Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra Music Director Sheldon Bair to Speak at U.K. Festival

From Harford Community College:

Sheldon Bair, music adjunct faculty at Harford Community College and music director of the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra, has been invited to speak at this year’s Malcolm Arnold Festival in Northampton, UK in October. The festival will include performances of all nine symphonies plus additional works by Sir Malcolm. Bair conducted the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra in the US premier of the Ninth in 2000 with Sir Malcolm present.

The festival celebrates the achievements of Sir Malcolm Arnold whose vast musical output includes over 130 film scores, nine symphonies, numerous overtures, ballets, concertos, suites, divertimentos, and other works for orchestra. His most famous work was the music for the movie, Bridge on the River Kwai, for which he won an Oscar. Sir Arnold died on September 23, 2006.

Sheldon Bair is the Founder and Music Director of the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra, a community orchestra of 100 members. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Elizabethtown College and a Master’s degree from Towson University. In addition, his post-graduate studies include classes at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. Sheldon Bair has studied conducting with Witold Rowicki in Vienna, and Marc Mostovoy, William Hudson, and Leonid Grin.

“I’m looking forward to the event, and I consider it an honor to be invited,” said Bair.

Bair teaches orchestra for the Harford County Public Schools, is adjunct faculty for Harford Community College, is on the conducting staff for the Elizabethtown College Music Camp, and is often invited to conduct and adjudicate youth orchestras and soloists. In November 2000, Bair was bestowed the Paderewski Award for Contributions to Society and Culture at the Polish Embassy in Washington D.C. In the fall of 2007, Bair was the guest conductor for the Flower Mound Symphony Orchestra in Dallas, Texas. Also in the fall of 2007, 93 members of the Susquehanna Symphony appeared at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, performing a program of Polish music with several choirs in front of a standing-room-only audience. In fall 2009, 100 members of the Susquehanna Symphony performed on the main stage at Carnegie Hall for the same Polish impresario, performing a program of Polish works under three different conductors.

Bair, a member of ASCAP, has written a number of works for student string orchestra, two works for the Susquehanna Symphony, several arrangements for orchestra, and two works for church choir. Ensembles in Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Texas have performed his music. Bair’s student string orchestra music is published by Howard Publications.