Daniel Meyer lends a helping hand, and ear

The gregarious Daniel Meyer, outgoing resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony and outgoing music director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, will soon be moving on to other cities (Erie, where he is music director of the Erie Philharmonic and Asheville, where he leads the Asheville Symphony Orchestra) as he builds what will surely be a big career.

But he isn't cutting ties quite yet (not to mention that his wife, the violist Mary Persin, is from Greensburg): the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra just announced that it has appointed Meyer as artistic adviser for the 2010-11 season.

"Daniel will oversee the artistic leadership of the WSO as the board reviews possible successors to music director Kypros Markou, who will be leaving the orchestra after 31 years following the 2009-2010 season," a presser stated. "His duties with the Westmoreland Symphony include programming for the 2010-11 season, hearing auditions for new musicians and overseeing the artistic development of the WSO during this transition year. Daniel will conduct the WSO at its opening night classical concert in late October of 2010, the Young People’s Concerts and the Home for the Holidays concert."

It almost seems Meyer is a candidate himself! Who knows, maybe he is, but Meyer already is pretty busy. In any case, The WSO will invite music director candidates to conduct the remaining classical concerts of the season.