In Wednesday’s (5/27) Charlotte Observer (North Carolina), Steven Brown reports, “A cheer went up from Charlotte Symphony players Tuesday when the orchestra’s board chair announced that Christopher Warren-Green will be their next leader. The British conductor’s No. 1 task will be to get the rest of Charlotte that excited. When Warren-Green takes over as the orchestra’s music director in September 2010, he’ll join a group that’s fighting now for survival. Several years of financial troubles became a crisis last week, when the Arts & Science Council announced it will cut more than $1million from the orchestra’s funding next season. Warren-Green, 53, had accepted the job and was vacationing in the Caribbean last week when orchestra President Jonathan Martin gave him the news about the ASC. It didn’t shake him, he said. Warren-Green says he’s ready for the challenges. … Eight conductors came to Charlotte as candidates to follow Christof Perick, who has led the orchestra since 2001. Perick will step down in May 2010. … Each candidate had strengths, said Calin Lupanu, the orchestra’s first-chair violinist, who served on the search committee. Warren-Green won out by not only being ‘a very seasoned musician,’ but also having the personality that the orchestra needs in its leader.”
Posted May 27, 2009
