6 conductors to share baton in Oakland
The Oakland Symphony has lined up six young guest conductors to lead the orchestra during its 2022-23 season as it continues the search for a new music director to succeed Michael Morgan, who died in August.
The season runs from Oct. 14 to May 5, and includes a broad assortment of new works, older rarities and traditional repertoire.
“With this season, we want to prioritize the next generation of conductors, who are diverse, who are of America and who can represent the cultural diversity of the Bay Area,” Executive Director Mieko Hatano told The Chronicle in a phone interview.
Hatano confirmed that the guest conductors during the two coming seasons are part of the orchestra’s ongoing music director search.
“These are all people who inspire us musically, and we also need to see how they come and work in our community,” she said. “After all, we were in a relationship for 30 years — we need to date a little, and see who’s out there.”
Conductor Ankush Kumar Bahl, music director of the Omaha Symphony, is slated to open the season with a program that features “One for the Archangel,” a commissioned work from San Francisco composer Jack Perla. Flutist Demarre McGill is the guest soloist in Chen Yi’s “Golden Flute,” along with Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique.”
On Nov. 4, Holly Hyun Choe, the Korean American assistant conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich, plans to conduct Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms.” The program, which features piano soloist Aaron Diehl, is also expected to include music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, M.L. Williams and Caroline Shaw.
The Jan. 27 program led by Andrew Grams — until recently the music director of the Elgin (Ill.) Symphony Orchestra — is built around music by African American composers Florence Price and William Dawson, along with George Gershwin. Sara Davis Buechner is the piano soloist.
Vinay Parameswaran, assistant con
ductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, is scheduled to lead a program of music by Gabriella Smith and Reena Esmail on Feb. 24, as well as music of Stravinsky and Debussy.
March 24 brings a collaboration with Cal Shakes in Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet,” as well as music by Mendelssohn and Lera Auerbach. Joseph Young, music director of the Berkeley Symphony, conducts.
The season is scheduled to conclude May 5 with Tito Muñoz, music director of the Phoenix Symphony, conducting a commissioned world premiere by Bay Area composer Martin Rokeach, along with music by Beethoven and Barber.
All concerts are at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland. Full details are at www.oakland symphony.org.