“The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has announced the appointment of its next music director: French conductor Stéphane Denève,” writes Sarah Bryan Miller in Wednesday’s (7/7) St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Denève, 45, will be the SLSO’s 13th music director, with an initial three-year term beginning in the 2019-20 season. Denève … will serve as music director designate during the 2018-2019 season. He will succeed David Robertson … at the end of the 2017-2018 season…. Asked what she expected to change under Denève, [president and CEO Marie-Hélène] Bernard said, ‘I see this not as a change but as a continuation of the trajectory in which David Robertson has put the orchestra, which is following a very successful one by Leonard Slatkin.’ She cited Robertson’s success in recruiting outstanding new players, the orchestra’s high artistic stature, solid financial footing and the stability of their new contract, which runs through 2022…. Denève … is currently the music director of the Brussels Philharmonic, principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra (through the 2019-20 season) and director of the [Brussels Philharmonic digital initiative] Centre for Future Orchestral Repertoire. In the past, he was chief conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.”
Posted June 8, 2017
Stéphane Denève photo by Drew Farrell
