Internationally recognized conductor, educator, author, and orchestrator H. Robert Reynolds died peacefully at home in Ann Arbor on Jan. 30, 2026. He was 91.

Born in Canton, Ohio, Harrah Robert Reynolds was the only child of Harrah Earl Reynolds and Ethel Curry Reynolds. He grew up in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

When Robert was 9, his grandfather gave him his first instrument, an E-Flat alto horn, and music lessons. Later, Robert was guided by his middle school and high school music teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Inglefields, a married couple, and he spent a summer studying at Interlochen. During Robert’s senior year, Mr. Inglefields asked if anyone wanted to conduct the band. Robert raised his hand.

After high school, Robert attended U-M, earning a bachelor’s in music education (1956) and a master’s in wind instruments (1958). During that period, he also studied conducting with Elizabeth A. H. Green, whom Robert would later say was “the greatest teacher I ever had.”

Robert began his music career as a high school band director in Onsted, Michigan, then moved to California’s Anaheim High School. He began his collegiate career in 1962 at what was then Long Beach State College, and he joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 1968, he headed to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to become director of bands.

In 1975, he accepted the storied director of bands position at his alma mater in Ann Arbor, a role he held for 25 years. He also served as the Henry F. Thurnau Professor of Music, director of University Bands, and director of the division of instrumental studies. Robert had a lasting impact on the university’s band program, expanding the number of student performance opportunities and establishing a fund that commissioned or co-commissioned nearly 40 works during his U-M tenure. The fund continues to be used for new commissions today.

Following his career at U-M, Robert accepted a position as principal conductor of the wind ensemble at the University of Southern California, where he held the H. Robert Reynolds Professorship in Wind Conducting for 19 years.

Robert also served as conductor of the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings for 35 years, and, for 20 summers, served as conductor of the Young Artists Wind Ensemble at the Tanglewood Institute, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Over the course of his career, Robert conducted performances all over the world, including at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Holland Festival in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and at the Sydney Opera House. In May 1984, in a historic tour with the Michigan Symphony Band, he gave the premiere performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s opera “Samstag aus Licht at La Scala Opera” in Milan, a work he and his students recorded for Deutsche Grammophon.

Robert earned hundreds of awards and recognitions during his career. From 1983-85, he served as president of the College Band Directors National Association, later becoming the first recipient of that organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2010, Duquesne University awarded him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his impact as a conductor and educator. In 2019, he became the first band conductor since John Philip Sousa to be inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.

As part of his 90th birthday celebration, Robert gave his last public performance as conductor in Hill Auditorium on April 12, 2024, conducting Grainger’s “Irish Tune” with the Michigan Symphony Band.

That fall, GIA published his “In Pursuit of Great Conducting” (2024), co-authored with his dear friend and colleague, Doris Doyon. In what became his final professional appearance, at the December 2024 Midwest Clinic in Chicago, he and Doris discussed his lifetime of lessons shared in their book. A standing-room-only audience of educators and conductors hung on every word.

Robert is survived by his wife, Kristin; three children, Susie (Bruce) Reynolds Bringhurst, Patti Reynolds Kiraly, Kirsten M. Reynolds; four grandchildren; and two beloved great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made to the H. Robert Reynolds scholarship fund at the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.