The School of Music celebrated the appointment of Seattle Symphony Music Director Ludovic Morlot as an Affiliate Professor of Music with a welcome event at Meany Theater on March 5.
Following welcoming remarks by UW Provost Ana Mari Cauce and School of Music Director Richard Karpen, members of the University Symphony enjoyed a first-hand experience with the Seattle Symphony’s new music director, considered one of leading conductors of his generation. As he led the orchestra in a rehearsal of the Beethoven Coriolan Overture, Maestro Morlot was decisive, animated, and inspirational, challenging the students to approach ensemble playing in new ways even in a piece they have rehearsed and performed before.
The appointment reinvigorates a longtime partnership between the School of Music and Seattle Symphony (SSO) and paves the way for future collaborations between the two organizations. Many of SSO’s principal players are adjunct faculty at the School of Music, teaching in the School’s performance studios, and other SSO musicians regularly appear as guest artists on School of Music concert events. The Seattle Symphony, meanwhile, often includes School of Music performance faculty as featured soloists on its programs. Both Karpen and Morlot spoke with excitement of continuing and strengthening such collaborations, as well as introducing new dimensions to the partnership.
“With new leadership and a great team in the administration of the Seattle Symphony and with our School of Music also in a time of innovative change, this is a unique opportunity for these two important regional organizations to forge an even closer alliance,” Provost Cauce said in her opening remarks, “for mutual benefit and to bring great music to the Pacific Northwest and beyond.”
View additional images from the March 5 event here.