Roger Kalia named Music Director of Indiana's Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra

Indian American conductor Roger Kalia has been named Music Director of the 87 year-old Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra (EPO) in Indiana today. The orchestra, the largest arts organization in the tri-state area (where the states of Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois intersect), announced the appointment via a Zoom press conference at 4:00 PM Central Time/5:00 PM Eastern Time rather than in person -as has become the norm in recent days as a result of COVID-19 and safe social distancing practices. It is Kalia's second music directorship in as many years.

Mr. Kalia said of the new post, “I am honored to be named Music Director of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. This is an innovative and passionate organization with deep roots in the community, and I look forward to being a part of the meaningful, collaborative community connections the EPO offers through its concerts, outreach and family, youth and education offerings. The 2020-21 season promises to be exciting and engaging, and I cannot wait to share this music with you in the concert hall beginning this fall.”

Kalia begins his tenure with the EPO in fall 2020 as he leaves California's Pacific Symphony, where he served for five years as Music Director of its Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra and served a three-and-a-half-year tenure as the orchestra’s Assistant Conductor before being promoted in early 2019 to Associate Conductor. Kalia was named Music Director of New Hampshire’s 97-year-old orchestra Symphony NH (Symphony New Hampshire) in May 2019, following an 18 month search. He has served as Music Director of California’s Orchestra Santa Monica since 2018 and is also Music Director and co-founder of the celebrated two-week Lake George Music Festival in upstate New York, which celebrates its tenth anniversary in August 2020.

A dynamic and innovative presence both on and off the podium, Roger Kalia is a respected collaborator with orchestras and artists alike, known for his eloquent and compelling interpretations, and for bringing a “fresh view to classical music.”

Highlights of Kalia’s 2019-20 season include two orchestra premieres with Symphony NH: American composer Chris Rogerson’s Luminosity and Jacobson / Aghaei's Ascending Bird; his debut with Ohio's Lima Symphony; and with Orchestra Santa Monica a collaboration with pianist / composer Murray Hidary in a unique, multi-sensory concert. He led Pacific Symphony’s first-ever Dia de los Muertos concerts featuring a variety of groups from around the community, and also a reprise of the successful 2018 benefit concert “From Classical to Rock,” featuring John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls, Nancy Wilson of Heart, singer / television personality Randy Jackson, and Madonna’s long-time guitarist Monte Pittman with musicians from the China Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing, China.

Recent guest engagements include the symphony orchestras of Bakersfield, Spokane, Redlands and Wheeling, the Comarda Chamber Orchestra, and Poland's Szczecin Phllharmonic.

Details of Mr. Kalia's upcoming 2020-21 season engagements with the Evansville Philharmonic, along with his other orchestras and future guesting, may be found on his website: www.rogerkalia.com.