Norwalk Symphony or American Idol? You Help Pick the Conductor

It will be a bit like the "American Idol" TV program at Norwalk Concert Hall on Monday night as the audience hears and then votes on each of three candidates for conductor and gives its opinions in forms that will be handed in to symphony officials by the end of the night.

The results will be tallied and will be a part of the decision on which one to hire, said Emil Albanese, president of the board of governors.

The public is invited—for free—to attend the try-outs in the hall at City Hall  and help in the decisionmaking.

"It's one thing to do an interview face-to-face," said Emil Albanese, president of the orchestra's board of governors. "But after that, we need to see them actually do it."

"There are almost 1,100 seats in the Concert Hall," he said. "Some conductors are not used to conducting in a big hall. I want to see how they react to the public. I want to see how they react to a big hall. I want to get a sense of how they're going to do."

The event starts at 7 p.m. and will run roughly three hours, as each candidate is given a 15-minute public interview with the board and then conducts the orchestra for an estimated 45 minutes, Albanese said.

All three will conduct the same two pieces of music: Strauss’ Overture to Die Fledermaus and Beethoven’s Overture to Fidelio.

Norwalk Symphony officials received about 10 inquiries about the job, Albanese said, and he could tell over the telephone that some of the candidates were not suitable. The applicants come from as far away as Chicago, Texas and Georgia, he said.

Albanese said he expects the board to offer the job to a candidate by the end of next week, and have the conductor/music director on the job by mid- to late August.

In its next season, the orchestra will present at least three events to the public in Norwalk Concert Hall: One in October, another around the holiday season, and a third in the spring, he said.

The orchestra is also interested in doing "some smaller off-site events," Albanese said, in which the orchestra appears in places out of town, such as in Darien. Discussions have already started with trustees and donors from outside Norwalk about where the orchestra might play in their towns, he said.