Hartford Symphony Orchestra Names New Music Director

Carolyn Kuan has been appointed Music Director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. 33-year old Kuan comes to Connecticut having conducted the Baltimore, Detroit, Seattle and San Francisco Symphonies among many.

More than 100 candidates applied for the Hartford Symphony position. The pool was narrowed down to seven finalists. Each conducted a program of four concerts with the orchestra. 

HSO violinist Jaroslaw Lis says most candidates programmed large pieces guaranteed to please a crowd. But Kuan chose Mozart’s Symphony Number 40, written for a smaller ensemble.    

"Its so much harder to really impress people with something like that, I think. And so I thought that was very gutsy choice. She really has proven that she can do it… That the music is about thoughfulness of the phrasing rather than volume."

Maestra Kuan will be the Hartford Symphony’s 10th Music Director. She succeeds Edward Cumming who’s led the ensemble since 2002.  

For WNPR, I'm Diane Orson.

Colin McEnroe's interview with Kuan appears about 27 minutes into this audio file.

McEnroe's other thoughts about Kuan appear here.