German-born composer and conductor Matthias Pintscher didn’t know what to expect when he visited Missouri in March. Kansas City Symphony OrchestraHe had never been to the city and had never worked with the orchestra.
But after several days of rehearsing and performing works by Ravel, Ligeti and Scriabin, Pincher felt a deep connection with the ensemble. “There was magic there,” he said in an interview.
The orchestra was also impressed: on Tuesday, announced Pincher, 52, has agreed to serve as incoming music director for a five-year term in 2024. He will succeed. Michael Sternhas been orchestra leader since 2005, leading the orchestra for 10 weeks each season.
The orchestra’s president and CEO, Danny Beckley, offered Pincher the job just days after his visit in March. He describes Pincher’s relationship with the orchestra as “electric” and hopes that Pincher will help draw more people into concert halls.
In a statement, Beckley said: “We are committed to making orchestral music more appealing to a wider audience and I think Matthias will really help us make that happen.
A resident of New York City, Pincher has made a name for himself as a composer, writing a wide variety of works for orchestra and chamber ensembles, as well as solo pieces for piano and vocals. His compositions are often evocative and mystical, demonstrating the whispering abilities of instruments such as the clarinet and double bass.
An acclaimed conductor, he is Music Director of the Ensemble Intercontemporin in Paris, the New Music Group and the Academy Orchestra of the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland. (His tenure in the ensemble he led for ten years with Intercontemporin ends this season.) He is a member of the composition department at the Juilliard School.
In Kansas City, he said he felt a sense of belonging. He remembered chatting with a stranger at the supermarket. After he introduced herself, she immediately bought tickets to the concert.
“It’s been a warm welcome from the city, locals, the general public and musicians,” he said. “I was very happy with my arrival.”
