“Boston Ballet has named conductor Mischa Santora, 46, its new music director,” writes Zoë Madonna in Sunday’s (8/12) Boston Globe. “Santora … comes to the company from Minnesota, where he has served as artistic director of the interdisciplinary Minneapolis Music Company and artistic director of the Spotlight Series at the MacPhail Center for Music. He was associate conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra between 2003 and 2009…. Santora will lead the Boston Ballet Orchestra for the first time as music director with ‘The Nutcracker,’ which opens on Nov 29. Born in the Netherlands to Hungarian musician parents and educated at Curtis Institute of Music, Santora has conducted a slew of symphonies, chamber ensembles, and operas. This will be his first post as music director of a dance company, but he has led collaborations with dance companies, theater troupes, and puppeteers…. Boston Ballet’s previous music director, Jonathan McPhee, became music director emeritus following the 2015-16 season, after an acclaimed tenure of 27 years…. Recently, [Santora] directed an evening with the Minneapolis Music Company that included improvisations on the music of Bach by a jazz pianist, a folk-classical string duo, and a beat boxer.”
Posted August 14, 2018
