UTAH VIOLINIST : SYMPHONY FINDS CONCERTMASTER

Adnres Cardenes, a 27 year-old violinist and current concertmaster of the Utah Symphony Orchestra, has been named concertmaster of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, replacing William Henry, who died in August. The appointment was announced Thursday morning at the Fox Theatre by music director David Atherton. Cardenes’ contract runs from November, 1985, when the symphony is scheduled to begin its residency at the Fox, through the summer of 1987.

A native of Havana, Cuba, who emigrated with his family to the United States when he was a year old, Cardenes is a U.S. citizen. He won the bronze medal in the 1982 Tchaikovsky International Violin Competition in Moscow, and the bronze medal in the 1980 Sibelius International Competition in Helsinki, the highest prize ever awarded an American in that competition. He also received the title of Laureate at the 1980 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition in Brussels.

“Andres is not only a marvelous violinist but one of the best concertmasters in the business,” said Atherton, who noted his surprise at finding a replacement for Henry so quickly. Atherton said that Cardenes had come to his attention several months ago during a Utah Symphony concert.

“I was knocked out by his playing,” Atherton recalled. “At the same time, a concertmaster has to be a diplomat, politician, a liaison between the orchestra, guest conductors, and the community, and Andres has incredible qualifications for all that.”

Cardenes considers Los Angeles his hometown--his parents reside in Culver City--and was recently honored by Mayor Tom Bradley for cultural and community contributions to Los Angeles. Cardenes, who has studied violin with Joseph Gingold, Nathan Milstein and Ivan Galamian, is a 1980 graduate of Indiana University School of Music, where he studied conducting. He has also served as a cultural ambassador for UNICEF, giving numerous concerts worldwide to benefit needy children.

In addition, he has appeared as a soloist with the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Orchestre Nationale Belgique, the Winnipeg and the Phoenix symphony orchestras. He was concertmaster of the Indiana University Festival Orchestra in 1979, assistant professor of music at Indiana University from 1980 to 1982 and has been a professor of music at the University of Utah since 1982, when he joined the Utah Symphony. He also studied conducting at Michigan’s Interlochen music camp.

“I’m thrilled and delighted to come to San Diego,” Cardenes said, acknowledging that he had turned down various offers from more prominent symphony orchestras. “I was frankly quite shocked to listen to the (San Diego) orchestra during a recent concert--I thought it was absolutely first rate, so I’m coming with a superb attitude toward the whole thing. I hope to make a significant contribution not only to the symphony but to the community as well, with programs for children and at children’s hospitals. I also feel I’m quite accessible.”

According to Atherton, Cardenes’ contract will assure that he is present for most of the symphony’s main winter subscription season, but is flexible enough to permit Cardenes to vigorously pursue his solo career and participate in summer chamber music festivals. Cardenes, who possesses a coveted Stradivarius violin--”I’d say the bank owns it,” he remarked--cited chamber music as “the highest form of music-making” and crucial to his growth as a violinist. Atherton also said that Cardenes will be a featured soloist with the symphony on several programs.

“I have looked over the repertoire of the San Diego Symphony,” Cardenes said. “And while my tastes are very varied, I don’t feel particularly comfortable with the very avant-garde compositions. I’m best at the large Romantic pieces--Tchaikovsky, Brahms--but I’ve also done the (Alban) Berg (violin) concerto, so I’m not completely foreign to modern music. There are about 40 concertos in my repertoire.”