The Delaware Symphony Orchestra and Music Director David Amado have reached agreement on a two-year contract extension, keeping him at the helm of the orchestra through the 2010-11 season.
Amado, one of America’s finest young conductors, joined the DSO as music director before the 2004-05 season. His tenure has brought dramatic growth in ticket sales and fundraising; in the 2007-08 season, audiences were up over the previous two seasons.
“Musical growth has been tremendous over the last five years,” Amado said before Friday’s concert at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington. “It’s been very satisfying and I have a lot of faith and confidence in the musicians onstage to continue that development over the last five years. We have the right people in place on stage, on the staff and on the board to move forward in exciting new ways.
“We are fortunate to have a musical director of David's stature at the helm of the Symphony,” said Delaware Symphony President Richard B. Fisher. It speaks volumes about how the arts have grown in importance and quality in Delaware."
DSO Executive Director Lucinda Williams said that Amado’s musicianship was one of the main reasons she came to the orchestra a year ago. “After seeing David in rehearsal and in concert, I realized I’d have the opportunity to work with such a talented young conductor,” she said. “Clearly I’m overjoyed that he’s extended his contract and I can look forward to working with him for years to come.”
The 2008-09 season will follow two summer performances by the DSO at the Mann Center in Philadelphia: The Machine, America’s premiere Pink Floyd Experience, with the DSO and laser light show (Friday, July 25); and “Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy),” featuring Eric Idle from Month Python and songs from Life of Brian (Tuesday, August 12). For Mann Center tickets call (215) 893-1999.
The Grand Opera House season runs from September to May and will include a new series, DSO Plugged In, which ranges from music by John Williams (“Star Wars,” the Indiana Jones films) in the fall to music of Led Zeppelin in the spring. Subscriptions and single tickets are on sale now at (302) 652-5577.
The season begins with “The Night of All Nights: The Cirque is Coming to Town” a gala evening September 13 featuring Maestro Amado, the DSO and Cirque Productions, Inc. The Los Angeles Times called one Cirque Productions performance “a sumptuous big top spectacle turned stage show.” For gala tickets call (302) 656-7442.
About David Amado
Maestro Amado is one of the most watched and sought-after young American conductors. He has been praised by the press, audiences and fellow musicians for his performances which combine deep musical insight and visceral energy. His innovative programming, his articulate and approachable demeanor and his natural and instinctive music-making combine to make him a formidable musical presence. He has gained attention not just in Wilmington, but throughout the state and across the country.
Maestro Amado continues to be an enduringly popular figure in Saint Louis, Missouri where he was the Associate Conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2001–2004. Recent engagements include a debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra (after which he was immediately reengaged), the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Saint Louis Symphony, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony, the New World Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic and the Detroit Symphony. He will conduct the Virginia Symphony in November in a program of music by Mendelssohn, Debussy and Holst.
A native of Merion, Pa., David Amado received his bachelor’s degree in piano performance from The Juilliard School and his master’s degree in orchestral conducting from Indiana University. He undertook his postgraduate studies with Otto-Werner Mueller at The Juilliard School, where he was a recipient of the Bruno Walter Memorial Award. Maestro Amado lives in Wilmington with his wife, violinist Meredith Amado, and their two children.
