MOB hires chorus director; longtime CSO flutist dies
Music of the Baroque has a regular chorus director again for the first time in 2-1/2 years.
Andrew Megill has been named to the post, effective immediately. Megill is professor of conducting and director of choral studies at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
“I’m thrilled to join the Music of the Baroque family, and to become a part of its long legacy of musical excellence,” said Megill in a released statement. “I am excited to collaborate with the singers in the MOB Chorus, who, like their counterparts in the orchestra, are extraordinary musicians and artists, and be a part of a such a storied organization committed to exploring the dramatic energy and spiritual depths of the greatest masterpieces of the Baroque (and beyond!).”
“Andrew Megill’s reputation as a choir trainer, across the United States and indeed beyond, is legendary: he understands voices and how to combine them, and he is a formidable musician, “ said music director Dame Jane Glover. “He and I have in the past collaborated on other projects, and I could not be more delighted now to welcome him to the MOB team.”
In addition to preparing the ensemble for all choral programs—including next week’s season finale—Megill will conduct the annual holiday brass and choral concerts, as he did last December in his MOB debut.
Megill succeeds William Jon Gray who retired in 2019 after nine years as MOB’s chorus director.
____________
Donald Peck, former principal flutist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, passed away last week, age 92.
The Washington state native was appointed CSO’s assistant principal flute by Fritz Reiner in 1957. He was promoted by the mercurial conductor to first chair the following year, a position he held for over 40 years.
Prized for his airtight technique and lustrous tone, Peck appeared as soloist on more than 120 concerts under 25 conductors, including music directors Reiner, Jean Martinon, Sir Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim.
A remembrance by CSO archivist Frank Villella has been posted at cso.org.
Posted in News
Leave a Comment
Subscribe via RSS.