Press

Berkeley Symphony Announces 2008-09 Season, Nagano's Final Season as Music Director

February 19, 2008—Kent Nagano today announced plans for Berkeley Symphony’s 2008-09 season, his last as Music Director. Nagano opens his 30th anniversary season leading Berkeley Symphony in his final concert as Music Director. He is followed by the final three of six guest conductors in Berkeley Symphony’s search for its next Music Director: William Eddins, Paul Haas, and Joana Carneiro. Nagano then closes the season with two performances by Berkeley Akademie Ensemble. Season subscriptions (4-concert introductory packages start at $80; 6 concerts for $120) are available by calling 510-841-2800.

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Ming Luke named Education Director/Conductor

May 8, 2007—Ming Luke has been named to the dual positions of Education Director and Conductor of Berkeley Symphony’s award-winning Music Education Program, effective May 14. In this role, he will oversee both the continued artistic and administrative expansion of Berkeley Symphony’s partnership with the Berkeley Unified School District. He replaces outgoing Education Director Sarah Bullock who is relocating to Baltimore to pursue a Masters in Education at Johns Hopkins University.

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Kent Nagano and Berkeley Symphony Announce 2007-08 Season

April 18, 2007—Music Director Kent Nagano today announced plans for Berkeley Symphony’s 2007-08 season. Three guest conductors – Hugh Wolff, Guillermo Figueroa, and Laura Jackson – represent the beginning of a 2-year search to identify a successor when Nagano transitions from Music Director to Conductor Laureate at the end of his 30^th anniversary season in 2009. This season also includes the debut of Berkeley Academy Ensemble under the direction of Maestro Nagano and concertmaster Stuart Canin, as well as the expansion of the Under Construction new music series.

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Kent Nagano Announces New Era for Berkeley Symphony

January 19, 2007—Kent Nagano today announced that he will step down as Music Director of Berkeley Symphony at the conclusion of the 2008-09 season, which will be his 30th anniversary season. Nagano will continue his long-standing association with the organization in two new roles. First, as Conductor Laureate of Berkeley Symphony, he will have an ongoing presence as guest conductor. Second, as Founding Music Director of the new Berkeley Academy Ensemble, he will continue to explore fresh artistic territory with members of Berkeley Symphony beginning in the 2007-08 season. An international search for Nagano’s successor has been initiated.

More about this announcement:

Full press release
San Francisco Chronicle cover article and analysis
Berkeley Daily Planet article
Contra Costa Times article
Nagano's radio interview with KCBS (5 MB)

Berkeley Symphony Welcomes New Leadership
September 22, 2006—The Berkeley Symphony has named James A. Kleinmann as Executive Director. A Berkeley resident, Kleinmann brings to the post a varied background as administrator for several prominent Bay Area arts organizations. He assumed leadership of the organization effective September 18, succeeding June Wiley who had occupied the position on an interim basis. Read the press release

Bells ring out to welcome Nagano as Montreal conductor

Beginning with the 2006-07 season, Kent Nagano now serves as Music Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. His opening performance with the orchestra was broadcast live on Canadian television:

"The premiere performance for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra's new music director...could have been mistaken for the installation of a new head of state. Bells rang out from church steeples around the neighbourhood to herald...the debut of Kent Nagano as head of the orchestra. With Nagano conducting, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for a sellout audience at Montreal's Place des Arts."
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, September 7, 2006

Nagano Begins Tenure at Bavarian State Opera

Kent Nagano began his tenure as General Music Director of Bayerische Staatsoper, the Bavarian State Opera, October 27, 2006 with a spectacular double premiere of Rihm's Das Gehege and Richard Strauss' Salome, both produced by William Friedkin (director of the famous 1973 film The Exorcist):

"Finally the conductor has arrived in Munich. His orchestra, which after years with Zubin Mehta had abandoned itself to great flowing feeling, suddenly sounds interesting down to the last detail. In Nagano, Munich finally has a conductor who is not only willing and able to revive great traditions but also to place them in a contemporary context, investing them with new meaning"
Süddeutsche Zeitung, October 30, 2006