Edward Cumming

Edward Cumming was appointed the Martha Raley Peak Director of Orchestral Studies at Meadows School of the Arts in 2024. He comes to SMU from The Hartt School, where he was Director of Orchestral Studies. Cumming was also Music Director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, hailed for its remarkable artistic growth during his tenure. His appointment came after a two-year search involving nearly 300 applicants from around the world.

Cumming was Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where he assisted music director Mariss Jansons and Marvin Hamlisch. As Resident Conductor of the Florida Orchestra, Cumming conducted a recording of The Star-Spangled Banner with Whitney Houston and the Florida Orchestra for Super Bowl XXV.

As a musician, performer, educator, and conductor, he has distinguished himself in a career that has taken him all over the world. In Europe, Cumming has led the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada (Spain), the Ceske Budejovice Chamber Philharmonia (Czech Republic), the BBC Ulster Orchestra (Belfast, Northern Ireland), Belgrade Philharmonic (Serbia) and the Sinfonica di Roma. He has conducted ensembles throughout the United States, including the Los Angeles, Rochester and Buffalo Philharmonic orchestras, the Detroit, San Diego, Maryland and Oregon Symphony orchestras, and the Boston Pops. He has been a guest with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Be’er Sheva Sinfonietta. He made his South American debut with the Filarmónica de Bogotá, conducting Schoenberg’s Pelleas und Melisande on short notice.

Artists with whom he has performed include Yo Yo Ma, Elmar Oliveira, Sarah Chang, Joshua Bell, Doc Severinson, James Taylor, Stefan Jackiw and Emmanuel Ax.

Cumming has taught at colleges on every corner of the country, including Yale University, California State University (Fullerton), University of South Florida and Pacific University. During his time in Pittsburgh, he was Music Director of the nationally acclaimed Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, one of just five orchestras invited to the biennial National Youth Orchestra Festival. He was the founding Music Director of the Pacific Symphony Institute and taught at the Orange County High School for the Arts.

Cumming studied at Yale University with Otto-Werner Mueller, and has performed in master classes led by Riccardo Muti, Pierre Boulez and Maurice Abravanel. As an undergraduate at the University of California at Berkeley, he was awarded the prestigious Eisner Prize for Creative Achievement in the Arts. In 2010, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Trinity College.