In Tuesday’s (6/12) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Andrew Druckenbrod writes, “The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has ended its online concerto competition without choosing a winner, it announced Monday. ‘It was fascinating to go through the process, but in the end the standard that we were seeking was soloists on a Pittsburgh Symphony subscription series, and we didn’t find that,’ said Robert Moir, senior vice president of artistic planning. ‘From the very beginning we said we have never done this before, we don’t know what we would find and we might not pick a winner.’ The winner would have performed a major concerto with the PSO at Heinz Hall in November and December. The decision was made after PSO music director Manfred Honeck, staff conductors, musicians and staff heard four finalists perform Monday at Heinz Hall. They were chosen through public voting on the PSO’s YouTube Channel. ‘We found some very talented young players,’ said Mr. Moir. ‘We encourage them to continue what they are doing.’ He said the PSO expects to run the competition again but that it will approach it differently. ‘No one had done this before. We will analyze what we learned.’ ”
Posted June 12, 2012
