by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra (JSO) 2008-09 season opens Sept. 19 with a collaboration between the orchestra and the Alhambra Dinner Theater for four performances of “West Side Story.” Six days later, the JSO will return to the classical genre when this season’s Masterworks Series debuts with Sibelius’ Violin Concerto featuring guest artist Sarah Chang.
A few days after that, Stacy Ridenour, the JSO’s new executive director, will arrive for her first day at work in the orchestra’s suite of offices at the Times-Union Center.
Since 1998, Ridenour has held a similar position with the Kalamazoo (Mich.) Symphony Orchestra. During her tenure, the orchestra grew by 10 fully-endowed musician positions and added $4 million to its existing endowment while expanding the organization’s educational and community outreach programs.
Before Ridenour worked in Kalamazoo, she was vice president and general manager of the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Symphony. She holds a Master of Arts Administration degree from New York University and has served as an adjunct faculty member at Western Michigan University.
Ridenour said a variety of factors entered into her decision to make the move to Florida and the JSO. One of the first that came to her mind was the impending winter. Born in Montana, educated in New York and having lived in Michigan for the past 20 years, she hasn’t spent any winters wearing shorts every now and then.
“I’ve done snow my entire life,” she said.
There were other connections, too, including that Ridenour’s husband, Rich, is a touring concert pianist and performed as a guest artist with the JSO three years ago. In 2005, JSO Music Director Fabio Mechetti was guest conductor with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra.
“Fabio came to Kalamazoo and it was a great week,” remembered Ridenour. “He is also very dedicated to the community. We share that.”
She also said she’s impressed with the JSO talent and dedication as well as the music selected for the upcoming season.
“The programming is geared to a broad spectrum of the community. One of my goals is to build a strong team as well as build more public support. Jacksonville already has a good team and I’m bringing the things that worked in Kalamazoo,” said Ridenour.
Jim Van Vleck, chair of the Jacksonville Symphony Association Board of Directors, said Ridenour’s arrival comes at the perfect time for the future of the symphony.
“It’s got all the right feel to it,” said Van Vleck, who added the contentious contract negotiations between management and the musician’s union actually served to strengthen the organization. “Last year was a near-death experience. We have a new resolve to never let that happen again. The symphony wasn’t far from stepping off the cliff, but now we have five years of labor stability ahead of us. We all learned during the recent ordeal that we have to be a team in order to get the orchestra where we want it to be. It’s an opportunity to take what we feel is a very good orchestra and turn it into a great orchestra. We have all the parts in place. Now it’s time to make them all work together.”
Ridenour already knows what her first steps will be when she takes over Oct. 6 as the JSO’s new executive director.
“I’ve been given a very clear direction from the board that includes artistic goals as well as fiscal goals,” she said. “And I’m sure I’ll be doing quite a bit of fundraising. The first step is to get out and meet people and listen to what they have to say about the kind of symphony orchestra they want for Jacksonville.”
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