In Wednesday’s (3/28) Amarillo Globe-News (Texas), Brittany Nunn reports, “The Amarillo Symphony announced three finalists for its new music director and conductor before a packed house Tuesday. More than 90 people crammed shoulder-to-shoulder in the back room at Crush Wine Bar & Deli to hear which three candidates will compete to replace Kimbo Ishii-Eto. The symphony announced in May that Ishii-Eto, hired in February 2007 after an extensive search, would leave after the conclusion of the 2011-12 season. He was the symphony’s 15th conductor in its 88-year history. Laura Street, chairwoman of the symphony’s search committee, said narrowing 200 candidates to three finalists was a difficult process, but she was enthusiastic about the candidates chosen, saying the search committee chose three people they consider to be wildly different from each other. Candidates are Bulgarian native Stilian Kirov of the Seattle Symphony, Portuguese-American Jacomo Rafael Bairos of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Markand Thakar of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra. … At each concert, audience members will have the chance to offer feedback on the candidates through surveys and other venues, [Amarillo Symphony Executive Director Susan] White said. ‘We want this to be a community-based decision,’ she said.”
Posted March 29, 2012
