Donald Johanos has been Music Director and Conductor of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra since 1979, establishing a reputation for high standards and musical excitement that has carried the orchestra to new levels of growth and development. The Composer in Residence grant awarded to the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra was directly attributed to his championing of contemporary works, citing him as "an extraordinary advocate for American music." The first place award given to the Symphony by ASCAP in 1991 also cited him for "adventuresome programming of contemporary music."
In 1962 Donald Johanos was appointed music director and principal conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and in 1970 he became associate conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. His guest conducting engagements include the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York, Lisbon’s Golden Festival, the Paris Opèra and performances with orchestras including the Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and the National Symphony. His international appearances have included Amsterdam, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and Mexico and his recording of Glière’s Symphony No.3 in B Minor, Op. 42 with the Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) is also available on the Marco Polo label.
