Charlotte Symphony locks in conductor through its 100th season. ‘Sends a message’
Raise the baton and cue the timpani — the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra announced it extended music director Kwamé Ryan’s contract a year early, ensuring the Grammy-winning conductor will lead the orchestra through its centennial season in 2032.
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Ryan is in the third year of his contract. On Tuesday, the Charlotte Symphony said it had signed the maestro to another four-year deal, which will take him through the 2031-32 season. The orchestra was founded in 1932.
“This early renewal sends a message and creates a platform of stability for the orchestra and for me and the entire organization to build to the 100th anniversary,“ Ryan told The Charlotte Observer in a Zoom interview from his home in southwest Germany. “It’s just a really fun place to work, and that’s something I do not at all take for granted in this profession.”
Orchestra leaders were just as effusive in their praise of Ryan, the 12th conductor in CSO history.
“Kwamé brings an incredible sense of creative energy, collaboration and possibility to the Charlotte Symphony,” orchestra CEO David Fisk and board Chair Ulrike Miles said in a statement. “Extending his tenure now allows us to confidently build on that foundation as we look ahead to our 100th anniversary.”
Terms of the contract were not released.
But it already has been a big year for Ryan.
He made his Met Opera debut at Lincoln Center in New York City over the winter, conducting the Gershwins’ “Porgy and Bess” and presiding over the final performance of opera giant Denyce Graves’ storied career.
And in February, Ryan became the Charlotte Symphony’s first conductor to win a Grammy Award, for Best Opera Recording with the Houston Grand Opera’s recording of Jake Heggie’s “Intelligence.”
Ryan will open the CSO’s 2026–27 Classical Series Oct. 9-10 with Levi Taylor’s “One Foot After The Other,” Barber’s Piano Concerto, featuring pianist Orion Weiss, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade.”
Ryan considers Charlotte just as much his home as the one he was speaking from in Germany, on the edge of the Black Forest. During his chat with the Observer, Ryan touched on his strong bonds with the orchestra’s musicians, what he wants to improve on and what the future may hold. Comments have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Why was this a good time now to sign on early, and extend for another four years?
“I’m just keenly aware, and I think David (Fisk) and the board are also aware, of one of the conditions that is particularly conducive to growth in any organization, but particularly in an orchestra, is stability. I love working with the orchestra, and the artistic partnership with (resident conductor) Chris James Lees, and I feel really well-supported by the executive team and the remarkable workplace culture that David has cultivated.
“As far as the city is concerned, I fell in love with Charlotte pretty much the first week I was there. I feel so at home, whether I’m on the podium or just sort of in town and in my life. And I would say in general, when you enter a relationship with an orchestra, you’re kind of always thinking long-term. It feels natural to formalize that with a contract extension. When you work with people that you like and respect and trust, that’s probably a place you should stick around. That’s how I feel about the CSO.”
How long do you see yourself staying here? Indefinitely? I’m not trying to put you on the spot too much.
“Well, look, the contract extension runs up to the 100th anniversary season, which is 2032, and that seems like a good trajectory. That’s as long as I spent with my last orchestra, so it’s quite a normal kind of situation. But it’s a big deal, you know. It’s a big chunk of my life and also of the organization’s history.”
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Are you already thinking about centennial activities?
“No, but we are making strategic plans that will plow seeds of initiatives, many of which will flower before 2032. But it takes time. None of this happens overnight.”
The orchestra recently came out with its next strategic plan. What are some of the key takeaways that you’ll be able to help implement as you roll into the centennial?
“The core of our strategic plan as artists is to invest strongly in our artistic excellence. That’s the beginning and the end of the on-stage part of an orchestra’s life. Then everything else we do is about how well we can serve the community with that artistic excellence. We definitely want to see growth in that area. And I speak about myself as much as I speak about the orchestra when I speak about growth.
“That’s one of the things that’s really inspired me to stay with the CSO, because I feel like it’s a wonderful place for me to grow in the next six years as well. In terms of our community engagement, I personally am going to be more involved in the coming seasons in our youth programs. I’m also excited about our incipient music and wellness initiative, which is as much about how the music we make can bring psychological, physical, social wellness to the community as it is about how we as performing artists look after ourselves and invest in our own longevity in our craft.”
You touched on this earlier, the special bond you have with the musicians. Can you elaborate on that?
“One thing is that we have really excellent musical chemistry, and that starts, for example, with the list of works they would like to play in future seasons. And this is so easy to make these wishes come true. Our musical tastes are similar. We read each other very well on the stage, so I feel like I speak their language and they speak mine. But then, on a deeper level, and this is quite rare in my experience, these are people that I would happily hang out with (after hours).”
As you look upon the upcoming season and further down the line, are there specific areas where you would like to see yourself and the orchestra improve?
“Artistically, my goals remain consistent. It’s always about programming compelling and innovative experiences. We’re investing in excellence at every level of that process. Beyond the stage, I have a long history of working with youth orchestras and a lot of my musical education happened in playing in youth orchestras. So I want to invest in the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestras. And of course, everything we do has some sort of aspect of audience building and community development.
Is there anything else you want to add, Kwamé? Something I might have missed?
“One piece of my enthusiasm to extend my contract in Charlotte that I haven’t mentioned is my connection with the audience. I just feel so relaxed, and that builds that sense of comfort. Just showing more of my personality on stage to the audience at some point in most programs, and learning what they respond to, and what they perhaps don’t respond to. That is a building of trust, and I really enjoyed that. Where we reached at the end of last season was a big reason for me wanting to continue on.
And I guess the only other thing we didn’t talk about is that this season doesn’t start in Charlotte. It starts in L.A.”
That’s right. You’re making your debut with the LA Philharmonic (Oct. 2-4).
“Yes, which is really special. And there is a little anecdotal link to Charlotte, which is that the program for my LA Phil debut is almost exactly the same program with which I made my debut with the CSO (in 2022.) It’s John Adam’s ‘Short Ride in a Fast Machine’ and then the anchor work is Copland’s Third Symphony. Just the concerto is different.
But I like to think that that nexus, that coincidence, may presage something auspicious, given that it worked rather well in Charlotte. Let’s hope so.”
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