In Monday’s (7/2) Tampa Bay Times, John Fleming reports, “Stefan Sanderling is making an early exit from the Florida Orchestra. The orchestra announced late Sunday that Sanderling is stepping down as music director two years sooner than he said he was a year ago, when the conductor announced he would not renew his contract after it expired at the end of the 2013-14 season. ‘This has been in the works about two months,’ orchestra president Michael Pastreich said. … ‘I think Stefan’s career is heading in a different direction.’ … Orchestra musicians, who learned about the music director’s premature departure over the weekend, were surprised. … Sanderling, music director since the 2003-04 season, had been scheduled to conduct 10 of the 14 masterworks programs in the upcoming season, with a similar obligation for 2013-14. Now he will conduct only one program in each of the next two seasons … To accommodate his sudden departure, the orchestra has virtually rewritten the 2012-13 season, which will feature a dozen guest conductors, with seven of them signed up in a very short time. Many of these now are likely to be considered as prospective candidates for music director.” Sanderling will continue as principal conductor of the Toledo Symphony.
Photo by JM Lennon
Posted July 2, 2012
