Amateur Conductor and Tech CEO Pays to Lead Toronto Symphony in Mahler 2

In Thursday’s (6/26) Globe and Mail (Canada), Claire McFarlane writes, “The Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s performance this week of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C Minor included a lot of what attendees might expect to see—and hear—from a concert at a packed Roy Thomson Hall … What some attendees didn’t know they were getting, however, was an amateur conductor who bankrolled the production, which was not in fact an official Toronto Symphony Orchestra production…. Some attendees said they took advantage of lower admission prices to hear a long-admired piece of music played by some of the most talented musicians in the country. The symphony was led by Mandle Cheung, founder and chief executive officer of … Computer Talk Technology Inc. In the past 10 years, he has funneled his energy and wealth into his passion for classical music, establishing a namesake orchestra of freelance musicians. Instead of leading his own orchestra on Wednesday evening, Mr. Cheung conducted one of Canada’s pre-eminent orchestras in what the TSO has described as a ‘fee-for-service engagement,’ which has drawn ire from some members of the orchestra.” The New York Times reports that Cheung paid $400,000 to lead the concert. “After the music swelled to its final dramatic crescendo, the audience rose to a standing ovation.”