All the players are volunteers and come from a wide assortment of backgrounds and occupations mostly from Greater Hartford and the Farmington River Valley. The orchestra is recognized as a non-profit organization by the IRS. The Board of Directors includes members from the local community as well as players from the orchestra. With the exception of the Music Director, no member of the Orchestra or
the Board is paid. Jonathan Edward Brennand, Music Director & Conductor
A native of Middlesex, England, Jonathan Brennand's conducting has been praised by the Cape Cod Times for its "precision and vitality". He was appointed Music Director of the FVSO after a year long audition process and chosen from over 75 candidates in a nation wide search. In addition to his duties at FVSO, Jonathan is Artistic Director of the Worcester Youth Orchestras (MA) where he conducts the 60 member Worcester Youth Symphony Orchestra and elite Baroque Orchestra. In three years he has grown the organisation from one orchestra two four, and encompasses over 130 students in an elite ensemble and chamber music program. During the summer he is Music Director and Principal Conductor at College Light Opera Company (MA) and maintains an active guest conducting schedule. John Eells, Founder
John Eells was Director of Music at Miss Porter's School for 25 years and is the founder and former Music Director of the Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra. He was educated in England at York University and at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he won that school's conducting competition. John has been guest conductor with the Jacksonville, Spokane and Hartford Symphony Orchestras, the Manchester Symphony Orchestra and Choral, and the Meriden Symphony Orchestra. He is also regular conductor of the New Britain Opera Association. John has attended seminars and been coached by Gunther Sculler, Otto Werner Mueller, Andre Previn, Erich Leinsdorf, Riccardo Muti, Gustav Meier, Seiji Ozawa, and Leonard Bernstein.
