Jonathan McPhee – Music Director & Principal Conductor

Jonathan McPhee is equally at home as a conductor for the symphony, ballet, and opera.  In addition to serving as Music Director for Nashua Symphony Orchestra & Chorus since 2008, Mr. McPhee is also Music Director for Lexington Symphony and the Boston Ballet, which is the second largest musical organization in Boston.

Mr. McPhee was invited to conduct the Nashville Symphony as one of the conductors featured in the 2009 Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview by the League of American Orchestras. His collaboration with WCRB classical radio “Kids Classical Hour” earned a Gabriel Award in 1998.  As Music Director for the Longwood Symphony Orchestra from 2005-2011, he garnered a Met-Life Award for Community Engagement in 2007 from the League of American Orchestras and the State of Massachusetts’ highest award in arts and culture, the Commonwealth Award
in 2011.

Mr. McPhee has had guest conducting engagements with many orchestras at home and abroad in recent years including the Hamburg Philharmonic in Germany, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Tenerife in Spain, and the Lithuanian National Orchestra.  Other orchestras Mr. McPhee has conducted are the BBC Scottish Symphony, The Hague Philharmonic, Orchestre Colonne (Paris), the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in London, the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway.

Some of the world’s most distinguished dance companies for which Mr. McPhee has served as conductor include the New York City Ballet, The Royal Ballet (England), Martha Graham Dance Company, National Ballet of Canada, The Australian Ballet, Den Norske Ballett in Norway, and The Royal Danish Ballet in Denmark.  In addition to a broad repertoire in the field of dance, Mr. McPhee has conducted pops concerts, musical theatre and operetta.  He has also conducted grand opera with Opera Boston, the American Opera Center in New York, and Boston University Opera Institute.

Mr. McPhee’s  works as arranger and composer are in the repertoires of orchestras and ballet companies around the world. His edition of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring is the only authorized reduced orchestration of this work. Mr. McPhee’s compositions and arrangements are published by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.

Mr. McPhee’s best selling recording of The Nutcracker with the Boston Ballet Orchestra has sold over 70,000 copies.  He has also recorded Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty and Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet with that orchestra available on itunes, and Michael Gandolfi’s Caution to the Wind on the CRI CD label.  Mr. McPhee  conducted the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra for the films of Martha Graham’s works telecast by DANCE IN AMERICA that included Samuel Barber’s Cave of the Heart, Gian Carlo Menotti’s Errand into the Maze, and Edgard Varese’ Integrales, Offrandes, and Octandre. His collaboration with WCRB classical radio “Kids Classical Hour” earned a Gabriel Award in 1998.

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. McPhee received his  L.R.A.M. from the Royal Academy of Music, and a B.M. and M.M. from The Juilliard School.  While at Juilliard, Mr. McPhee was the recipient of a Naumburg Scholarship in Conducting and English Horn.  He has studied with Leonard Brain, David Diamond, Thomas Stacy, Rudolf Kempe, Sixten Ehrling, and participated in master classes with Sir Georg Solti and James Levine while at Juilliard.

Diane Cushing – Conductor, Nashua Symphony Chorus

There is never a dull moment for Diane Cushing who plays the role of singer, conductor, and teacher of voice. This fall will mark her sixth year as Conductor of the Nashua Symphony Chorus. Ms. Cushing is the Conductor of The Keene State College Concert Choir and teaches Voice at Keene State and Assumption College (Worcester, MA.) She is also the Founder and Director of The Mount Wachusett Community Chorale in Gardner, MA. Ms. Cushing participates in the music ministry at The Bethany Baptist Church in Gardner, MA., where she is a worship leader and conductor for special choral concerts.

Ms. Cushing recently adjudicated choral festivals in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. She is also a frequent performer in the Keene State College Faculty Recital Series. She is a member of The American Choral Conductor’s Association, The National Association of Teachers of Singing, and The Music Educator’s National Conference.

Ms. Cushing received her Bachelor of Music Education degree at Anna Maria College, where she was Assistant to the Choral Director in her Junior and Senior years. She went on to a Graduate Assistantship in Choral Conducting at Syracuse University where she worked under Dr. Rhonda Fleming as Conductor of the concert Chorale and Assistant Conductor of the Oratorio Society. She continued her education at Boston Conservatory, where she earned a Masters in Vocal Performance. Her vocal studies have been with Dr. David Rives, Dr. Robert White, Ruth Golden, Bruce Kolb, Oren Brown, and vocal coaches Michael Strauss and William Merrill.

Ms. Cushing was a member of The Boston Baroque, and has been heard as soloist with the Masterworks Chorale of Boston, The Hamilton Baroque Ensemble, The Cape Cod Chorale, The Bach Society, The Neponsett Chorus, The Thayer Symphony Orchestra, The Assabet Valley Mastersingers and The Monadnock Chorus and Orchestra. She has performed music of American Composers at Queen’s College, New York, and at Newberry College, South Carolina in their Recital Series. She has also performed music of Finnish composers at Fitchburg State College.