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 *********************************************** The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html