By Daniel Buckwalter

It was always a stop-gap measure, and now Brian McWhorter feels the work is done.
He announced in February that he was stepping down as executive director of the Oregon Mozart Players after being appointed to the post in May 2023, an unsurprising development given his work schedule at the University of Oregon and Orchestra Next.

Brian McWhorter

He tells Eugene Scene that there will likely be some overlap with his successor, who will be named on April 18 at the OMP’s annual spring concert in the University of Oregon’s Beall Concert Hall, which also will feature the winners of OMP’s young soloists’ competition.

There were, McWhorter notes, three main areas of concern for Oregon Mozart Players when he took the post of executive director three years ago, and each year focused on one of those main areas.

“I felt a little like a band-aid,” he admits.

The first year was all about stabilizing the finances, or “right-sizing the budget.” The Oregon Mozart Players, McWhorter explains, is “a tricky-size kind of ensemble,” a chamber orchestra too small for major projects that a symphony orchestra might tackle, but too large to be playing every two or three weeks.

“Since the pandemic, there were some wild swings,” McWhorter says. “We cut costs across the board.”

Finding a new artistic director was the focus of the second year. Kelly Kuo, OMP’s previous artistic director, signed an extension at the end of the pandemic, but it was understood that he wanted to move on — so the search was on.

Up stepped David Amado, formerly the artistic director and conductor of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra and now in his first year as artistic director at OMP. McWhorter believes OMP hit a home run with this hire.

“David has been such a collaborator,” McWhorter says. “He’s been a dream to work with.” This third year has focused on finding a new executive director, and after the announcement on the 18th, he says he will go back to other priorities.

His plate is full. McWhorter teaches at the University of Oregon’s School of Music and Dance and also is a faculty fellow at the UO’s Clark Honors College. Additionally, he conducts Orchestra Next, which this season began a collaboration with Oregon Contemporary Theatre and next season will begin its 15th year collaborating with Eugene Ballet Company.

The Oregon Mozart Players will play music by Felix Mendelssohn and Ludwig van Beethoven — as well as spotlighting the winners of this year’s young soloists’ competition — at 7:30n p.m. on Saturday, April 18, at the University of Oregon’s Beall Concert Hall.

Ticket information is online at OregonMozartPlayers.org.