“Another seamless transition by the Cleveland Orchestra,” writes Zachary Lewis in Wednesday’s (3/23) Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio). “This one, though, is taking place not onstage during a performance, where most do, but rather behind the scenes, in the group’s top administrative office. There, for the last three months, Andre Gremillet has quietly been serving as executive director, deliberately maintaining a low profile while keeping the orchestra running smoothly and filling the shoes of predecessor Gary Hanson with little public fanfare or apparent transitional turbulence.” Gremillet is a classically trained pianist who previously served as head of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. “Since taking office in January, the new director has been … spending time with everyone from the musicians and music director Franz Welser-Möst to previous executive directors, orchestra staff and board members, and community leaders.… Now through the orchestra’s centennial in 2018, he said, … not only must the group go on balancing its budget, it also must forge bonds with new donors and continue bolstering the endowment.… ‘For me,’ Gremillet explained, ‘it’s not about just keeping this place going. It’s about how we can be better, how can we make more of an impact.’ ”
Posted March 28, 2016
