Foreign musicians auditioning for new BPO members

BPO Chief Conductor Gabriel Feltz is in Belgrade again and, in addition to the concert he is preparing with the orchestra, he is also busy with many auditions taking place this week at the Belgrade Philharmonic – first for new members in the positions of the principal trumpet and the principal trombone, and then for the selection of a young conductor to represent Serbia in the international project The Conductors’ Forum.

The Belgrade-based orchestra has reinforced from the United Kingdom – trombonist Richard Wheeler has been selected as the best candidate, while the old BPO member Jovan Savić will be transferred from the second to the principal trumpet. Many musicians from abroad – Spain, Italy, Brazil, Slovenia, Hungary – competed for these positions, hoping to continue their careers in the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra.

Fascinated by the orchestra’s performance level and its energy and enthusiasm, Richard Wheeler applied for the audition after he had heard a BPO recording from the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, from September 2016. A trombonist of impressive biography, Wheeler has cooperated with renowned houses such as the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, La Scala and many others, and is expected to join the BPO early next year.

In the upcoming days, a great opportunity will also be given to young conductors. Gabriel Feltz will choose the Serbian representative for the international Conductors’ Forum, the support platform for future generations of conductors. Many former scholarship recipients of the Conductors’ Forum now occupy distinguished positions in the international music scene. One of them is Chief Conductor Gabriel Feltz, who takes the credit for the fact that the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra is joining this respectable project, scheduled in June 2018.