Saturday, May 29, 2010

New Music Director & Principal Conductor for Niagara Symphony named

Well, as I promised in my blog posting earlier this week, I have details on the new Music Director & Principal Conductor for the Niagara Symphony Orchestra, announced at a media conference on Friday morning at the Centre for the Arts, Brock University.

And the winner is...Bradley Thachuk! Yes, the Toronto-born and fairly well-travelled young conductor beat the odds and signed the contract in front of media and several Symphony musicians the the conference, and was hailed as the new bright light who will lead the Orchestra into the next decade. The contract is for three years, with the first year being Music Director Designate & Principal Conductor, then taking over the reins fully for the remainder of his contract.

Next season, beginning in October, Bradley will share the podium with other conductors, most notably Uri Mayer, Conductor Laureate of the Niagara Symphony, who will conduct the final Masters concert in April, and Associate Conductor Laura Thomas, who will conduct the second Masters in November. Maestro Thachuk will conduct two Masters and two Pops concerts, as he finishes his responsibilites in Fort Wayne, where he presently is living and working.

At the media conference yesterday, everyone spoke in glowing terms of the new acquisition, and Thachuk himself said he is "honoured to accept this appointment as the 7th Music Director of the Niagara Symphony...I am delighted to return to Canada and make my home in Niagara, and eagerly anticipate the chance to get to know our valued patrons, supporters and community partners." He also added he intends to double the audience base for the Symphony by reaching out to the younger audience while not alienating the traditional, older patrons. That will be tricky business, as any Music Director is likely to tell you, but clearly he knows the job that has to be done to keep this orchestra going and grow the audience. Maestro Thachuk also said he would be introducing Facebook, Twitter and other social media to the Symphony's marketing tools, in order to help reach those elusive new, younger patrons. That makes sense, as most younger people today use social media far more than conventional media, whether you like it or not!

So, my thoughts on the announcement? Well, I am disappointed my choice for the position, Diane Wittry, didn't win, of course, as I feel she would have done great things with the orchestra, but I am also pragmatic enough to realize making the orchestra sound good is only one of the responsibilites the Music Director carries. He has to reach out to the community, which is why I think his decision to take up residence here in Niagara is key to his getting the post full time. Timothy Hankewich has many responsibilites elsewhere, and Wittry already conducts two American orchestras, and as I noted in an earlier posting, that could present a problem when it comes time to choose our new Music Director, as the winner clearly has a lot of work to do here and cannot be a part-time player in the community. I wasn't privy to the details of the selection process, but I suspect the other two candidates might have had to give up too much to come here, and I understand that. Uprooting family and moving here is a big decision, so I applaud Bradley for making the committment right off the top.

He said all the right things yesterday and pushed all the right buttons, and everyone seemed happy enough afterwards. But now that the contract is signed, sealed and the Music Director is delivered, now the real work begins. I have said all along a conductor with more seasoning would be needed for this position, but I am willing to give Maestro Thachuk the benefit of the doubt on this given what he said yesterday, and see what he does do and doesn't do in the coming years. I liked what I heard yesterday; so now it is time to put the competition behind us and rally behind Maestro Thachuk and build a better Symphony. After all, he can't do it alone!

May 29th, 2010.

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