DOS Orchestra #25 - 27 December 94

News from the world of professional orchestras.
Copyright 1994, International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians

Topics

Atlanta Symphony Records News Theme

from the management of WAGA-TV (Atlanta):

WAGA-TV viewers began hearing a new music theme recorded by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra on the station's Eyewitness News Prime Time which was introduced on Monday, Dec. 12, 1994, at 10 p.m. --- and it's a first for the ASO.

"With our new FOX television network relationship and our increased commitment to news broadcasting, we thought a new audio signature for our newscasts was needed. And what better place to turn for music than our own, internationally-renowned Atlanta Symphony Orchestra," said Jack Sander, the station's president and general manager.

"Although the ASO has made more than 40 recordings to date, taping music for a news broadcast is a first for the 96-member orchestra," said ASO vice president of marketing and public relations Elaine Powell Cook.

Sander, who created the idea, said he was looking for a way to increase the station's commitment to the community. "The Symphony connection seemed like a natural," he said.

In return for the recording session, the ASO will be given a credit line for its work at the close of every Eyewitness News Prime Time newscast for the next three years. Sander said WAGA and the ASO are looking at several joint opportunities to showcase the Symphony in addition to a commitment by the station to produce a public service announcement package honoring the Symphony's 50th Anniversary.

Sander said the value of the partnership with ASO could be in the range of $250,000.

The station's new theme was composed by Eddie Horst, an Atlantan who won an Emmy in 1992 for his Eyewitness News composition. Horst has been writing all of the station's music since 1988.

"Not every composer can write for broadcast," said John Kukla, the station's manager of advertising and promotion. "Music for television has to do more than just be listened to. It has to work by itself, as well as underscoring others when they are talking. It has to be composed in a way that the music does not fight the picture, narration or dialogue and timing right to the second is critical. Eddie's a master at that."

Boulder Philharmonic Announces Endowment Drive

The Boulder Philharmonic has announced an endowment drive to build what management calls a "Bridge to Excellence," a permanent capital fund of at least $800,000. Management also announced that James Roser, a member of the orchestra's board and chair of the endowment campaign, had contributed $100,000 to the drive, which will serve to match part of a $300,000 matching grant made by twenty other individual donors.

Norwest Bank has contributed $91,000 to the endowment campaign, leaving approximately $100,000 to be raised to receive the entire matching grant.

According to orchestra executive director William Lightfoot, the endowment drive will "focus support on thirteen principal musicians in the orchestra."

The orchestra is projecting a budget of over $1,000,000 for the first time next season, which will make it eligible to receive support from the regional scientific and cultural tax approved by votes in the November elections.

Chicago Symphony: New Marketing Director

from the management of the Chicago Symphony:

Following a nationwide search, Stephen Belth has been named Director of Marketing and Communications for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Executive Director Henry Fogel made the announcement today.

Major responsibilities for Belth in Chicago will be the supervision of all ticket sales and developing and implementing marketing and public relations strategies for The Orchestral Association. He will play a vital role in communicating the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's vision for the future, with particular emphasis on illuminating the opportunities created by the renovation and expansion of Orchestra Hall. Belth will be a key member of the Orchestra's Senior Management team and will report to G. Michael Gehret, Vice President for Marketing and Development.

"I am very excited that Stephen Belth has accepted this position with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra," said Henry Fogel. "His strong marketing background and his direct experience in the orchestra world will have prepared him well for the challenges and opportunities which the Orchestra faces as we enter the next century."

Belth is currently the Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. During his tenure, the orchestra experienced a 43 percent growth in concert income. Belth has been credited with developing and implementing innovative marketing programs based on market research and ticket buying trends, which include Philharmonic Style, a subscription series designed to attract younger audiences to symphonic concert-going and Patron Partners, a corporate ticket subsidy program. He also increased media sponsorships from a value of $200,000 to over $1 million, and created marketing and promotion strategies to introduce Esa-Pekka Salonen as the orchestra's new music director to Los Angeles audiences.

"I am honored to have been chosen to become part of this most extraordinary team of musicians and staff in this most extraordinary city. I have, in a sense, grown up with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Mr. Barenboim in my enjoyment of their performances and recordings over the years, and I am thrilled to be working with them," Belth commented.

Prior to accepting his position with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1990, Belth served for ten years as chief executive of Arts and Science Development Service in New York City, a service organization which he founded for regional direct marketers and nonprofit organizations using direct mail for fundraising and other income generating programs. From 1978 to 1989, he was also president and co-founder of Belth Associates in New York, a direct marketing database consulting and mailing list brokerage firm.

Belth received a bachelor of arts degree from Queens College, City University of New York, in 1970. He and his wife Lori plan to move to Chicago in February, when Belth will assume his position with the Orchestra.

Colorado Symphony: Executive Director Quits

Bill Elfenbein, executive director of the Colorado Symphony since April, has resigned to "pursue business interests." CSO board chair Will McFarlane said a search has started for Elfenbein's replacement.

Dayton Philharmonic: New Music Director

Neil Gittleman, associate conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony and music director of the Marion (IL) Philharmonic, has been named as music director-designate of the Dayton (OH) Philharmonic Orchestra. Gittleman will assume his new position in September 1995.

DPO board president Lou Mason said that "the search committee feels that Gittleman has the best balance of strengths to meet our needs. His musical leadership will bring maturity, appropriate programming, artistic understanding and audience appeal. His leadership skills will enable our organization to grow, handle conflict, encourage collaboration, and his personal maturity and compassion will make him easy to work with."

Gittleman told the Dayton "Daily News" that he would try to unite the orchestra around common musical goals. "If you can have a unified vision musically amongst the 90 of us on stage, that provides basically a common ground that we can all go back to," he said.

Gittleman was chosen from a group of five finalists to succeed departing DPO music director Isaiah Jackson. Two of the finalists, Keith Lockhart and David Lockington, withdrew their names from consideration before the decision was made. The other two finalists were Steven Byess and Gisele Ben-Dor.

While Gittleman will resign his position with the Marion Philharmonic at the end of the 1996-96 season, he will assume the newly created position of resident conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony in September 1995. As associate conductor of the MSO, Gittleman has led a wide range of concerts, including the orchestra's "Classical Conversations" series, a very successful series built around Gittleman's ability to lecture as well as conduct. He has also conducted the San Francisco Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and several orchestras in Japan, and has won prizes in both the Ernest Ansermet International Conducting Competition and the Leopold Stokowski Conducting Competition. Gittleman graduated from Yale University and studied with Nadia Boulanger.

According to the Dayton "Daily News," Gittleman plans to move to the Dayton area with his wife, Lisa Fry, in 1996, although the MSO stated that Gittleman "will maintain his residence in Milwaukee." The paper also reported that his salary in Dayton will be approximately $84,000 per year.

The Dayton Philharmonic consists of 83 contracted musicians and has an annual budget of approximately $2.5 million.

Krakow Philharmonic: Music Director Receives Papal Award

Gilbert Levine, music director of the Krakow Philharmonic since 1987, has received the Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great from the Vatican. Levine, who becomes only the fourth Jew in history to be so honored by the papacy, was given the award by Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger.

Levine, who is the first American to hold the music directorship of a Polish orchestra, has been invited by Pope John Paul II to conduct several concerts, including a concert at the Vatican to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust.

Royal Philharmonic: Music Director Quits in Dispute

Vladimir Ashkenazy has resigned as music director of the Royal Philharmonic in a dispute over the hiring of a successor. Ashkenazy, 57, was described by his agent Jasper Parrot as "bitter" over management's decision to open negotiations with Daniele Gatti to succeed Ashkenazy as music director without getting his prior approval, which Parrot described as "a stupefying lack of consideration." His open-ended contract with the orchestra reportedly entitles him to be consulted on major appointments.

Gatti, 32, has conducted at La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, the Chicago Lyric Opera, and Covent Garden, where he has been appointed principal guest conductor and where he will figure prominently in the company's project to perform all of Verdi's operas by the year 2000.

Ashkenazy, one of the leading Russian pianists of his generation and a winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1962, defected from the Soviet Union to England in 1963. He succeeded Andre Previn as music director of the RPO in 1986. In a similar dispute, Ashkenazy resigned as principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia in 1983 after Giuseppe Sinopoli was appointed music director.
Copyright 1994, International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians

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