Owensboro Symphony Youth Orchestra’s New Conductor: Violist Mark Hatlestad
Topic: Musical Chairs - Industry Moves
Renia Shterenberg Appointed Executive Director of Bangor Symphony
At Firelands Symphony, Concertmaster Ron Brooker Is Named Executive Director
Ana Papakhian Appointed Executive Director of Camerata Pacifica
Phoenix Symphony Appoints Alex Amsel as Associate Conductor
Isaac Thompson Named President and CEO of Oregon Symphony
Shauna Quill to Step Down from New York Youth Symphony to Lead Music Academy of the West
Los Angeles Philharmonic Adds to Conducting Roster with New Assistant Conductor Plus Four Dudamel Fellows
The Los Angeles Philharmonic has appointed Rodolfo Barráez as assistant conductor for the 2023-24 season. Barráez will serve as cover conductor for Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel and guest conductors during the coming season and on tour, and will make his Hollywood Bowl debut in 2024. Barráez is a former Dudamel Fellow; Gustavo Dudamel, together with the LA Phil, created the Dudamel Fellowship Program in 2009 to help young conductors from around the world to develop their craft. The 2023-24 Dudamel Fellows are: Anna Handler, Ross Jamie Collins, Carlos Ágreda, and Michelle Di Russo. Learn more about the Dudamel Fellows here.
In addition to joining the LA Phil as assistant conductor in 2023-24, Berlin-based Venezuelan conductor Rodolfo Barráez will begin his second season as associate conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and start as conductor-in-residence at the Paris Opera. In 2022-23, Barráez led the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Münchener Kammerorchester on its tour of South America, and the Appassionato Orchestra at the Verbier Festival. He made his European debut at the Philharmonie Berlin in 2019 with the Hauptstadt Sinfonie-Orchester; other appearances include the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Hallé Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the Principality of Asturias, RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Simón Bolívar Symphony, Bogotá Philharmonic, Yucatán Philharmonic, Querétaro Philharmonic Orchestra, and Minería Symphony Orchestra. Future engagements include the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Paris Opera, and the Simón Bolívar Symphony. Barráez trained as a violinist at Venezuela’s El Sistema and earned a bachelor’s degree in conducting at the Universidad Nacional Experimental de las Artes de Venezuela and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in conducting at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin.
Three New Assistant Conductors at Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra has promoted current Conducting Fellows Austin Chanu and Tristan Rais-Sherman to assistant conductors, effective immediately. In addition, Naomi Woo has been named assistant conductor beginning in the 2024–25 season.
Austin Chanu is a conductor, composer, and woodwind performer originally from the San Francisco Bay area. He is a recipient of the 2023 Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation US. He made his Philadelphia Orchestra subscription debut in April 2023, and has guest-conducted the Omaha Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He conducted for the LA Chamber Orchestra’s New Music Salon, served as a teaching artist and conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Associate Composer Program, and was a woodwind performer in LA. Chanu received a bachelor’s degree in music composition from the USC Thornton School of Music and holds a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the Eastman School of Music.
American conductor Tristan Rais-Sherman recently competed in the 2023 Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition with the Bamberg Symphony. He has led the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Rais-Sherman received the Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation US in 2022 and 2023. His educational work includes leading the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at Interlochen, conducting guest master classes at the Philadelphia International Music Festival, and leading educational programs with the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and New England Conservatory Symphony. Rais-Sherman holds an artist diploma from the New England Conservatory, a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor’s degree in cello performance from Ithaca College.
After four years as assistant conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Canadian conductor and pianist Naomi Woo joined the Orchestre Métropolitain Montréal as artistic partner in the 2023–24 season. Recent engagements include the Orchestre Métropolitain, Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, and Ottawa’s National Arts Center Orchestra; two appearances with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, where she is a music director finalist; and a tour of England leading English Touring Opera in Rossini’s Cinderella. As an assistant/cover conductor, Woo works with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Toronto Symphony, and conducts throughout Canada. Woo is a member of Tapestry Opera’s Women in Musical Leadership program and participated in Orchestre Métropolitain’s orchestral conducting academy. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, and studied at Yale College, the Yale School of Music, and the University of Montreal.
Pittsburgh Symphony Promotes Assistant Concertmaster and Associate Conductors, Hires Musicians, Names New Board Members
In Thursday’s (7/20) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jeremy Reynolds writes, “There’s some new blood and a few promotions at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. On Thursday, the symphony announced that first violinist Justine Campagna, who joined the symphony in 2018, has been appointed assistant concertmaster. Assistant conductors Moon Doh and Jacob Joyce were promoted to the rank of associate conductor. The orchestra also hired two new musicians: Douglas Rosenthal as associate principal trombonist and Michelle Hembree as second horn. The symphony is continuing to replenish its ranks in the wake of the pandemic, when it was unable to hold live auditions to fill retirement vacancies. In addition to Rosenthal and Hembree, the symphony has hired five other musicians over the course of the previous season: second violinists Boxianzi (Vivian) Ling, Regi Papa and Carolyn Semes, and oboist Samuel Nemec. Additionally, Joshua Samuel Carr, trumpet, and Drew Collins, bass, are the new Paul J. Ross Fellows. The fellowship is a two-year pre-professional program intended to promote diversity in the orchestra. Such programs are becoming increasingly common around the country. Carr and Collins will begin playing with the orchestra in the fall. Finally, the symphony also announced 11 new members on its board of directors.”