Donald Runnicles Extends Atlanta Symphony Contract

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra President Stanley E. Romanstein, Ph.D., announced today that the
contract for Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles will be extended for two years, through the 2013-14 season.

Music Director Robert Spano and Mr. Runnicles, whose tenures with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra both began in the 2001-02 season, are currently in their 11th season as artistic
partners. Mr. Runnicles is also General Music Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director of the Grand Teton Summer Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

“The excitement and fulfillment of working with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra deepen for me each year,” said Mr. Runnicles. “I have such confidence in both this Orchestra and Robert’s leadership, and look forward to continuing our musical partnership.”

“It is thrilling to have Donald continue as our Principal Guest Conductor,” said Mr. Spano. “We’ve built our relationship with the Orchestra together over the last 11 years, and he is a treasured colleague and friend. I look forward to more exhilarating concerts at Atlanta Symphony Hall with Donald and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.”

“Robert Spano and Donald Runnicles have a superb artistic partnership here at the Atlanta
Symphony,” said Dr. Romanstein. “Together, they have created a bond with not only the musicians of this Orchestra, but with our community — the people of Atlanta. I know music lovers everywhere are as delighted as we are that Donald will continue to be a dynamic member of our Orchestra family. I look forward to our continued journey together.”

About Donald Runnicles: "Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles is currently in his 11th year of artistic partnership with Music Director Robert Spano. One of today’s most consistently acclaimed conductors of opera and symphonic repertoire, Mr. Runnicles is also General Music Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Orchestra, and Music Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival. He was previously the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the San Francisco Opera."

Mr. Runnicles’s recordings with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra include a recent concert disc with soprano Christine Brewer singing Strauss. With the Atlanta Symphony, Mr. Runnicles has also recorded the Mozart Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphon¸ and a Brittania album. During the 2009-10 season, Mr. Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus returned to the Berlin Philharmonic to perform Brahms’s A German Requiem.

The concerts marked their third collaboration with the German orchestra. Mr. Runnicles has ongoing musical relationships with today’s finest orchestras and opera companies.

Among the more than 60 productions he has conducted at San Francisco Opera was the 2005 world
premiere of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic. Mr. Runnicles also enjoys accompanying singers at the
piano and playing chamber music.

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