William Eddins is the Music Director Emeritus of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and a frequent guest conductor of major orchestras throughout the world.

Engagements have included the New York Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Boston Minnesota, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Houston, as well as the Los Angeles and Buffalo Philharmonics.

Internationally, Eddins was Principal Guest Conductor of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland). He has also conducted the Berlin Staatskapelle, Berlin Radio Orchestra, Welsh National Opera, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, and the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra.

Career highlights include taking the Edmonton Symphony Orchestras to Carnegie Hall in May of 2012, conducting RAI Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale on Italian television, and leading the Natal Philharmonic on tour in South Africa with soprano Rene Fleming. Equally at home with opera, he conducted a full production of Porgy and Bess with Opera de Lyon both in France and the Edinburgh Festival and a revival of the production during the summer of 2010.

Mr. Eddins is an accomplished pianist and chamber musician. He regularly conducts from the piano in works by Mozart, Beethoven, Gershwin and Ravel. He has released a compact disc recording on his own label that includes Beethoven’s Hammer-Klavier Sonata and William Albright’s The Nightmare Fantasy Rag.

Mr. Eddins has performed at the Ravinia Festival with both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Ravinia Festival Orchestra. He has also conducted the orchestras of the Aspen Music Festival, the Hollywood Bowl, Chautauqua Festival, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.

A native of Buffalo, NY, Mr. Eddins attended the Eastman School of Music, studying with David Effron and graduating at age eighteen. He also studied conducting with Daniel Lewis at the University of Southern California and was a founding member of the New World Symphony in Miami, FL.

Michael Ke Ma started his professional career in 2000 when he was appointed Principal Bassoon of the Shanghai Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra (now the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra). In 2004, he was appointed the Assistant Principal Bassoon of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra by Neeme Järvi, making him the first Chinese wind player to earn such a title in a major US orchestra.

Michael was born in Shanghai, where he started violin lessons at the age of 5. After switching from violin to bassoon for only six months at age 11, he was accepted by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music to study with Professors Zhun Zhao, Zhi-Hong Song and Zhao-Lu Liu. In 2001, he was invited by Stephen Maxym, former Principal Bassoon of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, to study in the US under a full scholarship at the University of Southern California. He was Stephen's last recruit, and upon his passing, Michael continued his studies with Judith Farmer, former Principal Bassoon of the Austrian Radio Orchestra.

Since then, Michael has given solo recitals, chamber music and orchestral performances at many music festivals and venues around the globe, including the Banff Center for the Arts, Idyllwild Arts Summer Program, Sunflower Chamber Music Festival in Kansas, Asian Youth Orchestra, Spoleto USA Festival Orchestra, Beijing International Music Festival, Shanghai International Arts Festival, and the Tongyeong International Music Festival in Korea. Michael recently served as Principal Bassoon of the Global Chinese Festival Orchestra and was invited by Maestro Myung-whun Chung to play with the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra, based in Korea and comprising elite musicians worldwide. In 2015, Michael spent 2 months with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra as their Guest Principal Bassoon. He has also made guest appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in its 2010-2011 season. Michael has been interviewed by the Shanghai OTV and Detroit Fox2News, and his performances can often be heard on the radio at KUSC and K-MZT in Los Angeles; and WRCJ 90.9 and WWJ 950 AM in Detroit.

A dedicated teacher, Michael is very active in music education. He has taught master classes at Interlochen Arts Academy, participated in the Professional Panel at Michigan State University, coached private students at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Macau Youth Symphony Orchestra, and worked with the DSO's own Civic ensembles. He has regularly been invited by Yongyan Hu, Dean of the EOS Orchestra Academy of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and Long Yu, President of the Shanghai Orchestra Academy in Shanghai, to give master classes to their students.

Michael has collaborated with luminaries such as Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Charles Dutoit, Lang Lang, John Williams, Fabio Luisi, Paavo Järvi, Kathleen Battle, Placido Domingo, and the late Kurt Masur. He currently travels between Detroit and Shanghai, where Maestro Long Yu invited him to be the guest principal with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.