“It is an important moment in the life of a symphony orchestra when a new conductor is selected—not just to lead the orchestra, but to create the programs, hire the artists and more. In short, to be the music director,” states Nina Totenberg in Monday’s (11/27) National Public Radio. “In Washington, D.C., the choice was made with astonishing harmony. A search committee composed of board members and musicians from the National Symphony Orchestra agreed unanimously on their pick: 53-year-old Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda, who comes to the job just as the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts is beginning a yearlong celebration for the centennial birthday of one of Noseda’s conducting heroes: Leonard Bernstein…. [Noseda] began his professional life as … a pianist.… At age 27 he began conducting and, as it turns out, he was a natural. He has a reputation for making audiences see old favorites with new eyes…. But when it came to the NSO’s 2017 Season Opening Gala, Noseda’s debut as its new music director … it was all Leonard Bernstein…. From Mass to West Side Story, Noseda sees Berstein’s work as capturing the beat of the modern heart.”
Posted November 28, 2017
