Maestro move (1): Indy goes German

Maestro move (1): Indy goes German

News

norman lebrecht

January 23, 2024

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra has named the well-travelled German-Japanese conductor Jun Märkl as its music director from September next year.

Märkl, who will be 65, will at the same time take over at the Residentie Orchestra in The Hague.

His previous stopovers include Saarland, Mannheim, Bilbao, Lyon, Leipzig and Kuala Lumpur.

Comments

  • Andrew Constantine says:

    Excellent news. They should have done this long ago.

  • OSF says:

    I saw him with the Baltimore Symphony this past weekend. It was a lovely show – good mix – Mozart Clarinet Concerto, Death and Transfiguration, a work by Gabriela Lena Frank, and a piece by Messiaen I’d never heard before. His conducting seemed like a broken-in (not broken-down) leather glove. Good choice by Indy.

    • Don Ciccio says:

      I was there too and agree. The orchestra sounded close to its best, and this was not the case lately – at least in the few concerts that I have attended.

    • Evan Tucker says:

      I was there too. An ambitious program, mostly fantastic, including the best Mozart Clarinet Concerto one ever expects to hear live, with Markl providing masterful accompaniment. The Strauss was the only thing that was less than splendid and it was still pretty good.

  • Elmer F. says:

    Very good conductor whose career has been stunted by a speech impediment. Good hire by ISO.

  • Michael Bernstein says:

    Fantastic. I’m sure ISO administration will get busy screwing things up with him right away.

  • Allegri says:

    A great conductor with a wide repertoire, who is also the Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra Taipei, since autumn 2022.
    Concurrent music directorships in Taiwan, The Hague AND Indianapolis – that is indeed well-travelled.

  • WestCoastBaller says:

    He’s the real deal! They are lucky to have him!

  • Mr. Ron says:

    He’s terrific.

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