PB Symphony renews CEO, conductor's contracts for five years
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Pleased with the direction and achievements of the group, the Palm Beach Symphony’s board of directors recently announced that it had renewed the contracts of conductor Gerard Schwarz and CEO David McClymont for another five years.
McClymont, a former executive director of the Loggerhead MarineLife Center, took over as CEO in 2014. Schwarz, known internationally for his stewardship of the Seattle Symphony for almost three decades, came on board in 2019.
“We are proud to retain this extraordinary duo to continue leading the upward trajectory of Palm Beach Symphony,” board Chairman James Borynack said in a prepared statement. “David and his team have steered a community performing arts organization into one of the major cultural institutions in the Southeast and further fortified the symphony’s fiscal foundation, supporting its continued artistic growth under Maestro Schwarz.”
This month, the orchestra will present the first of five new works commissioned from American composers when it debuts “Sojourn: Reflections on Thoreau,” by Joseph Schwantner, a Pulitzer Prize winner. The Schwantner will be heard March 14 at a concert that also features the eminent American pianist Misha Dichter in the Piano Concerto in F by George Gershwin.
Schwarz, who also teaches at the University of Miami and leads its Frost Symphony Orchestra, has expanded the orchestra’s season to six concerts at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, added more than a dozen works to its repertoire and welcomed a host of major soloists to its events. So far this season, violinist Sarah Chang, pianist Garrick Ohlsson and soprano Susan Graham have performed with the group; later this year, violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Maria João Pires are scheduled to be the guests.
In addition, the orchestra added two performances of Handel’s Messiah for the Christmas season and has recorded two children’s concerts for national broadcast: Samuel Jones’ “Eudora’s Fable: The Shoe Bird,” and Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf,” narrated in English and Spanish by singer Jon Secada.
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The orchestra marked a further milestone in December by releasing its first recording, a holiday collection called “Sounds of the Season,” distributed by Sony Latin America. It also performed four holiday concerts that were televised on Sinclair Broadcast Group’s digital and streaming platforms.
For his part, McClymont has increased the West Palm Beach-based orchestra’s annual budget to $4.2 million, and tallied six consecutive years of ending the season in the black. During his tenure, the ensemble relocated to the Kravis as its concert home, and during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he created a digital concert model that retained audience engagement and led the orchestra to new records of subscriber and member interest.
He has increased the orchestra’s corporate partnerships, working with companies such as the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the Hospital for Special Surgery Florida, Braman Motocars, NetJets and Lugano Diamonds. McClymont also secured sponsorships for the ensemble’s educational programs, including master classes and instrument donations, reaching more than 64,000 students.
Founded in 1974, the Palm Beach Symphony will mark its 50th anniversary with the 2023-24 season. Its next concerts are scheduled for March 14, April 16 and May 15 at the Kravis Center. For more information, visit www.palmbeachsymphony.org.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach Symphony renews conductor, CEO contracts for five years
