In Wednesday’s (5/2) Detroit News, Lawrence B. Johnson writes, “During and after last season’s 26-week strike, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra lost a number of musicians to other jobs or retirement. Now, the retrenchment has begun. Music Director Leonard Slatkin has recently hired five musicians through a painstaking process of auditions. While some of these additions are already part of the ensemble, others start their new lives in Detroit soon.” They are violinist Sheryl Hwangbo, French hornist Johanna Yarbrough, English horn player Monica Fosnaugh, and cellists Peter McCaffrey and David LeDoux. “Even after passing her audition, Hwangbo, 24, had to play two trial weeks with the DSO under Slatkin’s baton, eye and ear. ‘He’s very clear, always on point, never wastes time,’ she says. The violinist also had appreciative words for her new colleagues: ‘I was in a sensitive spot, and everybody was extremely friendly and welcoming.’ ” McCaffrey, who started with the Detroit Symphony March 1, “looks like a natural fit for the DSO’s expanding educational and outreach programs. He has already taken his cello into Detroit schools, and joined in DSO chamber music forays about the city.”
Posted May 3, 2012
