Carolyn Kuan Chosen as HSO Music Director

Photo by Charlie Schuck

After a two-year search, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra announced today that Carolyn Kuan has been selected as the 10th music director in its 68-year history. Maestra Kuan has agreed to an initial three-year contract and will begin conducting the HSO on a full-time basis at the start of the 2011-12 performance season in September. Kuan succeeds Edward Cumming, who has served as Music Director since fall 2002 and will conclude his HSO tenure this June.

As part of the search process, Kuan was a guest conductor of the HSO on Dec. 2-5, 2010. She will next return to Hartford March 17-20 to conduct the HSO in the Music Director-Designate concerts at The Bushnell, which will feature works of her selection on the program. Kuan will also conduct the first two concerts (June 24 and July 1) of the 2011 Talcott Mountain Music Festival in Simsbury, the HSO’s outdoor summer concert series.

“Carolyn Kuan’s passion for making music, her vision about the role an orchestra plays in improving a community, and her creative programming ideas made her the unanimous choice. We were fortunate to have an excellent pool of candidates and received great feedback from the musicians, board, staff, and audience members. Their comments clearly figured into our final decision,” said Michael Yaffe, chairman of the HSO music director search committee and Associate Dean, Yale School of Music.