After 21 years, Mark Laycock’s baton passes, but to whom?
By: Nick Norlen
Unresolved contract differences between the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and longtime Music Director Mark Laycock have resulted in the end his tenure as the conductor there.
His departure will cause the symphony to rely on guest conductors for the first time in its history during its upcoming season, while it searches for a new conductor.
The orchestra board announced Mr. Laycock’s departure Wednesday, issuing a statement praising him for the success and expansion of the organization during his 21 years as music director.
Mr. Laycock became conductor in 1986 when he took over the orchestra then known as The Chamber Symphony of Princeton after the death of its founder, Portia Sonnenfeld.
Mr. Laycock did not return phone calls seeking comment. But his attorney, Peter O’Neill, said Thursday that Mr. Laycock has plans to move on and is "working on a very large and special project."
However, he declined to comment on Mr. Laycock’s discussions with the orchestra.
Princeton Symphony Orchestra Executive Director Melanie Clarke said Mr. Laycock’s departure has been "emergent since the spring," when contract renewal negotiations began.
"During the negotiations, I think both parties realized that the time had come to make a change," she said, "to provide growth and development on both sides after 21 years."
Despite "attempts to come to an agreement," one could not be reached, she said.
"Our board has great respect for his artistic vision and that was not an area of disagreement in the negotiations," she said. "He’s a really gifted musician and he’s very imaginative and there’s no question that the symphony has had a great run with Mark."
However, neither Ms. Clarke nor board President Caren Sturges would identify the sticking points of the contract renewal.
"We’re very sensitive to the fact that people will be asking," Ms. Clark said. "We want to really protect the confidentiality of the agreement."
The only contract that will be signed now is a "separation agreement," Ms. Sturges said.
She called the failure to agree on a contract that keeps Mr. Laycock as the conductor "disappointing," noting that his tenure saw the expansion of the orchestra’s concert season and an improvement in the overall quality of the performances.
"We do more concerts and I think we do more interesting concerts," she said. "He has led us into many areas that we weren’t in."
Ms. Clarke said the next step will be a board retreat in early September, led by American Symphony Orchestra League President Henry Fogel, for the purpose of "reviewing our own artistic vision and coming up with a profile of what we’ll be looking for."
The search process for a new conductor will be chaired by orchestra board member Robert Annis, Dean and Director of Rider University’s Westminster Choir College.
For the 2007-2008 season, the orchestra will rely on guest conductors, who will be announced next week, Ms. Clarke said.
"I think we have a very exciting group of young and mature conductors that we will be working with next year," she said. "I think it will be a very interesting season."
Interesting, Ms. Clarke said, because "we haven’t done this ever in the history of orchestra. We’re learning a bit on this."
Some of those guest conductors could even be candidates for the open position, Ms. Clarke said.
"There are some who are going to be candidates by virtue of where they are in their careers and they probably will fit the profile we come up with," she said.
Nevertheless, a new conductor isn’t likely to be appointed until the 2008-2009 season, she said.
"We do expect the search to go as long as need be to come up with the right person for our community and our orchestra," she said.
Ms. Sturges said the they will be looking and listening closely to the guest conductors.
"How they interact with the orchestra, I think, is going to be a very, very good learning experience for our board and I think it’s going to be exiting for the musicians to have an experience with someone else, because we have never had a guest conductor," she said.

