“Conductor Lan Shui, who has taken the Singapore Symphony Orchestra to new heights during his 20 years as music director, announced yesterday that he would step down in January 2019 after the orchestra’s 40th anniversary,” writes Akshita Nanda in Thursday’s (1/12) Straits Times (Singapore). “The China-born Singapore permanent resident, who turns 60 this year, said he wants to spend more time with his wife and two sons, aged 11 and eight months. Shui broke the news to the orchestra during rehearsals for Friday’s near-sold-out Beethoven Gala concert. Packed halls are among the positive changes attributed to him…. Under Shui’s baton, the SSO has gone from a promising national ensemble to winning international acclaim…. At home, SSO concerts are 85 per cent sold out. Its free open-air performances at the Botanic Gardens attract up to 8,000 concertgoers at a time…. He has been divesting himself of orchestral titles…. He was chief conductor of the Copenhagen Philharmonic from 2007 to 2015, and recently concluded a five-year period as artistic adviser to the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra…. It will take up to three years to find a replacement and the orchestra [musicians] will be involved in the discussions.”
Posted January 12, 2017
