MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA APPOINTS
EDO DE WAART AS MUSIC DIRECTOR DESIGNATE
January 3, 2008 - Milwaukee Symphony President and Executive
Director Mark C. Hanson announced today the appointment of Edo
de Waart as the Orchestra's next Music Director. A native of
Holland and current Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of
the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Maestro de Waart was unanimously
selected to be the MSO's next Music Director by a 10-member
search committee made up of an equal number of musicians and
board members. Maestro de Waart will become the Milwaukee
Symphony's sixth Music Director when he succeeds current Music
Director Andreas Delfs following the 2008/09 season.
During the 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons, Maestro de Waart will
serve as Music Director Designate. As such, he will make his
Milwaukee Symphony subscription concert debut in April 2008.
Beginning with the 2009/10 season, Maestro de Waart will conduct
a minimum of 12 weeks each season and will have responsibility
for the artistic profile of the Orchestra.
In December 2006, current Music Director Andreas Delfs announced
his decision to step down as Music Director after the 2008/09
season, the MSO's 50th anniversary. Following his successful
tenure as Music Director, Maestro Delfs will assume the title
of Conductor Laureate beginning with the 2009/10 season.
"We are all truly excited about Edo de Waart's appointment as
Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra," commented
Mark C. Hanson. "Maestro de Waart is a world renowned conductor,
a passionate musician, a consummate professional, and an
innovative programmer who will reaffirm the MSO's position as
one of this nation's most dynamic orchestras. I speak on behalf
of the musicians, staff, and board in warmly welcoming the
entire de Waart family to Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Symphony
Orchestra."
Regarding his appointment, Maestro de Waart remarked, "It is
a great honor to become the next Music Director of the Milwaukee
Symphony Orchestra. I look forward to wonderful music-making
with the musicians of the Orchestra and to continuing the MSO's
long tradition of musical excellence. This is an exciting time
in the Orchestra's history, and it is my privilege to accept
the responsibility of leading the MSO to further artistic
heights."
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett added, "The Milwaukee Symphony
Orchestra has been a cornerstone of our vibrant arts scene for
nearly 50 years. I am excited to welcome Maestro Edo de Waart
and his family to our City as he begins a new chapter in the
flourishing cultural community Milwaukee offers to residents
and visitors. I look forward to many excellent performances
under his direction."
Edo de Waart will lead the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and
the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Chorus, directed by Lee
Erickson, in his first concerts as Music Director Designate
April 17, 18, 19, and 20, 2008. The program will include Gustav
Holst's The Planets.
Born in Holland, Edo de Waart studied oboe, piano and conducting
at the Music Lyceum in Amsterdam. Upon graduation, he won the
position of Associate Principal Oboe of the Royal Concertgebouw
Orchestra. Two years later, at the age of 23, he won the Dimitri
Mitropoulos Conducting Competition in New York which resulted
in his appointment for the 1965/66 season as Assistant Conductor
to Leonard Bernstein at the New York Philharmonic. On his
return to Holland he was appointed Assistant Conductor to
Bernard Haitink at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 1967
the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra appointed him permanent
Guest Conductor and six years later Chief Conductor and Artistic
Director. Since then, Edo de Waart has also been the Artistic
Director of the Netherlands Radio and Television Music Centre,
Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony and Minnesota
orchestras, leader of the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Chief
Conductor and Artist Director of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
and Chief Conductor of De Nederlandse Opera.
Maestro de Waart has held the position of Chief Conductor
and Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic since
2004. His contract in Hong Kong was recently extended through
2012. A frequent guest conductor throughout the world, he led
performances of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota
Orchestra, Tokyo's Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre
de la Suisse Romande and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
during the 2006/07 season. This season, Maestro de Waart guest
conducts the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles
Philharmonic, the Mozarteum, and Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.
As an opera conductor, Edo de Waart has enjoyed success in a
large and varied repertoire in many of the great houses of the
world. In 1971, he made his American opera debut with the Santa
Fe Opera conducting Der Fliegende Hollander. Last season, he
conducted concert performances of La Fanciulla del West with
the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland, and Madame Butterfly
with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Other notable opera performances
include Boris Godunov for Geneva Opera, a new production of
Der Rosenkavalier for L'Opera National de Paris, The Magic
Flute and Figaro for the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Figaro
for Salzburg Festival and Beatrice et Benedict for The Santa
Fe Opera. His debut performance as Chief Conductor of the Santa
Fe Opera in summer 2008 will be Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd.
Edo de Waart's extensive catalogue encompasses releases for
Philips, Virgin, EMI, Telarc and RCA, featuring the Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic,
San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and London
Philharmonic Orchestra. More recently under his baton the Radio
Filharmonisch Orkest Holland has recorded all the orchestral
works of Rachmaninov, as well as the overtures of Wagner in
Super Audio for the Japanese label Octavia/Exton.
In December 2004, he was made a Knight in the Order of the
Dutch Lion, and in 2005 he was appointed an Honorary Officer
in the General Division of the Order of Australia, in reflection
of his invaluable contribution to Australian cultural life
during his decade as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director
of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Jim Tobin
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