In Wednesday’s (2/17) Philadelphia Inquirer, David Patrick Stearns writes that Philadelphia Orchestra Chief Conductor Charles Dutoit plans to conclude his long tenure at the orchestra’s Saratoga season. “Though Dutoit, 73, was not available for comment, chief executives on both sides—the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center—talked in terms of celebrating his 20-year legacy of late-summer concerts in an artistic-director tenure that will end at the close of the 2010 season. Reasons included commitments elsewhere, as well as his marriage last week to his longtime companion and collaborator, violinist Chantal Juillet, who has also been music director of the Saratoga Chamber Music Festival. She, too, will step down at the end of the season after 19 years. … The 2010 Saratoga season, which will be announced in coming weeks, significantly includes two guest conductors, partly to give Dutoit more time. [Saratoga Performing Arts Center President Marcia] White declined to identify them or say if they are candidates for Dutoit’s position. She said Dutoit’s departure involved no curtailment of contracts; his commitment to SPAC has been renewed on a year-to-year basis.”
Posted February 17, 2010
