“Musical programming in Boston will soon be receiving an infusion of new energy, as the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum has named the veteran New York impresario and conductor George Steel as the next Abrams Curator of Music,” writes Jeremy Eichler in Wednesday’s (11/15) Boston Globe. “Steel succeeds Scott Nickrenz, who retired earlier this year…. In his new role, which officially begins Jan. 1, Steel will curate the Gardner’s flagship series, its Sunday afternoon chamber concerts…. He will also oversee the pop-accented Rise series, and will be developing new strands of programming designed to integrate music with dance, theater, and poetry, to take place in and among the museum’s galleries…. From 1997 to 2008, Steel ran Columbia University’s Miller Theatre, a tenure during which he transformed the space into one of New York City’s most vibrant homes for new music…. After leaving the Miller Theatre, Steel took over as general manager and artistic director of the financially ailing New York City Opera [which] filed for bankruptcy in 2013. Since March, Steel has been working as a visiting curator at the Gardner. Last spring, on Isabella Stewart Gardner’s birthday, he conducted his own group, the Vox Vocal Ensemble, in a performance of Frei Manuel Cardoso’s Requiem.”
Posted November 17, 2017
