Final Music Director Candidate

This weekend the symphony presented the last of the Music Director Candidates, J. Smirnoff. (This image is from this concert) The level of musicianship was superior.

Wendy's performance of the Shostakovich cello concerto was breathtaking. She truly was a monster. The personality exposed by the playing was not what one would expect after speaking with this demure woman. Wow.

Unfortunately not many people were able to see this concert. Ten inches of Amarillo snow kept a majority of the audience at home. There were honest concerns that the orchestra would out-number the audience. Fortunately this was not the case. The stagehands had a small wager on the housecount for the evening. The official housecount was 241; the pool was mine with money on 242. (Or more accurately, I didn't have to buy someone beer).

The committee will meet later this month to decide who will be the next MD. The decision is surely to be one of the most closely guarded secrets in Amarillo. Regardless of the decision we will be lucky to work with any of the talented candidates.