St. Louis Symphony names Gemma New resident conductor
The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has announced NJSO Associate Conductor Gemma New as its resident conductor, effective in the 2016–17 season.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes:
New, 29, will assist music director David Robertson, cover concerts led by him and guest conductors, serve as music director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra and lead education and family concerts, community concerts and some Live at Powell Hall performances.
In a statement, Robertson said that New "stood out as a musician of great insight when we worked together a few years ago at Carnegie Hall. From the first moment in our audition, New opened a clear line of deep communication with our musicians, who responded to her clarity and passion. Her dedication to music education will be a true gift to the organization and the St. Louis community.”
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"We were all young musicians learning the craft," she said in an interview. "I knew from an early age that I loved orchestras; I wanted to be connected with orchestras for the rest of my life. When I had the first opportunity to conduct, I thought 'This is how I can express my musical voice.'"
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"I've taken every opportunity I can to learn and get better," she said. She's currently the music director of the Hamilton Philharmonic in Ontario, Canada; finishing her fifth and final year with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra; and founder and director of the contemporary music collective Lunar Ensemble in Baltimore.
She was a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic ("I've learned a ton from that"), and the David A. Karetsky Conducting Fellow at the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival in 2013, and worked with Kurt Masur in Leipzig, Germany, in 2014. New will begin her new position in St. Louis — which she calls "this amazing opportunity" — in September.
New closes her tenure as the NJSO’s associate conductor when she leads the Orchestra’s annual summer parks concerts this month at outdoor venues across the state. An audience favorite, she has been a part of the NJSO family since the 2010–11 season and has been associate conductor since the 2013–14 season.
She will return to the NJSO as a guest conductor next season, leading Grieg's Piano Concerto in October, pops concerts inspired by the romance of Hollywood musicals and Peter and the Wolf family concerts.
She has received critical recognition and artistic honors during her NJSO tenure, from being hailed as a “top woman conductor on the rise” by WQXR to securing a prestigious Dudamel Fellowship with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. New was named music director of the Hamilton Philharmonic last June and has won acclaim for her leadership of the Canadian orchestra. The announcement of her new St. Louis post inspired Slipped Disc to move the “fast-rising” conductor further up its “power list” of female leaders, on which both she and incoming NJSO Music Director Xian Zhang rate highly.
» WATCH: Gemma New talks to The Toronto Star about the language of music
Read the full St. Louis Post-Dispatch story announcing New’s St. Louis appointment.