Photo by Anastasia Chernyavsky
San Francisco Symphony Resident Conductor Donato Cabrera has been named music director of the California Symphony, which was led for 23 of its 26 seasons by Barry Jekowsky, who founded the orchestra.
Cabrera had worked as staff conductor and associate conductor with San Francisco Opera; he is music director of the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, and of the New Hampshire Music Festival.
Symphony Board President Tom Overhoff made the announcement on Sunday of a three-year contract for Cabrera to lead six of the eight concerts during the 2013-2014 season, opening Sept. 29. Overhoff said the appointment "represents a new era in our history."
"A committee made up of board members, musician representatives, and patrons conducted an extensive nationwide search, narrowing the field from nearly 100 to seven finalists, all of whom were superb conductors. The committee unanimously selected Donato. We are confident that Maestro Cabrera will lead us to our goal of becoming one of the nation’s very finest regional orchestras."
Highlights of the 2013-2014 season include four "classical" concerts, each with a work by an American composer, including the world premiere of a work by current Young American Composer in Residence, D.J. Sparr, as well as the West Coast premiere of Leviathan by Bay Area composer Mark Grey. Cabrera will lead three of the four traditional Pops concerts.
Aidan Lang
Aidan Lang — noted for his work with New Zealand Opera and the Glyndebourne Festival — will become Seattle Opera's general director designate next March, to work with current General Director, Speight Jenkins, and then take office as only the company's third director on Sept. 1, 2014. (The late Glynn Ross was founder and first GD; Jenkins succeeded him and led Seattle Opera for more than three decades.)
"Seattle is an international city," Lang said, accepting the appointment, "known for both its leading edge technology and world-class arts institutions. Seattle Opera is one of the world’s most respected opera companies and Speight Jenkins is, quite simply, a legend in our business. I am honored, energized, excited, and definitely humbled by the opportunity to lead the company in this next chapter."
Lang has served as General Director of New Zealand Opera since 2006. During his tenure, New Zealand Opera implemented a series of collaborations with such companies as Glyndebourne, Opera North, and Welsh National Opera, bringing productions from directors Nikolaus Lehnhoff (Jenufa), Tim Albery (Macbeth), and Christopher Alden (Turandot) to New Zealand.
Future international co-productions are also underway with Cape Town Opera, West Australian Opera, Opera Queensland, State Opera of South Australia, and Victorian Opera. In addition to Auckland and Wellington, the company is planning to perform in Christchurch as well, making it a truly national company, serving the entire country.
Daniel Stewart
Daniel Stewart has been named music director of the Santa Cruz County Symphony, selected after a season of 10 audition concerts led by five conductors as candidates for the position. He succeeds John Larry Granger, who led the orchestra for 21 seasons until his retirement last year.
Stewart won the the Aspen Music Festival’s James Conlon Conducting Prize in 2010, and was appointed by James Levine as conductor with the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in 2012. This year he debuts with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony, and the New World Symphony.
He has served as cover conductor with major orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the St. Louis Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, and the New World Symphony. In addition to his conducting work, Stewart has served as principal violist for several major orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony and is an accomplished composer whose compositions have been performed at venues including the Tribeca New Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Verbier Festival.
Steward will make his debut as music director at the opening concerts of Santa Cruz's 2013-2014 season on October 5 and 6.