Five finalists selected for music director, conductor of Salina Symphony

There is an international flavor to the five finalists vying for the position of conductor and music director of the Salina Symphony.

The finalists, chosen from more than 100 applicants, hail from France, Israel, Transylvania and the U.S. and represent some of the finest conductors working in the field today, said Adrienne Allen, executive director of the Salina Symphony.

“I am thrilled at the caliber of our five finalists,” said Allen, who announced the finalists on Wednesday. “They not only are highly skilled conductors but also bring with them the experience, knowledge and vision to build on the previous successes of the organization.”

A search committee composed of Salina Symphony board members, symphony musicians and staff began a national search in January, eventually narrowing down the more than 100 initial applicants to 14 semifinalists and then to the final five.

The conductor eventually chosen to head the Salina Symphony will replace interim conductor David Littrell, who will conduct a shortened 2021 spring/summer season beginning in March.

What made these five finalists stand out from the rest of the applicants not only was their passion for conducting, but their commitment to bringing the Salina Symphony to a new level of artistic and musical professionalism, said Kyle Campbell, Salina Symphony board vice president and chairman of the search committee.

“They not only have a tremendous amount of passion when conducting, when we interviewed them we found they had a tremendous vision for how they were going to contribute to the Salina arts community and our youth education program,” he said. “They all did their research on Salina and were impressed with our tremendous commitment to the performing arts and how the Symphony as an organization was a key piece of that.”

During the upcoming search season, the Salina community will have the opportunity to provide feedback throughout a week of special events highlighting each candidate, culminating in a concert conducted by each candidate during the Salina Symphony’s 2021-2022 season.

Scheduled conductor finalist concerts will be in October and November 2021 and January, March and May of 2022.

Introducing the finalists

In a statement, Salina Symphony board president Gabe Grant said the process of introducing the five finalists to the community and to symphony musicians will be an exciting process.

“We look forward to introducing each of our candidates to the community as we seek to find the best partner for our musicians, board, staff and patrons in achieving the Symphony’s mission and charting a course for the next era of the organization,” he said.

The five finalists, in alphabetical order, follow.

Yaniv Attar: A native of Israel, Attar is music director of the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra in Washington state and Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra and artistic partner of Northwest Sinfonietta. He has studied with Israel Edelson in Jerusalem, Virginia Allen at the Juilliard School in New York City and Neil Thomson at the Royal College of Music in London. He earned his doctorate in music from McGill University and has worked with orchestras in the U.S., Israel, Budapest, Hamburg, LIthuania, Ireland and Romania. Attar also is an accomplished classical guitarist.

Mèlisse Brunet: French conductor Brunet lives in Boone, N.C., where she is the music director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, an orchestra made up of freelance musicians from the New York City and Philadelphia areas. She also is director of orchestral activities/assistant professor at Appalachian State University in North Carolina and frequently conducts opera and music theater productions. A native of Paris, Brunet began her studies on the cello and plays the trumpet, French horn and piano.

Devin Patrick Hughes: Music director of the Boulder Symphony and Arapahoe Philharmonic in Colorado and the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, Hughes has been recognized for his score interpretations, advocacy for music accessibility and entrepreneurial vigor. He has conducted numerous orchestras throughout North America and Europe and was the only American selected with 11 other conductors worldwide to compete in the Toscanini International Conducting Competition in Aspen. Hughes has fostered multiple composer-in-residency programs premiering dozens of new works and is dedicated to highlighting local composers and exploring the interplay of music, theater, art and dance.

Yaniv Segal: The son of a Polish violinist and Israeli violin maker, Segal is conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and co-founder of the Chelsea Symphony in New York City, Segal has led orchestras throughout the world. He also is a composer with multiple recordings. The Chelsea Symphony premiered his “Cello Concerto” in 2015 and “Rite of Spring (Redux),” a 2013 reworking of Stravinsky’s seminal work that includes electric guitar, bass and saxophone. As a boy soprano, he sang on TV commercials for Pepsi and toured the U.S. and Japan in the first national tour of the musical “The Secret Garden.”

Vlad Vizireanu: Music director of the Knox Galesburg Symphony in Illinois and founder/executive director of the New Impulse Music Festival in California, a two-week summer program that brings together young composers and performers to discover new compositions and develop practical skills for the demanding career of music. He also has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Naples Philharmonic and Sarasota Orchestra. Vizireneau previously served as conductor for New West Symphony’s “Harmony Project,” aimed at inspiring children to develop a lifelong love of music through education and exciting musical experiences.

Commuting to Salina

Unlike previous Salina Symphony conductors, the finalist chosen to be the new music director will not live in Salina but will commute to the area for a two-week rehearsal period every concert cycle during the Symphony season.

This decision was necessary to be able to attract the kind of professional conductor the Salina Symphony staff, board and musicians desired to maintain and grow its level of artistic excellence, Allen said.

“It’s certainly a change, but it’s very common in the orchestra world,” she said, adding that many professional conductors today work with more than one symphony orchestra to make a living.

Despite not residing in Salina, Allen said, “each of our candidates is excited to have the opportunity to invest in the Salina community.”

Campbell said whoever is selected for permanent conductor will be vital to the future of not only the Salina Symphony and its youth education programs, but he or she will be the face of the Symphony in the community and region for a long time to come.

“This will set the standard for the future of the Symphony,” he said.