RSO MAESTRO TO GO
Longtime music guru decides he’s had enough and will retire from the local symphony after the 2015-16 season
Maestro Victor Sawa is preparing to pass the baton. He will be leaving his role as full-time music director for the Regina Symphony Orchestra (RSO) at the end of the 2015-16 season.
“At the end of the 2015-16 season, I will have been with the RSO for 20 years,” Sawa pointed out in a media release issued late Thursday late. “It has been an honour to work with the RSO through so many memorable seasons, however I feel that the time is right to pass the baton.”
“I wanted to go on for another 40,” the 63-year-old conductor said in a telephone interview Friday. But the RSO board of governors is ready to move in another direction, he said.
The decision to make a change was a difficult one, admitted Terri Harris, chairperson of the RSO board of governors.
After “a very open, honest discussion” about the future of the RSO and Sawa’s role, it was agreed that at the end of his 20-year tenure ― making Sawa the longestserving music director in the RSO’s history ― it would be a good time for a change, Harris explained.
“It’s feeling like a very natural time of transition.”
“But it’s our intent to definitely celebrate Victor’s time with us, and absolutely give the public the opportunity to enjoy some of his expertise, as well as participate in the selection process (for a successor),” she said. A succession committee to begin the search for a new conductor and music director is being established by the RSO board of governors.
“It’s going to be a very long process to find a successor,” Harris said.
Over the next two years, potential candidates will have the opportunity to audition with the RSO through public performances.
According to a media release, the RSO anticipates a new conductor and music director will be in place to launch the 2016 season.
“I’m going to miss the Regina Symphony,” Sawa said. “It’s been fantastic.”
Harris praised Sawa “for his dedication and commitment to the RSO and for sharing his considerable talent and expertise.”
“His energy and passion have helped guide the RSO through many successful seasons and bring the gift of music to new audiences, for which we are grateful,” Harris said in the release announcing Sawa’s departure.
In a telephone interview Friday, Harris said the next two years will provide an opportunity to celebrate Sawa’s contributions to the RSO. And she welcomed the prospect of Sawa returning as a guest conductor down the road.
Sawa will continue his role as conductor with the Saskatoon and Sudbury symphony orchestras. And there may be opportunities to do guest conducting around the world.
While there are prospects elsewhere, Sawa said he doesn’t want to leave Regina.
“I don’t want to move,” he said. “I’m a Reginan.”
“I have a concert that I’ve been asked to do in Germany. So Germany may be opening up. And I’m trying to get through to China and Japan,” Sawa said. “There are all these pokers in the fire. It’s hard to say.”
A major consideration in relocating is his family dynamics. Sawa’s wife runs a successful veterinary practice in Regina. So if he had to move to accept a position elsewhere, “it would definitely split the family,” he explained. “That’s a big factor.”
“I just may play golf everyday,” Sawa joked.
Sawa said he plans to “go out with a bang” ― something Harris said she fully expects.
“That’s our intention, too, to really honour the difference he’s made for our orchestra,” she said. “Victor’s personality is one of the reasons that I noticed the RSO when I first moved to the city in the mid ’90s. He’s got this bright, effervescent personality, and became the face of the orchestra over so many years.”
“It’s a bittersweet time,” Harris said. “But it’s also kind of exciting with what we can do in the next two years ― to not only showcase Victor’s talent, but also see what other new talent’s out there to take us forward.”