BSO announces 5 finalists for music director

BANGOR – When the Bangor Symphony Orchestra kicks off the 2001-2002 classical concert series in September, audiences can count on hearing beloved pieces by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Mozart, Stravinsky and Brahms. But a repertoire of new faces will be at the podium as the country’s oldest continuously running community orchestra initiates the audition process for a new music director.

Over the course of the season, five conductors, including two with close Maine ties and the first woman to be considered for the job, will contend for the spot left open in April when Christopher Zimmerman handed in his local baton and accepted a position with the Symphony of Southeast Texas.

“This is going to be an exciting year,” said Anne Pooler, chairwoman of the BSO search committee, which consists of board members, musicians and community members.

“There’s a lot of energy around a search like this. We have five people with common strengths but unique strengths, too. Our goal is to find the right fit for this orchestra. And we have to remember that we’re also part of their search process. We have to put our best foot forward as a community and as an orchestra. We have to say yes, we’re a good fit for you, too.”

The five finalists were chosen from an international pool of about 200 applicants, which is 100 fewer than the 1993-1994 search that produced Zimmerman. According to Pooler, this year’s search followed national guidelines laid out by the American Symphony Orchestra League. The most prized qualities of the finalists, added Pooler, were exceptional musicianship and an ability to embrace and contribute to the community tradition of the orchestra.

Each guest conductor was chosen from resumes and videotaped performances. Their obligations during the season, including preparing the orchestra for a performance and conducting that performance before concertgoers, will be the final step in the screening process.

While the auditioning conductors will render the classical series concerts, other guest conductors will oversee special events concerts. Marc David, a conductor with ties in Quebec and Newfoundland, will lead the orchestra for the holiday presentation of “The Nutcracker,” and David Katz, founder of the now defunct OperaMaine summer troupe, will lead the casual concert series that takes place at Peakes Auditorium each year. The BSO musicians are organizing the pops concert and will collectively choose that event’s conductor, whose name will be released at a later date.

The lineup of finalists consists of Xiao-Lu Li, who is currently music director of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra in Louisiana and the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra. On Sept. 23, he will conduct the overture from Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet,” preludes from Verdi’s “La Traviata,” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.

On Nov. 4, Michael Jinbo, music director at the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestra Musicians in Hancock, will present Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” Bernstein’s “On the Town” and the Maine premiere of Ellen Taffe Zwillich’s “Millennium Fantasy,” a musical reverie based on the composer’s memory of a childhood folk song.

The overture to Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” Rosetti’s Horn Concerto No. 4, and Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 will be conducted by Janna Hymes-Bianchi on Jan. 13. Hymes-Bianchi lives in Camden, where she conducted the Maine Grand Opera Gala at the Camden Opera House last summer. Most recently, she held the position of associate conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. She is the first female finalist for the position of music director in the history of the orchestra.

Paul Phillips will lead the orchestra in the fourth classical concert on March 17. Director of orchestras and chamber music at Brown University in Providence, R.I., as well as music director for the Brown University Orchestra for the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra in Greenfield, Mass., Phillips will conduct performances of Mendelssohn’s overture to “A Midsummer’s Night Dream,” the overture to Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” and Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite.” The next day, Phillips will also conduct the annual BSO youth concerts.

The season’s finale will take place May 5, when Uri Barnea, conductor for the Billings Symphony Orchestra in Montana, will present Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. The University of Maine Singers and the Oratorio Society, as well as four guest vocalists will participate in the final movement of the piece.

The position of music director at the BSO carries with it a frontier-jewel prestige that has kept the orchestra lively for 106 years. The person appointed to the position, said search committee members, will have a keen understanding of the orchestra’s unique mix of professionalism, community spirit and state-wide mission.

After the committee makes final recommendations next spring, the ultimate decision will lie with the board of directors, and to some degree with the finalists themselves. Committee members are also discussing plans to survey the responses of concertgoers throughout the season.

“This process has been a joint effort,” said Pooler, who applauded the committee for working efficiently, quickly and with noteworthy unanimity. “To me, a search process is like sifting flour. Each time you go through the process, you refine it more. And we’re ready to move on to the next stage.”

For information about the Bangor Symphony Orchestra season and ticket sales, call 942-5555.