Orchestra keeps conductor

SANDUSKY — Firelands Symphony Orchestra's conductor and music director, Carl Topilow, has signed a new three-year contract, keeping him at the conductor's podium through the 2024-25 season. "I'm proud of what we have accomplished during my time with the orchestra, and I look forward to continuing to bring the finest in symphonic music to northern Ohio," Topilow said. Since becoming the orchestra's music director in 2009, Topilow has raised the orchestra's quality, brought in prominent guest artists and succeeded in boosting the number of orchestra subscribers. The orchestra's board of directors is pleased that Topilow has agreed to continue at the helm, board president said Nick Mendenhall said. "On behalf of the (orchestra's) board and staff, we are pleased that Carl will continue to help us with our mission to enrich lives through music!" Mendenhall said. Meanwhile, Topilow is an active conductor for many other orchestras, too. He continues to conduct the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, which he founded, and the Pops Youth Orchestra. During the current concert season, he has guest conductor gigs lined up with the Toledo Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, the Holland (Michigan) Symphony and Heights Chamber Orchestra in Ohio. He's roamed the world as a guest conductor, leading more than 125 different orchestras in 37 states and 12 foreign countries. His recent book on how to be a conductor, "The Orchestral Conductor's Career Handbook," is endorsed by conductors such as Leonard Slatkin and Gerard Schwarz. Meanwhile, orchestra officials continue their search for a new executive director. The most recent executive director, Tricia Applegate, left at the end of July to become director of Freed Performing Arts Center at Ohio Northern University. Applegate had run the orchestra for more than two years, helping it get through the pandemic and storm damage at the orchestra's normal concert venue, Sandusky State Theatre. Orchestra spokesman Brandon Wurgess said the search for Applegate's replacement is ongoing, though there's little to report yet. "We are still gathering and reviewing applicants," he said. Information about the orchestra's new concert season is available at firelandssymphony.com.