IPO Announces Finalists for Music Director Post

With a little more than two months before outgoing music director Carmon DeLeone's final concert this season, the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra's board of directors has chosen the seven finalists who will be vying for DeLeone's position, according to a press release sent Monday afternoon.

The candidates are: 

• David Danzmayr: Former assistant conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, where he conducted more than 70 concerts for three years, leaving in August 2010. Currently, he's the music director of the group Ensemble Acrobat and the Australian International Symphony Orchestra Institute.
• Leslie Dunner: Served as the principal conductor for the Louisville Ballet for the 2010-11 season. He also conducted three musical programs to conclude the 2010 World Cup Games in South Africa. Dunner earned the Chicago Music Association's Theodore Charles Stone Award for Outstanding Musicianship this season, and last season, he received Chicago’s 3Arts Award for his contributions to the musical life of Chicago.
• Rei Hotoda: She is in her second season as the assistant conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and has guest conducted orchestras throughout North America and Europe, including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Weimar Orchestra and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Hotoda also won the 2006 Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship, which was created by Marin Alsop to mentor women conductors.
• Alexander Platt: Recenlty appointed to the music director position for the La Crosse Symphony in Wisconsin and the Grand Forks Symphony in North Dakota, Platt is in his 14th season as music director of the Wisconsin Philharmonic and his 15th season as music director of the Marion Philharmonic in Indiana. He also is the winner of the League of American Orchestras‘ 2010 Gold Baton Award. 
• Markand Thakar: Currently, he's the music director of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra in Minnesota and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, as well as the principal conductor of the Duluth Festival Opera. He's the former assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic.
• Victor Yampolsky: The Carol F. and Arthur L. Rice Jr. University professor in music performance at Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music, Yampolsky is also the music director of the Peninsula Music Festival in Door County in Wisconsin, music director emeritus of the Omaha Symphony and the honorary director of the Scotia Festival of Music in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
• Christopher Zimmerman: The music director of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra in Virginia since 2009, Zimmerman co-founded and became music director of the City of London Chamber Orchestra. In 2007 he was invited to conduct in China and will be returning in 2011.  

Dunner, Platt and Yampolsky have served as guest conductors for the IPO in the past two seasons, and the remaining candidates will guest conduct a concert during the 2011-12 season. A new director will be chosen after that.

"The board is extremely pleased with the wonderful candidates that our careful and extensive search process has yielded," IPO board president Dr. Charles Amenta said in the press release. "Nothing is more important to an organization like ours than artistic leadership, and we are confident that this process, at its conclusion, will yield a revitalizing, new music director."

Last year, DeLeone announced his decision to step down as music director. However, he will become the IPO's music director laureate and conduct a handful of concerts next season.