The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has appointed a new director of artistic planning. Helane Anderson of the Los Angeles Philharmonic will take the position on Jan. 11.
Anderson was artistic administrator in L.A., producing the orchestra's classical programming at the Hollywood Bowl, as well as series devoted to chamber music, new music, Baroque, organ and educational concerts.
The Philharmonic recently named the celebrated Gustavo Dudamel as music director, and his September debut was monitored all over the country. So why would Anderson leave Los Angeles for the cold Midwest?
"Gustavo is a warm, generous person, and in terms of the overall industry, perhaps this doesn't make sense but for me personally, I feel a real pull to come back," she said. "I have family in Wisconsin, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is not only one of the top musical institutions in the country, it's a chance for me to make a big difference in a smaller organization."
Before her two-year stint in Los Angeles, Anderson was director of composers and repertoire at Boosey and Hawkes, a classical music publisher.
Sarah Lutman, the SPCO's president and managing director, cited Anderson's "deep experience with artists and composers, a refined artistic perspective and enthusiasm for the SPCO's uniquely collaborative artistic environment."
In St. Paul, Anderson will work with the orchestra's Artistic Partners and Artistic Vision Committee to program artists and conductors, concerts, tours, festivals and recording projects. She said she wanted to keep her preferences for composers to herself. If there's an area to explore, she said, it's in expanding the repertory to rarely performed works.
"The model of musicians being on the committee, and the Artistic Partners, makes this a more malleable approach to programming," she said. "This is the only orchestra in the country doing this."
