Jack Forsythe had anticipated it would take five years before the Tucson Desert Song Festival needed an executive director.
But three festivals in and that moment has arrived.
On Monday, the TDSF Board of Directors named George Hanson as its first ever festival director beginning July 1 β the day after Hanson's contract with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra wraps up. Hanson this month performed his final concert as the TSO's music director, a position he held for 19 years.
βItβs a big step for us. Itβs a measure of the fact that artistically this has grown a lot faster than we thought it would," said Forsythe, the festival's founder and board president. "We have had a pretty good reception here in Tucson."
Hanson will be responsible for running the festival and will have input at the artistic end, including developing continuity with participating organizations and some thematic programming.
The TDSF, held for three weekends beginning in late January, provides funding to bring in up-and-coming singers who have growing reputations on world stages. Participating groups include the TSO, Tucson Guitar Society, Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music and True Concord Voices and Orchestra β formerly Tucson Chamber Artists.
βIβm a real believer in this entire concept," said Hanson, who has been involved with the festival since it began three years ago. "Organizations like the TSO are really forced to make decisions that often do not incorporate bringing major singers to work with them. And along comes some people who absolutely believe that great singing is worth what it costs and we just have to figure out a way to bring it because it enriches the community here. Thatβs exactly what happened."
Under Hanson's baton, the TSO has mounted some of the festival's biggest events including Verdi's Requiem at the inaugural festival in 2013 and Berlioz's "The Damnation of Faust" in 2014. This year, the TSO presented Richard Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier" and the chamber version of Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde," a work they will remount in the full orchestral version for the 2016 festival next January.
"I'm pleased for George because I think it's such a good opportunity for him. He's a fixture in Tucson and this allows him to spend more time in Tucson," said TSO President/CEO Mark Blakeman. "We already have a great relationship with the Tucson Desert Song Festival and, if anything, this gives us another point of contact that should deepen our relationship."
Forsythe said the board signed a three-year contract with Hanson, who he said will help take the festival to the next level.
βFrom an artistic perspective, itβs been really, really very rewarding. Itβs grown much faster than we thought," he said. "I made it very clear from the start that I donβt think an organization is really going to become a lasting institution unless you have new people coming in all the time to lead it.β
Other highlights of the 2016 season include a collaboration between the Tucson Guitar Society and Tucson Ballet and the introduction of the Arizona Early Music Society as a festival presenter.
