Gregory Hustis
Festival Artistic Director

Hustis has been the Festival Artistic Director and Chamber Music Director since 2007 overseeing the festival's programming and artists. He launched Music in the Mountains chamber music series in 1997 and has received acclaim for imaginative programming and many sell-out performances. Hustis has been a distinguished horn player in the festival's orchestra since 1988. Since 1976, he has been principal horn with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and previously was the principal horn of Hamilton Philharmonic in Ontario, Canada. In addition, he is an outstanding member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet.  As an internationally known soloist, chamber music player and recording artist, he has appeared internationally and often performs with Bravo!Vail, Sarasota Music Festival and Mainly Mozart in San Diego. Hustis is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and teaches horn at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas.  

Arkady Fomin
Conservatory Artistic Director

Fomin is the Artistic Director for Conservatory Music in the Mountains. He is founder and Artistic Director of New Conservatory of Dallas, which brought its summer music program to Durango in 1997. He is a violinist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Clavier Trio. The Clavier Trio is an ensemble-in-residence at University of Texas-Dallas, and has appeared several times at Carnegie Hall. Born in Riga, Latvia, Fomin has performed as a chamber musician and soloist and has collaborated in performances with such artists as Pinchas Zukerman, Yefin Bronfman, Emanuel Borok and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. He received the Cowlishaw Artist-in-Residence Award from University of Texas-Dallas for artistic achievement.

Guillermo Figueroa
Music Director and Conductor

Figueroa was named Festival Music Director and Conductor in 2007. He just concluded his tenth season as Music Director and Conductor of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, and previously was the Music Director of the Puerto Rico Symphony. Figueroa is a renowned violinist, playing a 1686 Stradavari known as the "Figueroa Strad." As a founding member of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director of Festival de Musica Rondena chamber music series in Albuquerque, he has also appeared as a guest conductor with symphony orchestras of New Jersey, Memphis, Phoenix, Iceland, El Salvador and Xalapa, Mexico. For 10 years, he was the Concertmaster of the New York City Ballet, appearing in more than 100 performances. A Berlioz specialist, Figueroa created comprehensive Berlioz Festival in the U.S. in 2003 to commemorate the composer's 200th anniversary.  Along with his father and uncle, he studied at Conservatory of Music in Puerto Rico and at Juilliard.  For more information, visit: www.guillermofigueroa.com

Mischa Semanitzky
Founder and Conductor Laureate

Semanitzky is the festival founder and Conductor Laureate. He founded the Festival in 1987, with five concerts and 11 musicians. He nurtured the growth and became Conductor Laureate after the 21st season, when there were 41 chamber, orchestral and conservatory concerts with more than 250 musicians.  In 1999, he launched the year-round Music in the Mountains Goes to School program for elementary and secondary school students in four corners region. He made his Carnegie Recital Hall debut in 1972 and served as Concertmaster of the Nashville Symphony, Assistant Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony and Music Director and Conductor of the Pittsburgh Ballet and Les Grands Ballet Canadiens of Montreal. He earned his bachelor's and master's music degrees from Yale and doctorate from Columbia. He is an emeritus member of the festival's board of directors and resides in Phoenix with his wife.