New Music Director at Chattanooga Symphony and Opera: Ilya Ram

In Sunday’s (8/11) Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee), Sam Still writes, “After a two-year search, the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera has appointed Ilya Ram as its music director, ushering in a new era for the organization as it enters its 2024-25 season. Following the departure of Kayoko Dan, who served as the symphony’s music director for more than a decade, at the end of the 2023-24 season Ram becomes the fourth artistic leader of the 91-year-old music organization. Before his appointment in Chattanooga, Ram served as music director of the Akademische Philharmonie Heidelberg in Heidelberg, Germany, a position he will continue parallel to his duties in Chattanooga … The 33-year-old, American-born conductor has spent much of his professional career in Germany, which has included work with university orchestras and contemporary opera … Ram said that he and the [Chattanooga] symphony ‘just clicked,’ regarding ideas for the future of the organization … Once he arrived in Chattanooga to guest conduct the symphony as part of the candidate search, Ram felt incredibly welcomed … ‘The musicians were fantastic. I chose a very difficult program … and it was just a blast,’ he said.”