Four Music Director Finalists at Hartford Symphony

In Wednesday’s (2/18) Hartford Courant (Connecticut), Christopher Arnott writes, “The Hartford Symphony Orchestra has announced the four finalists from its search for a new music director. Carolyn Kuan announced in May 2025 that she will step down at the end of that season after 16 seasons as the orchestra’s music director…. Each of the four will be a guest conductor for a concert during the 2026-27 season…. Here are the four finalists for music director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra: Yaniv Dinur is currently the music director of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra and the Tallahassee Symphony, artistic director of Winterlude Chamber Music Series at the Villa Terrace Museum in Milwaukee, and artistic director of the Milwaukee Chamber Music Festival…. Jonathan Taylor Rush, the only Connecticut-raised candidate among the finalists, was born in Windsor. He is a former associate conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and was also the artistic director of the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra…. Alastair Willis is the current music director of the South Bend Symphony Orchestra and the Symphonia Boca Raton. He was born in Acton, Massachusetts but grew up in Russia and England…. John Morris Russell is the music director of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and of the Hilton Head Symphony in South Carolina.”