Music Director

Richard Koshgarian, Music Director
Hutchinson Symphony Orchestra

The Symphony is thrilled to begin the 2023-2024 season with this seasoned conductor, starting his 17th year with the Hutchinson Symphony Orchestra!

Richard Koshgarian’s orchestral experience began when he was accepted into the Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Orchestra at age 12. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in Performance from Rhode Island College and a Master of Music in Music Performance from the University of Michigan. After spending two years on the music faculty at Western Carolina University, he returned to The University of Michigan to study orchestral conducting and composition.

After winning a national audition for the position of Assistant Conductor of the National Orchestra of New York, Koshgarian conducted at Carnegie Hall and Columbia University, working with principal players from most of the world’s leading orchestras. He also had the opportunity to work with renowned conductors Zubin Mehta, Seija Ozawa, Leonard Bernstein, James Levine, and Kurt Masur.

In 1989, Koshgarian began work toward a doctorate degree in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Iowa. Upon completing coursework, he was hired as Assistant Professor of Music at Fort Hays State University. In 1991 he received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Iowa and moved to Salina where he serves as Director of Bands at Sacred Heart Junior-Senior High School and Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church.