Cindy Hunter

Cindy Hunter, conductor, pianist, music director, and educator, is a sought after collaborator, often appearing with professional theatre and symphonic organizations, community programs, and educational institutes. Her local professional music directing credits include Camelot and Cabaret at Farmers Alley Theater, Billy Elliot, Sister Act, Peter Pan, Les Miserables, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Drowsy Chaperone, Jekyll and Hyde, A Chorus Line, and Ragtime at Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, Reefer Madness, Bat Boy, Three Penny Opera, and Assassins at Whole Art Theatre, High School Musical at the Kindleberger Festival, and West Side Story at The Barn Theatre.

 Hunter recently retired as the Director of Choirs at Portage Central High School and Central Middle School in Portage, Michigan, where she directed 6 award-winning choirs and was the Music Director and Orchestra Conductor for over 20 musicals. During her 23-year career with the district, Hunter’s music director credits included area premieres of Les Miserables, MissSaigon, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Hairspray, Phantom of the Opera, Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang, and Big Fish, for which she won the Sutton Foster Award for Musical Direction. While with Portage Public Schools, she received numerous grants for professional development and produced special projects with her students. She is the recipient of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation’s Excellence in Education Award and Portage Public School’s Most Influential Educator Award.

Currently, Hunter is the Director of Music at Kalamazoo First Presbyterian Church where she directs the Adult Choir and Handbell Choir. She has held similar Director of Music and organist/pianist positions at Portage United Church of Christ, Sunnyside United Methodist Church, and St. Catherine of Siena Church. She has also served as the Guest Director of the Kalamazoo Singers and has prepared choirs for performances with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (Turandot and guest artists Kenny Rogers and Sandi Patty), the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra (Brahms’ Schicksalslied and Nänie, Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8) and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with a combined Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra. Hunter is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Michigan School Vocal Music Association, and American Guild of Organists.