WS Chronicle

The Winston-Salem Symphony has chosen its new music director after an exhaustive search in which five brilliant conductors vied for the position. The final candidate to take the podium, Timothy Redmond, heralded throughout Europe for his dynamic orchestral and operatic interpretations, will lead the symphony into an exciting future.

“This announcement is the culmination of an exhaustive international search process that began over two years ago and included 121 candidates from over 25 countries and five continents around the globe,” said Ann Fritchman Merkel, chair of the Winston-Salem Symphony Board of Directors.

E. Merritt Vale, Winston-Salem Symphony president & CEO noted that “Tim earned the respect and captured the imagination of everyone from the musicians to the audience whose feedback played a vital part in his selection as our new music director. We can’t wait to begin growing under Tim’s artistic leadership and to share his creativity and commitment to education and community.”

Redmond joins the Symphony this fall for his inaugural season. The first chance to meet him will be at a special event, Ovation, on the night of October 4. More details about this event will be available in August.

Redmond will take the podium for the first time as the Winston-Salem Symphony’s Music Director for the Classics Series season opening concert “The Rite of Spring” on October 27 and 29, 2019. This electrifying concert will feature Stravinsky’s cutting-edge “Rite of Spring,” contemporary composer Jennifer Higdon’s ingenious Low Brass Concerto, and Mozart’s staggering Haffner Symphony. Redmond will conduct four of the five remaining 2019–2020 Classics concerts as well as two of the four Pops concerts (“A Carolina Christmas” and “The Gathering and John Williams: Star Wars and Beyond”), as well as several other performances throughout the year. Visit WSsymphony.org for further information on the concerts he will conduct this season.

“From my first visit to Winston-Salem, I knew it was a special place, and I felt a connection from the very start,” Redmond stated. “As a lifelong educator, I’m deeply committed to the education programs that the Winston-Salem Symphony offers in and outside of the public schools,” he continued. “I’m very much looking forward to being part of the education of the next generation of music makers in Winston-Salem.”

Timothy Redmond conducts opera and concerts throughout Europe and the United States. He is the music director of the Cambridge Philharmonic and is a regular guest conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras (RPO). In addition, he is Professor of Conducting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. For more information please visit timothyredmond.com.