The Concord Orchestra is excited to announce the selection of Zeke Fetrow as its new music director. He will take the helm in the 2023-2024 season and is already working behind the scenes to plan the season.
The Concord Orchestra consists of 60-70 volunteer musicians living in Concord and the greater Boston metropolitan area. The orchestra rehearses weekly at 51 Walden from September through May. The membership are serious musicians whose life paths diverged from performance as a career, but whose enthusiasm and delight in playing is undiminished.
Together with its new music director, the orchestra plans to continue its tradition of programming adventurous concerts, engaging professional soloists, discovering talented aspiring musicians through our annual young artist competition, commissioning new works and collaborating with other local ensembles.
Fetrow auditioned in the fall of 2021, conducting a concert of Christopher Theofandis, Edward MacDowell, and Sergei Prokofiev. Orchestra players and audiences alike found him to be captivating and inspirational.
“I’m delighted to be chosen as the next music director at Concord Orchestra,” Fetrow said. “There’s extraordinary talent, a willingness to try bold programming, and real innovation with audience engagement across the orchestra and board of directors. The 2023-2024 season will mark the orchestra’s 71st season, and I couldn’t be more excited to open this new chapter with such a fine group.”
Fetrow is the former music director of the Grande Ronde Symphony Orchestra and has served as the assistant conductor of the Eastman Philharmonia, University of Oregon Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Opera, Oregon Mozart Players, and Oregon Music Festival. He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the Eastman School of Music and holds a dual Master of Music degree in Conducting from the University of Oregon in both Orchestral Conducting and Choral Conducting. He has performed in conducting competitions across the globe and in workshops and masterclasses with many of the industry’s leading conducting teachers including: Leonard Slatkin, David Zinman, Mark Gibson, Brad Lubman, Matthew Halls, Matthew Oltman, Markand Thakar, Helmuth Rilling, Mark Scatterday, Simon Carrington, and Sarah Ioannides.
Subscriptions for the 2023-2024 season will be on sale in May. A meet and greet with Zeke Fetrow will take place on Sunday, May 21, after the 3 p.m. concert.
The season opens on Saturday, October 14 and Sunday October 15 with “Romantic Ethos,” a program of Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, Sibelius’ King Kristian II: Suite and Howard Hanson’s Symphony No. 2.
The December program “Love Lingers” features soprano soloist Ann Moss. A long-time resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, Ann Moss recently returned to Massachusetts with her husband, jazz violinist / classical violist Justin Ouellet. Ann is an acclaimed recording artist and champion of contemporary vocal music who performs and collaborates with a dynamic array of living composers and chamber ensembles. Ms. Moss will sing Jeff Beal’s The Paper Lined Shack. Other program highlights are Jennifer Higdon’s Blue Cathedral and Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 2.
Guest conductor Robert Lehmann will direct the January concert, “Spanish Passions and Nordic Vistas.” Charles Dimmick is the soloist for Edouard
Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole. In addition, the orchestra performs Georges Bizet’s Carmen Suite No. 1 and Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 3.
The March program, “Momentum”, features music inspired by dance including This Midnight Hour by Anna Clyne, Le Tombeau de Couperin by Maurice Ravel, and the Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber by Paul Hindemith. The winner of the Young Artist competition will also play a solo at this concert.
May’s program features Alex Kinmonth performing Ludwig Lebrun’s Oboe Concerto No. 1. Mr. Kinmonth is a native of Carlisle, MA and the principal oboe of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The program “Defiance” includes Brahms’ Variations of a Theme by Joseph Haydn, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5.
The Concord Orchestra is actively recruiting new players and information about auditions as well as the annual open rehearsal can be found on their website. Please visit www.concordorchestra.com during the summer for updates.
