“The Utah Symphony has appointed Madeline Adkins as concertmaster, effective at the beginning of the 2016-17 season in September,” writes Catherine Reese Newton in Wednesday’s (12/9) Salt Lake Tribune. “Adkins, 38, is currently associate concertmaster with the Baltimore Symphony. She played with the Utah Symphony on three weekends earlier this season as part of the audition process and will play four more weekends as guest concertmaster in the next few months…. Ralph Matson, the Utah Symphony’s concertmaster since 1985, will continue as associate concertmaster when Adkins comes on full time…. Adkins … said in a phone interview Wednesday that the Utah Symphony musicians ‘went out of their way to make me feel at home…. [Music Director Thierry Fischer] and the orchestra play at such a high level…. I was really thrilled at how the concerts came across all three weeks I was there.’ She also was impressed with the orchestra’s home, Abravanel Hall. ‘From the first notes you play, you think, “Wow, it feels really great to play in such a lovely space,” ’ she said. Adkins said she and her husband, John Forrest, a software engineering manager for Lockheed Martin, are outdoor enthusiasts who have been hiking in Utah several times.”
Posted December 10, 2015
