Randolph Hunt

Randolph Hunt, who was sometimes called "Randy Hunt," was the first music teacher at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, California, when the school opened on September 11, 1950. He is a longtime resident of Orinda, California.

High School Years
Besides leading the musical groups at Capuchino, especially the choirs, Hunt was a great advocate of the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, especially The Mikado, which he presented in 1955 and 1959. The 1959 production was the first to be presented in the school's new 1000-seat auditorium. Hunt wrote Hail Green and Gold and other school songs used at Capuchino during the 1950s and 1960s; the tradition of singing these songs eventually faded. Hunt left Capuchino in 1960 to pursue his doctorate.

In September 1962, Dr. Hunt (as he was now known) became the first music teacher at the new Crestmoor High School in San Bruno. He led the first band and a girls vocal ensemble, which both debuted at the school's dedication ceremonies in October 1962. He did not return for the 1963-64 academic year and was followed by Robert Davis. Beginning in the 1950s, Hunt was on the staff of the La Honda Music Camp, located in Jones Gulch near La Honda, California; he wrote an official song for the camp and coordinated musical productions there, which ultimately led the City of San Mateo to invite him to lead a new community theater group.

San Mateo Community Theatre
In the summer of 1963, Dr. Hunt led the first production of the San Mateo Community Theatre, later known as Broadway by the Bay. Not surprisingly, that first production was a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, Patience and its cast included a future world-class opera singer: Luana De Vol. There were three performances at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, California and one performance at the La Honda Music Camp. Dr. Hunt's drama director for this production was Robert "Split" Lynch, who was one of the Bay Area's leading experts on Gilbert & Sullivan. Lynch earned the nickname "Split" because he was an AAU college track official who was quite experienced in using a stopwatch.

That fall, Dr. Hunt joined the faculty of Oakland City College, later known as Merritt College in Oakland, California. He remained there until his retirement.

Dr. Hunt directed another Gilbert & Sullivan operetta in the summer of 1964 for the San Mateo Community Theatre. This time it was his personal favorite, The Mikado, and he brought back one of the principal cast members of his 1955 Capuchino productions, John McPhillips, to play Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner. Robert Lynch returned as drama director. He also directed a simultaneous summer production of the same operetta at Merritt College. There were six performances at Hillsdale High School and an additional performance at the La Honda Music Camp. It was especially during these performances that Dr. Hunt distinguished himself as a meticulous, professional director who sought excellence from his singers and musicians. Eyewitnesses can say that Dr. Hunt was able to take amateur talent and "coax" better results from his performers than they thought possible. Audiences found this production of The Mikado to be exceptionally entertaining and heartwarming.

Prometheus Symphony Orchestra
The Prometheus Symphony Orchestra began in 1964 as an outgrowth of Dr. Hunt’s choral music program at Merritt College—when it was still downtown on Grove Street in Oakland. Dr. Hunt needed instrumentalists to perform with his singers. He turned the orchestra into a Merritt College class, and began a rigorous performance schedule. A showman at heart, Dr. Hunt not only presented concerts but also involved the orchestra in a number of exciting performance adventures.

Notable in those early years was a collaboration with the Oakland Ballet. Working with dancer and company founder, Ron Guidi, the group played for ballet performances of Hansel and Gretel, and Faure’s Requiem, in what became the Calvin Simmons Auditorium, and with the San Francisco Lamplighters (the Bay Area's leading semi-professional Gilbert & Sullivan group) as the pit orchestra for Oakland performances of Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss. Deciding that “Merritt College Orchestra” sounded "a little pedestrian," Dr. Hunt chose the name Prometheus Symphony Orchestra. The Greek god Prometheus, best known in mythology as the creator of fire, was also the god of music.

International award-winning pianist Roy Bogas, who had recently performed as concerto soloist with the orchestra, was appointed conductor for the orchestra in 1972. The orchestra is still based at Merritt College and performs at a church in Oakland.

Later years
Citing increasing responsibilities at Merritt, Dr. Hunt did not return to the San Mateo Community Theatre until the summer of 1966, when he served as an advisor for their production of ' by Rodgers and Hammerstein, which was directed by Kenneth L. Ton and Anthony "Duke" Campagne. Performances took place in the little theatre at the College of San Mateo. Dr. Hunt served as music director for the 1967 production of West Side Story, his final association with the San Mateo Community Theatre. He occasionally conducted Gilbert & Sullivan productions by the San Francisco Lamplighters. He has also been involved with the Palm Springs Opera Guild.

Family
Dr. Hunt is married to Marcia Hunt, a contralto and music teacher. They had four children, three daughters and a son. One of their daughters, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, was a mezzo soprano who made her Metropolitan Opera debut in The Great Gatsby by John Harbison in 1999; she was born in San Francisco, California on March 1, 1954, and died in Santa Fe, New Mexico on July 3, 2006. Another daughter, Alexis Hunt, died in 2000. Their surviving children are Stan Hunt and Susan Hunt.

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