CUMS News
NEW CUMS ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP TEAM UNVEILED: SIR ROGER NORRINGTON APPOINTED PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR
Mon 4th May 2009
Sir Roger Norrington, one of the most distinguished British conductors of his generation, has been appointed as Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor of CUMS from the end of the 2008-09 academic year. Sir Roger has worked with many of the great orchestras, choirs and opera houses of the world. He conducted last year's memorable Last Night of the Proms, fronted the recent television series "Maestro", and has released hundreds of recordings during the course of his career. Sir Roger's first performance with CUMS will be Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem on 12 June 2010 in King's College Chapel.
With advice from Sir Roger The Society will in due course appoint a young professional orchestral conductor to take on a new role as Orchestra Director. He or she will work alongside Sir Roger to develop significantly Cambridge's provision of opportunities for orchestral players over the coming years.
Stephen Cleobury, who will be stepping down from his current position as The Society's Principal Conductor in June after 27 years at the helm, has accepted the CUMS Committee's invitation to retain an involvement with The Society in the new position of Chorus Director. In his new role Cleobury will focus his energies specifically on developing The Society's programme of choral music.
A "Great Conductors" series of concerts will be launched from the 2009-10 academic year, with the objective of bringing a succession of world-class orchestral conductors to work with Cambridge students over the coming years. Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian State Symphony Orchestra, will open the series in March 2010, and it will continue with Norrington's visit in June.
Commenting on these developments, CUMS Chairman Simon Fairclough said "I am thrilled to unveil our new artistic leadership team. Sir Roger is one of the great orchestral conductors of our time, and I am delighted that he has agreed to become involved with Cambridge music-making on an ongoing basis. Stephen is renowned as one of the world's foremost choral conductors, and I am hugely grateful to him for his continuing loyalty and dedication to CUMS. Our Great Conductors series will expose Cambridge students to a range of orchestral conductors of the highest calibre on an ongoing basis. We are entering what promises to be a golden age of great music and great musicians."