Delaware Symphony Orchestra music director laureate David Amado, right, will conduct two concerts in the concert as the music director search begins.
The Delaware Symphony Orchestra has announced the search for its next music director, expected to begin work in the 2025-26 season.
The process started with forming a 13-member search committee for the person who will succeed David Amado, who served as the symphony’s music director and conductor for 20 years before stepping aside and becoming music director laureate in the spring.
J.C. Barker
The committee will accept applications for the post through Sept. 29.
The committee members expect hundreds of applications from around the globe.
“Because of the way information travels now, the pool of applicants is larger than it would have been in previous decades,” said J.C. Barker, chief executive officer tor of the orchestra. “There are so few positions open at any one given time than an orchestra of the stature of the Delaware Symphony is going to receive a lot of attention.”
Detailed information is available on the symphony website and will be adverstised in national and international industry outlets. It says the duties of the person who wins the job will include repertoire selection, programming and artistic production as well as active participation in the orchestra’s fundraising initiatives.
Frank Clowes, president of the Delaware Symphony Association, said the orchestra is stepping forward into a new era and that musician and community support is a pivotal ingredient in the search.
“I am eager to witness the creative direction the DSO will take under this fresh leadership,” Clowes said. “It’s an exciting time, and we are all looking forward to the transformative journey ahead.”
Symphony process
The committee — composed of five orchestra musicians, five members of association board, two community leaders and Barker — will review all candidates. They were told to expect two years of hard work.
Finalists will be announced in spring 2024 and will appear with the orchestra during the 2024-2025 season. Surveys will be distributed to members of the audience and orchestra after each performance to gauge their reactions.
“There will be a different energy with every conductor who appears,” Barker said.
The appointment of a music director is expected to come in summer 2025.
“The search for a new artistic leader is a crucial stage in the growth of any orchestra,” said Barker. “This is an exciting and busy time for our organization, and we are eagerly looking forward to the process.”
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Amado was the 100-year-old-plus orchestra’s fifth music director. He will conduct the symphony twice during the 2023-24 season, opening and closing it.
In between guest conductors will take the baton. They include Michelle Di Russo, an associate conductor with the North Carolina Symphony; André Raphel of Philadelphia, the former music director for the Wheeling, West Virginia, symphony; and Scott Speck, music director of the Joffrey Ballet as well as the Mobile Symphony.
Betsy Price is a Wilmington freelance writer who has 40 years of experience, including 15 at The News Journal in Delaware.
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