Ski poles have none of the subtlety of a conductor’s baton, but for Arthur Fagen, it was the former that led to the latter. Fagen is the final candidate for the position of music director of the Richmond Symphony. When he was in high school, his family went on a ski vacation and happened to stay in the same lodge as Laszlo Halasz, founder and first director of the New York City Opera. The two became acquainted, and Halasz suggested that Fagen expand his musical talents and take conducting lessons with him.

The Richmond Symphony had 240 applicants for the position of music director and narrowed the field to nine finalists. David Fisk, the symphony’s executive director, spoke recently about what will happen once the last candidate has left town. When will the decision be made? Before the end of this year. The symphony will announce the decision once contract negotiations are complete.

The Richmond Symphony began its new Lollipops concert series yesterday with a program well-suited for children and the adults who brought them. If this concert is any indication, the series will be entertaining but not infantile, enriching but not overtly instructional. The concert began with four movements from John Williams’ “Suite for Orchestra from ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.‘“ With its immediately familiar tunes, it was a good choice to put everyone at ease. My concert companions, ages 6 and 12, definitely felt the magic.

On long flights, Christian Knapp will pull out the director’s score of a composition he is preparing to conduct. Sometimes conversation with a curious seatmate ensues, and more often than not, his neighbor will say, “I don’t know much about classical music. I don’t appreciate it.“ Knapp said, “I always think, ‘What’s there to know?‘ You open your heart, you listen to it. You see what ideas it brings to you.“

Relevance — to the community, to audience members, to children, to the spirit of the city. That is a major concern of Alastair Willis as he prepares to come to Richmond to audition for the position of the Richmond Symphony music director.

Personal: Native of Massachusetts
  Education: degrees from England’s Bristol and Kingston universities, master’s from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University
  Professional: Assistant conductor of the Seattle Symphony from 2000 to 2002 and then resident conductor until 2003; assistant conductor with the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras and music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Relevance - to the community, to audience members, to children, to the spirit of the city. That is a major concern of Alistair Willis as he prepares to come to Richmond to audition for the position of the Richmond Symphony music director. Having appeared with the Chicago Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Seattle Symphony, Willis boasts an impressive résumé; yet, he is modest. Currently making Seattle his base, he travels the world guest conducting.

Friday will be a bit like Christmas Eve for the directors of the nine resident companies of Richmond CenterStage. The next day, the performing-arts complex in the core of downtown Richmond will finally open with a smattering of performances from each of them, signifying a victory that naysayers claimed would never occur.

“The possibilities are just unlimited,“ said Keith Martin, managing director of the Richmond Ballet, one of nine groups that will be resident companies at CenterStage. Martin speaks from experience: Before moving to Richmond, he worked on the launching of six performing-arts centers, in North Carolina and elsewhere. He predicts that with higher visibility and “cross-pollination of our audience base,“ the nine groups will experience double-digit increases in attendance, at least in the year after the opening.

LINDY KEAST RODMAN/ Grand piano returns to Carpenter Center Piano movers Victor Barksdale (left) and Douglas Stanley guided the Richmond Symphony’s 9-foot Steinway concert grand onto the CenterStage loading dock yesterday, en route to its new home in a climate-controlled room at the downtown performing arts complex opening Sept. 12. The piano was stored for five years after the Carpenter Center closed and the symphony played at other venues. The instrument was selected by the symphony’s former music director, George Manahan, now conductor of the New York City Opera. Coincidentally, Manahan is in town this weekend, appearing at 3 p.m. tomorrow with the Richmond Chamber Players at Bon Air Presbyterian Church, 9201 W. Huguenot Road, in the Interlude 2009 series.

Anumber of Gustav Mahler’s contemporaries commented on how his Ninth Symphony was a classic purview of death, or at least deathly thoughts. Friday night at Second Baptist Church, conductor Mark Russell Smith and the Richmond Symphony Orchestra brought the magnificent piece to great life. This being the final Masterworks concert series before Smith exits stage right as music director of the RSO after 10 seasons on the podium, the Minnesota-bound conductor brought forth obviously one of his favorites as he led a mostly full orchestra through the massive 1½-hour piece with no intermission.

While conducting his first concert as the Richmond Symphony Orchestra’s new music director in 1999, Mark Russell Smith wasn’t scared, but he had a lot on his mind.  “I was excited, slightly nervous, looking forward, dreaming, analyzing, figuring out potential, fact-finding, seeing the lay of the land,“ Smith said during a recent interview. “When I came to Richmond, I planned to be here for a good while. So in a case like that, you take the time to invest and investigate.“

Tomorrow, Saturday, and Monday, Mark Russell Smith will conduct his last concerts as music director of the Richmond Symphony. An era will end, but thanks in large part to Smith’s tenure the orchestra anticipates its future with confidence. Today’s Weekend section includes an interview in which Smith reflects on his 10 years here. Smith led the ensemble during testing times. The renovation of the Carpenter Center compelled the symphony to live the life of a musical vagabond. Its performances in churches pleased veteran fans and drew new ones. Many enjoyed the intimacy of the surroundings. Most, however, look forward to the reopening of the Carpenter Center and the return to an official concert hall.

2009-10 Richmond Symphony Schedule

There’s no place like home - just ask the Richmond Symphony. After five seasons of playing “on the road,“ musicians, staff and support personnel are looking forward to their return to downtown Richmond and a renovated concert hall in which to play. The renovation of the Carpenter Center - which has gone through several fits and starts since the work began in 2004 - is almost complete. The Carpenter Theatre is set to reopen in September as part of the Richmond CenterStage performing-arts center.