Sunday (9/25) on his Baltimore Sun blog Clef Notes/Drama Queens, Tim Smith reports, “The extraordinary German conductor Christoph Eschenbach has extended his contract as music director of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center through the 2014-2015 season. The extension, announced Sunday at the NSO’s annual season-opening ball, adds two seasons to his original three-year contract. ‘This artistic home has been even more welcoming and rewarding than I had imagined,’ Eschenbach said in a statement. The Eschenbach magic has been evident—at last to some of us—from his first concerts with the NSO, so the news of his intensifying relationship with the orchestra and the center is most welcome. So is some more news made at Sunday’s gala: Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein, who has already donated more than $25 million to the institution, announced yet another gift, this one to fund a new organ for the Concert Hall, in honor of the NSO’s 80th anniversary and the center’s 40th.”
Posted September 26, 2011