In Thursday’s (4/26) Amarillo Globe-News (Texas), Brad Newman writes, “Kimbo Ishii-Eto will conduct his last concerts with the Amarillo Symphony on Friday and Saturday as the orchestra closes its 87th season. Ishii-Eto, who was announced as the symphony’s music director and conductor in February 2007, will lead the symphony in a program featuring a behemoth of a musical work and a stage filled with nearly 200 performers from Amarillo’s musical arts community. ‘This concert is a great celebration,’ said Susan White, executive director of the Amarillo Symphony. The finale program includes Carl Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana,’ a large-scale, three-part cantata based on 24 medieval poems. The piece, which premiered in 1937, has become one of the world’s most popular musical productions. … The concert is a fitting way to mark Ishii-Eto’s departure after five years at the podium, the music director and conductor said. ‘I am more than ever so grateful (to be a part of) this challenging, gigantic work,’ he said. ‘What a pleasure, what an honor.’ … The search for Ishii-Eto’s successor already has yielded three finalists. Those candidates each will conduct two concerts during the Amarillo Symphony’s 2012-13 season.”
Posted April 27, 2012
