During the tenure of the British conductor Michael Lankester, who held the post of Music Director between 1985 and 2000, the HSO received national recognition for its programming innovations, and praise from audiences and critics alike. The Hartford Courant boasted that The level of talent in the Hartford Symphony Orchestra is at its highest in memory, maybe ever. And The Boston Globe raved about a performance that was ambitious and exciting one could hear a high standard of discipline in the orchestra and clarity of intent in the work of the conductor. Each season the HSO presents more than sixty concerts at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts and other locations throughout central Connecticut for audiences exceeding 120,000, and reaches thousands more through its statewide broadcasts on Connecticut Public Radio. In 1996 the Hartford Symphony Orchestra introduced the Talcott Mountain Music Festival, a four-concert outdoor concert series held each summer in the scenic Farmington Valley town of Simsbury, Connecticut.
Music education is as central to the Orchestra s mission as the presentation of concerts.
An extensive and dynamic array of educational activities collectively known as Musical Pathways bring classical music to life each year for nearly 40,000 people ranging from pre-school children through adults. Making that possible is the support of some 8,000 subscribers and 3,000 individual donors, along with the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, the Greater Hartford Arts Council, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and numerous corporations and foundations. An international search is under way for the Hartford Symphony Orchestra s ninth Music Director.