Stick Up For Grabs

“The departure of a Philharmonic music director, and the search for a replacement, is the classical music world’s equivalent of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary rolled into one. As the orchestra organizes its search committee, handicappers and kibitzers will weigh the pros and cons of potential candidates. Another young American in the Gilbert mold, who is open to new music? A wunderkind, like the young conductors who lead orchestras in Los Angeles, Boston and Philadelphia? Or an éminence grise with roots in Europe’s concert halls?”