Hisham Bravo Groover conducting the QC Youth Symphony Orchestra at the Riverfront Pops in LeClaire Park, August 2024 (photo by Evan Sammons).
Hisham Bravo Groover is nearing the close of his first season leading several QC orchestras. And the articulate, passionate conductor is earning key bravos along the way.
“Hisham has done a fantastic job stepping into his dual role as both the music director of our Quad City Symphony Youth Ensembles and assistant conductor of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra,” QCSO executive director Brian Baxter said recently. “Our students have responded positively to his artistic and educational leadership with a focus on artistic excellence and learning growth.
“He is very thoughtful about the music he selects, how the rehearsals are run, and the manner in which he nurtures student growth and progress both individually and collectively,” Baxter added, Groover having debuted locally just last August.
“He has provided the strong artistic leadership that our QCSYE program needs to thrive,” said Baxter. “He has a strong presence on the podium with our students and professional musicians, With the QCSO, he has led several successful productions already in his short tenure, including the Quad City Bank & Trust Riverfront Pops program.”
A 34-year-old native of Mexico, Groover moved with his family to Las Vegas when he was 11. His mother's family is from southern Spain and his biological father (whom he never knew) was born in Syria. His stepfather is from the U.S. state of Georgia.
Groover started playing violin at 10. “In my teens, I remember being inspired by violinists such as Itzhak Perlman, Josef Gingold, and Kyung-Wha Chung,” he said. “Their recordings made big impressions on me.”
Groover earned his undergraduate degree at Loyola University in New Orleans, pursuing music education. He worked two years teaching beginning violin students ages 4-18 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was there he studied for his master’s in violin pedagogy at Western Kentucky University.
Groover had a desire to conduct and began his master’s program in conducting in 2014 at the University of Iowa. After that, he lived for three years in Denver, Colorado, working for three orchestras in that area. He started studying with QCSO music director and conductor Mark Russell Smith in 2019, after moving to the Twin Cities to pursue doctoral studies at the University of Minnesota. Groover met Smith in late 2018 during a visit to the Twin Cities, while seeing a good friend who also worked with the musician.
“Maestro [Smith] is one of my greatest inspirations, a mentor, and a friend,” Groover said. “It's difficult to quantify the impact he has made on not just my musical career, but also my life. He has always guided and supported me – and all of his students – as if we are family.”
He heard QCSO through recordings and got to play in the orchestra for a Masterworks concert in November 2022, including on a Duke Ellington piece.
“I could hear how the orchestra responds – how unified they were and how much passion they put into it,” Groover said. “You could really hear that. It was a special orchestra.
“What he works to instill in us is, the most important thing that we can do on the podium, which is to really listen to what’s happening in front of you and around you,” he said of Smith. “To hone in on what’s happening is something he’s a master at, and that translates to how he communicates gesturally with the musicians.”
Groover changed his conception of Beethoven after playing the Second Symphony under Smith as a doctoral student (he completed his doctorate in fall 2024).
"He did it with such remarkable conviction," Groover recalled. "Being guided in the vision he's presenting, it seems like it's the only way – it has to be played this way. That's part of the magic that makes a great conductor."
Groover admires Smith's focus on the melodic line of the music and championing modern works and current composers.
"Working with students is a very different approach," Groover said. He has been working on Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony for the past nine months with the QCSO Youth Symphony, which is mainly composed of junior-high through high-school students. In contrast, many in the QCSO have likely played their scheduled works previously, and usually gather for a couple days before their weekend concerts to rehearse.
"They're both great worlds,” said Groover. “They're wonderful.”
Many Stairways to Heaven
Groover led his first QCSO concert last August with the Riverfront Pops, performing the music of Led Zeppelin. With the ensemble noted for performing rock, pop, and scores to accompanying films as well as classical music, Groover said that an important QCSO facet lies in “creating many entry points.”
He continued, "Whether or not someone who comes to a movie concert comes to a Masterworks, that may be a bonus result. But the fact that they come to a movie concert and they experience this incredible music with the film – we're reminding folks that you have this great orchestra in the Quad Cities and there's great music in the film world, and let's put it together.”
Of the QCSO, Groover said, “I loved that they play from the heart. Anyone who has been to one of our concerts can attest to that, so who wouldn’t want to be a part of the QCSO? I also knew that the QCSO is really committed to creating access through its programming, educational outreach, and collaboration with the community, and that the organization delivers on its word. I wanted to be a part of that.
“The musicians, staff, volunteers, and audiences make it so enjoyable to do what I do,” Groover added. “Whether it’s a Masterworks weekend, a music-to-film concert, or youth orchestra rehearsals, each experience has been so fulfilling for me. It sounds cliché, but I really do go to each QCSO event with immense delight.”
Prior to his time with the QCSO, Groover has been artistic director and principal conductor of the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra; Philharmonic conductor of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies; music director and conductor of the Buffalo Community Orchestra; and assistant conductor of the University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra and Opera Theatre. Since fall of 2024, Groover has also been director of orchestras at Augustana College, where he directs the symphony and chamber orchestras, and also runs the violin studio.
Video Game Music in May
On May 10, Groover will lead the QCSO in a unique Video Games in Concert program at Davenport’s Adler Theatre.
The Video Games concert has been in discussions for quite some time, Baxter said. “The QCSO is laser-focused on opening access to the QCSO and engaging with our entire community. The orchestra can do anything, and we are thrilled to bring the power of video-game music to the concert stage here in the Quad Cities.
“Like films, video games rely heavily on carefully crafted music compositions to communicate the narrative of their game,” he said. “The video-game industry is huge and full of some wonderful music. We are excited to welcome audience members who are new to the QCSO or even new to attending performances at the Adler Theatre.
“Much like our movie concerts, presenting a video-games concert allows us to broaden our reach with the symphony; It’s also a really nice reminder that there is a lot of great music written for video games.”
He added, “I like that it's reactive to what the player does. When the player decides to do something in the game, that triggers how the music responds and works to enhance the player's experience. I think this is unique, and really takes a skillful composer to write music that can switch between moods in the blink of an eye.
“Making the QCSO accessible to all in our community is core to us,” Groover said. “We purposefully program a broad range of music to support our vision.”
At the May 10 concert, a video screen will show game play, iconic scenes, and other visually engaging scenes from each represented game. The concert will provide a nostalgic experience as audience members are reminded of games from their childhood.
Groover actually has two May concerts back to back, with the QCSO Youth Symphony at Moline High School's Bartlett Performing Arts Center on May 11, an event also featuring the Dvorak Violin Concerto (first movement).
“When working with my students,” said Groover, “I always feel there's an opportunity to steer their musical development and really mold their conceptions of the music at hand, and it's very rewarding watching students unleash their potential as musicians. It's fulfilling as an educator to help guide them over the course of several months in discovering how we should play Tchaikovsky's music and then celebrating their accomplishments at our concerts.”
In the summer of 2026, Groover will lead the second Youth Symphony overseas tour in four years, as the ensemble plans to perform in Spain and Portugal. The YSO traveled to Germany and the Czech Republic in June of 2023 – the organization’s first overseas tour in 40 years.
"The whole team is not only great to work with, but also just wonderful human beings who really care about what we do," he said of the QCSO. "It really is an inspiring place to work. I feel very privileged."
For more information on forthcoming Quad City Symphony Orchestra events, including the May 10 Video Games in Concert program at Davenport's Adler Theatre, visit QCSO.org.
