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91_HR0759
LRB9113712KBkb
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, Kenneth Kiesler is a name familiar to music
3 lovers in the State of Illinois as the music director of the
4 Illinois Symphony Orchestra; and
5 WHEREAS, Kenneth Kiesler was born in New York City and
6 raised in Nanuet, New York; he received his Bachelor of Music
7 in Music History and Performance from the University of New
8 Hampshire, and his Master of Music in Orchestra Conducting
9 from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University; he
10 received a Fellowship in Orchestra Conducting and was later a
11 member of the faculty of the Aspen Music School; and
12 WHEREAS, In addition, Kenneth Kiesler studied at the
13 Academia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy; he studied at
14 Indiana University, and at the age of 23 became the youngest
15 conductor of a full production, Cosi fan Tutte, in the
16 history of the Indiana University Opera Theatre; his teachers
17 have included John Nelson, Fiora Contino, Julius Herford, and
18 James Winner; he has participated in courses led by Erich
19 Leinsdorf and Carlo Maria Giulini; Mr. Kiesler was one of
20 four American conductors who received a special invitation to
21 work with Pierre Boulez and his Ensemble InterContemporain
22 during the festivities celebrating the Centenary of Carnegie
23 Hall; and
24 WHEREAS, Kenneth Kiesler was the recipient of the 1988
25 Helen M. Thompson Award, presented by the American Symphony
26 Orchestra League to the outstanding American Music Director
27 under the age of 35; and he was the winner of the silver
28 medal at the 1986 Leopold Stokowski Conducting Competition at
29 Avery Fisher Hall; and
30 WHEREAS, He has held the positions of music director of
31 the South Bend Symphony and the Congress of Strings, and
32 principal conductor of the St. Cecilia Orchestra of New York;
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1 he is the founder and director of The Conductors Retreat at
2 Medomak; and
3 WHEREAS, Kenneth Kiesler has conducted the Jerusalem
4 Symphony and Haifa Symphony in Israel; he has conducted the
5 Osaka Philharmonic in Japan; he has conducted the Puerto Rico
6 Symphony in San Juan; and he has conducted the Pusan Symphony
7 and a benefit for UNICEF in Korea; he has appeared with the
8 Chicago Symphony at Orchestra Hall and the National Symphony
9 at Kennedy Center; he has appeared with the Detroit, Utah,
10 Grand Rapids, Richmond, New Jersey, Florida, Indianapolis,
11 and San Diego symphonies; he has appeared with the orchestras
12 of Long Island, Fresno, Virginia, Albany, Omaha, and
13 Portland; and he has appeared with the Texas Chamber
14 Orchestra in Houston, the Ohio Chamber Orchestra in
15 Cleveland, the Omaha Chamber Orchestra, and the summer
16 festivals of Meadowbrook, Skaneateles, Sewanee, Breckenridge,
17 and Aspen; and
18 WHEREAS, Mr. Kiesler has led the Illinois Symphony
19 Orchestra for twenty years; he has led the Orchestra through
20 many achievements, including the establishment of the
21 Illinois Chamber Orchestra, the 1987 New York debut of the
22 Orchestra at Lincoln Center, and a 1990 appearance at
23 Carnegie Hall; he founded the Illinois Symphony Chorus; he
24 oversaw the first local television and national radio
25 broadcasts by the Orchestra; he launched the indoor pops
26 concerts and Pops Under the Stars; he began the tradition of
27 "Concert Comments"; and he has also served as Professor of
28 Conducting and Director of the University Orchestras at the
29 University of Michigan since the 1995-1996 season; and
30 WHEREAS, It is with great sadness that we have learned of
31 the retirement of Kenneth Kiesler as the conductor of the
32 Illinois Symphony Orchestra, after twenty years of bringing
33 out the best in each performance; therefore, be it
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1 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
2 NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
3 we congratulate Kenneth Kiesler on his retirement from the
4 Illinois Symphony Orchestra and wish him well in his future
5 endeavors; and be it further
6 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
7 presented to Kenneth Kiesler, along with our sincere regards.