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Free Tickets For Inaugural Concert:
CBSO appoints a new Music Director (BK)
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has announced the
appointment of Andris Nelsons as Music Director from the start of
the 2008/9 season.
The 28-year old Latvian conductor follows in the footsteps of such
greats as Adrian Boult, Louis Frémaux, Sir Simon Rattle and Sakari
Oramo, who will stand down as music director at the end of this
season following 10 years with the Orchestra.
The appointment follows an extensive international search by a
search team of board members, staff and players. Sir Michael Lyons,
chairman of the CBSO said: “It has been an exciting and challenging
exercise to find a conductor who is a worthy successor to Sakari
Oramo. It has given us the opportunity to see some truly talented
conductors here in Birmingham and I am confident that in choosing
Andris we have found the right man both for our orchestra and for
our audiences.”
Stephen Maddock, CBSO chief executive said: “We are delighted to
welcome Andris as our new music director. He is a hugely impressive
musician, with a really wide range of strengths in all kinds of
repertoire. His versatility, his fresh and insightful musicianship,
and his growing international reputation, together with his interest
in our choral and educational activities, make him ideally placed to
lead the CBSO forward after Sakari Oramo’s outstanding 10-year
tenure.”
Andris Nelsons enthralled the Orchestra when he came to conduct a
private concert at Town Hall, Birmingham in early September 2007,
and also to record Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto with Baiba Skride
for Sony/BMG Classics. Laurence Jackson, leader of the CBSO, spoke
on behalf of the whole Orchestra when he said: "From the first
rehearsal, the Orchestra was very excited by Andris' artistic
integrity, imagination, and charisma. These qualities, combined with
a great musical and personal rapport, made him a clear top choice.
We are all looking forward tremendously to his appointment and to
many exciting concerts in the future."
Andris Nelsons will make his first public performance with the CBSO
at Symphony Hall in a special launch concert on Sunday 11 November
2007 with a performance of Strauss’s Don Juan and Dvorák’s New World
Symphony. This will be a free concert and public booking will open
on Monday 29 October and will be limited to two.
Bill Kenny