Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra names Gemma New music director
The Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra has named NJSO Associate Conductor Gemma New its new music director. New, once dubbed by WQXR as one of the “top five women conductors on the rise,” was the Ontario-based orchestra's unanimous choice for its next leader, according to The Hamilton Spectator.
New says: “I am looking forward to becoming part of a great team at the HPO, leading the artistic vision and becoming an integral part of Hamilton. During my time with the HPO last year, I was pleased and impressed by their high artistic standard and their strong dedication to community engagement. The pro-activeness of the staff was evident, as was the deep musicianship of the players. It is a real privilege for me to take on this position of music director with the support from both players and staff, and I look forward to a great future together.”
The HPO raved about New when announcing her appointment:
“Gemma New embodies everything we want in a music director,” says HPO chairman of the board Robert Savage. “She’s an outstanding musician and an experienced conductor; she’s also smart and creative. And on a personal level, she’s warm and down-to-earth.
“We think Gemma is a great fit not just for HPO but for the city as a whole, given Hamilton’s emergence as an arts and culture hub,” Savage added. “She really embraces the role of art and culture in a city’s development.”
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HPO musician spokesperson Marsha Moffitt said they are “thrilled to be working with Gemma New, who is known around the world as a rising star. Working alongside our orchestra, we’re confident we’ll achieve new heights.”
This season, New was one of two conductors selected to participate in the Los Angeles Philharmonic's prestigious Dudamel Fellowship Program. She conducted eight concerts with the LA Phil in February, April and May, in addition to covering nine subscription weeks.
In 2014, Kurt Masur selected New as a Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Fellow; she studied Mendelssohn’s music under Maestro Masur and led the Leipziger Symphonieorchester in the historic Lindensaal of Markkleeberg in Leipzig. She has been the David A. Karetsky Conducting Fellow at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen; she garnered the Ansbacher Fellowship, selected by members of the Vienna Philharmonic to take up residence at the Salzburg Music Festival.
New is founder and director of the Lunar Ensemble, a contemporary music collective in Baltimore. Under her leadership, the Lunar Ensemble has premiered more than 30 works since 2011 and held composition residencies at several US universities. The ensemble's ambitious Pierrot Centenary Project united all 50 poems of Albert Giraud’s Pierrot lunaire through commissioned works by selected composers, culminating in the release of Lunar's first album, featuring those works alongside Schoenberg’s seminal Pierrot lunaire.
The Hamilton Spectator reports that New will be one of only three female directors of a major professional orchestra in Canada and the first female director of the HPO. She was selected from a pool of 79 applicants from 13 countries.
New conducts the NJSO’s summer parks concert series in venues across the state later this month.