Oakland Symphony kicks off new period with new music director

Kedrick Armstrong has solely been music director of the Oakland Symphony for six months, however he’s already completed so much.

The 30-year-old conductor, who in April succeeded the late Michael Morgan because the Symphony’s music director and creative chief, has already put his stamp on the group with inventive vitality and spectacular drive.

And as he prepares to make his official debut with the Symphony on Oct. 18 in Oakland’s Paramount Theatre, he says he can’t wait to welcome audiences again to a corporation that has weathered its share of troubles.

Kendrick Armstrong will lead a live performance titled “Inextinguishable Oakland!,” with visitors Allison Miller, John Santos and Meklit. (Scott Chernis/Oakland Symphony) 

“It’s been a whirlwind,” Armstrong mentioned in a latest interview. Nonetheless, the conductor, who additionally serves as Artistic Accomplice and Principal Conductor of Illinois’ Knox-Galesburg Symphony, and has made latest appearances with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Opera Theater of St. Louis, says that he’s feeling nice concerning the job – and looking out ahead to his season-opening program.

Titled “Inextinguishable Oakland!,” it welcomes visitors Allison Miller, John Santos, and Meklit, celebrates the 40-year anniversary of Residing Jazz, encompasses a brief orchestral work by Julia Perry, and caps the night with Carl Nielsen’s Symphony No. 4, “The Inextinguishable.”

Armstrong will conduct 5 subsequent applications within the 24-25 season, together with  “Two Black Churches,” with works by Shawn Okpebholo and Carl Orff (Nov. 8, 2024); “A Tribute to the Legends of Disco” (Dec. 15, 2024); “Forgiveness + Pictures at an Exhibition,” with works by Gabriela Lena Frank, Modest Mussorgsky, and Daniel Bernard Roumain (March 28, 2025); “Paul Robeson: Here I Stand,” with works by Brahms, Jasmine Barnes, and Carlos Simon (Might 16, 2025); and the season finale, that includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and “Mighty River” by Errollyn Wallen (June 13, 2025).

Armstrong recalled that, on his first go to to the Oakland Symphony in 2022, he knew that this was his dream job, at the same time as he knew it was going to be a problem.

“There’s a deep level of care for the arts,” he mentioned of the group, “but there’s also a lot of work to be done – for space, for funding, to connect with our communities. But I have youth on my side.  I’m standing on the shoulders of Calvin Simmons and Michael Morgan.”

Certainly, each Simmons and Morgan have been exemplary leaders throughout their tenures with the Symphony. Armstrong considers Morgan, who died in 2021 after a 30-year tenure with the Symphony, one in every of his all-time heroes; like Morgan, whose applications in Oakland have been usually groundbreaking, Armstrong enjoys a variety of repertoire, from early music to new works.

Born and raised in South Carolina, Armstrong grew up in a household of athletes. “My love of music is still a great mystery,” he mentioned with fun. He remembers his first musical experiences, in church; a little bit later, somebody gave him a toy piano. “I couldn’t play but something about producing sound was so exciting,” he says – a sense that he believes contributed to his work as a conductor. He studied piano, then switched to clarinet, ultimately “working my way through all of the instruments in the band room.”

His first conducting project was in eighth grade; he liked placing teams collectively. Ultimately, he says, “I was able to put a name to it – that you could pursue a career in this. By the time I got to college, I wanted to be a conductor.”

Morgan was a significant affect: Armstrong met him in 2017 as a part of a Chicago fellowship. “I got to assist him,” he remembers. “He was the first professional black conductor I’d ever met. Seeing him work really changed my path.”

As we speak, Armstrong says that Morgan left an indelible legacy in Oakland. “The work’s been done,” he says, “the foundation is great.” And he’s clearly at residence on the orchestra that bears the town’s identify.

“Oakland’s such a beautiful place to be,” he mentioned. “Yes, there are gloom and doom narratives. Yes, Oakland has issues like every city in America.

“But its amount of love and care and beauty and tenacity inspire me to shine all the love and care and talent we can offer. The audience here shows its enthusiasm like no other. Really, I’m so excited to get started.”

OAKLAND SYMPHONY

When: 8 p.m. Oct. 18

The place: Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland

Tickets: Season subscriptions $96-$354, single tickets $25-$90; oaklandsymphony.org.