For the first time in nearly 20 years, a new face is leading the Kansas City Symphony.
Matthias Pintscher, a renowned composer and conductor who previously led the Parisian contemporary classical group Ensemble Intercontemporain, recently replaced former music director Michael Stern.
Pintscher's journey to the position was unusual. He first came to Kansas City in March 2023 as a guest conductor, and said he found a synergy with the orchestra he had been dreaming of.
"I picked up my baton, and we started working, and I felt like we knew each other for for a long time," Pintscher told KCUR's Up To Date. "So I didn't have to walk on eggshells or, you know, thin ice. We just started working and recognized that we could do something great together."
Less than a week later, he was offered the role of music director — a position he didn't even know the Symphony was looking to fill.
"Usually there's this long search, and then you revisit a candidate and see her or him again," Pintscher said. "But they just said, 'This is what we would love to do.' And they put the ring on my finger, and I gladly, enthusiastically accepted."
- Matthias Pintscher, music director of the Kansas City Symphony
