The Oklahoma Philharmonic Society, governing board of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, has elected STEVEN C. AGEE president for 2009-10. Agee is a professor of economics at Oklahoma City University and director of the Economic Research & Policy Institute at OCU’s Meinders School of Business.
Posted July 17, 2009
California’s Stockton Symphony Association has announced a new president, MICHAEL WHELAN. A member of the association’s board since 2002, and designated as president-elect last year, Whelan took office July 1, 2009. He currently serves as vice president and manager of the Stockton Wealth Management office of Bank of the West.
Posted July 17, 2009
Nicholas Weege has been named director of development operations at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He is a 2009 graduate of the Orchestra Management Fellowship Program of the League of American Orchestras, and prior to beginning his OMFP training in June 2008 had worked in the Dallas Symphony’s Development Department and also as an operations intern. Weege holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in viola performance from Southern Methodist University. He has performed in several ensembles including the National Repertory Orchestra, where he also served as assistant orchestra manager.
Posted July 14, 2009
The Colburn School in Los Angeles has appointed SEL KARDAN president and chief executive officer, effective in September 2009. In this capacity he will oversee both The Colburn School of Performing Arts and The Colburn Conservatory of Music. Kardan has served as president and CEO of The Music Institute of Chicago since 2005. Prior experience includes executive director posts with Baltimore’s Shriver Hall Concert Series and with Heifetz International Music Institute in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. He holds a degree in viola performance from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, has performed extensively as a chamber musician, and has served on the faculties of Peabody Conservatory, Shenandoah University, and the University of Maryland.
Posted July 14, 2009
The Colburn School has announced the appointment of WENDY KELMAN as chairman of the Board of Trustees. She has been a member of that board since 2006 and has chaired its development and presidential search committees. Among numerous other nonprofit affiliations, Kelman has served on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and is a current board member of the Volunteer Council of the League of American Orchestras. Trained as a psychiatric social worker, she has worked at McLean Hospital in Boston, and for fifteen years operated the cancer treatment facility Oncology Institutes in partnership with her husband, Dr. Asher Kelman.
Posted July 14, 2009
The Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, based in Yarmouth Port, Mass., has announced the election of F. STEPHEN MAINERO as chair of the CCSO Board of Trustees for the 2009-10 season. Mainero is president and chief executive officer of The Franklin Career Group, Inc. He has served as the orchestra’s vice-chair and also as chairman of its strategic planning, development, and audience development committees.
Posted July 14, 2009
Florida’s Ocala Symphony Orchestra has announced the appointment of MATTHEW WARDELL as music director and conductor, effective with the 2009-10 season. He is currently associate conductor of the University of Florida Symphony Orchestra and assistant conductor of the Gainesville (Fla.) Chamber Orchestra. Wardell holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Florida in his native Jacksonville, and will graduate in December with a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the University of North Florida. He has also pursued conducting studies at Salzburg College in Austria; with Keith Lockhart, music director of the Boston Pops and the Utah Symphony; and with Michael Jinbo at the Pierre Monteux School in Hancock, Maine.
Posted July 8, 2009
DALE BARLTROP has been named concertmaster of the Vancouver (B.C.) Symphony Orchestra, effective in September 2009. He has served as principal second violin in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra since 2003, and as principal second violin in San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra since 2005. A native of Brisbane, Australia, Barltrop earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, and holds a professional studies diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Cleveland Orchestra Concertmaster William Preucil. While at the University of Maryland Barltrop co-founded and directed U.M.’s Philharmonia Ensemble and was awarded first prize in the university’s Concerto Competition in 2000. His awards also include Grand Prize in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition (2003) and Tanglewood Music Center’s Jules C. Reiner Violin Prize (2002).
Posted July 8, 2009
The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra has announced the appointment of SHAUN TAYLOR as the first executive director of Vancouver Symphony Centre and the VSO School of Music, effective in September 2009. Originally from Los Angeles and now a Canadian citizen, Taylor has served as principal of the Chilliwack Academy of Music since 2004, and as president of the BC Association of Community Music Schools since 2007. He has also worked as music program manager at Peck School of the Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; as program coordinator for the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music; as a K-8 music teacher at Central City Cyberschool of Milwaukee; and as a freelance musician.
He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in tuba performance from the University of Southern California and a Master of Music from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Posted July 8, 2009
Michigan’s Adrian Symphony Orchestra has announced the appointment of ELIZABETH (LIBBY) WATSON as executive director, effective July 1. She succeeds SUSAN HOFFMAN, who left the orchestra in February to take up a position as director of patron relationship management with The Cleveland Orchestra. Watson served as the ASO’s interim administrative coordinator for three months prior to her appointment as executive director. A member of its board of directors since 2002, and board secretary since 2005, she has worked in the retail, automotive, and banking sectors, most recently as a training and development consultant for ABN AMRO, N.A. Watson holds a degree in business administration from Michigan State University’s Eli Broad School of Business, and completed coursework in organizational leadership at Siena Heights University. Trained in violin and viola, she performed on tour with the Blue Lake International Youth Symphony Orchestra, and has also performed with the Adrian Symphony.
Posted July 2, 2009