Music Director Carl St.Clair leads the Pacific Symphony. Photo courtesy of Pacific Symphony/Doug Gifford.
In Wednesday’s (3/27) Culture OC (Orange County, California), Paul Hodgins writes, “Next year will mark a significant milestone for the performing arts in Orange County: the end of the Carl St.Clair era. The conductor will likely leave his position at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season after leading Pacific Symphony for 35 years, although he’ll remain active with the orchestra as conductor laureate…. St.Clair is currently the longest-serving music director of a major American orchestra, and under his baton the ensemble has flourished: It’s now the largest U.S. orchestra founded in the last 50 years…. St.Clair credits the leadership of Pacific Symphony president John Forsyte and a committed and visionary board as two major reasons for the orchestra’s growth … St.Clair has no sentimental illusions about his successor preserving the orchestra exactly as he has shaped it. He looks forward to seeing it explore new directions. ‘I think the orchestra … can flourish even more with a different vision, a different voice. I also feel very strongly that … for the orchestra to continue its trajectory into its 50th anniversary and into the middle part of the 21st century, that a new voice, a new vision, a new feeling will help get it there.’ ”
