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Austin Symphony Conductor Tapped to Direct 2011 Hot Springs Music Festival

September 1, 2010
  • Who: Austin Symphony Orchestra
  • Contact: Don Hill, Director of Public Relations - 476-6064

AUSTIN SYMPHONY CONDUCTOR TAPPED TO DIRECT 2011 MUSIC FESTIVAL

Peter Bay, Music Director and Conductor of the Austin Symphony Orchestra in Texas, has been appointed Music Advisor to provide artistic leadership for the 2011 Hot Springs Music Festival season. The appointment follows Richard Rosenberg’s departure as the Festival’s Artistic Director.

As part of the same restructuring plan, Laura Rosenberg has been promoted to General Director, with overall responsibility for the entire Festival operation. She has served as the Festival’s Executive Director for the past fifteen years.

“We are so excited at the new energy and vision that Peter Bay will bring to the Festival during this crucial transition. It speaks well of our organization’s strength and reputation that Peter has accepted the position. He is one of the most highly regarded arts leaders in the country, and has been my trusted colleague and friend for nearly thirty years,” said Laura Rosenberg.

In addition to his position at the Austin Symphony, which he has held since 1998, Bay is Music Director of the Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, Oregon and has served since 2005 on the Hot Springs Music Festival’s Advisory Board.

His guest conducting appearances include the National, St. Louis, Houston, Dallas, Baltimore, New Mexico, New Jersey, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia, West Virginia, Colorado, Hawaii, Jacksonville, Richmond, Alabama, Arkansas, Canton, Eugene, Springfield, Bochum (Germany), Carinthian (Austria), Lithuanian National Symphonies, the Minnesota and Algarve (Portugal) Orchestras, the Louisiana, Buffalo, Rhode Island, Tulsa, Fort Wayne and Reno Philharmonics, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Eastman and Aspen Opera Theaters, and the Theater Chamber Players of the Kennedy Center. Summer music festival appearances have included Aspen (CO), Music in the Mountains (CO), Grant Park and Ravinia (IL), Round Top (TX), OK Mozart (OK) and Skaneateles (NY).

Previous positions held by Mr. Bay include Music Director of the Erie Philharmonic, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, Breckenridge Music Festival (CO) and four different conducting posts with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Richmond Symphony in Virginia. Bay and the Richmond Symphony recorded the US premiere performance of Britten’s “The Sword in the Stone” for Opus One Records. His most recent recording, “Voices,” features the percussion group NEXUS, with the Rochester Philharmonic, and can be found on the Nexus CD label.

A native of Washington, DC, Mr. Bay is a graduate of the University of Maryland and the Peabody Institute. In 1994, he was one of two conductors selected to participate in the Leonard Bernstein American Conductors Program. He was also the first prize winner of the 1980 Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Young Conductors Competition and a prize winner of the 1987 Leopold Stokowski Competition sponsored by the American Symphony Orchestra in New York.

The 2011 Hot Springs Music Festival season is scheduled for June 5-18.

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