“The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s main classical season wrapped up last weekend, begging the question … well, begging a lot of questions, actually,” writes Elizabeth Bloom in Wednesday’s (6/17) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The article speculates about Pittsburgh’s music director, Manfred Honeck, as a candidate for the job of music director at the New York Philharmonic in 2017. Honeck’s contract with Pittsburgh runs through 2020. Other topics include the role of Concertmaster Noah Bendix-Balgley, who is concurrently concertmaster with the Berlin Philharmonic. “ ‘Noah will make a decision in September regarding his status,’ said Louise Sciannameo, the PSO’s vice president of communications and external relations.” In addition, “The symphony’s new president and CEO, Melia Tourangeau, will start in July, taking over from Jim Wilkinson, who is retiring.… Two other top administrators are leaving after more than 50 years of combined service: senior vice president of artistic planning and audience engagement Robert Moir and senior vice president and COO Michael Bielski.… What is the status of the Heinz Endowments grant? The PSO had an incentive to balance its budget by the end of the 2015 fiscal year: It would receive $5 million toward its endowment from the Heinz Endowments. The symphony hasn’t found solid financial ground yet, so Heinz has given it some breathing room.”
Posted June 17, 2015
