NSO taps Fischer as interim chief

Iván Fischer will serve for two seasons as principal conductor of Washington’s National Symphony while the orchestra searches for a successor to Leonard Slatkin as music director.

Fischer, founder and director of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, was named the NSO’s principal guest conductor last season. He will conduct for eight weeks in 2008-09, seven weeks in 2009-10.

The NSO joins other major American orchestras – Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit – that have opted for several seasons of interim leadership while they search for new music directors.

Slatkin steps down as music director of the NSO at the end of the 2007-08 season.