OLEAN, N.Y. — The second in a series of guest conductor-led programs will performed this weekend as the Southern Tier Symphony seeks a new leader.
This weekend’s performances — at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Olean High School and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Bromeley Theater at the University of Pittsburgh Bradford, Pa. — will showcase the skills of Dr. Daniel Bassin, a conductor, composer, trumpeter and educator living in Buffalo.
The concert will feature classic pieces from German Romantic composers. The concert will open with “O namenlose Freude” from Ludwig van Beethoven’s opera “Fidelio”; include Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll,” a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra from which parts were incorporated into his operatic “Der Ring des Nibelungen“ cycle; and finish with Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, often called the Scottish symphony, which is in four movements.
The live audition for the post of music director and conductor is the second of three, said Kim Whitney, executive director of the symphony and widow of the former music director, John Whitney.
“They are all equally talented, educated,” Whitney said. “It’s going to be a very difficult decision, and I’m glad I’m not the only one to make it.”
Symphony officials are seeking input from the audiences to help make the final decision, with a question-and-answer session before the concerts so fans can get to know Bassin and the other candidates before their debuts with the symphony.
Bassin is music director and conductor of the SUNY Buffalo State College Philharmonia and also at Buffalo’s Unitarian Universalist Church. He served as music director of the University at Buffalo Symphony Orchestra from 2010 to 2016, and this year joins the faculty of Buffalo’s Nichols School. Officials said he came to the area after five years with the American Symphony Orchestra in New York. He boasts several accomplishments, including leading groups in 37 countries and 42 states.
The symphony’s 14th season began in September. The first concert series was led by Benjamin Grow, with the final series to be performed the weekend of May 6 and led by Nicholas DelBello. All three series feature performances at Olean High and at Pitt-Bradford.
Officials said the field was narrowed to six candidates, and after interviews Bassin, Grow and DelBello were invited to conduct concerts of their choosing.
