“The Eugene Symphony just announced the finalists to succeed music director Danail Rachev after his final season this year,” writes Brett Campbell in Thursday’s (9/8) Eugene Weekly (Oregon). “Chosen from a pool of 250 applicants from 44 countries, each will lead an ESO concert this season as part of their audition. Assistant conductor of the … Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Dina Gilbert will conduct the Dec. 8 concert; Brooklyn’s Ryan McAdams, who’s won rave reviews for conducting orchestras in Europe and Israel, tries his baton Jan. 26; Boulder native Francesco Lecce-Chong, assistant conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, takes his turn on the Hult podium March 16. Amid their starry fellowships, awards, big-name mentors and glowing reviews, all three young conductors have worked with contemporary composers and new music—an essential quality for a 21st-century conductor, especially one who aspires to join a line of renowned new music advocates that includes [former Eugene Symphony music directors] Marin Alsop and Giancarlo Guerrero.… Search committee head Roger Saydack (who led the last five searches including this one) called [current applicants] ‘the strongest pool of candidates we’ve ever seen here,’ which is saying something.”
Posted September 8, 2016
Pictured (left to right): Ryan McAdams, Francesco Lecce-Chong, and Dina Gilbert
