Minnesota’s Rochester Symphony Orchestra and the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra in Wisconsin both have held spring fundraising events in which aspiring amateur conductors from the community vie for the opportunity to conduct the orchestra. The Rochester Symphony Orchestra and Chorale’s aspiring-conductor contest is now underway, and the fundraising candidate who raises the most money by April 21 will conduct the orchestra’s April 26 concert. The five are Steve Borchardt, a development officer for the Rochester Area Foundation; Shawn Fagan, a photographer; Steve Lange, the editor of Rochester Magazine; Joe O’Toole, principal of Lourdes High School; and Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran, a librarian for the University of Minnesota, Rochester. The winner of the La Crosse Symphony’s annual Conductor Wannabe Contest was Bill Lanzel, who raised $22,418 for the orchestra. Lanzel and runner-up Father Robert Cook each conducted a piece on the orchestra’s season-ending program on April 5.
Posted April 10, 2014
