William Hudson's remarkable 36-year tenure as Music Director made possible this orchestra's artistic success.  Under his leadership, the orchestra grew from the small, volunteer, community orchestra he inherited in 1971 to the outstanding professional orchestra it is today - the pride of Fairfax County and one of the finest regional orchestras in the U.S.  Theodore Libby* has written that "a large part of the Fairfax success story is having a conductor of William Hudson's caliber."  After a performance during his last season with the FSO, Washington Post music critic Mark Estren noted, "Hudson conducted at a leisurely pace, and the orchestra provided ensemble work of great beauty."

Under Hudson's leadership the orchestra performed at the Kennedy Center with internationally renowned soloists and at Wolf Trap with such popular performers as Ella Fitzgerald.  In addition, Hudson led the orchestra to establish a summer residency at the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival, win the Governor's Award as the outstanding musical organization in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and produce a CD that has enjoyed vigorous sales throughout the United States, Canada, England, and Japan.  In November, 2001 Hudson was invited to be guest conductor of the Taipei Symphony in Taiwan.  He has been called "an exemplary musician and conductor" by Joseph McLellan of The Washington Post.  This sentiment was echoed by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Library of Virginia when they announced Hudson as one of the greatest 20th century Virginians in the arts along with Ruth Brown, the Carter Family, Patsy Kline, Bruce Hornsby, and others.

Hudson's early professional training was with Anthony Gigliotti of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and with faculty members of the Curtis Institute of Music.  He holds degrees from Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music.  As a conducting student at Tanglewood Music Festival, Hudson studied with Max Rudolph and Erich Leinsdorf.  While still a student, his early conducting experience included a two-year cycle of Bach cantatas, Mozart and Haydn Masses, and Handel oratorios with singers and instrumentalists of the Curtis Institute.

Hudson was a member of the conducting staff of Yale University and a faculty member at the State University of New York.  In 1970, he joined the faculty of the University of Maryland, serving as professor of music, conductor of the symphony orchestra and opera, and head of the graduate orchestral conducting program.  He has served as a faculty member for the American Symphony Orchestra League's conducting workshops.  A frequent lecturer and guest speaker, Hudson has served on the boards of the Northern Virginia Youth Symphony and the Fairfax Choral Society, as well as on the advisory panel of the Fairfax County Council of the Arts.

In performance with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, and as guest conductor, Hudson has enjoyed successful collaborations with many of the leading soloists of our time.  Among these are Jorge Bolet, Rudolph Firkusny, Eugene Fodor, Leon Fleisher, Claude Frank, Gary Graffman, Ida Kavafian, Lili Krauss, Lorin Hollander, Eugene Istomin, Ruth Laredo, Jaime Laredo, Leonard Pennario, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Santiago Rodriguez, Aaron Rosand, Andre Michel Schub, Joseph Silverstein, Janos Starker, Richard Stoltzman, and Barry Tuckwell.  His collaborations with principal players of the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Philadelphia Orchestra included Dale Clevenger, John de Lancie, Bernard Garfield, Adolph Herseth, Anthony Gigliotti, Gilbert Johnson, Mason Jones, Nolan Miller, Joseph Robinson, Sol Schoenbach, and Richard Woodhams.  Well-known personalities appearing with the orchestra have included Doc Severinsen, Marvin Hamlisch, Roger Mudd, Joan Fontaine, weatherman Doug Hill, James Carville and Mary Matalin.

Hudson served as a faculty member of the American Symphony Orchestra League's conducting workshops.  From 1979 until his retirement, Hudson served as Music Director of the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival, where the Fairfax Symphony remains orchestra-in-residence.

* Theodore Libby, a highly regarded music critic, is the classical music editor of Schwann Inside and has served as a top editor and music critic at High Fidelity magazine, Musical America, The New York Times, and The Washington Star.  He can be heard weekly on National Public Radio's "Performance Today."  He is the author of The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection and The NPR Listener'6+s Encyclopedia of Classical Music.