Santa Fe Opera announces 2011 season, hires Frederic Chaslin as new chief conductor

Santa Fe Opera hires new chief conductor

SANTA FE, N.M. — French conductor, composer, pianist and author Frederic Chaslin has been hired as the new chief conductor of the Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico.

The opera’s general director, Charles MacKay, introduced Chaslin during a new conference Tuesday. He says the conductor’s three-year appointment will end a nearly two-year search that included extensive conversations with orchestra members, artists and other leaders in the music field.

Chaslin will start Oct. 1. He fills the spot left vacant when Edo de Waart resigned at the end of the 2008 season.

The opera also announced its 2011 season on Tuesday.

Chaslin will open the next season with a new production of Charles Gounod’s “Faust.” That will be followed by four other productions, including the first major U.S. production of Antonio Vivaldi’s “Griselda.”