The Kansas City Symphony's associate conductor, Aram Demirjian, just on the heels of conducting his first classical series concert in Kansas City, is one of six finalists for music director of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (KSO).
The field was narrowed from 160 applicants to 60 and now, it's down to 6. Another conductor with ties to the Kansas City Symphony, Steven Jarvi, is also in the running. Jarvi, a former associate conductor for the Symphony, currently serves as resident conductor of the St. Louis Symphony.
The KSO announced on Monday the music director finalists, and Demirjian and Jarvi face stiff competition. Other candidates include Jacomo Rafael Bairos, music director of the Amarillo Symphony; ShizuoKuwahara, music director of the Symphony Orchestra Augusta; Marcelo Lehniger, associate conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and EdkartPreu, music director of the Spokane Symphony and the Stamford Symphony.
During the 2015-2016 season, between October and April, the candidates will visit Knoxville to guest-conduct concerts. Demirjian leads a program in January 2016 with works by Adams, Ligeti, Bruch, and Beethoven. In April 2016, Jarvi conducts works by Dvorak, Elgar, and Schoenberg (who served as the Kansas City Symphony's first composer-in-residence).
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra plans to announce the new music director in the spring of 2016.
