition he composed the Music for the One Hundred Anniversary of the Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford with a composition for jazz ensemble, dance and Julius Williams’ discography includes the critically acclaimed “Symphonic Brotherhood” a collection of African-American symphonic music, “Shades of Blue," “The New American Romanticism," Somewhere Far Away, Places in Time, The American Soloist and Midnight Tolls, all available on the Albany Records label. “Moments of Arrival”on Centaur Records and “The Bird That Wants to Fly” a children opera on Naxos/Roven Records. 2024,25 saw his newest recordings Alone/Together The Dreams & Diversity of the American Composer and A Legacy of African American Classical Spirit released on the Albany Record /Parma Label.

His recordings are on the Albany, Parma, Centaur, Naxos and Videmus Record labels and were featured as the recording of the month on Sirius XM.   In addition to his conducting and composing careers, Williams maintains a demanding schedule of speaking engagements, consulting and academics. A dedicated educator, Williams has served on the faculties of Wesleyan University, The University of Hartford, and The University of Vermont. He has been Visiting Conductor of Orchestra at Skidmore College in Saratoga, NY, Affiliate Artist-Teacher of Composition at Purchase College of the State University of New York, and Co-Director of Videmus Records, and Visiting Associate Professor and Jessie Ball Dupont Scholar at Shenandoah University and Conservatory in Virginia.

He is presently Professor of Composition and Artistic Director/conductor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and Music Director of Trilogy An Opera Company. Julius Williams’ educational consulting and speaking engagements has included, this year (2024) in Spain served as President of the Internationally Judge at the International Wind Band Contest for the "City of Valencia” . Maestro Williams
has performed and recorded with The Prague Radio Symphony, and The Moscow Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil, José Joaquín de Olmedo in Ecuador, Principal Military Orchestra of the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation, The Dvorak Symphony Orchestra, The Volvodanksa Symphony of Serbia, The Dubrovnik Symphony of Croatia, The Brno State Philharmonic, The Bohuslav- Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra, and The Music Festival of the Costa del Sol, Spain.
A prolific composer, Maestro Williams has created works for virtually every genre of contemporary classical performance, including opera, ballet, orchestra, chamber ensemble, chorus and solo voice, dance, musical theatre and film. His music has been performed by countless symphony orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, St Louis Symphony, Richmond, Hartford and countless orchestras around the world in the season 24-25 the Boston Symphony performed his “Songs for My Culture” for Chamber Orchestra. He has also served as Composer-in-Residence of Connecticut’s Nutmeg Ballet Company, which premiered his ballet, “Cinderella”. The opera “Guinevere” was performed at the Aspen Music Festival and at Dubrovnik Music Festival in Croatia. He was composer of the score for the film “What Color is Love?” and he also scored the theatrical production to “In Dahomey” . His Cantata “A
Journey to Freedom” for the Reston Chorale and Festival Orchestra in Virginia was recorded on his Album “Somewhere Far Away” 2009 on the Albany label.
He has been an artist at The Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow Russia and The Shanghai Conservatory in China where he also served as the first American Adjudicator of the Rivers Music Composers Competition. He is the Immediate Past President of the International Conductors Guild serving as President for four years and he is also Chair of the League of American Orchestras Conductors
Constituency and a mentor for the League. additionally, he has served on The Advisory Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts ,and Adjudication Committee for the Fulbright Awards,Adjudicator for ASCAP, Adjudicator Ellis-Beauregard Foundation, Educational Consultant to the Norwalk Symphony in onnecticut and He regularly serves as Guest Curator and Host for the Sirius XM Radio Program “Living
American” Program.

Julius P. Williams is the recipient of awards for musical and academic achievement including he received an Honorary Doctorate from Keene State College in New Hampshire , Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of the Year ,The Detroit Symphony “Emerging Composer Award”, The Gracie Allen Documentary Award, The Distinguished Medal of Artistic Achievement of the Ecuador Youth Symphony Orchestra Foundation, The Honorary Distinguished Alumnus Award of Langston University, Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award 2017, The National Culture of the Arts Award of the Association of Foreign Language Teachers of New York and he has also received ASCAP Awards in Composition for the past forty years. Julius has been featured on National Television as a feature artist profiled on CBS News Sunday
Morning.  He has performed with some of the greatest of today's music scene including Dionne Warwick, Vanessa Williams, Daryl Coley, Florence Quiver, Erica Badu, Jennifer Holiday, Tremaine Hawkins, Paula Cole,Richard Smallwood, Larry Klein, Donnie Ray Albert,Clark Sisters,Charlie Pride,Charlie Daniels, Burt Bacharach, Myrna Summers, and Martina Arroyo.
 

Dr. John Farrer - Emeritus Past President


 - Music Director, Roswell Symphony (NM)Orchestra
 - Music Director Emeritus, Santa Maria Philharmonic
 - Music Director Laureate, Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra

Dr. John Farrer enjoyed a thirty-nine year career as the music director of the Bakersfield Symphony. He is also music director of the Roswell Symphony Orchestra, and the Santa Maria Philharmonic. Dr. Farrer is a frequent guest conductor with orchestras in England. As senior guest conductor of the English Sinfonia, he has toured with the orchestra throughout England and northern France. His eight recordings with the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, and English Sinfonia have received high praise from critics around the world. His recording of music by Aaron Copland and George Gershwin was re-released by Sanctuary Classics March 2005, and his compact disc of English string music was re-issued in the spring of 2006.  Dr. Farrer’s new CD of the Brahms Symphony No. 2 with the New Queen’s Hall Orchestra has been enthusiastically received.  Critics have compared it favorably with definitive recordings of this work made by William Mengelberg, Pierre Monteux, and Felix Weingartner. 

Dr. Farrer was associated with the San Francisco Symphony as a cover conductor for the Orchestra’s subscription concerts. He was a speaker in the San Francisco Symphony’s series of Inside Music talks, led the Orchestra in Concerts for Kids, and conducted a program at Stern Grove which attracted 20,000 listeners.

John Farrer is director of the California Conducting Institute, a national training program held in Bakersfield. Conductors from around the world participated in the fifth workshop in May 2006. Dr. Farrer was also an instructor at the London Conducting Workshop at the Royal College of Music the summers of 2005 and 2006.

Dr. Farrer is a member of the music advisory committee of the Young Musicians Foundation of Los Angeles, a board member of the Chamber Orchestra of New York, and a national trustee of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.