“The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra has simultaneously announced both their 2022-2023 season and the appointment of an Artistic Advisor, the American conductor Michael Stern,” writes Mark Morris in Monday’s (6/6) Edmonton Journal (Canada). “Stern has been the Music Director of the Kansas City Symphony since 2005 [Stern is also music director of Connecticut’s Stamford Symphony]…. He is not, though, a replacement for Chief Conductor Alex Prior, who finishes his tenure with a pair of concerts … on June 17 and 18. Instead, both Annemarie Petrov, the CEO of the ESO, and Stern see his role as a ‘reboot’ of the orchestra after the shutdowns of the pandemic…. [Says Stern,] ‘The role of the Artistic Advisor is to reawaken the connection of the orchestra to the community, which I think is essential.’ He will also help run the search for Prior’s successor, conduct four concerts himself, and has been part of the team organizing the coming season, which of necessity had to be put together in a short time as the COVID-19 situation became clearer. A very welcome return is the season’s traditional opener, Symphony Under the Sky, still at Hawrelak Park [led by] Robert Bernhardt (Sept. 3 and 4).” Included are season details.
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