VA conductor tapped for showcase

Benjamin Rous, associate conductor of the Virginia Symphony of Hampton Roads, is one of six selected to perform in the 2013 Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview, the League of American Orchestras’ biennial showcase of young conducting talent.

The concert, with the Jacksonville (FL) Symphony, will take place on March 13.

Rous, an alumnus of Harvard University and the University of Michigan who also is a violinist, harpsichordist and composer, joined the Virginia Symphony in 2010. He served for two seasons as assistant conductor of the Phoenix Symphony, and since 2000 has performed with the Arcturus Chamber Ensemble of Carlisle, MA.

Others selected for the showcase are Joshua David Gersen, music director of the New York Youth Symphony and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Conducting Fellow of the New World Symphony of Miami; Keitaro Harada, assistant conductor of the Arizona Opera and music director of the Phoenix Youth Symphony; Gavriel Heine, staff conductor at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, and music director of the Northern Lights Festival Opera in Minnesota; Vladimir Kulenovic, associate conductor of the Utah Symphony & Utah Opera; and Sameer Patel, assistant conductor of the Fort Wayne (IN) Philharmonic.