Dr. Christopher Hughes, recently retired Director of Bands at Ithaca College in New York (USA), currently serves as Professor of Music in graduate level instrumental conducting at St. Paul University in Manila. Previous positions include Director of Bands and Associate Professor at NM State University (USA), Director of Bands and Chair of the Conducting and Ensembles Faculty for the College of Music at Mahidol University (Thailand), and Director of Bands and Assistant Professor of Music at Lander University (USA). Dr. Hughes’s former students hold conducting and teaching positions in China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, The Philippines, Burma, Mexico and throughout the United States.

Born on Bloomsday in Aspen, Colorado (USA), Hughes's interest in the expressive beauty of music began early. He decided to pursue conducting as a profession after experiencing the artistry of many of the legendary conductors who were in residence at the Aspen Music School. In 2005 Hughes was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in instrumental conducting and literature at the University of Colorado at Boulder (USA) where he was a student of world-renowned conductor and Distinguished Professor Allan McMurray. Hughes also holds a masters degree from the VanderCook College of Music in Chicago (1997) where he studied with Dr. Charles Menghini and Dr. Roseanne Rosenthal and a bachelors degree in music from Western Colorado University (1994) where he studied with Professor Emeritus John Kincaid.

Over the past three decades Hughes has established an impressive national and international proile. He has conducted ensembles in concert on four continents including Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. In April, 2024 Hughes will add a ifth continent to his professional travels (South America) as he appears in a concert and conducting symposium in Argentina. Hughes is also in constant demand as a guest conductor and clinician. Engagements have taken him to multiple US states, Washington, D.C. and ten foreign countries including England, Ireland, China, Costa Rica, Taiwan, Germany, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, and Indonesia. In 2019, Hughes conducted the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble in concert at Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center in New York City. The performance included a world premiere of a colossal work by Pulitzer Prize Finalist composer Carter Pann. In 2016 and 2017 Hughes lead ensembles from two different American universities to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts in Washington, D.C. as invited guest artists representing the southwest and northeast regions of the United States. In 2015 Hughes gave the world premiere of Symphony No. 1 by Serbian composer Nebojsa Macura and was honored in the summer of 2016 to return to his undergraduate alma mater to conduct the Colorado British Brass Band, one of the earliest established ensembles of its kind in America.

In addition to numerous performances as Resident Guest Conductor for the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, Dr. Hughes led the Mahidol Wind Symphony in a critically acclaimed performance during the proceedings of the15th World Saxophone Congress. This subsequently led to an invitation for the musicians to appear as the guest artist ensemble for the Australian National Ensemble Championships. Hughes has conducted at the Southeast Asian Youth Orchestra and Wind Ensemble Festival in Bangkok, Thailand and the Honor Ensemble Festival of the Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools in Jakarta, Indonesia. Dr. Hughes was honored to serve as guest conductor for the National Symphony Orchestra players of Taiwan during his invited visit to Chiayi City. In 2013 and again in 2014 Hughes ventured to China to conduct the Directors Ensemble of Guangzhou Province and appeared in ShanXi, ShanDong, and Chengdu provinces in as well. Known for his sensitive interpretation of music for large and small instrumental ensembles, Hughes's conducting has drawn praise from composers and conductors in the United States, Canada, Southeast Asia, China, and Australia. A champion of new music, Dr. Hughes has conducted numerous world and regional premieres and he has become a conductor of choice for contemporary works.

Dr. Hughes's scholarly activity includes the authorship of an ensemble repertoire manual that uncovers the evocative inspiration within 100 selected pieces. His research regarding ensembles and conductors throughout Asia has drawn vast critical acclaim. In 2019 Hughes was selected to present research at Yale University for the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) conference. The World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) published Hughes’s data in an Edition of the Journal for Band Research. This lead to an invitation to present a paper at the 21st Conference for Research in Blaeserorchester Music in Hammelburg, Germany. In addition, Dr. Hughes gave a research lecture at the College Band Directors National Association Regional Convention at the University of Arkansas in March, 2014. Dr. Hughes delivered an ensemble repertoire selection clinic at the 2014 New Mexico Music Educators Association Convention and has served as a faculty member for the Conn-Selmer Institute in Singapore.

Dr. Hughes has, on several occasions, been included in the Who's Who Among America's Teachers publication and, for the past 13 years, he has been listed in Who's Who in America. He was recently honored by being inducted into Who's Who In The World. Hughes's af iliations include the International Conductor's Guild, College Band Directors National Association, World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, Phi Mu Alpha (honorary), and Kappa Kappa Psi (honorary).