David Danzmayr, new Music Director of the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. (PHOTO SUPPLIED)
Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- David Danzmayr has been named Music Director of the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and will lead the orchestra’s upcoming 35th concert season. Maestro Danzmayr, guest conductor for several leading European orchestras, will become the first new Music Director of the IPO in more than 25 years. The 32-year-old Austrian succeeds Carmon DeLeone, who retired at the end of the 2010-2011 season and is now Conductor Laureate. The selection of Danzmayr, who assumes his role at the IPO’s opening concert on November 10, 2012, culminates an extensive international search that began in 2010. One of seven finalists, Danzmayr conducted the IPO in January 2012 in an all-Mendelssohn subscription program.
“I am tremendously excited to be the new Music Director for the wonderful Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra,” Danzmayr said. “The concert we had together in January was a big success. I liked the professional and friendly atmosphere in the rehearsals, as well as the enthusiastic and energetic performance. This orchestra plays on a very high level. I am looking forward to the coming season as we will have a lot of interesting and inspiring repertoire for our audiences. We will enjoy many special moments of making music together.”
Danzmayr has worked as a guest conductor with leading orchestras including the City of Birmingham (England) Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchester, the Haydn Orchester Bozen, and the Sinfonieorchester Basel. Earlier this month, Danzmayr was appointed Music Director of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, Ohio, beginning with the 2013-2014 season. Danzmayr recently served as assistant conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra for three years and is a regular guest conductor and tutor for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Australian International Symphony Orchestra Institute.
“We are indeed fortunate and very proud to introduce David Danzmayr as the new Music Director of our fine orchestra. Maestro Danzmayr is an extremely talented and energetic young conductor with a dynamic personality,” said Richard Moutvic, IPO President. “He conducted a vibrant and exciting concert of music by Mendelssohn, which was highly acclaimed by both the audience and the musicians. What’s more, he is keenly interested in engaging with the community and broadening our music education programs.”
In 2011, Danzmayr was one of four finalists in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s First International Sir Georg Solti Conducting Competition. Last month, he was a prize winner in the prestigious International Malko Conducting Competition in Copenhagen. A native of Salzburg, Austria, Danzmayr was a student of the Sibelius Academy and the University Mozarteum in Salzburg where he studied the piano and completed his conducting studies with highest honors. He received a conducting scholarship for the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra with Pierre Boulez and Claudio Abbado, and he was awarded the Bernhard Paumgartner Medal by the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum.
For a complete biography of Maestro Danzmayr, please visit www.danzmayr.eu
Danzmayr was chosen as Music Director from a field of more than 160 conductors from the United States and around the world. The seven finalists each conducted a subscription concert with the IPO in a program of their own choosing. Henry Fogel, Dean of the Chicago College of Performing Arts and past president of both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and League of American Orchestras, assisted in the search as Artistic Consultant.
“In David Danzmayr, the Illinois Philharmonic has definitely found, in my view, a young conductor at the beginning of an important international career,” Fogel said. “His appointment heralds an immensely exciting period for the IPO.”
To introduce Danzmayr to the community and celebrate the start of his tenure, the IPO will hold an open house at its performing venue, Lincoln-Way North Performing Arts Center, 19900 S. Harlem Ave., Frankfort, Illinois. The event will take place on Sunday, August 26.
ABOUT THE IPO:
Mission:
The Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra will provide concerts of compelling professional symphonic music, support music education, and expand audience awareness of musical excellence for the diverse communities of the greater Chicago region.
The 75-member Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) is the largest performing arts organization in the Chicago Southland providing professional, orchestral music of beauty and excellence to the region. It draws audiences from over 68 south and southwest suburbs including Chicago, Indiana and Michigan.
The IPO integrates a broad range of repertoire, artistry, education, diversity and collaborations with its performances. From November through May, the Orchestra performs a six-concert Saturday Evening Series at the 900-seat Lincoln-Way North Performing Arts Center in Frankfort, Illinois. Series concerts include five Symphonic Classics programs and a December Holiday Pops concert. In addition, the Orchestra repeats selected programs on its Sunday Matinee Series.
The Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra has received several coveted awards for artistic achievements from the Illinois Council of Orchestras. In 1992, the IPO was named Illinois Orchestra of the Year, and in 1995, then Music Director Carmon DeLeone was named Illinois Music Director of the Year. Most recently, the IPO was named the "2010 Professional Orchestra of the Year."
The Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra is a member of the Illinois Council of Orchestras, and the Chicago Southland Convention & Visitors Bureau.
