No musical administrator is more widely respected or well liked than Ara Guzelimian, who until the end of last year served as senior director and artistic advisor at Carnegie Hall. The programming during Guzelimian's tenure has been fabulous in quality and scope, and the 2007-2008 season, announced this morning, is typical of what he has achieved. The centerpiece is a seventeen-day festival entitled Berlin in Lights, with the Berlin Philharmonic playing alongside a welter of groups in classical, folk, pop, and electronic genres. The festival overlaps with a Thomas Adès residency; the Philharmonic will play a new Adès piece entitled Tevot. Another alluring Berlin program has Kurtág's Stele (also to be done at Juilliard next week) paired with the Mahler Tenth. Guzelimian is now Dean of Juilliard, although he will continue to host Carnegie's Making Music series. Jeremy Geffen, who has lately done imaginative work at the Saint Louis Symphony, is taking Guzelimian's place.
