In Thursday’s (8/25) Oregonian (Portland), David Stabler writes, “Matthew Halls, 35, a bright British conductor who comes out of the early music movement, will replace founder Helmuth Rilling as artistic director at the Oregon Bach Festival at the end of the 2013 season. Rilling, who led the 17-day festival since its founding in 1970, will remain with the University of Oregon event as director emeritus. For 41 years, the German-born Rilling has been the heart and soul of the festival. His deep knowledge of classical music’s great choral works, and his majestic, measured performances, have shaped nearly two generations of audiences, both in live concert and on hundreds of recordings. … Halls reflects significant change, not least in a shift toward early music performance practice, which Rilling resisted. Halls is a harpsichordist as well as a conductor with expertise in Baroque music, especially that of Bach. In 2005, he led the Portland Baroque Orchestra’s performances of Handel’s ‘Messiah.’ But his breadth as a conductor in other music also helped win him the job. … His 2011 season includes engagements with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, and the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. He is the founding director of the Retrospect Ensemble, an English period instrument and choir group formed in 2009.”
Posted August 25, 2011
