The Maestro of Marin County

Hugo Rinaldi, a conductor who worked with Leonard Bernstein on Candide and West Side Story while devoting much of his life to education, has died just short of his 96th birthday.

Hugo founded and conducted the San Rafael Chamber Orchestra, followed by the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra in 1955 and the Orchestra Piccola in 1970. He also conducted the short-lived Marin Opera. For 38 years he was resident conductor-violinist for SF Civic Light Opera performances. He liked to recall the week in 1972 when composer Leonard Bernstein brought Candide to the SFCLO and asked Hugo to conduct while Bernstein sat in the audience listening and making changes in orchestral scoring.