Edmonton Symphony Orchestra musical director/conductor Bill Eddins will step down from the job in June 2017, after this season.
The Edmonton Journal
Sandra Sperounes
September 23, 2016
The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra is kicking off its 65th year on a sad
note: Bill Eddins will end his run as music director after the 2016-17
season.
“It was time,” he said, as he sat on a table in one of the Winspear
Centre’s backstage hallways on Friday morning. “It was time for change
and it was time to create new and interesting things.”
Eddins, who lives in Minneapolis, Minn. and spends about 14 weeks of
the year in Edmonton, joined the ESO in 2005. Under his tenure, the
orchestra worked with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and soprano Renee Fleming,
started a late-night series of performances, and played unconventional
works by Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu and weirdo genius Frank Zappa,
among others.
Eddins’s personal highlight? “Schlepping the band” to New York’s
Carnegie Hall in 2012, when the ESO performed Martinu’s Symphony No. 1.
“Seeing the orchestra on that stage and playing. It’s the greatest stage
in the world.”
Annemarie Petrov, executive director of the ESO, praised his artistic
vision. “Bill’s a renaissance man,” she said, standing next to Eddins
in the Winspear. “He’s so not your typical maestro.”
“I hate that word!” he piped up.
“He’s
turned this orchestra on a corner,” said Petrov. “The programming has
completely changed in the 10 years that I’ve worked here. You know what
we like to say? We have the smartest audience of any orchestra and I
think a large part of that is their own personal interest and where Bill
has taken them on this journey over 12 years. That’s artistic
leadership — it’s not doing what the audience thinks they necessarily
want but taking them places and that’s what Bill’s done.”
She refused to reveal much about the search for his replacement. “At
this point, we’re going to say this is our 65th anniversary,” she said.
“Consider it one long birthday party and there will be more presents to
unwrap in the future. We don’t have anything to announce today.”
After the end of his 12th year, Eddins will serve as the ESO’s music
director emeritus to help with the Winspear Completion Project, which
involves the construction of a second building to house a 540-seat
acoustic hall, studios, and programming space for the Tommy Banks
Institute for Musical Creativity. The 40,000-square foot project,
estimated to cost $78 million, was promised $13 million from the city,
but the Winspear is still looking for money from other levels of
government.
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