Quest for Philharmonic's next leader reaches halfway point

Quest for Philharmonic's next leader reaches halfway point

By Rich Copley rcopley@herald-leader.com

For more than a year, a few dozen of the Lexington ­Philharmonic Orchestra's staff and volunteers have plowed through hundreds of résumés, hosted dozens of parties and sat through hours of rehearsals in a quest to find a successor to longtime music director George Zack.

And the task is only half finished.

Five candidates took the ­podium in the Singletary Center for the Arts from October to March. Just before this year's season finale concert, on April 25, the committee unveiled a list of five more hopefuls who will visit Lexington next season.The plan is to name the new music ­director at the Philharmonic's season finale, on April 17.

”Every performance is a job interview,“ said Dan Dickson, a Philharmonic supporter who is a development associate at Global Advancement LLC. ”It will be a real challenge to live up to the group from this year.“

Concertgoer Dennis Potts, who moved from Dallas to ­Lexington three years ago, said, ”The ­candidates have been outstanding. The question to me is, how good do they have to be to be up for the job?“

That's the question the search committee has to answer.

The candidates and their ­performances are an open book for the Philharmonic's audience, but the committee does have to keep mum about interviews and what they think about ­candidates. That said, Philharmonic ­supporters have been telling committee ­members what they think about the candidates and the search.

Search committee co-chairman John Carpenter has noticed an ­increasing patience among ­audience members.

The search was always billed as a two-year odyssey of 10 to 12 conductors. But ­initially, ­Carpenter said, he was ­hearing from people who were willing to wrap it up quickly.

”The first few came through, and there were people saying, "I really liked that person. Why don't you go with him or her?'“ Carpenter said. ”Then, more came through, and they'd say, "Well, I liked him, too,' and they seemed more inclined to say, "Let's see everyone.'“

The outgoing maestro said he noticed the same trend.

Interest is growing

”People seem to be getting more and more interested in this process and want to see everyone, so they can have an opinion,“ said Zack, who has conducted the Philharmonic for 37 years.

The Philharmonic's ­executive director, Peter Kucirko, said ticket sales have increased enough ­during the season to help offset some costs of the search, ­including guest artist fees that are paid to each ­candidate for his or her performances.

What cannot be offset is the work that has gone into the search.

The search committee received 276 applications for the position. Members had to wade through reams of résumés and accompanying material, including video and audio recordings, to narrow the field to 10 candidates.

Then, there were ­meetings, receptions and ­interviews with each ­candidate, and the committee made a point of ­attending all rehearsals on concert weeks.

”One thing is for certain,“ Philharmonic violist and search committee member Larry Beach said. ”If the search ended tomorrow, we'd all have a lot more time.“

An "energizing' process

Beach said orchestra members talk about the candidates, and most have an idea of whom they like, but he would not volunteer any of his favorites.

”Every one of the e_SDHpcandidates has a ­vociferous champion within the ­orchestra,“ Beach says.

Opinion is varied in the audience, too, and unlike the orchestra and search committee, folks in the seats haven't necessarily seen every candidate.

Gail O'Malley and Carol Riker, colleagues in the ­University of Kentucky's ­College of Nursing, divvy up season tickets among ­themselves and some friends.

”I got to see Kayoko Dan, and she was very energetic,“ O'Malley said of the first ­candidate to ascend the podium, back in October.

Riker said, ”They're ­getting quality people in here.“

Potts, the transplant from Dallas, favored February auditioner Daniel Meyer. ”I thought the orchestra really responded to him,“ he said.

Concertgoer Robert K. Lewis, the chief executive of Global Advancement, supports January candidate Darryl One (pronounced OH-nay). ”I thought he was really excellent and had a great concert,“ he said.

All audience members interviewed for this story said they liked being able to see the candidates and even give the orchestra feedback, through Internet surveys and other means.

”I wasn't certain of how they were going about it before,“ said Phillip Tibbs, a professor of neurosurgery at UK and Philharmonic supporter. ”But it's been very energizing for the orchestra and the audience. It's been empowering.“

The future looks good

One of the pitfalls of a long search is that most candidates also have been auditioning elsewhere. Since the beginning of the ­process, more than a year ago, Meyer was hired as music director of the Erie ­Philharmonic ­in Pennsylvania, and ­forthcoming candidate ­Morihiko Nakahara was hired by the South Carolina Philharmonic in Columbia.

Neither of those positions precludes the candidates from accepting an offer from Lexington. Most orchestra music directors have more than one orchestra under their batons.

But even if one or more candidates ­remove ­themselves from ­consideration, Carpenter said, this season has given him confidence that the Philharmonic will be in good hands.

Beach offered a similar assessment: ”The relief is to find there are really good people out there interested in coming here.“