Symphony conductor Huw Edwards bids Olympia farewell without a satisfying finale

The 2019-2020 season was Huw Edwards’ last as conductor of the Olympia Symphony Orchestra, and since it ended abruptly in March, Edwards never had the chance to conduct a farewell concert.

Instead, Olympia will say goodbye and thank you to the conductor with a “drive-through parade” set for Sunday outside the offices of Bean, Gentry, Wheeler and Peternell in southwest Olympia.

A string quartet of orchestra musicians is scheduled to play, and fans are invited to wave, honk and drop off cards and letters for Edwards, who announced his departure in September.

Though he’s ready to have more flexibility and try new things after 39 years of conducting, Edwards said, he’s left feeling hollow and unfulfilled at having his final year cut short.

“It’s sad that this is the last year,” he said. “The orchestra was playing so well. But no one can deny that my last year in Olympia was memorable.” He chuckled. “I’ll be known as the COVID conductor.”

“He’s touched a lot of lives in the 17 years he’s been here,” said Jennifer Hermann, the orchestra’s executive director. “There are tremendous numbers of people in the community who love him and wanted a chance to say goodbye, and with the current restrictions, it’s really the only way we can do it.”

Don Foran knows Edwards not only because he and his wife, Maggie, enjoy attending concerts but also because both men have taught at the Olympia Senior Center.

“I think Olympia was very lucky to get him,” Foran told The Olympian. “He’s a scholar as well as a very humorous and humane person. He’s anything but stuffy.

“One of the things that infuses his work is his wonderful background in working with youth orchestras in both Portland and Seattle,” Foran said. “I think that has kept him fresh and kept him focused on the community in a way a lot of conductors wouldn’t be.”

Hermann also appreciates Edwards as a teacher. “In 2015, he gave me my first shot a performing as a soloist with an orchestra,” she told The Olympian. “His mentorship, support and patience with me speak to his commitment to lifelong learning and development.”

The conductor, who grew up in the United Kingdom and is looking forward to spending more time there when travel is permitted, said he has many fond musical memories of his years in Olympia.

“I’ve been blessed to work with many great musicians here,” he said. “Many of them have been with me all 17 years.”

Among his favorite moments were the standing-room-only holiday concert at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts in December and the times the orchestra shone while playing particularly challenging pieces, including the Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 at the October concert.

“It was a big step and a challenge,” he said. “You have to do these pieces that will push and challenge. Orchestras and audiences get lazy if you just do a lot of Tchaikovsky and Brahms and a lot of the big romantic comfort-food pieces.

“If you do the Stairmaster every day on level 1 for 10 minutes, you’re not going to benefit much,” he added. “Every now and then, you have to crank up the steepness or the pace or the length or the duration.”

He’s proud of where he’s leaving the group, he said. “The orchestra is in great shape. I think whoever gets my position will be inheriting a really good thing.”

Although plans for future concerts are on hold for now, the orchestra is getting close to announcing finalists for the music director position, Hermann said.

“The original plan was to have the candidates each conduct a concert in the 2020-21 season,” she said, “but we decided to push back the audition year so auditions will be in the 2021-22 season.”

Celebrate Huw Edwards

• What: The Olympia Symphony Orchestra is hosting a drive-through parade to give local music lovers a chance to honor Edwards, who has stepped down after 17 years conducting the orchestra. A string quartet will play, and participants can honk and wave goodbye and drop off cards and letters.
• When: 4-5 p.m. Sunday, July 26
• Where: Bean, Gentry, Wheeler and Peternell, 910 Lakeridge Way SW, Olympia
• More information: http://www.olyso.org
  
  
• Mail a greeting: You can mail cards and letters to Huw Edwards, c/o Olympia Symphony Orchestra, 3400 Capitol Blvd. SE, Suite 203, Olympia, WA 98501.
• Memory book: The orchestra will print a book of good wishes for Edwards. To have your message included, you must submit it online (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NMJP56F) by Sunday, July 26.

This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 5:45 AM.