Music Director

The Riverside Orchestra, NY

Music Director of the Riverside Orchestra from 2014, I lead five subscription concerts in New York’s Upper West Side, regularly featuring soloists from major New York Orchestras and beyond.

Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra, PA

Music Director of this orchestra in suburban Philadelphia since 2014, I lead five subscription concerts at the Upper Darby Performing Arts Center and numerous community performances including 2019 and 2022 at the Kimmel Center. The orchestra’s two albums (2018 & 2021) have received critical acclaim.

Recordings as Conductor & Researcher

String Orchestra works by Ludwig Bonvin, Carl Busch, Frederick Converse, Arthur Foote, Carl Hillman, Paul Miersch, Horatio Parker, Eugène Dédé and Henry Schoenfeld.
“Blundell shapes this heartfelt and buoyant fare with consummate taste and flexibility, allowing the music to sing and dance as required…”
– Gramophone Magazine

String Orchestra works by Arthur Bird, Bernardus Boekelman, Félix Borowski, Charles Wakefield Cadman, George Whitefield Chadwick, Arthur Foote, Stephen Foster, Martinus van Gelder, Louis Lombard, Paul Miersch, Ethelbert Nevin, and Edgar Stillman Kelly. “Conductor Reuben Blundell has performed a great service in bringing an underexposed, one might even say neglected, collection of classical works to the public’s attention.” – Textura

Full Orchestral works by Ludwig Bonvin, Gena Branscombe, Cecil Burleigh, Carl Busch, Charles Wakefield Cadman, Edward MacDowell and David Stanley Smith.

“With repertoire this rare and good, it’s assuring to have the music played and conducted well. In addition to his sympathetic interpretations, Maestro Blundell also contributes excellent program notes. I’m earmarking this for one of my best of the year list and hope there are more in the series to follow.”
– American Record Guide

This album, featuring works by Priscilla Beach (1902-70), Linda Robbins Coleman, and Alexandra Pierce, was released in May 2021. “Since the mid-teens, conductor Reuben Blundell has been unearthing one undiscovered American symphonic treasure after another… let’s hope for more from Blundell and this adventurous crew.” – New York Music Daily

Additional Projects & Orchestras

In 2021, my critical edition of the two Op. 11 symphonies by Joseph Bologne, collaboration with series editor Dr. Allan Badley, was published by Artaria. It has since been performed by numerous orchestras worldwide.

I’ve served as assistant conductor for the three Lord of the Rings movies in concert, for conductors Shih-Hung Young & Ludwig Wiki, and Madrid’s Spanish National Orchestra and Montreal’s GFN Productions.

With the Chelsea Symphony since 2021, I’ve conducted major symphonic works, dozens of concertos, numerous premieres, and was conductor, project manager, sound editor, and creative lead for Aaron Dai’s “The Night Before Christmas,” narrated by John Lithgow.

I’ve gone on to produce numerous multi-screen productions and further video editing using Adobe Premiere Pro.

Education

In Australia, I attended the Victorian College of the Arts and Australian Institute of Music for violin, while participating in Symphony Australia’s Conductor Development Program with Jorma Panula and Christopher Seaman.

In the USA, I was a violin Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and New World Symphony (serving as concertmaster at both), then earned a doctorate in conducting at the Eastman School of Music studying conducting with Neil Varon. I’m extending my training in the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Certificate of Advanced Educational Leadership.

I’ve served as tenure-track assistant professors as Director of Orchestral Activities, Chamber Music and String Coordinator at Millersville University and Hunter College. Committee experience included college- and university-wide curriculum development, Mellon Grant and VP for Development search committees, and election to the City University of New York’s Faculty Senate.

Currently, I teach at New York’s Trinity School, performing regularly in school chapels and internationally, including the school’s first orchestral tour, to Central Europe in 2019, and plans are advancing for a French tour in 2023.

I’m a frequent guest conductor and clinician for regional orchestra festivals, and I’ve conducted and taught for American Voices and the US State Department in Lebanon and Iraq.