Robert Spano agrees to contract extension with Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra | EarRelevant

Mark Gresham | 17 FEB 2023

Now in the midst of his first season as music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, conductor Robert Spano has agreed to a contract extension through the orchestra’s 2027-2028 season.

Spano began his association with the FWSO as a principal guest conductor in 2019 and was appointed music director designate in April 2021.

During the 2023-24 season, Spano will direct six concerts in the FWSO’s 12-concert symphonic series. Principal guest conductor Kevin John Edusei will conduct two, and four guest conductors, Anna Skryleva, Anne Manson, Edo de Waart, and Tomáš Netopil, will lead one program each.

Featured soloists for 2023-24 will include pianists Yunchan Lim, Andreas Haefliger, Joyce Yang, Lukáš Vondráček, and Constanze Hochwartner, trombonist Peter Steiner, violinist Stephen Waarts, soprano Karita Mattila, tenor Brandon Jovanovich, bass Raymond Aceto, bass, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, FWSO principal oboe Jennifer Corning Lucio and principal viola DJ Cheek.

In addition to the Symphonic Series, other FWSO series will include Pops, Chamber, Meet the Artist, and Family Series, five special one-night-only concerts, and a Gala Concert performance featuring Renée Fleming. ■

The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s 2023-24 Symphonic Series

September 8–10, 2023
Robert Spano, conductor; Yunchan Lim, piano (Van Cliburn Competition Gold Medalist)
BRAHMS: Academic Festival Overture
SCHUMANN: Piano Concerto
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 4
October 20–22, 2023
Robert Spano, conductor; Old Trout Puppet Workshop
TCHAIKOVSKY: Nutcracker Act II
PROKOFIEV: Peter and the Wolf
November 3–5, 2023
Anna Skryleva, conductor; DJ Cheek, viola (FWSO principal)
BARTÓK: Hungarian Sketches
BARTÓK: Viola Concerto
RACHMANINOFF: Symphonic Dances
November 17–19, 2023
Kevin John Edusei, conductor; Andreas Haefliger, piano
ZEMLINSKY: The Mermaid
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 2

(continued below…)

January 5–7, 2024
Robert Spano, conductor; Dallas Black Dance Theatre
MOZART: Overture to The Magic Flute
MOZART: Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter)
STRAVINSKY: Petrushka
January 26–28, 2024
Kevin John Edusei, conductor
MAHLER: Symphony No. 7
March 1–3, 2024
Anne Manson, conductor; Jennifer Corning Lucio, oboe (FWSO principal)
SIMON: Amen
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Oboe Concerto
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7
March 15–17, 2024
Edo de Waart, conductor; Joyce Yang, piano
TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No. 1
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5

(continued below…)

April 19–21, 2024
Robert Spano, conductor; Karita Mattila, soprano; Brandon Jovanovich, tenor; Raymond Aceto, bass; James Robinson, stage director
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 6
WAGNER: Die Walküre Act 1
May 3–5, 2024
Robert Spano, conductor; Stephen Waarts, violin
BEETHOVEN: Egmont Overture
BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 5
May 24–26, 2024
Tomáš Netopil, conductor; Lukáš Vondráček, piano
DVOŘÁK: Slavonic Dance No. 1
CHOPIN: Piano Concerto No. 1
DVOŘÁK : Symphony No. 8
May 31 – June 2, 2024
Robert Spano, conductor; Peter Steiner, trombone; Constanze Hochwartner, piano
DAY: Double Concerto for Trombone and Piano
HIGDON: Low Brass Concerto
MAHLER: Symphony No. 5)

EXTERNAL LINKS:

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra: fwsymphony.org
Robert Spano: tomerzvulun.com

About the author:

Mark Gresham is publisher and principal writer of EarRelevant. He began writing as a music journalist over 30 years ago, but has been a composer of music much longer than that. He was the winner of an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for music journalism in 2003.

Read more by Mark Gresham.