Conductor and pianist Raymond Hughes, who grew up in a musical family in Thomasville, Georgia, has been working as chorus master at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City for the past sixteen years. He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Georgia in liberal arts in 1974. After graduate studies in conducting at the University of South Carolina, Indiana University, and the Aspen Institute, he settled in Germany to concentrate on opera, holding successive posts with opera companies in Kaiserslautern, Nuremberg, and Mainz. He subsequently worked as opera conductor in Pretoria and Cape Town in South Africa, and at the Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina, as well as principal guest conductor of the chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy. In recent years, in addition to his work at the Met, he has presented several organ recitals; conducted a choral workshop and master classes at Key West Community College in Florida; appeared as guest conductor with the Athens, Georgia, Master Chorale and Orchestra in concerts at the University of Georgia; was music director and conductor for an opera gala benefit in Greenville, South Carolina; and has collaborated with singers in solo recitals in New York, Iowa, Poland, and France. Most recently, he appeared as a duo-pianist with Norman Dunfee in a gala benefit concert for the Medbank Foundation in Thomasville, Georgia, and appeared in recital with Dr. Dunfee and legendary baritone Cornell MacNeil in MacNeil’s first solo recital since his retirement from the stage.

Mr. Hughes received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of South Carolina in 1993; in 1998, the Thomasville-Thomas County Chamber of Commerce awarded him its Pinnacle Award for Lifetime Achievement; and in 2001, the Brevard Music Center named him Distinguished Alumnus.

Back to Artist's Page

top of page