On Tuesday (10/5) the Columbus Symphony Orchestra announced Jean-Marie Zeitouni as its next music director, an appointment predicted by Jeffrey Sheban in Saturday’s (10/2) Columbus Dispatch. “A youthful French Canadian with ties to Europe and the Middle East is expected to be introduced next week as the next music director of the Columbus Symphony. Sources indicate that Jean-Marie Zeitouni, who for several years has been principal guest conductor of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra while appearing with orchestras and operas all over North America, has emerged from a field of eight candidates … [This weekend,] Zeitouni is scheduled to conduct the orchestra in a program including Ravel, Debussy and Rimsky-Korsakov. Columbus has been without a maestro since Junichi Hirokami departed in November 2008 with a year remaining on his contract. The Japanese conductor had a falling out with symphony management during a time of financial crisis that included a six-month shutdown earlier that year. A formal search for Hirokami’s successor began in early 2009. … Zeitouni, who in addition to studying music played youth hockey and baseball, has an effervescent style on the podium that’s expected to add energy and excitement to the orchestra. [Zeitouni’s] most-recent guest-conducting appearance in Columbus took place in May.”
Photo by Dave Sidaway/Montreal Gazette
Posted October 5, 2010
