Darrold Victor Hunt died on Wednesday, November 6, 2013, in his Dupont Circle home in Washington, DC. He was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts to the late Edward Henry Trisby Hunt Sr. and Vera Louise (Watkins) Hunt. He is predeceased in death by two brothers, Edward Henry Trisby Hunt Jr. and Stephen Hunt. He leaves to cherish his memory his brother the Rev. Errol E. Hunt Sr. and his sister Deborah (Hunt) Carruthers, a host of family members and many, many friends.
A lifelong mission of bringing classical music to black and other underserved parts of the community was his first love. For 40 years he has been at the center of the Urban Philharmonic Society initiating and shaping programs that got the music out to these underserved communities. He was a graduate of the Julliard School of Music in conducting and served for four years as Assistant Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and three years as the Conductor/Music Director of the Conservatory Orchestra at the Brooklyn College of the Performing Arts. He has been a guest conductor at the National Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the Pensacola Symphony, and many others.
Many believe his greatest achievement was the founding of the Urban Philharmonic Orchestra which he conducted in 1970 as an expression of his primary commitment to present programs of musical excellence to those areas of the urban community which for social and/or political reasons have not enjoyed live professional orchestral concerts as a part of their lives.
A visiting hour will be from 9 to 10 AM Saturday, November 23, with a service at 10 AM at the Saunders-Dwyer Home for Funerals, 495 Park St., New Bedford. Burial will follow in Rural Cemetery.