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Note: The Mid-Columbia Symphony will hire a new Music Director and Principal Conductor after the 2007-2008 season. Four candidates will conduct at each of the four concerts in 2007-2008:

  • Edward Dixon, Walla Walla, Washington. With music degrees from the University of Southern California and the University of Cincinnati College, Dr. Dixon is both a conductor and a cellist. He has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician throughout the United States. Now conductor of the Whitman College Symphony, Dixon is a frequent cello soloist and made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1987.
  • Anthony Spain, Seattle, Washington. Born in London, England, Dr. Spain has been the music director for the Northwest Symphony Orchestra (NWSO) in Seattle since 1987 and music director of the Bainbridge Chorale since 1999. His work with the NWSO has met with national acclaim and has been featured several times on National Public Radio. He has received six national ASCAP awards for unique programming.
  • Nicholas L.Wallin, Moscow, Idaho. Dr. Wallin has a Masters degree in conducting from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and a Doctorate in conducting from the University of Minnesota. He is currently music director for both the Washington Idaho Symphony and the Washington State University Symphony Orchestra. He has actively worked with the boards of directors on audience development and fundraising.
  • Dean Williamson, Seattle, Washington. Williamson is widely known as a conductor throughout the United States. He has conducted for the Seattle Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Sante Fe Opera, Nashville Opera, and the Banff Festival, and was recently named artistic director of Opera Cleveland. He has conducted locally for Washington East Opera.

Maestro Robert Bode: Conductor Emeritus --

Dr. Robert Bode served as Music Director and Conductor of the Mid-Columbia Symphony from 1992-2007, with his last concert in May 2007. He has conducted concerts in North America, England, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Russia. Dr. Bode is Director of Choral and Vocal Studies and Professor of Music at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, where he has been on the faculty since 1986. Dr. Bode received his doctorate degree in conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in 1990, conducting the Walla Walla Symphony Chorale in the New York Premiere of The Waking by John David Earnest. In 1993, Dr. Bode won the conducting prize at the Symphonic Workshop International Competition for conductors in the Czech Republic and subsequently served a three-month residency as Guest Conductor with the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic in Zlin, Czech Republic. In 1997, Dr. Bode conducted a series of televised concerts with the Yunnan Provincial Chorus in Kunming, China. In 2000, he prepared the chorus of the National Opera of Mongolia for the first English-language production of Porgy and Bess in Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia. A vocalist himself, Dr. Bode founded the Walla Walla Choral Society and the Walla Walla Mastersingers. His choirs have performed at the Kennedy Center and Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. Dr. Bode serves as Artistic Director for the Southwest Baroque Soloists in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Music Director for the Composers’ Reading Chorus in New York City.