Jemeli Tanui
(315) 443-5172
Syracuse University and the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra (SSO) have entered into an expanded partnership in support of the SSO’s 2010-11 season (marking the orchestra’s 50th anniversary) and 2011-12 season, and enhancing the orchestra’s engagement with SU faculty and students.
The University and the SSO already have a strong artistic affiliation, with one SSO concert, guest artist master classes and open rehearsals taking place each year on campus. The expanded partnership builds upon this existing relationship with three new initial components:
• appointment of SSO Music Director Daniel Hege as a professor of practice in SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA);
• a guaranteed increase in the number of SU-SSO co-presented concerts during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, totaling three concerts per season; and
• increased opportunities for the University community to interact and collaborate with SSO guest artists and professional musicians in more meaningful ways.
It will also provide opportunities for members of the University community to perform with the SSO, as well as forge interaction between the SSO and SU students in VPA, the School of Education and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Other benefits for SU students include internship opportunities at the SSO and discounted tickets for SSO series concerts.
Further collaborative opportunities may be announced at a later date.
“The SSO is an absolute gem, one of the key cultural anchors of Syracuse and Central New York,” says SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor. “Expanding our relationship just makes sense in so many ways, opening up new creative avenues for both the symphony’s profoundly talented professionals and SU’s bright, entrepreneurial students from a range of academic programs. The musicians will get to expand their artistic horizons, and our students will test their knowledge through deep engagement with the artists—especially Maestro Hege, whose breadth and depth of experience and passion for cultivating the next generation are sure to inspire our budding artists, teachers, art lovers and impresarios.”
Beginning in the 2010-11 academic year, Hege will be appointed a professor of practice in VPA’s Setnor School of Music. His professorship, the Stevenson Professor of Practice, is made possible by a gift from Ann Stevenson and her late husband, Milton. Milton Stevenson, a former long-term SSO board member and SU trustee known as a champion of the arts, was a generous supporter of the SSO and was instrumental in helping the SSO develop relationships throughout the community.
Hege will teach a topics course of his choice in the Setnor School that will encourage deepening ties with the local music community. Hege will also teach conducting classes, seminars, orchestral repertoire classes and ensembles.
“We’re delighted to have Maestro Hege join the college as a professor of practice,” says Ann Clarke, dean of VPA. “He exemplifies what we encourage our students to be—a cultural leader and accomplished professional who is also keenly aware of his community and the value of collaboration. This expanded partnership allows him and his talented orchestra to make an even bigger impact on our students, particularly our young musicians.”
Hege, who is currently celebrating his 10th season as SSO music director, is recognized as one of America’s finest young conductors. He has earned acclaim for his fresh interpretations of the standard repertoire and his commitment to creative programming.
“The increased collaboration between the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and Syracuse University seems natural. Our two institutions have been working together for quite some time,” says Hege. “With SU’s Visual and Performing Arts college gaining recognition on a national scale and the increasing efforts to reach out into a very receptive arts community, it makes sense for the SSO to provide a medium for connection. The SSO’s role in this collaboration reflects a deep commitment to the arts in the Syracuse area.”
Hege’s experience includes appointments in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore, Seattle, Detroit and San Diego. He has also won acclaim abroad for his performances with the Leicester Orchestra of England, the Singapore and St. Petersburg symphony orchestras, the Auckland Philharmonia and the Symphony Orchestra of Lima (Peru). He has guest conducted at the Music Academy of the West, the National Orchestra Institute, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the Aspen and Grand Teton music festivals. In most recent years, he has regularly conducted opera and ballet performances.
Expanding the number of co-presented concerts per season will give the SSO an opportunity to perform unique works well suited for a university audience at the highest level of artistry, while also providing substantive experiences for further interaction between the SSO and the SU and local communities.
The first free concert will be centered on a theme and take place on the SU campus in the fall semester; the concert will be a collaborative event across multiple departments and will feature a young guest artist. The second free concert will take place on the SU campus in the spring semester and will feature an artist-in-residence from the world of music or dance, paired with the full symphony orchestra. The third concert will take place in the summer months of 2011 and 2012 and will be a community-based performance by the full orchestra performed in the city’s Near Westside neighborhood or on the SU campus; the summer concert will take place outdoors and will feature a culturally diverse program with no admission charge.
The expanded SU-SSO partnership will also provide increased opportunities for SSO guest artists and professional musicians to interact and collaborate with members of the SU community in more meaningful ways. These interactions include artist residencies, master classes, seminars, special presentations and artist talk-back sessions. Carole Brzozowski, the SU arts presenter, will coordinate the guest artists’ visits and programming in conjunction with the SSO and VPA.
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