New Director for HRO Appointed

The Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra will get its first new leader in 45 years on July 1, the Office for the Arts and Harvard’s Music Department announced last week.

Federico Cortese—now leader of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and the New England String Ensemble—will replace James Yannatos, who first joined the HRO in 1964.

An eight-member conductor search committee composed of students, faculty, and other stakeholders appointed Cortese to the post from a field of nearly 200 applicants.

“The voices of the students in the orchestra were paramount in everything that we were doing,” said Jack Megan, director of the Office for the Arts and co-chairman of the search committee. The top candidates auditioned for the orchestra by planning and leading an HRO rehearsal.

“[Collecting student feedback] was a very deliberate, thoughtful, and extensive process for hearing what students had to say about rehearsal,” Megan added, citing written surveys of orchestra members, lunch-interviews, and orchestra-wide forums that were organized to gauge student opinion.

“Cortese’s charismatic nature and ability to engage and work with all aspects of the orchestra were breathtaking,” said HRO violinist and search committee member Catherine D. Buzney ’09. “He treated us like professionals, demanding that we push ourselves to achieve a new level of muscianship that is challenging but very much within the capability of the HRO.”

Cortese, who formerly served as assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, said he “understands the dynamics of a student orchestra and how to most effectively work with students who are incredibly dedicated to music but also [have] other academic and extracurricular commitments,” Buzney said. In fact, some current HRO members once played for Cortese as members of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and credit him with motivating them to continue playing music in college.

Buzney also mentioned that Cortese, who fulfills conducting engagements worldwide and has extensive experience planning tours for the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, is especially eager to increase the number of HRO performing tours and to bolster the orchestra’s national and international presence.

“We were looking for a person who could connect with undergraduates and challenge them on a personal basis... Cortese is the perfect match for an orchestra that is craving to be taken to higher levels,” said former HRO president Christine L. Barron ’09.

“We anticipate a powerful commitment to musical excellence and student teaching, as Federico Cortese continues to build upon and expand the strong foundation that Dr. Yannatos has established for the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra over the past 45 years,” said current HRO president Eugene W. Lee ’09.

In addition to his conducting responsibilities with HRO, Cortese will also teach one course per semester as a senior lecturer in the music department, according to department spokesperson Nancy Shafman.

—Staff writer Monica S. Liu can be reached at msliu@fas.harvard.edu.