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Symphonicity selects new director: Air Force veteran Daniel W. Boothe

Virginian-Pilot - 6/9/2017

June 09--VIRGINIA BEACH -- After a worldwide, two-year search, Symphonicity announced today that its new music director will be Daniel W. Boothe, an award-winning musician who served in the Air Force as an officer, conductor and public affairs strategist.

Taking a break from house-hunting with his family in Virginia Beach, Boothe said he was honored and delighted to become the second music director of the Beach community orchestra since David Kunkel helped get it rolling in 1981.

"I couldn't be more excited," Boothe said. "This is the No. 1 thing I could have hoped for."

He said the stability and community support represented by Kunkel's long tenure made the job even more attractive. "I'm humbled to follow him."

After announcing Kunkel's plan to retire, Symphonicity began a "Quest for the Best," drawing 74 applicants from four continents. Five finalists were selected, and they led performances during the 2016-17 season. The opinions of audience members and season subscribers were collected.

Boothe was the first candidate to lead a concert, and joked that as the year drew on he wondered if the hiring committee would remember how he'd done. On the other hand, he appreciated how "it turned the audition process into an event for the community."

As the winner of the marathon, Boothe will take the baton to lead Symphonicity for the 2017-18 season, which begins on Oct. 8.

Boothe, a native of Salisbury, Md., has more than 20 years of award-winning credits as a producer, commissioned composer, performer and conductor. He was a finalist for the American Prize in Orchestral Conducting, and his live and recorded performances for television, radio and Internet broadcasts have reached over 50 million people in 175 countries. In 2007 he received the David Effron Conducting Fellowship from the Chautauqua Institution.

He said his family has lived in Virginia before, and he and his wife and three children love the weather, the military presence, the arts and the variety of offerings in the region.

"We love Virginia," he said.

Rebecca Brown, president of Symphonicity's board of directors, said in a statement: "He is a great match for our musicians, audience and greater community. We are so grateful for the amazing support of our donors and sponsors who made this process possible."

Boothe said his service in the Air Force and training in public relations strategy will help as he works to strengthen the orchestra's bond with the Hampton Roads military community. (Kunkel is a Navy veteran.) He noted that this weekend's Symphonicity performance at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, which will feature vintage planes in the hangars and buzzing about, music and fireworks, has parallels to performances he conducted at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force that included flyovers.

Similarly, he hopes to build on work he did in the Air Force regarding music therapy by nurturing a collaboration with the Sentara Music and Medicine Center through Sentara Healthcare.

In the main, he said, he's eager to share his love of music and vision for the orchestra with Symphonicity's members and audience: "My dream has been to lead an orchestra."

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(c)2017 The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.)

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