HICKOX LEAVING SYMPHONY

Associate conductor Richard Hickox has been released from his contract with the San Diego Symphony orchestra, it was confirmed Friday.

Orchestra spokeswoman Nancy Hafner said that the British conductor’s schedule had “precluded him from finding sufficient time” for his duties with the orchestra, and that his departure has been “mutually agreed upon.” The orchestra has no immediate plans to appoint a successor.

On Jan. 1, Hickox was named associate conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, in addition to his duties as artistic director of the Northern Sinfonia of England and with other British performing groups. His three-year contract with the San Diego Symphony commenced with the 1983-84 season. He conducted two concert programs near the start of the current season and he had been slated to conduct two of four Tchaikovsky Festival concerts in April and May of this year.

“We came to a gradual realization that, because of the increasing demands on Richard’s conducting schedule in London, he could not conduct for us during the Tchaikovsky Festival, and we could not find a place for him on our (1985-86 schedule),” Hafner said. Hickox reportedly is at work in England and could not be reached for comment.