Leon Botstein says he will give up his international guest conducting engagements to concentrate on his new duties as music director of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and his continuing obligations to institutions in the United States.
Botstein, who was named to the position in Israel this week, told the Daily Freeman of Kingston, New York, that he will remain as president of Bard College in New York State and will continue to serve as music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra. His duties in Jerusalem will require him to travel to Israel four to five times a year and to tour with the orchestra, leaving him no time for other appearances.
"I'll have to limit the number of conducting engagement and recordings I make because of my responsibilities to Bard, which are my primary responsibilities," Botstein told the newspaper. "[The Jerusalem job] takes the place of the European guest conducting that I've been doing over the years, so it doesn't mean more time. It's sort of replacing guest conducting with a more long-term relationship with a single orchestra abroad."
Botstein has appeared as a guest conductor with the London Philharmonic, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Düsseldorf Symphony, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, among others.
Botstein told the newspaper that he accepted the position in Jerusalem in part because "to me, as an American Jew, it's an important place." The conductor, known for adventurous programming, says that he hopes to reinvigorate the Jerusalem Symphony, which has recently suffered serious financial problems.
— Michael Markowitz
"Jerusalem gig is music to
Botstein's ears"
Patricia Doxsey - Daily Freeman
[Kingston, N.Y.] - 9 July 2003
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