When Arthur Post finished conducting his final concert as music director with the San Juan Symphony on April 26, he left the organization with a hole to fill.
“It was by invitation only,” said Kathy Myrick, executive director for the symphony, about the search. “We solicited nominations from soloists who have performed with us in the past, conductors we know and former guest conductors, then narrowed it down to about 30 we thought would be appropriate for this area and the size and capabilities of our orchestra.”
The search committee, with four members each from Durango and Farmington, began sorting through the nominations in the fall and has identified three conductors who are finalists for the position. Symphony-goers will get to weigh in on the choice during the 2015-16 season, the symphony’s 30th, when each conductor will show what he or she can do at a concert.
“Each one gave us a choice of three proposed programs, and we reviewed them to make sure there were no duplications,” Myrick said. “They’ll each be conducting their first or second choice.”
Myrick already had booked four of the San Juan Symphony’s most popular soloists for the upcoming season, she said. Cellist Inbal Segev, violinist Timothy Fain and trumpeter Ryan Anthony each will play with an auditioning conductor. Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Music Director Philip Mann, who grew up in Durango and also is an audience favorite, will guest-conduct the final concert of the season with soloist Norman Krieger on piano.
“I started calling, and it only took me four hours and 34 minutes to confirm all the soloists,” Myrick said with a bit of surprise. “They just love playing with us.”
The conductor finalists are:
Blake Richardson, who will be conducting the Oct. 3 and 4 concerts with soloist Segev, currently is director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Alabama and earned his doctor of musical arts from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in August 2012. Richardson worked as an associate conductor to Maestro Lorin Maazel and also has served as principal conductor for the Wildwood Academy of Music and the Arts and as assistant conductor to Valery Gergiev for the inaugural tour of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the U.S.A. A Fulbright Scholar, he has received scholarships and awards from the Vienna Philharmonic, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the Chautauqua Institution and the National Opera Association.
Another Fulbright Scholar, Thomas Heuser in 2013 also earned his doctor of musical arts from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, with a minor in opera coaching. Named music director of the Idaho Falls Symphony in 2011, Heuser has served as principal guest conductor of the San Francisco Academy Orchestra since 2013. He also has conducted both youth and community orchestras. Heuser will conduct the concerts Nov. 14 and 15 with soloist Fain.
Geoffrey Robson will be on stage in Farmington and Durango Feb. 20 and 21, 2016, conducting a concert with soloist Anthony that includes a world premiere of a piece composed for Anthony after he was diagnosed with cancer. Robson completed his master of music in violin performance at Yale University in 2004 and later enrolled in the orchestral conducting program at the Mannes College of Music in New York City. Also a student of choral conducting and opera, he has been the associate conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra since 2008 and music director of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Youth Ensembles since 2012.
abutler@durangoherald.com
SJS 2015-2016 season program (PDF)
