In the sporting world, if you’ve got depth on your team, then you’ve got a “great bench”. Supporting players that can come in at a moment’s notice and make a crucial difference when one of your first string players is unable to play. [Read more →]

OSO Resident conductor Gregory Vajda is up for two more music director positions: the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and the San Antonio Symphony.

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette:

The Fort Wayne Philharmonic announced its 2008-09 season during a news conference Tuesday.

The season will feature at least 10 different maestros, including eight conducting candidates who are vying for a position that will be vacated by maestro Edvard Tchivzhel at the end of the current season.

Highlights of the Masterworks series include pianist Yuja Wang performing Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto under the direction of Tito Munoz on Sept. 20; violinist Jennifer Koh performing Sibelius’ violin concerto under the direction of David-In-Jae Cho on Oct. 11; cellist Hikaru Tamaki performing Strauss’ “Don Quixote” under the direction of Helene Bouchez on Nov. 8; and pianist Benjamin Hochman performing Leonard Bernstein’s “On the Town” under the direction of Daniel Meyer.

In 2009, violinist Soovin Kim performs Dvorak’s “Violin Concerto in A Minor” under the direction of Andrew Grams on Jan. 24. On Feb. 28, Lincoln scholar Allen Guelzo will provide exegesis for a performance of Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait” under the direction of Gregory Vajda. On March 14, pianist Alon Goldstein will perform Bartok’s third piano concerto under the direction of Danail Rachev. On April 18, cellist Sharon Robinson will perform Shostakovich’s first cello concerto under the direction of her husband, Jaime Laredo. And on May 9, maestro Andrew Constantine will lead the Philharmonic orchestra and chorus in a performance of Orff’s “Carmina Burana.”

Each candidate will also conduct one or two Spectrum and/or Unplugged series concerts.

and from the San Antonio Express News:

“It’s not quite ‘San Antonio Symphony Idol,’ ” writes Deborah Martin in Sunday’s (3/9) San Antonio Express-News, “but patrons will have a chance to weigh in on next season’s guest conductors. Surveys will be tucked into the programs for the 2008-09 concerts to allow audience members to share their views. All but one of the guest conductors are potential successors to music director Larry Rachleff, who is leaving at the end of this season. His final concert will be May 31. ‘We are going to try to develop relationships with the conductors and see where those relationships go,’ said David Green, president and CEO of the symphony.” The candidates for music director are Christoph Campestrini, Alondra de la Parra, Scott Yoo, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, Gregory Vajda, Christian Knapp, James Judd, Andrew Grams, Chosei Komatsu, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, and Rossen Milanov.”

OSO Resident conductor Gregory Vajda
photo credit: Aaron Hewitt

David Stabler reports that Oregon Symphony Resident Conductor Gregory Vajda is a finalist for the Fairfax (VA) Symphony. Fairfax is a Northern Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. I used to play in the Fairfax Symphony back in the day, *cough* years ago.

Here’s a round up of the reviews I’ve spotted of our weekend of Classical 8 series concerts, featuring the Adams Chamber Symphony. [Read more →]

Classical Program 6
Gregory Vajda, conducting

Bartók - Miraculous Mandarin, complete version, first OSO performance

Intermission

Debussy - Prelude to Afternoon of a Faun
Chopin - Piano Concerto No. 2, Ingrid Fliter, pianist
Dukas - Sorcerer’s Apprentice

T.S. Eliot thought that April was the cruelest month, but for me it’s January, with February a close runner-up. It’s because December is full of marginally fulfilling holiday stuff, followed by frantic running around for the holidays themselves, then a bit of blissful oblivion, followed by a panic that the season starts up again in five days, with really difficult programs, and I haven’t touched my viola since that last Nutcracker. Then it’s a sprint to the end of March, when the spring break arrives. [Read more →]