In Sunday’s (5/5) El Paso Times (Texas), Doug Pullen writes, “Czech native Bohuslav ‘Bo’ Rattay has been chosen as the seventh conductor and music director in the 82-year history of El Paso Symphony Orchestra. Today’s announcement ends a two-year search to find the successor to the previous conductor, Sarah Ioannides, who left in 2011 after six years. Rattay, 40, who signed a three-year deal for an undisclosed salary, apparently made a strong impression on audience members, musicians, board members and orchestra donors during his two-performance audition Oct. 19-20. … Rattay called his selection ‘amazing news.’ ‘I’m very much looking forward to working with everybody,’ he said from Lake Charles, La. ‘They’ve got a great team.’ Rattay will return to El Paso from Monday through May 12 for a series of public and private introductory events. … Rattay will return to conduct its July Fourth concert at Fort Bliss, then lead off its 83rd season in September. … Rattay started conducting a small orchestra, then moved to Baltimore to study the art with Gustav Meier, among others, at Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute of Music. He conducted Indiana’s Muncie Symphony Orchestra for six years. Rattay recently completed his third season with the Lake Charles Symphony Orchestra and his first with the Midland Symphony Orchestra in Michigan.”
Posted May 6, 2013
