After a long search – which included visits and concerts by numerous candidates – the Florida Orchestra has a new Music Director. Michael Francis’ appointment appears to have the strong support of the musicians, the board and the search committee. He won fans with his recent Coffee Concert and brings a youthful vitality to the job, along with a strong connection to the Tampa Bay area, where his wife grew up.
The Orchestra announced the appointment at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Congratulations to all our friends at TFO. We look forward to working with Michael.
To read more check out the The Florida Orchestra site. Here’s an excerpt from the release:
Michael Francis
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – The Florida Orchestra (TFO) has announced the appointment of Michael Francis as its new Music Director starting with the 2015/2016 season, serving as Music Director Designate for the upcoming 2014/2015 season. Appointed as part of an initial three-year contract, his duties include being the primary conductor and providing the artistic leadership for concert programming and related artistic decisions. Although his primary role is with the Tampa Bay Times Masterworks series, he will also be conducting one concert each season for the Raymond James Pops and the morning Coffee Concert series. This reflects Francis’ personal desire to be fully-integrated artistically with the orchestra and the organization.
The orchestra’s music director search process took over three years; however, the decision to appoint Michael Francis to the post ended the search process one year earlier than the original four-year projection. In TFO’s near 50-year history, Francis will be the orchestra’s fourth music director as part of an esteemed group that has included Irwin Hoffman, Jahja Ling and Stefan Sanderling.
Just having completed his second season as chief conductor and artistic advisor to Sweden’s Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and hailed as a rising star in the conducting world in both the U.S. and abroad, Francis said, “I am delighted and honored to be the new Music Director of The Florida Orchestra. During the very first rehearsal with the orchestra, I could sense an enthusiasm and passion to make music together that was truly exciting. With this talented group of musicians, I believe we have a tremendous future ahead of us.” He added, “I am also looking forward to setting up our life in the bay area, especially as my wife grew up near Tampa, in Lutz.”
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