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News
and Commentary
June 2009
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News Archives
Musical Chairs at the Greensboro
Symphony
Bruce Kiesling, Resident Conductor of the Greensboro
Symphony Orchestra and Music Director and Conductor of the Greensboro
Symphony Youth Orchestras has been appointed Artistic Director and Conductor
of the Tulare County Symphony in Visalia, California. For the story, click here.
The orchestra moved quickly to announce Kiesling's interim replacement, who
comes from not very far away:
" June 19, 2009: The Greensboro Symphony Orchestra (GSO)
appointed Fouad Fakhouri, as their Principal Guest Conductor effective August
3, 2009 for a one-year period. Fakhouri currently serves as Music Director and
Conductor of the Fayetteville
Symphony Orchestra and will retain that position and his residence in Raleigh,
NC. Fakhouri’s duties with the GSO will include conducting the Symphony’s
Education and Holiday Concerts, and the first half of the October Masterworks
Concerts when Music Director, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, picks up his violin to play
Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. Fakhouri will also take charge of the Greensboro
Symphony Youth Orchestras (GSYO) which is comprised of six ensembles and four
conductors. He will conduct the most advanced group which is comprised of highly
gifted High School students. The GSYO has recently performed at Carnegie Hall
and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston. In April, 2010, Fakhouri will
lead the GSYO on a European Tour to Munich, Germany, and Salzburg and Vienna,
Austria. Concerts will be held in Salzburg and Vienna and feature French Hornist,
Stefan DeLeval Jezierksi, a member of the Berlin Philharmonic. The GSYO will
attend a rehearsal of the Berlin Philharmonic (BPO) at the Salzburg Easter Festival,
where the BPO serves as the resident orchestra for ten days. The students will
receive instruction from members of the BPO in special coaching classes. In Vienna,
the GSYO will attend a rehearsal of the Vienna Philharmonic, perform a concert
and receive coaching from professional Viennese musicians.
"Regarding his recent appointment, Mr. Fakhouri notes: 'It is the perfect
position for me. I am excited to be a part of this organization and am looking
forward to working with GSO Music Director, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, and the musicians
of the Greensboro Symphony. The high quality of the Greensboro Symphony Youth
Orchestra and their ability to perform challenging music is very impressive and
I am thrilled about the upcoming European Tour in April of 2010.' Lisa Crawford,
President and CEO of the Greensboro Symphony, became aware of Maestro Fakhouri
when she was asked to serve on the grant panel for the Fayetteville Arts Council
in April of 2009. During her visit to Fayetteville, Crawford heard first-hand
the enthusiasm and support for Fakhouri and his work with the orchestra from
local art lovers and business leaders. She was very impressed with the dramatic
results that Fakhouri has accomplished with the Fayetteville Symphony including
increased attendance as well as a 400% increase in annual budget since 2004.
"Fouad Fakhouri (b. 1972) brings tremendous excitement to his performances.
He has been lauded for his ability to elicit the best from his musicians and
to elevate the artistic performance level of orchestras he conducts. In May 2004
he was named Music Director and Conductor of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra
of North Carolina, USA. He is the fifth music director in the symphony’s
fifty-two year history. Since assuming his post he has significantly raised the
orchestra’s artistic standard, created novel educational and outreach programs,
and dramatically increased the symphony’s audience.
"Since 2004, Fakhouri has been in demand as a guest conductor both in the
USA and abroad. In January 2008 he conducted the Cairo Symphony Orchestra in
multiple performances in Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt, and in the summer of 2008,
at the invitation of the National Music Conservatory of Jordan, he traveled with
twenty members of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra and conducted a joint concert
with the Amman Symphony Orchestra.
"In 2010 Fakhouri is scheduled to travel with the English Chamber Orchestra
(UK) and conduct them, on tour, in a series of concerts. Fakhouri’s compositional
output is diverse and his music has been heard in various countries such as the
United States, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria,
Israel, Jordan and Egypt. He has written many orchestral pieces, in addition
to chamber, choral, and solo music. His orchestral works have been premiered
and performed by such orchestras as the English Chamber Orchestra, Bulgarian
Symphony Orchestra, Mediterranean Orchestra, Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, Fayetteville
Symphony Orchestra, Cairo Symphony Orchestra and the Amman Symphony Orchestra
of Jordan.
"In early 1995, at age 22, Fakhouri made his conducting debut at
the International Jerash Festival with the National Music Conservatory
Orchestra of Jordan (NMCO). Between 1996-1998 he served as assistant conductor
to the Penn State Philharmonic. In the summer of 1997 he was appointed
conducting assistant to Pu-Qi Jiang at the Penn’s Woods Music Festival
in State College, Pennsylvania. In August 1999 he was one of only three
conductors selected to participate in Daniel Barenboim’s master class
at the West-Eastern Divan Workshop in Weimar, Germany. In 2001 he conducted
the closing concert of the Baltimore International Cello Festival in a
program that included two of his own compositions. In December 2003 he
conducted the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra in multiple recording sessions
of his orchestral works.
"Fakhouri holds a B.M. in Music Theory and Composition from West Texas A&M,
a M.M. in conducting and another in composition from Pennsylvania State University,
and a D.M.A. in composition from the University of North Texas. He is married
to Diane Lavelle, an advertising executive. They have a daughter – Isabella
Margaux Fakhouri."
(Press release courtesy of the GSO.)
Soprano Chloe Moore
Awarded First Prize in Long Leaf Opera
Vocal Competition - Soprano Lindsay Davis
Awarded Second Place
June 17, 2009, Chapel Hill, NC: The
fourth annual Long
Leaf Opera Vocal Competition took place
on Saturday, June 13, 2009, at North Carolina
State University’s Stewart Theatre. The
Long Leaf Opera Vocal Competition was established
in 2005 to encourage young vocalists to pursue
their art form. Ten semi-finalists, all under
the age of 35, were judged on their technical
and musical interpretive abilities, stage presence
and professional attitude by a panel of judges.
Soprano Chloe Moore of Philadelphia PA was awarded
first prize and will be invited to perform in
a future Long Leaf Opera production and also
received a $1,000 cash prize. Ms. Moore most
recently played the High Priestess in Center
City Opera Theater’s production of Aida.
She was also the 2009 recipient of the Young
Artist Grande Prize from Middle Tennessee Choral
Society’s Orpheus Vocal Competition.
Soprano Lindsay Davis from New Jersey was awarded
a second place prize of $500. She was the first
place winner of that state’s National Association
of Teachers of Singing (NATS) competition and
won an encouragement award at the Palm Beach
Vocal Competition and has appeared with Augusta
Opera.
Third Place and "Audience Favorite" soprano
Colleen Daly, also from Philadelphia, is the
2009 recipient of the Gerda Lissner Foundation’s “Encouragement
Award.” Her recent solos include "Jubilate!" at
The Academy of Vocal Arts, Mozart’s Große
Messe with the Hartford Choral Society,
and Elijah with the Master Chorale of
Washington.
Led by lead judge William Stone, Professor of
Voice and Opera at Temple University, the event
featured a distinguished judging panel including
Robert Galbraith, former director, Opera Company
of North Carolina; James Allbritten, Artistic
Director, Piedmont Opera and Director of the
A J Fletcher Opera Institute, NC School of the
Arts; Sara Jobin, San Francisco opera conductor;
Katherine Posner, opera performer, teacher and
former Artistic Director, North Carolina Lyric
Opera; and Long Leaf Opera founders Benjamin
Keaton and Randolph Umberger.
About Long Leaf Opera
Long Leaf Opera’s 2009 Festival Season takes place June 12-21, 2009.
Long Leaf Opera is a professional, nonprofit organization dedicated to works
written for the operatic stage in English. Long Leaf Opera specifically highlights
American composers, but also encourages the production of works from around
the world. It commissions new works and actively recruits new talent.
PO Box 2683 Chapel Hill NC 27515 (919) 240-8782 www.longleafopera.org
(Press release provided by LLO.)
Concert Singers of Cary Announces New
Executive Director
June 2, 2009, Cary, NC: After many years of loyal
and dedicated service, David Lindquist has decided to step down as
Concert Singers of Cary’s Executive Director. [The CSC has] been
very fortunate to have had the advantage of David’s numerous
skills and capabilities in managing and guiding CSC to where it is
today. We are also fortunate that David will continue to sing with
CSC.
We are pleased to announce that we have successfully recruited a
new Executive Director, who will officially take over from David on
July 1, 2009. Her name is Kate Koronkiewicz.... She resides in Cary
and will begin working with David to get up to speed on this new role
starting on June 15.
***
Kate Koronkiewicz has made her living for the past 10 years as a serial
entrepreneur. She has owned businesses in the arenas of aviation, business
consulting, procurements, privatizations, business start-ups, real
estate investing, and Internet marketing.
She co-founded an aviation company in 1999 called World Air Leasing.
This firm started as a small leasing and sales firm which brokered
sales of small single engine and turbo prop aircraft and quickly moved
towards larger aircraft. With the changes made to World Air Leasing
came a very large and successful business with contracts in the US
Government, Fortune 500 companies, and other worldwide governments.
In 2005 they decided to pass the WAL torch and dove into new arenas.
Manheim Group was founded and initially specialized in consulting for
governments around the world. She took the connections that were established
with World Air Leasing and sprouted this new business. The premise
of Manheim Group has mainly been as a small business consulting firm
but has also included procurement and bookkeeping and accounting expertise.
Kate has been an intricate part of this growth for Manheim Group and
brings many skills to the table.
In January 2007 Kate and her family transplanted from the west coast
to give her three daughters a better quality of life. She is currently
the Executive Director for TiE Carolinas, which is a not-for-profit
organization for entrepreneurs. TiE has 53 chapters globally and the
Carolinas chapter has been established since 1999. She is also still
the co-owner of the Manheim Group and is in charge of the small business
consulting, executive directorship, and bookkeeping aspects of that
business.
(Press release courtesy of the CSC.)
Raleigh's Subsidies to Carolina
Ballet Continue to Trouble Arts Community (Continued...)
Updated 6/2/09: ...But maybe Carolina Ballet needs
a big, guaranteed subsidy (plus hundreds of thousands of dollars in in-kind
concessions) after all.... Their latest 990, available at http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2008/561/445/2008-561445383-04c41c46-9.pdf,
shows that the top three execs received 18% raises last year, bringing
the total senior-level compensation package to over $400,000 (including
payroll taxes and benefits). This is merely half of the subsidy plan
proposed by the City - that comes to around $800K in cash and in-kind
benefits. Under this scenario, maybe Roger Krupa (of the civic center)
and his colleagues in town hall are not treating the ballet generously
enough....
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