In Tuesday’s (8/14) Charlotte Observer (North Carolina), Steven Brown writes, “Trying to get the Charlotte Symphony back on its feet is a tough job, but Christopher Warren-Green has signed up for three more years of it. Warren-Green and the orchestra will announce Tuesday that they’ve extended his contract as music director through summer 2016. The British conductor’s initial, three-year agreement—which he signed when the orchestra’s years-long financial struggle was at its darkest—ends next summer. … When the orchestra hired Warren-Green in summer 2009, a $1 million cut in its Arts & Science Council funding had cast doubt on its very survival. An emergency fund drive saved it from collapse. Warren-Green began working on plans with the orchestra even before he formally took over in September, 2010. He helped create the orchestra’s KnightSounds series aimed at classical-music newcomers, and he has served as conductor and center-stage host at most of them. … Warren-Green has ranged from meet-and-greets with community groups to conducting symphony players in the national anthem at a Carolina Panthers game. To point up how the orchestra wants to serve and improve the community, Warren-Green brought budding string players from east Charlotte’s Winterfield Elementary—where the orchestra helps lead a music program—to play with the orchestra in the Belk Theater.” Charlotte’s executive director, Jonathan Martin, leaves this week to take over as head of the Dallas Symphony; Robert Stickler, a board member, will serve as Charlotte’s interim executive director.
Posted August 14, 2012
