Fanfare for a Conductor

The Pacific Symphony has selected a new music director, which is good news. Carl St. Clair, an assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony, brings an impressive resume to Orange County. More important, his appointment should signal a period of stability for the orchestra.

That’s significant because of the change and uncertainty it has been through in the last couple of years. There was the resignation of founder Keith Clark as an administrator, after a period of tension with the board. Then there was the search for a new conductor, which has taken a while. The orchestra can benefit from new beginnings, and from having a young, bright conductor at the helm.

St. Clair has said he will continue as music director of either the Ann Arbor Symphony in Michigan or the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra of Ithaca, N.Y. He plans to spend about three months in Orange County next year, eight weeks for concerts and other time devoted to administrative matters.

Three months may not seem like much time for the tasks at hand: planning and conducting six pairs of classical concerts at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, two concerts at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre and overseeing school and community programs. However, it’s a fact of life these days that good conductors split their time between various commitments and that to sign on somebody good, a community has to be willing to share conductors.

The acquisition of a talented music director is an exciting prospect for an orchestra that has received increased visibility with its move to the Performing Arts Center. We welcome St. Clair to Orange County and look forward to hearing the orchestra under his direction.