Rotating maestros vie for Vallejo Symphony conductor’s baton

THOMAS HEUSER.
Courtesy VSO

Vallejo Symphony Orchestra will kick off its 2015-16 season this month with a new conductor, Thomas Heuser, holding the baton.

But he won’t be the last.

In looking to replace longtime conductor and music director David Ramadanoff, who retired after last season, VSO plans to hold live “auditions” at each of its concerts this season. After sorting through videos and compositions from 33 applicants, a committee narrowed the selections down to three: Christian Baldini of Germany, Marc Taddei of New Zealand and Heuser, who hails from Oakland.

“I think they’re all highly qualified and talented,” VSO Director Tim Zumwalt said. “They come from all over, and one of them even had a CD that the BBC called ‘the CD of the month.’”

First up is Heuser, who has been has music director of the Idaho Falls Symphony since 2011. He’ll open VSO’s season Sept. 20 with the theme “Wild and Serene,” featuring selections from Czech composer Bedrich Smetana’s “Vltava” from his symphonic poem set “Ma Vlast”; and Antonin Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony, which famously inspired John Williams’s “Jaws” theme.

Heuser has appeared with orchestras across the world in Canada, Italy, Germany, Estonia and other places, Zumwalt said, and served as Conducting Fellow with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He also has served as principal guest conductor of the San Francisco Academy Orchestra since 2013.

INNA FALIKS.
Courtesy VSO

Heuser won’t be the only new face making music with VSO this month. Audiences also will be treated to the piano talents of Inna Faliks, a piano professor at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music who will perform Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto.

Originally hailing from Ukraine, Faliks has performed in venues across the world, from Carnegie Hall to Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, and won several competitions, Zumwalt said.

Moreover, “I’ve worked with Thomas Heuser before and he’s a wonderful musician,” she said.

Faliks said she loves performing as a means of expressing herself and inspiring audiences, and “I’m very excited to come and share my passion with the audience of Vallejo.”

The concert will begin at 3 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Hogan Middle School Auditorium, 850 Rosewood Ave., in Vallejo.

Tickets are available at VallejoSymphony.org.