Henry Fogel in search for missing conductor
mainThe former Chicago Symphony president has been hauled in to flesh out the Savannah Philharmonic season after the music director walked out in circumstances have have yet to be explained.
Fogel has recommended Cincinnati assistant conductor Keitaro Harada and Atlanta assistant Joseph Young to take over the April and May concerts, which include Mahler 2nd.
Why do you suppose Fogel doesn’t choose some experienced music directors of slightly smaller orchestras with great track records with their groups but no access to these kinds of gigs? Doesn’t music director experience count for more than just being s cover conductor with little day to day conducting and music director experience?
Because he’s stuck in past. Not to say that there is anything wrong with the past.
Because they do not yet have Music Director positions yet and he wants to give them more experiences to conduct?
By coincidence, both Kei and Joseph are former conductors in the Phoenix area, with the opera and symphony. I’ve played under both and they are superb musicians, well respected by orchestra players and either would do a fine job.
Major orchestra assistant conductors in the US are far more than cover conductors. They may not have music director experience (which is not Savannah’s urgent need, apparently), but they conduct the bulk of an orchestra’s educational and family programming, on minimal rehearsal — so the good ones are adept at making things work well under pressure. They would seem to be the ideal people in these circumstances.
Maybe because he knows these conductors, knows they’re available, and because they know the repertoire. Elementary, dear Watson!
I’m ready to conduct and I will do it pro bono I will amaze !
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I rarely reply to comments – but this one seemed to demand it. I have been working with the Orchestra to bring candidates who will conduct all of next season as well as these two concerts this season, which only became open recently; one has to find conductors actually available 4 and 8 weeks in advance. Among the 8 conductors appearing next season, four are current music directors of other orchestras (or opera companies), the rest are associate conductors of other, usually larger orchestras.
Maybe he thinks that one of them would be right as the next music director in Savannah.
Why then? Why ask him? Why not Scott Jackson Wiley or Glen Cortese?
…or John McLaughlin Williams, Julius Williams, Jeri Lynne Johnson, Kay George Roberts and many other conductors who deserve a shot in getting an MD position with a mid-tier orchestra such as Savannah.
The very idea that the symphony establishment would need to haul in this guy to solve their problem is nuts. This part of the business is so precious in their thinking. It’s embarrassing. Not to mention the consultancy fee they have to pay. Dumb!
Savannah Philharmonic is a small-to-mid-tier orchestra with a $1.5 million budget and plays 16 concerts a year. Smaller orchestras don’t generally play Mahler 2, but even so, a substitute gig here is a good opportunity for a young up-and-coming assistant conductor at one of the major symphony orchestras, whether at Savannah’s Mahler program in May or its April program of lesser known Americana by Dello Joio and Randall Thompson.
He’s responsible for destroying the acoustics of Orchestra Hall in Chicago, now known as Symphony Center. Nice legacy.
Does anyone else remember the Savannah Symphony years 1974-1977?