New Century Chamber Orchestra Board President Mark Salkind has announced the appointment of Richard Lonsdorf as NCCO’s interim executive director through Dec. 31.
The appointment is effective immediately as the search continues for a permanent director to succeed Philip Wilder, who stepped down from his position at the end of last month to become the president and general director of Chanticleer.
Lonsdorf has served on the artistic teams of several major orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Bay Area audiences know him best for his role in starting up the SFS SoundBox series, launching and curating the popular Film Series, and many other programming innovations.
“Richard Lonsdorf is the ideal candidate to provide New Century with interim leadership during these challenging times,” says Salkind. “His impressive track record of designing and producing innovative and imaginative projects will be invaluable while concert halls remain closed.”
Lonsdorf’s response: “I am thrilled to join New Century at this pivotal moment for the organization and the performing arts as a whole. We must rethink every aspect of how we gather, perform, and share our music with audiences these days, but I believe strongly that adverse moments can spark great creativity. I look forward to working with Daniel Hope, our musicians, and the New Century board and staff to navigate this next chapter in our musical lives.”
New Century recently announced programming for its 2021 season including two subscription weeks in February and April, and additional performances at Bing Concert Hall, Green Music Center, and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
In February 2021, Daniel Hope will return to lead the orchestra’s first public performances in more than a year with an evening of works by Mozart, featuring violist Paul Neubauer. April 2021 performances will be highlighted by the world premiere of a new work for piano and string orchestra by Tan Dun, featuring soloist Alexey Botvinov.
