Lake Forest Civic Orchestra names music director
The Lake Forest Civic Orchestra has announced the selection of Robert Nordling as its new music director.
Nordling was one of four candidates during a yearlong search in which each served as guest conductor for one performance. The decision to offer the position to Nordling was based on overwhelmingly positive feedback from the orchestral membership and LFCO audience members, orchestra officials said in a news release.
"It was thrilling to learn that Robert Nordling would be our new music director," said LoriLee Bielski, the orchestra's principal bassoonist.
"During the audition rehearsals and performance, Robert demonstrated unfettered passion for the music, knowledge of the composers that connected us with the pieces, and a coaching style that inspired us to achieve more than we believed possible."
Nordling's first concert will be Sunday, Sept. 27, at 4 p.m. in the renovated, state-of-the-art Gorton Center auditorium in Lake Forest. The orchestra will perform orchestral works inspired by stories, including Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Ravel's Mother Goose Suite, and Sibelius' Symphony No. 2.
A native of New Jersey, Nordling began his early studies on violin with Stephen Clapp and Paul Zokovsky. After his undergraduate study at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, he was awarded conducting fellowships to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, where he worked with Leonard Bernstein, Michael Tilson Thomas, Herbert Blomstedt and Erich Leinsdorf.
He has appeared with the Grand Rapids Symphony, the Orquestra Juvenal de Mar del Plata, Argentina, the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute Orchestra, the Cedardell Opera Festival Orchestra, the Wheaton Symphony Orchestra, Calvin College Orchestra, Trinity University Orchestra and chamber orchestras in Chicago, San Francisco and England.
He was the founder and music director of the San Francisco-based Bay Chamber Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to taking the helm of the LFCO, Nordling is music director of the Bandung Philharmonic Orchestra in Bandung, Indonesia, and of the Baroque on Beaver Island music festival in Northern Michigan.
Nordling has released recordings of Beethoven Symphony No. 6, Brahms Symphony No. 2, St. Saens Symphony No. 3 and Brahms' Schicksalslied with the Calvin Orchestra. His recording of Mahler Symphony No. 1, the "Titan," won a Telly Award in May 2008. Recently released was a DVD featuring Beethoven Symphony No. 5.
Visit lakeforestcivicorchestra.org to learn more about Nordling. A link to buy tickets to his premiere concert in September is also available on the site.