Consistently winning international praise for his extraordinary music-making and visionary leadership, John Morris Russell is in his sixth season as Music Director of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra and conductor of the prestigious Hilton Head International Piano Competition. Maestro Russell is also Conductor of the Cincinnati Pops, one of the world’s most iconic and beloved pops orchestras, and serves as Principal Pops Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra following in the footsteps of Marvin Hamlisch and Doc Severinsen. He completed his eleven-year tenure as Music Director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in Ontario, Canada in 2012, whereupon he was named that orchestra’s first Conductor Laureate.

Under Mr. Russell’s leadership, the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra has enjoyed unprecedented artistic success. Concert attendance continues to blossom, and the HHSO has now doubled the number of concerts they present. Maestro Russell 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, Savannah Youth Orchestra, Savannah Childrens Chorus, Georgia Southern University and Lean Theatre Company. In addition, Mr. Russell has been actively involved in the development of the HHSO “Music Bridges” program, engaging thousands of school children from Blufton to Hilton Head Island in ensemble visits and full orchestra concerts, and integrating the musical culture of Gullah and Lowcountry traditions into presentations and programming.

With his position at the Cincinnati Pops, Mr. Russell leads sold-out performances at Music Hall, The Taft Theater, and the Riverbend Music Center; additionally he conducts the orchestra in concerts throughout the Greater Cincinnati region as well as domestic and international tours—serving as a musical ambassador to cultivate the reputation of the Cincinnati region as one of the world’s leading cultural centers. Creator of the orchestra’s Classical Roots series, he also leads The Pops family concert series, the annual USO Tribute Cincinnati Gala, and the wildly successful, summer “Lumenocity” performances. In November of 2017 he will lead the first live recording of The Pops in Cincinnati’s newly renovated Music Hall. In 2016, Mr. Russell initiated the The Pops video series “American Soundscapes” which has taken Pops performances around the globe via YouTube, including works by John Williams and musical tributes to composer Stephen Foster and famed arranger Nelson Riddle. In December 2014 Mr. Russell led the Cincinnati Pops on their first-ever Florida tour, and in March of 2017 he led the orchestra’s sixth tour to Asia including performances in Shanghai and Taipei.

While Music Director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Maestro Russell fostered a decade of unprecedented artistic growth and invigorated the musical life of the Windsor-Essex region, including seventeen national broadcasts on CBC Radio 2, the orchestra’s first nationally televised production for the CBC Television series Opening Night which received a Gemini Award Nomination. In 2010 he was honored as the first recipient of the Arts Leadership Award by the Windsor Endowment for the Arts, in recognition of the enormous contribution he has made to the region’s cultural life and in the spring of 2011 the University of Windsor awarded John Morris Russell an Honorary Doctor of Law degree.