Looking for Maestro Right
Hey, ho! Chicago's Tribune's on the go--when it comes to trying to find out what in the world the fans in the surrounding environs want in their next music Director, that is!
As Tribune music critic John von Rhein reports in Looking for Maestro Right: One year in, CSO's director search still at an early stage (registration required) there are still a lot of responsibilities yet to be determined for the Windy City's next major cultural icon (2/27/05)...
The orchestra is "fighting a slump in attendance and ...working to contain a $2 million operating deficit."
"Over the past eight months the search committee has been collecting input from every branch of the orchestra family, including, crucially, the players themselves. The public is being invited to share its views, by mail and by logging onto a website.Last week the committee, chaired by CSO Association board chairman William H. Strong, hosted the first of a planned series of "town meetings" in Symphony Center at which a couple of hundred music lovers sounded off on the search, the state of the Symphony and other matters. Having identified the qualities that are essential for a CSO music director and consistent with the orchestra's artistic mission, the committee has shifted into winnowing mode, Strong told the gathering.
"Right now we know who our logical list of candidates is," he said. "Some we know well, others we haven't heard lately. This is not like attracting a new CEO. It can't be done quickly. It's almost like a marriage -- you've got to get to know the person first."
More contemporary music
Beyond voicing pleas on behalf of several candidates -- Leonard Slatkin and Riccardo Chailly garnered by far the most ardent support -- a surprising number of audience members called for more, rather than less, contemporary music at the CSO. Some said the orchestra needs to do more to educate the young people who will be the audiences of tomorrow, including bringing back ECHO, the shuttered music education lab. Others praised Barenboim's multifaceted talents and lamented his departure.
On the other hand, Honora Simon, a longtime CSO subscriber, alluded to Barenboim's expressed aversion to taking on extra musical duties. Chicagoans want a music director "who we feel belongs to us, in a sense," she said. "We haven't had that, and it's created somewhat of a distance between the subscribers."
A few contenders
Next season they will be taking a close look at how various prospective candidates -- including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Michael Tilson Thomas, David Robertson, Robert Spano, Alan Gilbert, Andrey Boreyko and Paavo Jarvi -- fare with the orchestra, the audience and the press....
The leading conductors project their schedules four or five years in advance, but most orchestras don't plan quite so far out. Card and company have firmed up much of the podium roster for the 2006-07 season and are already working on 2007-08 and 2008-09.
Even if a successor to Barenboim were to be identified by fall 2006, the earliest he or she would be able to commit to the orchestra on a full-time basis would be 2008 or, more likely, 2009. The CSO thus will have to identify very soon which conductor, or conductors, will be in charge of its artistic affairs in the intervening seasons....
"A good music director is an entrenched member of his or her community, an indispensable tool for orchestra fundraisers and the public voice and face for the organization," says Drew McManus, whose "Adaptistration" blog on artsjournal.com is widely read by music professionals.
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Conductors who score with CSO musicians
Here, in order of popularity, are those conductors who rate most positively with the CSO musicians and with whom they wish to have a continuing relationship, according to a poll conducted by the search committee:
Riccardo Chailly, Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Bernard Haitink, Daniele Gatti, David Robertson, Michael Tilson Thomas, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Christian Thielemann, Lorin Maazel, Leonard Slatkin, David Zinman, Charles Dutoit, Alan Gilbert, Mariss Jansons, Jeffrey Kahane, Kent Nagano, Seiji Ozawa, Andrey Boreyko, James Conlon, Yuri Temirkanov, Franz Welser-Most, Neemi Jarvi, Yoel Levi, James Levine, Robert Spano.
Conductors whom the orchestra would favor as an interim music director:
Dohnanyi, Abbado, Haitink, Dutoit, [Neeme] Jarvi, Wolfgang Sawallisch.
Conductors favored as guest conductor:
Chailly, Dohnanyi, Dutoit, Gilbert, Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Jansons, Paavo Jarvi.
As Tribune music critic John von Rhein reports in Looking for Maestro Right: One year in, CSO's director search still at an early stage (registration required) there are still a lot of responsibilities yet to be determined for the Windy City's next major cultural icon (2/27/05)...
The orchestra is "fighting a slump in attendance and ...working to contain a $2 million operating deficit."
"Over the past eight months the search committee has been collecting input from every branch of the orchestra family, including, crucially, the players themselves. The public is being invited to share its views, by mail and by logging onto a website.Last week the committee, chaired by CSO Association board chairman William H. Strong, hosted the first of a planned series of "town meetings" in Symphony Center at which a couple of hundred music lovers sounded off on the search, the state of the Symphony and other matters. Having identified the qualities that are essential for a CSO music director and consistent with the orchestra's artistic mission, the committee has shifted into winnowing mode, Strong told the gathering.
"Right now we know who our logical list of candidates is," he said. "Some we know well, others we haven't heard lately. This is not like attracting a new CEO. It can't be done quickly. It's almost like a marriage -- you've got to get to know the person first."
More contemporary music
Beyond voicing pleas on behalf of several candidates -- Leonard Slatkin and Riccardo Chailly garnered by far the most ardent support -- a surprising number of audience members called for more, rather than less, contemporary music at the CSO. Some said the orchestra needs to do more to educate the young people who will be the audiences of tomorrow, including bringing back ECHO, the shuttered music education lab. Others praised Barenboim's multifaceted talents and lamented his departure.
On the other hand, Honora Simon, a longtime CSO subscriber, alluded to Barenboim's expressed aversion to taking on extra musical duties. Chicagoans want a music director "who we feel belongs to us, in a sense," she said. "We haven't had that, and it's created somewhat of a distance between the subscribers."
A few contenders
Next season they will be taking a close look at how various prospective candidates -- including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Michael Tilson Thomas, David Robertson, Robert Spano, Alan Gilbert, Andrey Boreyko and Paavo Jarvi -- fare with the orchestra, the audience and the press....
The leading conductors project their schedules four or five years in advance, but most orchestras don't plan quite so far out. Card and company have firmed up much of the podium roster for the 2006-07 season and are already working on 2007-08 and 2008-09.
Even if a successor to Barenboim were to be identified by fall 2006, the earliest he or she would be able to commit to the orchestra on a full-time basis would be 2008 or, more likely, 2009. The CSO thus will have to identify very soon which conductor, or conductors, will be in charge of its artistic affairs in the intervening seasons....
"A good music director is an entrenched member of his or her community, an indispensable tool for orchestra fundraisers and the public voice and face for the organization," says Drew McManus, whose "Adaptistration" blog on artsjournal.com is widely read by music professionals.
- - -
Conductors who score with CSO musicians
Here, in order of popularity, are those conductors who rate most positively with the CSO musicians and with whom they wish to have a continuing relationship, according to a poll conducted by the search committee:
Riccardo Chailly, Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Bernard Haitink, Daniele Gatti, David Robertson, Michael Tilson Thomas, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Christian Thielemann, Lorin Maazel, Leonard Slatkin, David Zinman, Charles Dutoit, Alan Gilbert, Mariss Jansons, Jeffrey Kahane, Kent Nagano, Seiji Ozawa, Andrey Boreyko, James Conlon, Yuri Temirkanov, Franz Welser-Most, Neemi Jarvi, Yoel Levi, James Levine, Robert Spano.
Conductors whom the orchestra would favor as an interim music director:
Dohnanyi, Abbado, Haitink, Dutoit, [Neeme] Jarvi, Wolfgang Sawallisch.
Conductors favored as guest conductor:
Chailly, Dohnanyi, Dutoit, Gilbert, Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Jansons, Paavo Jarvi.
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