MURRY SIDLIN NAMED DEAN OF SCHOOL OF MUSIC
FOR THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA;
RESIGNS AS RESIDENT CONDUCTOR BUT CONTINUES NERVE ENDINGS

Portland, Ore. .. Murry Sidlin, resident conductor of the Oregon Symphony since 1994, has been appointed the dean of Washington, D.C.'s prestigious Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at The Catholic University of America, he announced today. Sidlin will assume the new position effective Aug. 1, 2002, but will return next season to conduct the Symphony's Nerve Ending series, he said.

Sidlin is the founder and director of the Oregon Symphony Conducting Apprenticeship Program at Pacific University, where he has held the James DePreist Chair in Music, and directs the Symphony's innovative Nerve Endings series.

"In addition to my responsibilities as dean of the school of music it is my intention to develop a wider orchestral constituency for 'Nerve Endings' -style concerts," said Sidlin, "of which I have developed some 19 musical events, including our grandest success, Defiant Requiem. I will continue my 24-year association with the Aspen Festival of Music, as well as maintain artistic direction of the Cascade Festival of Music in Bend, and guest conduct.

"The School of Music at Catholic University offers a broad traditional education but the evolution of the professional musical life in America now demands that students be guided toward more imaginative and inspired originality in terms of using that education," he added. "The School of Music at Catholic University is surrounded by excellent traditional institutions and is poised therefore to be the only one in the region to explode into the present."

Tony Woodcock, president of the Oregon Symphony, said: "This new appointment is a tremendous opportunity for Murry to share his innovative approach to music-making with generations of musicians to come. We are deeply grateful to Murry for his many contributions to the Oregon Symphony over the past seven years and are very pleased he will continue to conduct the Nerve Endings series next season. The apotheosis of Murry's achievements here must be the recent Defiant Requiem," he added, "which has really broken new ground for orchestras in this country."

As the Oregon Symphony's resident conductor, Sidlin also has conducted classical subscription and tour concerts, as well as the all-Baroque, Young People's, Pops, Symphony Sunday and numerous Special Events concerts.

Sidlin said his decision was motivated by a projected lack of funding for the James DePreist Chair of Music at Pacific University and the School of Music at Catholic University presenting him with a rich and enticing opportunity. "All of this, combined with my interest in further professional development, has led to this decision," he said.

The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music claims a distinguished faculty and student proximity to Washington's excellent cultural and research institutions. The faculty features first-chair players with major professional performing organizations such as the National Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.