By David Gordon, associate editor
The CV Post
Ivar Lunde Jr., conductor and music director of the Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra for more than a decade, will step down as conductor at the end of the current concert season. He will remain as music director for another year and assist in the search for his successor.
Lunde said he will work with ECCO’s guest conductors next year, conduct some performances and stay involved – “in the background, of course” – because he wants the transition to a new conductor and music director to go as smoothly as possible. “I don’t like to abandon ship,” he said.
ECCO hopes to bring in guest conductors for three of its five scheduled concerts next year, according to general manager Elizabeth Hart. A search committee will begin reviewing what Hart called “a good number” of applications for those slots at the end of March.
Lunde said he will conduct the second half of the concert that will open ECCO’s 18th season, an all-Beethoven program on Sept. 26. The first half of the program will feature The Master Singers, accompanied by ECCO and led by Gary Schwartzhoff.
Lunde said he also will conduct the final concert of ECCO’s next season in April 2016, including the American premiere of his new piano concerto. If the piece is not performed first in Norway, that concert will mark its world premiere here. ECCO’s three other concerts, including the annual Family Concert in January 2016, will feature guest conductors.
Applications from those looking to succeed Lunde were received before the March 16 deadline from musicians with wide variations in age and experience, Hart said. The applicants live in five states – Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin – and that geographic spread “speaks to the quality of the orchestra,” she said
Guest conductors scheduled for 2015-16 season
Paula Lentz, president of ECCO’s Board, said the search committee will interview the top candidates before recommending three for the guest conducting slots. The goal is to complete that process by early summer, she said.
Bringing in guest conductors will depend in part on obtaining funding to cover the additional costs, according to both Lentz and Hart.
While the applications look good on paper, the guest conductor approach will indicate the degree of rapport between the candidates and the ECCO musicians, Lentz said. Equally important, it will give orchestra members an opportunity for input into the selection process, she said.
Mort Sipress, whose two-year stint as ECCO Board president began shortly after Lunde was appointed as music director, recalled that the two worked together to create a system for ECCO musicians to provide input on concert programs. “That was an important development in building musician support and morale,” Sipress said.
As music director, “Ivar’s exceptional musicianship was critical to ECCO’s development,” Sipress added. “His knowledge and skill clearly played a major role in enhancing the professionalism of the orchestra. He clearly brought together many of the area’s finest musicians as members of the orchestra.
“The region’s repertoire has been significantly widened by ECCO under his direction,” Sipress said.
Lentz added that Lunde “has been the very heart of ECCO” for over a decade, and his leadership has positioned the orchestra to take the next step successfully.
“We know what our standards are and what we’re capable of,” she said.
Conductor has compiled impressive resume
Lunde received his music education at the Conservatory of Music in Oslo, Norway, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and formerly was the principal oboe player of the Norwegian National Opera. He has taught and performed in the United States and Europe, and has made solo appearances with the Bergen and Oslo Philharmonic orchestras and smaller orchestras in Norway, Sweden, Austria and the United States.
Lunde joined the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire music faculty in 1968 and became a charter member of ECCO when the orchestra was organized for the 1998-99 concert season. He conducted his first ECCO concert in May 2000, at the end of the group’s second season, and continued as principal oboe player and part-time conductor until he retired from the university in 2002.
Lunde, a member of the Norwegian Society of Composers, was named ECCO’s music director in February 2004, more than a year after assuming full conducting responsibilities. He has composed well over 100 pieces, and ECCO has premiered many of his works, including several at its annual free Family Concert.
He was conductor and music director of the Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra for close to 10 years, and spent 25 years in the same roles with the Chippewa Valley Youth Symphony. He also conducted the UW-Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra for several years.
Lunde will continue to operate Skyline Studios, which provides audio and video post-production services to area musicians and to a number of national clients. He said he hopes to spend more time on his own videos as he steps back from ECCO, in addition to continuing to compose. He noted that one project could be a series of short videos on local history.
ECCO’s search committee consists of two board members, vice president Brian Larson and secretary Betty Kleemeier, and two musicians, concertmaster Ryan Poquette and Jeanne Kolis, the orchestra’s principal flute player. Lunde will serve in an advisory role with the committee.