Former Heavy Metal Guitarist Becomes New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's Music Director
May 18, 2007Stuff.co.nz reports that a 27-year-old Finnish former heavy metal guitarist and footballer is the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's new music director.
Pietari Inkinen (web site),who has replaced British conductor James Judd, conducted his first orchestra at the age of 14 and is the youngest person to hold the key NZSO position since the 1950s.
Inkinen, whose appointment was announced in Auckland yesterday, made it clear his heavy metal days were over.
"They were always activities at school — parties and discos — and it was my band that played. We played heavy stuff."
But Inkinen still plays football, which he has loved since he was a child - and found analogies between being a conductor and playing the game. For one, he did not believe conductors should behave like dictators but "like a good coach," he said.
NZSO chief executive Peter Walls said the appointment was part of a global trend for younger directors.
He said New Zealanders had been considered, but the orchestra needed the best it could get with international experience.
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