Larry Kuntz Jr. - Artistic Director and Conductor
2020 marks the start of Larry Kuntz Jr.’s second tenure as Artistic Director & Conductor of the Hanover Symphony Orchestra. His first tenure lasted from our inaugural concert in 1995 until 2011. He holds degrees in music from Mansfield University of PA and VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, IL. While at Mansfield, Kuntz was a Presser Foundation Scholar, and his performance of the Arutunian Trumpet Concerto won first prize in the Kreuscher Performance Scholarship Contest. He has completed post-graduate work in conducting at VanderCook College of Music and at the University of South Carolina, where he conducted the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra in the prestigious Conductors’ Institute of South Carolina
Very active in the central PA music scene, Kuntz is currently Director of Music Ministries at Grace United Methodist Church in Hanover, a position he has held since 2007, and President of Class Act Musicians since 2012. In addition, Mr. Kuntz maintains a rigorous performing schedule. He is a former member of the Corning Philharmonic Orchestra in Corning, NY and the Hershey Symphony Orchestra in Hershey, PA, and he currently performs with the Black Rose Brass Quintet, Class Act String Quartet, Swingin’ Seven Jazz Band, and in the Kuntz Family Consort - with his wife Debra on piano, his daughter Olivia on violin, and his sons Trevor on viola, and Scott on cello. As music teacher, Mr. Kuntz taught in the Corning/Painted Post (NY) School District for 3 years, the Hanover Public School District for 10 years, and has been teaching in the South Western School District since 2002. Kuntz has been listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and Who’s Who in America, and he has been the subject of a WITF-sponsored Great Teacher Essay written by a high school student – each on multiple occasions.
When not making music, he enjoys traveling with his family (especially to Cape May, NJ and Knoxville, TN, where his son Scott is a Graduate Assistant working on his Master of Music in Cello Performance at the University of Tennessee) and spending time with his dog, a friendly little Yorkie-poo named Maxwell Amadeus Kuntz.
Very active in the central PA music scene, Kuntz is currently Director of Music Ministries at Grace United Methodist Church in Hanover, a position he has held since 2007, and President of Class Act Musicians since 2012. In addition, Mr. Kuntz maintains a rigorous performing schedule. He is a former member of the Corning Philharmonic Orchestra in Corning, NY and the Hershey Symphony Orchestra in Hershey, PA, and he currently performs with the Black Rose Brass Quintet, Class Act String Quartet, Swingin’ Seven Jazz Band, and in the Kuntz Family Consort - with his wife Debra on piano, his daughter Olivia on violin, and his sons Trevor on viola, and Scott on cello. As music teacher, Mr. Kuntz taught in the Corning/Painted Post (NY) School District for 3 years, the Hanover Public School District for 10 years, and has been teaching in the South Western School District since 2002. Kuntz has been listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and Who’s Who in America, and he has been the subject of a WITF-sponsored Great Teacher Essay written by a high school student – each on multiple occasions.
When not making music, he enjoys traveling with his family (especially to Cape May, NJ and Knoxville, TN, where his son Scott is a Graduate Assistant working on his Master of Music in Cello Performance at the University of Tennessee) and spending time with his dog, a friendly little Yorkie-poo named Maxwell Amadeus Kuntz.