C O N D U C T O R  A N D   M U S I C  D I R E C T O R : Jon Robertson

Jon Robertson is now in his twenty-fifth successful season as conductor and music director of the Redlands Symphony Orchestra. The extraordinary quality of this orchestra is attributable to the blend of devotion he has had for the musicians and his unique artistic vision. Dr. Robertson is currently Dean of Lynn University Conservatory of Music in Boca Raton, Florida. He has also served as Chair of the Music Department and Professor of Conducting/Director of Orchestras at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Robertson’s career as a concert pianist began at age nine with his debut in Town Hall, New York. He continued to give concerts throughout Europe and South America. Although his degrees are in piano performance, he also studied choral conducting with Abraham Kaplan at Julliard and orchestra conducting with Richard Pittman of the New England Conservatory. He later traveled to Sweden and East Germany to study under Maestro Herbert Blomstedt, former conductor/music director of the San Francisco Symphony.

In 1972, Dr. Robertson became conductor and music director of the Thayer Conservatory of Music Orchestra. He served as conductor and music director of the Kristiansand Symphony orchestra in Norway, from 1979 to 1987. Dr. Robertson made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony at Stern Grove, as guest conductor. He received critical acclaim, and was invited for return engagements during the Symphony’s subscription series at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.

Dr. Robertson has conducted the Beijing Central Philharmonic in China, the Gavele Symphony in Sweden, the American symphony Orchestra of New York, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, and the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, which named him Principal Guest Conductor.

Dr. Robertson has served as a panelist on the NEA orchestral review panel and the California Arts Council Organizational Grants and Touring panel. He has also served on the boards of directors of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras and the San Bernardino Arts Association.




A S S I S T A N T  C O N D U C T O R : Co Boi Nguyen

The University of Redlands School of Music and the Redlands Symphony Association are pleased to announce the appointment of Co Boi Nguyen as Assistant Professor of Music and Assistant Conductor of the Redlands Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Nguyen will serve as the principal conductor of the University of Redlands Orchestra and Opera. She will conduct the Redlands Symphony Orchestra when Maestro Jon Robertson is unavailable.

Maestro Robertson commented, “I am very excited to welcome Co Nguyen as my Assistant Conductor and part of the Redlands Symphony Orchestra. She is most talented and I expect a bright future for both Co and the Symphony.”

Regarding the historic cooperation between the Symphony and the University, Director of the School of Music, Dr. Andrew Glendening said “This is an excellent example of what we achieve by working together. Together we have been able to conduct an international search and add a brilliant young conductor to the Redlands community.”

Doug Pew, President of the Redlands Symphony Orchestra added “The Redlands Symphony Orchestra is very fortunate to have such a talented person in Co Nguyen.  We look forward to the contributions she will bring to the Orchestra.”

Since July 2005, Co Boi Nguyen has been conductor and faculty member of the C.W. Post Chamber Music Festival, Long Island University, New York. She served as assistant conductor of the Cosmopolitan Orchestra in New York and led the ensemble in the first U.S recording of A. Tcherepnin’s Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra last October. A native of Hanoi, Nguyen returns regularly to perform and to give master classes. She made her highly acclaimed debut with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra at the Hanoi Opera House in July 2002, making her the first woman and the youngest conductor ever to lead the fifty-year-old ensemble.

An advocate of contemporary music, Nguyen conducted the world premiere of Tony Prabowo’s Requiem for Strings with the Mannes Orchestra in 1998, and appears in Juilliard’s annual Focus Festival. Also a champion of world music, she was invited to participate in the Asia-Pacific Performance Exchange Program in 1997, a prestigious two-month gathering organized by UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Culture designed to foster cultural exchange among artists from Asia and the US. Nguyen has participated in various summer programs, including the Vienna Conservatory of Music Exchange Program, and the Aspen Music Festival and School. Among numerous distinguished awards, Nguyen was a Fellowship Grantee of the Asian Cultural Council, an affiliate of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, from 1997 to 2003, as well as a grant recipient of the Albert Kunstadter Family Foundation in 2002. While she was a student at the Hanoi National Conservatory, Nguyen was invited to perform at the state reception for former president George H. W. Bush at the Municipal Hall of Hanoi during the president’s first visit to Vietnam in the fall of 1995. Nguyen is a graduate of the conducting programs at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School.