Janna Hymes, Conductor

Versatility, passion, and innovation are the hallmarks of American conductor Janna Hymes. Renowned for her inspiring performances, musical depth, and energetic presence both on and off the podium, she has developed a reputation as an exciting, detailed communicator. Praised by the press as “an architect, a builder in sound, a conductor with an overall view who never misses details,” Ms. Hymes is Artistic Director of Indiana’s Carmel Symphony Orchestra since 2017. She served as Music Director of the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to 2019. 

Recent performance highlights include opening the 2022-23 season with the West Virginia Symphony and concerts with the Savannah Symphony, Venice Symphony, Roanoke Symphony, Macon Symphony, Portland Symphony (ME); serving as Artist in Residence at Colby College; leading the Williamsburg Symphony on its first international tour; conducting the Maine Pro Music Orchestra as part of the festivities celebrating the town of Rockport, Maine’s 125th anniversary. Ms. Hymes is a frequent guest conductor at the Sewanee Music Festival in Tennessee.

Among the orchestras that Ms. Hymes has guested with are the Houston, Indianapolis, Oregon, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Hartford, Madison, Stamford, Harrisburg Spokane, Richmond, Springfield, Bozeman, Canton, Chappaqua Chamber Bangor and Omaha symphony orchestras, as well as the San Francisco Women’s Philharmonic, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and the Florida Orchestra. Internationally, she has led the Costa Rica National Symphony on numerous occasions as well as many tours with the Delta Ensemble of Holland, the National Orchestre de Lyon, Besancon Chamber Orchestra and the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico.

Ms. Hymes’ previous posts include Music Director of the Maine Grand Opera, founder and conductor of Maine Pro Musica, Associate Conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony, Resident Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony and Music Director of the Columbus Women’s Orchestra, the Cincinnati Composers’ Guild and the I Solisti Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. She has served on the music faculty of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, University of Akron and Butler University in Indianapolis.
Born in New York City, Janna Hymes is a Fulbright scholar, recipient of a Geraldine C. and Emory M. Ford Foundation Grant, and a prizewinner of the International Conducting Competition in Besancon, France. She studied under such prominent conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Gustav Meier, Otto Werner-Mueller and Gunther Schuller, and holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati. She also studied at the Tanglewood Music Center and Aspen Music Festival.

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Joshua Roman is a cellist, accomplished composer and curator whose performances embrace musical styles from Bach to Radiohead. Before setting off on his unique path as a soloist, Roman was the Seattle Symphony’s principal cellist – a job he began at just 22 years of age and left only two years later. He has since become renowned for his genre-bending repertoire and wide-ranging collaborations. Roman was named a TED Senior Fellow in 2015. His live performance of the complete Six Suites for Solo Cello by J.S. Bach on TED’s Facebook Page garnered nearly one million live viewers, with millions more for his Main Stage TED Talks/Performances, including an improvisational performance with Tony-winner/MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Bill T. Jones and East African vocalist Somi.
A Gramophone review of his 2017 recording of Aaron Jay Kernis’s Cello Concerto (written for Roman) proclaimed that “Roman’s extraordinary performance combines the expressive control of Casals with the creative individuality and virtuoso flair of Hendrix himself.” Recent highlights include performing standard and new concertos with the Colorado, Detroit, Jacksonville, Milwaukee, and San Francisco Symphonies. In addition to his other orchestral appearances Roman has collaborated with the JACK, St. Lawrence, and Verona Quartets and brings the same fresh approach to chamber music projects to his own series, Town Music at Town Hall Seattle.
Joshua Roman’s adventurous spirit has led to collaborations with artists outside the music community, including creating “On Grace” with Tony-nominated actor Anna Deavere Smith. His compositions are inspired by sources such as the poetry of Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy K. Smith, and the musicians he writes for, such as the JACK Quartet, violinist Vadim Gluzman, and conductor David Danzmayr. Roman’s endeavors outside the concert hall have taken him to Uganda with his violin-playing siblings, where they played chamber music in schools, HIV/AIDS centers and displacement camps.

View Joshua Roman’s Website