Conductor Edo de Waart. Photo by Jesse-Willems.
In Wednesday’s (4/10) NPO Klassiek (Netherlands), an unsigned article reports, “Conductor Edo de Waart is retiring after a career of more than sixty years, he announced today. As a conductor he played a major role in Dutch and international musical life. He was associated with the Netherlands Wind Ensemble and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and he was chief conductor of various orchestras from America to Australia. He had a special bond with the [Netherlands] Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, where he was chief conductor from 1989 to 2004…. De Waart explained his sudden choice: ‘I woke up at 5:30 yesterday morning to get ready for rehearsal and I thought, what am I even doing? I was wobbly on my feet, and … I didn’t have more confidence that I could really do it in the best way.’… Waart started his career in music in 1963 as an oboist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra…. In the mid-1970s he became Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony…. He held positions as chief conductor with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra (then deFilharmonie), the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He also served as Principal Guest Conductor of the San Diego Symphony.”
