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St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
345 Washington Street Saint Paul, Minnesota

(651) 291-1144

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ANDREAS DELFS NAMED THE SAINT PAUL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA'S FIFTH MUSIC DIRECTOR
Board of Directors Unanimously Approves Appointment Effective 2001-2002

St. Paul, Minn., October 23, 2000 - In its Annual Meeting this afternoon, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Board Chair A. J. Huss, Jr. announced the appointment of Andreas Delfs to the post of Music Director effective September 2001.

Delfs, currently Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, will continue to serve in that capacity concurrent with his appointment at the SPCO. The German-born, Juilliard-trained conductor will be the fifth Music Director in The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's history. He appeared with the orchestra in guest conducting engagements in December 1999 and most recently in regional concerts in Stillwater and St. Cloud, Minn., October 19-21.

"Delfs was the overwhelming, unanimous choice of the search committee - musicians, management, and board members alike," said Huss. "He has an internationally proven track record and is well-aligned with our vision both artistically and administratively. Steeped in tradition yet progressive and responsive to today's audiences, he will be an excellent music director to take us to the next level. This is a propitious time in our history: We're operating from a stable financial position and able to look forward with confidence and a sense of prosperity to the ambitious goals we've set for the next five to ten years."

"With the addition of Andreas Delfs as Music Director, beginning in September 2001, the SPCO will move toward its 50th anniversary with aggressive vigor in programming, continued artistic excellence, a deepening of collaborative community efforts, and a broadening of the orchestra's international reach," said Bruce Coppock, SPCO president and managing director. "As a principal architect of the SPCO's artistic vision, Delfs will bring to the podium outstanding conductorial skill and a clear and progressive vision as well as ambitious and innovative programming goals. Together with the orchestra musicians and artistic and administrative leadership, Delfs stands poised to propel the SPCO into the 21st century as the world's premier chamber orchestra."

The search committee comprised Coppock, SPCO Board members John Huss and Arthur Kaemmer, and SPCO musicians Herbert Winslow, Peter Howard, and Kathryn Greenbank. "Andreas is a very gifted musician who embodies all the qualities we had hoped to find in a music director. He understands the chamber orchestra's distinctive repertoire, elasticity, and collaborative atmosphere. He is a passionate leader with a fresh approach to interpretation and programming, as demanding of himself as he is of the musicians. We're looking forward to great music making with him," said Winslow.

Delfs, who signed a four-year contract with the orchestra, plans to conduct at least eight weeks of subscription concerts and two weeks of concerts on tour next season. He will also spend a number of weeks in Saint Paul for planning and community activities. Delfs looks forward to getting to know the Twin Cities community, where he and his family will have a St. Paul residence. A dedicated family man, Delfs feels fortunate to have two positions so close together geographically. "It will allow us to spend more time together as a family," he said.

"I grew up in the tradition of the Classical repertoire - Mozart has always been the center of my musical universe," continued Delfs. "Over the past few years, I have spent a great deal of time working with large orchestras and running a major opera house. Now I am excited to lead the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra because it will allow me to focus on repertoire close to my heart. To do that with one of the world's leading chamber orchestras is a privilege and a challenge. I am overjoyed to be welcomed into the SPCO family. Our music will speak to peoples' hearts like nothing else."

Currently Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Andreas Delfs is recognized worldwide as one of today's leading young conductors. At 41, Delfs has established a major career in both Europe and North America. He has been Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra since the 1997-98 season.

Delfs has become known as an interesting and thoughtful programmer. His adventuresome programs have included a concert production of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov with Milwaukee's Florentine Opera Company in 1997; performances of Little Threepenny Music, a suite from Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, and performances featuring Schoenberg's A Survivor from Warsaw with Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. In the 1998-99 season Delfs led the Hannover Opera in the European premiere of John Corigliano's opera Ghosts of Versailles. In addition, he conducted the uncut version of Hans Werner Henze's monumental opera König Hirsch for the Württemberg State Theatre in Stuttgart and conducted the Swiss premiere of György Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre with the Bern Opera. 1999 saw the culmination of several years' effort to take the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra on a tour to Cuba, making that orchestra the first major U.S. orchestra in 37 years to perform there.

Delfs has appeared as a guest conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, among others. In Europe, Delfs has led such distinguished ensembles as the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, the Beethovenhalle Orchestra of Bonn, and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, with whom he has recorded an album for London-Decca. Additionally, Delfs has led tours of Germany with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, and of Spain and France with the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra. The soloist on that tour, Mstislav Rostropovich, immediately invited Delfs to conduct the Moscow Conservatory Orchestra at the inauguration of the new concert hall at the Evian Festival in France.

Formerly Music Director of the Bern Opera-as well as a regular guest conductor of the Bern Symphony Orchestra-and the resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony, Delfs also served as Music Director of the celebrated Orchèstre Suisse des Jeunes from 1986 through the 1994-95 season. That ensemble's first compact disc, recorded in 1991 under Delfs, received international critical acclaim.

Born in Flensburg, Germany, Delfs began the study of piano and music theory at age 5 and was added to the roster of the Flensburg Stadttheater as conductor and composer at 17. He studied with Christoph von Dohnányi and Aldo Ceccato at the Hamburg Conservatory and served as a staff conductor at the Luneburg Stadttheater. At 20, he became the Music Director of the Hamburg University Orchestra, the youngest person ever to hold this post, and musical assistant at the Hamburg State Opera. Guest conductor at the Bremen State Theatre in 1981, Delfs graduated from Hamburg Conservatory that same year. Enrolling at The Juilliard School upon the recommendation of Dohnányi, he studied with Jorge Mester and Sixten Ehrling, and won the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship on the way to receiving his master's degree in 1984.

The 33-member Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra presents more than 150 concerts in its 38-week season. Their performance broadcasts, produced by Minnesota Public Radio and distributed by Public Radio International, air on more than 160 radio stations nationwide. The ensemble boasts an impressive discography of 56 recordings on such major labels as Sony Classical, Teldec, Philips, and CBS Masterworks. Since its inception in 1959, the SPCO has toured extensively in Europe, Asia, and South America and has performed at virtually every major concert hall in the United States. The group also presents concerts in more intimate venues throughout the Twin Cities and across the US. In addition to its concerts, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra nurtures an active commitment to arts education and outreach with its unique CONNECT program in the Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools and Musical U, a series of casual workshops for adult audiences.

Source: St. Paul Chamber Orchestra

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