Thierry Fischer, conductor and music director of the Utah Symphony, will become the new principal conductor of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra.
The orchestra in Brazil’s largest city announced the appointment Monday.
Fischer, who has led the Utah Symphony since the fall of 2009, announced in May that he will be stepping down when his contract is up in August 2022.
Fischer will start his new job in São Paulo in March 2020, meaning that for two years he will be splitting his time between Utah and Brazil.
The São Paulo orchestra, OSESP for short, said Fischer will conduct there for eight weeks in 2020, and 12 weeks the years after that. He succeeds Marin Alsop, who will take the title conductor emeritus.
Fischer appeared as a guest conductor in São Paulo in September 2018, leading one of his signature works, Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique.” He will make his first appearance as that orchestra’s conductor-designate on July 9, conducting Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis,” as part of the 20th anniversary celebration for the orchestra’s home, Sala São Paulo.
In a statement, the Swiss-born Fischer said finding OSESP was a “coup de foudre,” or love at first sight.
“I was instantly excited by these players who have an infectious ambition to be the best example of what an orchestra can be in the 21st century,” Fischer said. “I felt this from my first rehearsal with them and felt instantly connected to their aversion to repeating what’s been done before or doing things for the sake of it.”
When Fischer announced he is leaving Utah, the symphony said he may return to conduct from time to time, as music director emeritus.
