In Monday’s (3/24) Baltimore Sun, Tim Smith reports, “Christoph Eschenbach has extended his contract as National Symphony Orchestra music director for two years, which keeps him on the podium through 2016-2017. That will be his seventh season. This is his second contract extension since his tenure started in 2010. ‘I am very happy that management and the board agreed in a rather enthusiastic way to the extension, and same with the orchestra,’ Eschenbach said in a phone interview. ‘We are sailing the same ship, so to say, and that ship is called quality, great music-making and a passion for what we do.’ … The contract extension also covers Eschenbach’s role as music director of the Kennedy Center, where he is involved with festivals and a chamber music series. ‘I have been in discussions with the new Kennedy Center president, Deborah Rutter, about ways we can work together on new things,’ Eschenbach said. The conductor’s stamp on the NSO includes the hiring of 13 players, six of them for principal positions.… The NSO’s principal oboist Nicholas Stovall said that musicians are ‘so pleased that our relationship with Maestro Eschenbach will continue to grow and deepen in the coming years.’ ”
Posted March 25, 2014
