Cheung chosen from four finalists

By Ashley Gurbal, agurbal@altoonamirror.com

POSTED: May 3, 2008

By Ashley Gurbal

The Altoona Symphony Orchestra will begin its 80th season with its first female — and first minority — at the helm.

The ASO search committee unanimously approved Teresa Cheung as the symphony’s 11th music director April 7. Cheung’s three-year contract was finalized Thursday, ASO executive director Brooke Welsh said.

Cheung was one of four finalists who vied for the spot throughout the symphony’s 2007-08 season. Audiences filled out surveys following each concert. All of the contestants "were on the same playing field" until Cheung’s performance, Welsh said.

"I think she stood out from the others," Welsh said. "She was very engaging with the audience. They just connected really well with her. There was no other concert where I had musicians, audience members, board members coming up to me and saying ‘We need her. She’s great. She’d be great for the community.’"

Cheung is the assistant conductor for New York City-based American Symphony Orchestra, conductor for the Empire Opera and music director and conductor for the Manhattan College Orchestra. She has also worked for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Evansville Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Evansville Philharmonic Chrous in Evansville, Ind.

She described her appointment with ASO as "very thrilling."

"A lot of times, as a conductor, you want to put all your effort in and hope (the musicians) meet you halfway," Cheung said. "They met me way over halfway. They were very warm, and it is great to have the opportunity to work with people who look you in the eye and smile."

Besides her role as conductor, Cheung will also be doing outreach activities in the community, visiting schools and promoting the symphony. She said reaching children is her No. 1 priority.

"As musicians and conductors, we need to share the experience of our music and how we think and feel," Cheung said. "People are more apt to come in and hear what we say."

As a conductor, Cheung said she has been the first female and the first minority to hold other positions.

"This one of the few positions where they still you call you a ‘woman conductor,’" she said. "You don’t say ‘woman banker’ or ‘woman lawyer.’ It’s still very conservative, but we are breaking the mold slowly but surely."

ASO board president Lue Kormanski said she was "so excited to get" Cheung, as Cheung’s views on outreach fit with the ASO’s vision of its future.

"We’ve heard people say the ASO is the county’s best-kept secret," Kormanski said. "We no longer want to be a secret. We really want to be part of the community, part of life in central Pennsylvania."

Cheung said she will continue to live in New York City and retain her employment there. Her tenure with ASO officially begins July 1; her first concert will be at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 30 at Canal Basin Park in Hollidaysburg. An ASO fundraising reception will be held from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. before the concert, where the public will be able to meet Cheung. For more information or reservations, call 943-2500.

Mirror Staff Writer Ashley Gurbal is at 946-7435.