DONALD C. BUXTON

CONDUCTOR / MUSIC DIRECTOR

An Ohio native, Mr. Buxton was the winner of numerous solo and concerto competitions while a young student growing up near Cincinnati. Mr. Buxton studied the piano and violin simultaneously, but his talent at the piano brought him recognition at an early age. His performing career began at the age of twelve when he entered the “Young Artists Competition” on piano, sponsored by the Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. He was presented in recital at the Conservatory that same year. He had the distinction of winning unanimous superiors for the last seven consecutive years of his participation in the National Federation of Music Club Competitions. Through this competition, he was awarded the opportunity to perform piano concertos with the Columbus Symphony, the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the Dayton Philharmonic, all of which he later freelanced with as a pianist and violinist.

Mr. Buxton did his undergraduate work at Wilmington College of Ohio. While there, he honed his conducting skills and was involved in several premieres of operatic productions and major orchestral works.  After these opportunities, Mr. Buxton's love of orchestral music and conducting took him to the Conservatories at the University of Cincinnati and Juilliard for advanced studies in conducting. 

Mr. Buxton has performed with the Cincinnati Symphony and the Columbus Symphony and, during summers in Ohio, the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra in their nationally recognized "Concerts in the Park" series. He was the founding member of an early music ensemble based in Ohio that toured extensively throughout the Midwest and the Eastern Seaboard. 

Mr. Buxton moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1984 and resides with his wife and two children in Royal Oak, near St. Michaels. A guiding force in music, he has been involved in the inception of many new and important musical events on the Eastern Shore. Along with Marcy Rosen (cellist, Mendelssohn String Quartet) and J. Lawrie Bloom (clarinetist, Chicago Symphony), Mr. Buxton founded the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival in 1986, where he currently serves as Executive Director. The Festival has enjoyed national acclaim as one of the eminent chamber music festivals on the East Coast. His work with the Festival has brought him in close association with today's brightest talents, such as the Mendelssohn String Quartet and members of the major orchestras of the United States and abroad such as the Chicago Symphony, London Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Ensemble and the Rotterdam Symphony. Mr. Buxton serves on numerous non-profit arts boards including the Talbot County Arts Council, and as a performing arts panelist on the Maryland State Arts Council. 

Mr. Buxton performs frequently as a soloist, freelances with orchestras on the Eastern and Western Shores of Maryland, and with the Miles Quartet of which he is a founding member. He is often sought as a guest speaker, guest conductor and as a clinician/presenter at professional organizations at the national level. He was the Associate conductor of the Talbot Chamber Orchestra in the mid 1980's before assuming the position of Music Director of the Dover Symphony in 1989.  He was the founding Artistic Director/Conductor of the Mid-Atlantic Symphony from 1997 to 2005. He frequently serves as guest conductor for various orchestras throughout the United States. Mr. Buxton is currently on faculty at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.

Working with young people has always been a special love for Mr. Buxton. Through the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival, the Dover Symphony and the Mid-Atlantic Symphony, he has developed family concerts, education programs and free events for children to expose them to the riches of classical music. In 2004, Chesapeake Chamber Music launched the Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition which is held every two years and now enjoys international recognition. The competition is designed to assist emerging artists in launching their careers through cash prizes and performance opportunities. Most recently, Chesapeake Chamber Music launched a new "Youth Initiative" which teaches ten free violin lessons to third grade students followed up by after school string programs. Mr. Buxton, along with his wife Merideth, teaches privately in their studios in Royal Oak, Maryland.