Ken-David Masur Named Music Director of Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Following a 36-month international search, Ken-David Masur has been named the seventh Music Director and Polly and Bill Van Dyke Music Director Chair for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO). Masur is currently the associate conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Munich Symphony. He will begin immediately as Music Director Designate and join the MSO as Music Director for the 2019.20 season as it builds towards the much anticipated grand opening of the Milwaukee Symphony Center in fall 2020.

"Through a committee composed of board members, donors and orchestra musicians, the search for the MSO's seventh Music Director was deliberate and diverse, encompassing candidates from around the globe," said Doug Hagerman, chairman of the MSO's Music Director Search Committee. "Ken-David is a once-in-a-generation musician, conductor and innovator who boasts an impressive resume of accomplishments, yet is friendly and approachable. He was unanimously voted to serve as the next Music Director given his artistic brilliance and genuine passion for how the arts can unify people and communities. We are thrilled to welcome Ken-David and his family to Milwaukee."

Critics from around the world have hailed Masur as "fearless, bold, and a life-force" (San Diego Union-Tribune) and "a brilliant and commanding conductor with unmistakable charisma" (Leipzig Volkszeitung). Masur began the 2018.19 season making his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia, then returned to Tanglewood to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Over his career, Masur has made many successful debuts with the likes of the Los Angeles, Dresden, Israel and Japan Philharmonics; the Hiroshima, San Diego, San Antonio and Memphis Symphonies; and the Orchestre National de France in Paris. His guest engagements during the 2018.19 season include weeks with the Louisville Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, and the Chicago Civic orchestra plus concerts abroad with The National Philharmonic of Russia, Collegium Musicum Basel, the Stavanger Symphony, and the Mulhouse Symphony Orchestra in France.

Masur made his Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra debut on May 19, 2018, and was immediately invited back to open the MSO's current season in September 2018.

"My family and I are humbled and grateful to join such a fantastic team of orchestra musicians, chorus, staff and board members who are working in harmony for our audience and community," said Masur. "In particular, I am inspired by the incredible community-wide collaboration to create the new performance home for the MSO. Having seen the plans and having visited the Warner Grand Theatre myself, it is clear it will become a destination as well as a point of departure for great programming befitting a city and region of this caliber. I'm eager to begin planning the next few seasons, which includes Beethoven's 250th anniversary, as well as the much-anticipated opening of Milwaukee Symphony Center in the fall of 2020."

Born in Leipzig into a family of musicians, Ken-David Masur first studied violin and piano at the Mendelssohn Bartholdy Conservatory and was a member of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Children's Chorus. After moving to New York City, he received further training in composition, trumpet and percussion. He then went on to graduate from Columbia University, where he served as the first Music Director of the Bach Society Orchestra and Chorus from 1999-2002. He returned to Germany for post-graduate studies at the Detmold Academy and the Hanns Eisler Conservatory in Berlin. Masur and his wife, pianist Melinda Lee Masur, are co-founders and Artistic Directors of the Chelsea Music Festival in New York City, an annual summer festival of music, visual art, and food lauded by The New York Times as a "gem of a series." He received a Grammy nomination from the Latin Recording Academy in the category Best Classical Album of the Year for his work as a producer of composer Miguel Del Aguila's album, Salon Buenos Aires.

"Music allows us to feel what is essential, and through its expression begins a conversation about who we are and where we want to go" continued Masur. "This is why I'm so very excited to start with the MSO and communicate the music that will speak to each listener in personal ways. This is a great American city filled with creativity, imagination and ideas, and the music we will reveal will spark continued dialogue."

"The relationship between the conductor, musicians and the audience is a magical alchemy," said Mark Niehaus, president & executive director of the MSO. "Both on and off the podium, Ken-David leads and provokes, but also builds and inspires to create experiences that go beyond the notes on a page. His energy, passion and collaborative nature are the very right fit for the MSO, and also for Milwaukee as its reputation as a culturally vibrant destination continues to grow."

Photo by Chris Lee

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