(I)NTERVIEW: Edward Cumming

Edward Cumming is the conductor and the Music Director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.    

He got his first a taste of conducting at the age of 11, and was amazed on how well it turned out.   “Just lead this beautiful porcine chorus,” he recounted, remembering how he got the class to say “oink, oink” in unison. It was a conducting debut that Mr. Cumming remembers fondly, despite the fact that it resulted in his being suspended from school.

Mr. Cumming was inspired by many different people through out his life.  One of them was George Steinbrenner, who taught him the meaning of being a leader. 

As you all may know, a maestro always has a tune stuck in their head.  But, Edward Cumming had one in his head for almost a year and a half.  Once he found what the tune was the next day it was gone, just like that.  What some people might not know about him is that he is obsessed with the game of bridge.      

As Resident Conductor of the Florida Orchestra from 1989 to 1993, Cumming conducted a recording of the “Star Spangled Banner” with Whitney Houston and the Florida Orchestra for Super Bowl XXV. After filling in as guest conductor in 1996, he was appointed Artistic Director of the Flagstaff Festival of the Arts the following summer.

Mr. Cumming studied with Otto-Werner Mueller at Yale University, where he received a Doctorate in Music in 1992. As an undergraduate at the University of California at Berkeley, he was awarded the prestigious Eisner Prize for Creative Achievement in the Arts. In May 2010, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Trinity College.

Written by Kat Amershadian with biographical information courtesy of: EdwardCumming.com