In Monday’s (12/8) Free Times (Columbia, S.C.), Dan Cook writes, “If you like your Morihiko Nakahara, you can keep your Morihiko Nakahara—at least for four more years. The South Carolina Philharmonic has signed a contract renewal with the popular conductor that will keep him on as music director through the 2018-19 season. Nakahara was hired in 2007; his first season with the orchestra was 2008-09. He is widely credited with reinvigorating the orchestra musically—improving its playing and broadening its repertoire—as well as raising the excitement level in the community through his effervescent personality. He has led the orchestra to commission pieces, including one by Joan Tower, and to collaborate with guest artists including Bela Fleck. ‘I knew that I was going to come back,’ says Nakahara, who also conducts in Spokane, Washington, and lives full-time in Virginia with his fiancée. ‘Despite all the challenges that orchestras and other arts organizations have faced during the last few years, I always felt that we have a good team, good people.’ He credits executive director Rhonda Hunsinger in particular. ‘She’s really one of the best in the field,’ Nakahara says.”
Posted December 10, 2014
