“The face of the Pittsburgh Symphony for more than 20 years is moving on,” writes Andrew Druckenbrod in Saturday’s (2/14) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “The orchestra announced yesterday that its esteemed concertmaster Andres Cardenes will leave after the 2009-2010 season. ‘There are certain things I have to have in my life now,’ he said. ‘I have been setting the table for 10 years about this.’ Indeed, the move was not unexpected. When Cardenes signed a five-year contract with the PSO two years ago, he said, ‘There is a finite aspect for everything and I have a lot of aspirations.” … Cardenes, 51, already has plans for his post-PSO career, including finishing an ambitious recording project of 25 concertos over several CDs and labels, conducting and soloing internationally, teaching and playing chamber music. The violinist also will continue to perform with the Diaz Trio, along with violinist Roberto Diaz, president of the Curtis Institute of Music. … [Cardenes] and his wife, violinist Monique Mead, run the Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colo. Cardenes is also president of the jury of the Stradivarius International Violin Competition."
