LOCAL

Wallace retires as local orchestra's director

Ben Steelman StarNews Staff
Reed Wallace was the Wilmington Symphony's first full-time executive director. [Photo courtesy of the Wilmington Symphony]

For the first time in this century, the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra is looking for a new executive director.

Reed Wallace, who had held the post since 2000, officially retired on New Year's Eve.

"The Wilmington Symphony would not be what it is today without Reed," said the orchestra's board chairman, Bob Austin. "We're sad to see him go."

Wallace, who holds both an MBA and a master of music degree, put the orchestra on a sound financial footing and debt free, Austin said. "He's been a wonderful leader," he added.

Wallace said he was proud of the recent 20 percent growth in attendance at WSO concerts, which has enabled to orchestra to expand its staff. "We're playing with a deeper bench now," he said.

Part of that growth can be attributed to the WSO's pop concerts and other outreach programs, but also the orchestra's moving its home base to the Wilson Center at Cape Fear Community College.

"The full orchestra shell (at the Wilson Center) has been a major plus," Wallace said. "Players can hear the rest of the orchestra better and play better. Having a lobby as wide as a city block has opened up all sorts of opportunities for us to cross-fertilize with other groups." Among such events, Wallace noted were a recent teacher appreciation night and drives for area food banks.

A native of Pittsburgh, Wallace graduated from Oberlin College and earned a master of music degree from Northwestern University. He was a professional trombonist for 11 years with the Alabama Symphony before a mid-career change led him to earn an MBA from the University of Alabama.

Wallace moved to Wilmington in 1994 and was a field director with the Cape Fear Council of the Boy Scouts of America before joining the WSO in 2000. He was the first full-time director in the orchestra's history.

"To extend the sports metaphor, after having me run up and down the field for 18 years, it will nice to have a new team in the game," he said.

Founded in 1971 as the UNCW/Community Orchestra, the WSO is staffed with a mix of amateur and professional musicians, primarily from the Lower Cape Fear. It mounts seven concerts a year and supports a youth orchestra, a junior string ensemble and an annual young artists' competition. Since the days of conductor William Adcock, the group's ties to the University of North Carolina Wilmington have been close. UNCW music professor Steven Errante has been the orchestra's conductor since 1986.

Orchestra spokesman Nicole Thompson said that applications for Reed's successor are being accepted. Learn more at www.wilmingtonsymphony.org.

Reporter Ben Steelman can be reached at 910-616-1788 or Ben.Steelman@StarNewsOnline.com.