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LJS&C Press Releases
Steven Schick Named Music Director of La Jolla Symphony & Chorus
La Jolla, Calif. (April 9, 2007) - Internationally renowned percussionist Steven Schick has been named Music Director of the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus (LJS&C). Today's announcement was the culmination of an international search and selection process that took nearly two years.
"Steve Schick is someone known and respected in music circles around the world for his extraordinary talent," said Amee Wood, board president of the LJS&C. "We had five exceptional candidates under consideration for the music director position, but Steve emerged as the best fit for our organization, and I'm extremely excited to have someone of his stature leading us into the future."
Schick, a professor of music at the University of California, San Diego, is a champion of contemporary percussion music who holds bachelors and master's degrees in percussion from the University of Iowa as well as the Soloists Diploma with honors from the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany. He has taught as a guest lecturer at the Rotterdam Conservatory (1988-1990), The Royal College of Music in London (1989), and The Manhattan School of Music (1994-present). Schick is a founding member of the "Bang on a Can All-Stars" and the percussion group "red fish blue fish." He has commissioned and premiered more than 100 new works for percussion and performed on major concert series in London, New York, and Los Angeles, and at festivals throughout the world. Schick is no stranger to the LJS&C. He has performed with the ensembles as a guest artist several times and most recently as guest conductor on the 2005/2006 season in a program of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite, David Lang's International Business Machine, and Tan Dun's Crouching Tiger Concerto from the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
"I have always been impressed by the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, both as a community ensemble of very high quality and as an ensemble open to exploring adventurous music," says Schick. "I have consistently found the musicians and audiences to be the kind of people I love to make music with."
As Music Director, Schick shares next season with Choral Conductor David Chase, who describes his colleague as a "brilliant musician" and leader with a wider, fresher point of view. "Steve's appointment gives him – and us – a chance to discover the meeting point between the tradition of symphony performance and the future of music. He'll bring a world view, along with his respect for the history of our music-making, to La Jolla."
"Percussionists are the new kids on the musical block with a relatively short history in the Western canon," adds Schick. "Combine that mentality with an ensemble like the LJS&C and its long and venerable history, and you have a very interesting cross-wiring, I think."
The LJS&C performs two more concerts (May 5-6 and June 9-10) on the current subscription series. The 2007/2008 season will be announced in May.
The La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, San Diego's oldest and largest community orchestra and chorus, is a non-profit musical performing group dedicated to inspiring San Diego with the joy of music. The choral and orchestra ensembles are known for performing groundbreaking music along with traditional favorites from the classical repertoire. The organization is currently celebrating its 52nd season.
Listen to excerpts (4'40", 6.4 MB MP3) from Steven Schick's concert in May 2006, conducting the La Jolla Symphony, featuring the "Crouching Tiger Concerto" by Tan Dun and the "Firebird Suite" by Igor Stravinsky.
