
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Robert Spano
A new era has begun for the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO).
Conductor Robert Spano has been named new music director of the FWSO, appointed by president and CEO Keith Cerny and board chair Mercedes T. Bass. Spano will be taking the baton from previous director Miguel Harth-Bedoya, who retired after 20 years with the orchestra.
Spano will become music director designate starting April 1 before assuming the title of music director on Aug. 1, 2022.
The 10th music director in FWSO’s history, Spano's initial three-year term will begin with the 2022 – 2023 season. His duties will include conducting six out of the orchestra’s 10 symphonic programs per season, overseeing musicians and staff, working with Cerny to shape the organization’s artistic direction, and promoting the orchestra and classical music throughout the Fort Worth community.
"In addition to being a superb musician, [Spano] is also known for being a great colleague," Cerny said Tuesday during a press conference announcing Spano as new music director. "I know the musicians and administrative staff are equally enthusiastic about having the chance to work with him and to take the Fort Worth Symphony to even greater artistic success."
Spano, who was born in Elkhart, Indiana, comes to Fort Worth from Atlanta after concluding a two-decade tenure as music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. There, he created The Atlanta School of Composers, won six Grammy Awards, and led educational programs for aspiring musicians, among other accomplishments.
Spano has conducted the FWSO before — he made his debut in March 2019, conducting Mahler’s “Fifth Symphony” and Strauss’s “Four Last Songs” at Bass Performance Hall. His most recent performance with the FWSO was in January at Will Rogers Memorial Auditorium, where the orchestra has been performing while Bass Hall remains closed due to COVID-19.
It was during his last visit to Fort Worth that Spano said FWSO approached him about taking the role of music director.
“It was a wonderful surprise,” he said. “I had thought that, leaving Atlanta, I would take a few seasons not to have the institutional responsibility, but as soon as I started thinking about the possibility of coming here as music director, I got very excited. I think it’s because I find working with the orchestra so inspiring.”
He notes an immediate chemistry that occurred during his first few performances conducting the FWSO.
“As a guest conductor in the world, you encounter orchestras with which you hit it off immediately; you encounter orchestras with which you never hit it off. It just doesn’t work. There’s this ineffable, inexplicable interactive element between a conductor and an orchestra that is, when it happens in a positive way, there is nothing like it, because at that point, you feel you are all invested in the same musical enterprise,” he said. “That’s something I felt with the orchestra very quickly.”
Spano’s next FWSO performance will take place March 16 – 18, when he conducts Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major,” featuring pianist Jeremy Denk, and Beethoven’s “Seventh Symphony.”
Along with a new music director, FWSO also announced its lineup of programming for the 2021-2022 season. The schedule includes a selection of symphonic repertoire, as well as Pops Series performances like “The Music of John Williams” and the “Back to the Future” soundtrack played alongside the film. The full schedule is available here.