Music Director
Russell Vinick joins us for his sixth season as the Music Director and Conductor of the Chicago Businessmen's Orchestra this season. He also serves as the Music Director and Conductor for the McHenry County (IL) Youth Orchestras, and as a part-time music faculty member at the Sherwood Conservatory at Columbia College in Chicago.
Vinick has served as Apprentice Conductor for the Knoxville (TN) Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, Interim Music Director for the Kingsport (TN) Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director and Conductor for the Macon (GA) Symphony Youth Orchestra. He has appeared in concert as guest conductor with the Virginia Symphony, Missouri Chamber Orchestra, Macon (GA) Symphony Orchestra, Oak Ridge (TN) Symphony Orchestra, Manchester (CT) Symphony Orchestra, University of Tennessee Symphony Orchestra, and Lake Shore Symphony Orchestra of Chicago. He has also conducted rehearsals with the Classical Symphony Orchestra (Chicago), Georgetown Symphony Orchestra, Erie (PA) Philharmonic, and members of the Minnesota Orchestra. Vinick served as assistant conductor at the Pacific Music Festival (founded by Leonard Bernstein) in Sapporo, Japan, and has been in the conducting programs of the Aspen Music Festival and the Tanglewood Music Festival.
He has conducted throughout Europe with the McHenry County Youth Orchestras as part of the Music Celebrations International Festival. Vinick holds a bachelors degree in music from the University of Connecticut where he received the Lottie Green Conducting Scholarship and a masters degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where he received the Conducting Departmental Award and music scholarships. His mentors are Daniel Lewis at USC; Kirk Trevor, Music Director of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra; and Eiji Oue, Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra.