... Named Internationally Acclaimed Conductor Donald Runnicles As New Music Director
MAESTRO RUNNICLES TAKES THE REINS DURING SUMMER 2006
New York, August 27 - During a ceremony today in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Grand Teton Music Festival Board President Bob Paulson announced the appointment of Donald Runnicles as the festival's third music director.
"We are thrilled to have Donald as our new Music Director," stated Bob Paulson. "His arrival is the critical first step in our plan to elevate the Grand Teton Music Festival to the highest musical level and prominence."
Donald Runnicles has been the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the San Francisco Opera since 1992, and is one of the most consistently acclaimed conductors of opera and symphonic repertoire today. He is also both Principal Conductor of New York's Orchestra of St. Luke's and Principal Guest Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Runnicles will conduct four concerts at the Grand Teton Music Festival during the 2006 summer season, and will oversee the artistic planning for the festival. He will officially assume the post of music director in September of this year.
Mr. Runnicles has ongoing musical relationships with some of the finest orchestras and opera companies in the U.S. and Europe. Among those in the U.S. are the San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony and the New World Symphony. Last season Mr. Runnicles made his debut appearance with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and conducted Der Rosenkavalier at the Metropolitan Opera. He is a frequent guest on the podiums of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, North German Radio Orchestra Hamburg (NDR) and Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Munich. He appears annually in Great Britain at both the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh Festival, and each year he works at the Vienna State Opera, where in 2001 he led the Vienna premiere of Britten's Billy Budd. He has also led productions in the opera houses of Amsterdam, Berlin, Cologne, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Milan, Munich, Paris and Zurich.
"We have the very good fortune to welcome Donald Runnicles as Music Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival," stated the festival's Executive Director Donald Reinhold. "His artistry and proven leadership are sure to propel the festival into a new era, both within the local Jackson Hole Community, and throughout the musical world."
Mr. Runnicles will succeed Eiji Oue, who was the festival's music director from 1997-2003. Ling Tung was the founding music director, leading the festival from 1968-1997. In the recent interim period, conductor Peter Oundjian has acted as Music Advisor.
Donald Runnicles was born and educated in Scotland and at Cambridge University, and soon went to Germany to work in opera. To learn his art from the ground up, he took a répétiteur job in Mannheim in 1980, coaching singers and attending rehearsals. He made his North American debut in 1988 at a few hours' notice conducting Berg's Lulu at the Metropolitan Opera, and in 1989 was named General Music Director at the Freiburg Opera. He made his 1991 Glyndebourne debut conducting Don Giovanni in the production observing the 200th anniversary of Mozart's death. He has conducted frequently at the Salzburg and Bayreuth Festivals.
Donald Runnicles's recordings include a new Mozart Requiem with the Atlanta Symphony; Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Orff's Carmina Burana with Atlanta; a Grammy®-nominated CD with tenor Ben Heppner of German Romantic opera arias; a disc of Ring excerpts with the Dresden Staatskapelle; Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel; Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi; and a CD with soprano Jane Eaglen of works by Strauss, Wagner and Berg.
The Grand Teton Music Festival
Located in Jackson Hole at the gateway to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, the Grand Teton Music Festival (GTMF) offers eight weeks of classical music concerts each summer. The Festival Orchestra is the centerpiece of GTMF's programming. It has been led by such noted conductors as Michael Stern, Mark Elder, and Peter Oundjian, and has featured such soloists as cellist Lynn Harrell, violinist Julia Fischer, and pianists Marc-André Hamelin and Horacio Gutiérrez. Chamber music, recitals and other special programming round out the summer schedule.
Each summer, orchestra musicians journey from the finest orchestras throughout North America to make music together as the acclaimed Festival Orchestra in the natural beauty of Jackson Hole. More than 60% of the musicians hold principal positions within their home orchestras, or hold professorships in renowned music conservatories, and 75% of the orchestra's musicians return to the festival year after year, creating a cohesive, experienced ensemble. The festival also presents a winter series (January - March) featuring the rising stars of the classical music world in recital.
Festival concerts are held in the 740-seat Walk Festival Hall built in 1974, and nestled at the base of Rendezvous Mountain in Teton Village. The all-wooden facility has proved to be an ideal performing venue, praised by musicians and listeners alike for its intimacy and exceptional acoustics.
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