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 festivalβs Board of Directors named George Hanson as the festivalβs first-ever director beginning July 1 β the day after Hansonβs contract with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra wraps up. Hanson last month performed his final concert as the TSOβs 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,β said Forsythe, the festivalβs founder and board president.
The board gave Hanson a three-year contract. No details were disclosed.
Hanson, who has been involved with the festival since it began three years ago, will be responsible for running the festival. He also will have input at the artistic end, including developing continuity with participating organizations and some thematic programming.
The festival, 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.
βWhen Tucsonβs performers share the stage with vocalists from New Yorkβs Metropolitan Opera and the operas of San Francisco, Chicago and Munich, the artistic impact is magnified tenfold,β said Hanson, whose early career included leading Germanyβs Wuppertal Opera and Orchestra for six seasons and working extensively with vocalists.
Under Hansonβs baton, the TSO has mounted some of the festivalβs biggest events, including Verdiβs Requiem at the inaugural festival in 2013 and Berliozβs βThe Damnation of Faustβ in 2014. This year, the TSO presented Richard Straussβ βDer Rosenkavalierβ and the chamber version of Mahlerβs βDas Lied von der Erde,β a work it will remount in the full orchestral version for the 2016 festival next January.
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com or 573-4642. On Twitter @Starburch