Despite flying across the country, starting from his home in Delaware to work with the chamber orchestra, David Amado already feels a kinship with the Eugene arts community. Amado is the new artistic director and conductor of the Oregon Mozart Players, succeeding Kelly Kuo and becoming OMP’s sixth artistic director. He was named to the post last spring, and he will make his formal OMP debut Oct. 18, conducting the program Nomad and Native: Cultural intersections, displacement and identity at Beall Concert Hall at the University of Oregon. For 20 years, starting in 2003, Amado led the Delaware Symphony Orchestra and was so well-regarded that upon leaving the post in 2023, the symphony named him music director laureate, the first in that symphony’s almost 120-year history. The 57-year-old Amado also is the music director and conductor of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra in Vero Beach, Florida. That kinship with the Eugene arts community? Amado says the audition process was a whirlwind, but “what sealed the deal” was the quality of people at OMP and OMP’s fans. “What more could you ask for?” Amado asks. “This orchestra belongs to Eugene.”

The Oregon Mozart Players open the 2025-26 season 7:30 pm Oct. 18 with Nomad and Native: Cultural intersections, displacement and identity, at Beall Concert Hall at the University of Oregon. OMP’s annual Candlelight: Sounds of the Season concert is 7:30 pm Friday, Dec. 19, and 7:30 pm Saturday, Dec. 20, at Central Presbyterian Church, 555 East 15th Avenue. Ticket information is at OregonMozartPlayers.org.