Fall is on its way, and change is in the air in Eugene’s performing arts world. Just in the past year or two Eugene Symphony, Oregon Mozart Players, Eugene Opera and Very Little Theatre have all named new executive directors.
That’s mostly behind the scenes. More visible to the audience will be the changes taking place at Eugene Symphony and Oregon Mozart Players as both groups select new music directors to stand on the podium and lead their orchestras.
Hired in 2017, Francesco Lecce-Chong is stepping down as music director and conductor of Eugene Symphony — he’s taking on the new title “artistic partner” for the season — sparking a selection process that is about to bring five finalists to the Hult Center to conduct parallel programs over the next five months.
Each program will feature a different Beethoven piano concerto as well as a full-length symphony.
Designed by Eugene attorney and arts supporter Roger Saydack, the symphony’s intricate selection process has been used, with various refinements, since 1989, when it brought in a little known young conductor named Marin Alsop to lead the orchestra. Her subsequent international fame — followed by the success of conductors such as Miguel Harth-Bedoya, who went on to lead the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and Giancarlo Guerrero, a six-time Grammy winner now heading into his 16th and final season at the helm of the Nashville Symphony — helped spur widespread interest in Eugene as an early-career launch pad for aspiring conductors. The word is certainly out: The symphony received 177 applications for the post being vacated by Lecce-Chong.
The first of the five finalist concerts will be Oct. 24, when Alexander Prior conducts a program that includes Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8.
The British-born Prior was chief conductor of Canada’s Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in Alberta from 2017 to 2022. Among his other distinctions is a love for country music; in 2022 the Edmonton Symphony released a video of an orchestral version, conducted by Prior, of Ian Tyson’s country classic “Four Strong Winds,” which, of course, contains the line “Guess I’ll go out to Alberta, weather’s good there in the fall……”
On Nov. 21, Farkhad Khudyev will conduct a program that includes Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.
Born in Turkmenistan, Khudyev studied at Interlochen Arts Academy before receiving a bachelor of music degree at Oberlin Conservatory. He has a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from Yale University. Currently, he is music director of the University of Texas Symphony Orchestra and of the Orchestral Institute at the Hidden Valley Institute of the Arts in Carmel, California.
Third up in the podium run-off is Rory Macdonald, who will conduct Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 and Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2 on Dec. 12.
Not to be confused with the better-known MMA fighter of the same name, Macdonald was born in Scotland and studied at Cambridge University. He has conducted orchestras around the world, including the Oslo Philharmonic and London Philharmonic. He has an extensive background in conducting opera, and has worked as an assistant conductor at the Opéra National de Lyon and Opéra National de Paris.
The sole woman among the five finalists is Canadian Tania Miller, who will conduct a program featuring Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1 on Jan. 23. Born in the tiny town of Foam Lake, Saskatchewan, she is currently artistic director and conductor of Brott Music Festival and its two national Canadian training programs, the National Academy Orchestra of Canada and Brott Opera. She has conducted such orchestras as Edmonton Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Oregon Symphony, and lives in Vancouver, B.C.
The last of the five to conduct at the Hult, Taichi Fukumura, is currently music director of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra. He will be on the podium Feb. 13 for a program that includes Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 as well as Brahms’ Symphony No. 4. Born in Tokyo, Fukumura has degrees from Boston University and Northwestern University.
Meanwhile, Oregon Mozart Players has scheduled concerts led by three candidates for its artistic director position, replacing Kelly Kuo.
OMP’s Artistic Director Festival, as the tryouts are called, will be at Central Presbyterian Church, 555 E. 15th Avenue, in October and November. Each program will include the third movement of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 with soloist Sunmi Chang, a professor at the University of Oregon, as well as a different Beethoven symphony for each candidate.
Kevin Fitzgerald, who will conduct on Oct. 5, is currently associate conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony, a post he has held since the 2022-23 season. Winner of the special prize for the best performance of a contemporary piece at The Mahler Competition in 2023, he is also a candidate for the conducting job at the Cape Symphony on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The OMP program will feature Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and David Lang’s sweet air.
On Oct. 19, David Amado will conduct a program that includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 and Arvo Pärt’s Fratres. He has been music director of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra since 2003.
And on Nov. 23, Daniel Cho will be on the podium as the orchestra presents Beethoven Symphony No. 5 and Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers. Cho is currently assistant conductor of the Alabama Symphony and the music director of the Alabama Symphony Youth Orchestra and has served as associate conductor of Eugene Symphony and worked with OrchestraNext and Eugene Opera.
All three concerts begin at 7:30 pm.