Kwame lands a US orchestra
OrchestrasThe Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in North Carolina has appointed Kwamé Ryan as its music director for the next four years. He succeeds Christopher Warren-Green.
Ryan, 53, is the Canadian-born son of Trinidadian parents. He studied in England and was general music director in Freiburg, Germany, from 1999 to 2003. He has also been music director of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine from 2007-13 and of the Orchestre Français des Jeunes, but he has never held a North American position. He is due to make a New York Philharmonic debut in May.
Good luck to you, Kwame, and congratulations to the Charlotte Symphony.
He conducted the Baltimore Symphony last season, IIRC in John Luther Adams’ “Beyond Ocean.” I liked him. Good for him.
big improvement on W-G who encourages people to address him as ‘maestro’ I am told.
I used to work for a conductor who required us to address him as “maestro.” We did, but nobody took him seriously.
You have been told incorrectly. CWG has always been very approachable, and during my time in Charlotte he was never arrogant in dealing with me. I’m glad for my friends and colleagues to have named their MD after such a long process!
Totally false: I worked under W-G for 8 years in Charlotte and as I constantly had dealings with him related to the orchestra’s activity, I certainly would have known if he insisted that people call him Maestro.
Based on the Charlotte Symphony’s 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons, it looks like some other potential candidates for music director of the orchestra were the following conductors:
Mei-Ann Chen
Jessica Cottis
Roderick Cox
Andrew Grams
Karen Kamensek
Marcelo Lehninger
Vinay Parameswaran
Lan Shui
Kensho Watanabe
Joshua Weilerstein
Erina Yashima