K-W Symphony Renews Andrei Feher’s Contract as Music Director

The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony is happy to announce the extension of Andrei Feher’s contract as Music Director to the end of the 2026/27 season. Currently in his third season with the KWS, Feher became Music Director in 2018. His current contract was through to the conclusion of the 2022/23 season.

Since becoming Music Director Feher has had a tremendous impact on the KWS, taking the orchestra to new heights artistically and winning the affection of audiences young and old. His exceptional musical gifts and special relationship with KWS musicians has been coupled with an authentic personality which has bloomed in his first seasons with the orchestra, in programs as diverse as Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony, the opera Carmen, the film ET, and a collaboration with First Nations artist iskwe. He has also demonstrated his commitment to the whole range of KWS programming, appearing with the orchestra in concerts for families and schools, as well as the Baroque & Beyond series in churches across the region.

“To be able to grow with the orchestra and the musicians and to push ourselves to new and exciting places creatively and artistically has been incredibly rewarding for me,” commented Feher. “From the beginning I’ve felt so welcomed and it has been a pleasure to build relationships with the musicians, the audience, and the community. Our journey together is well underway, and I’m grateful and eager to have the opportunity to continue building on the foundation we’ve established.”

In recent seasons Feher has guest conducted orchestras in Japan, UK, France, Romania, and across Canada. 

With the recent announcement of Gurpreet Chana as the KWS’s Artist in Residence for the next eighteen months and the appointment of Christopher Hastings as the new Artistic Administrator on the KWS staff, the reshaped artistic team looks forward to new opportunities for the orchestra’s work on the concert platform and the wider community.

Board Chair Heather Galt expressed her delight that Andrei will extend his contract with the KWS: "It has been a thrill to watch how Andrei and the orchestra have developed together since he made his debut as a guest conductor in 2016 and then took on the role of Music Director. Andrei has committed himself wholeheartedly to the KWS and our work across the community, and we look forward to many more adventures in the seasons ahead."

At the end of a particularly challenging season where traditional in-person concerts were not permitted, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony still has many successes to celebrate. With the advantage of having one of the largest stages in Canada at its home venue, Centre In The Square, they were able to fit a larger orchestra onstage with two metre spacing between all musicians and plexiglass barriers between the wind players. This allowed for bigger, more varied concerts during a time when many orchestras have been limited to chamber music and small ensembles. In total over the course of the 2020/21 Season, the KWS staged 12 full-orchestra online programs, selling over 3,500 tickets which represent 7,000 audience members tuning in to the paid streams. 

In addition, the KWS also offered many free online concerts, including three Kinderconcerts for young children, one Family Series concert, two Community Outreach concerts, and one concert designed for schools, garnering tens of thousands of views. The Connecting Through Music program offered complimentary online concerts to local retirement residences, enabling hundreds of residents to experience the joy of music during a time where they have been extremely isolated.

The KWS would like to thank the following sponsors: BMO Financial Group: Music Director Podium Sponsor; Exel Research Inc.: Programming Sponsor; Heffner Lexus: Pops Series Sponsor; Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc.: Family Series Sponsor; Karen Wilkinson: Baroque & Beyond Series Sponsor; Dr. Desta Leavine: Podium Sponsor.

For enquiries or to arrange interviews, please email abennett@kwsymphony.on.ca