Final conductor candidate Seaton to lead Auburn Symphony performance

The Auburn Symphony, under the direction of Scott Seaton, will perform Sunday, Feb. 27, at 3 p.m. at the Placer High School Auditorium. Seaton is the last of three candidates for the symphony's position of music director and conductor. Seaton is in his seventh season as music director of the North State Symphony in Northern California and has been compared to a young Leonard Bernstein. Seaton won the 2011 INTERAKTION conducting competition in Berlin and the following year was a semifinalist in the Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition in Frankfurt, Germany. Featuring Evan Kahn on cello, the program will include "The School for Scandal Overture," composed by Samuel Barber in 1931; "Kol Nidrei," composed by Max Bruch in 1881; and "Symphony No. 3 in C major," composed by Jean Sibelius in 1907. Seaton's program notes describe Barber's composition as a "fast-paced rhythmic excitement along with very elegant melodic writing." Of "Kol Nidrei," Seaton notes, "Music to make our souls sing, a rich and evocative work." And of the Sibelius says, "A work brimming with nature-inspired melodies, optimistic brass and a joyously sunny conclusion." Sandwiched around the performance is a pre-concert talk by Seaton at 2:15 p.m. and a Q&A session at 4 p.m. AUBURN SYMPHONY What: Finalist Series Concert III When: Sunday, Feb. 27, 3 p.m. Pre-concert talk at 2:15 p.m., Q&A at 4 p.m. Where: Placer High School Auditorium Tickets: http://www.auburnsymphony.com/ or call 530-823-6683. No tickets sold at door. Proof of vaccine and masks required. Note from Auburn Symphony Executive Director Anne Brown: We are asking patrons to help us make the decision about our new music director and conductor. The concert program will contain a note section and questions for patrons, and we will seek input via an online survey after each concert. At the end of the series, a short survey will ask for a ranking of the three candidates. The musicians will complete more extensive surveys, of course, as their experience in rehearsal is key for us to understand and evaluate.