Two of the candidates have just finished second performance dates with the orchestra, and until they are fully evaluated, orchestra President Gary Good said, no discussion about the leading candidates will take place. Throughout the process, J.F. Bryan IV, symphony search committee chairman, and Good have said the input of orchestra musicians will be a major influence on the decision. Audience members have made favorable comments about each of the candidates. Good would not say how much the symphony will pay the new conductor. Bryan said the committee has developed a salary range to be offered the final candidate, but he declined to disclose it, saying it had not been cleared by the executive board of the orchestra.
Some individual orchestras are reluctant to release salary information.
A spokesman declined to specify the exact amount. Perks come along with the salaries at some orchestras. JoAnn Falletta, who critics are calling one of the top young women conductors in the country, recently won perks when she was hired as the music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Now the outgoing music director of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in Norfolk, she was a guest conductor in Jacksonville for the past two seasons but was not considered a candidate for music director. She said she is being given a leased car to use in Buffalo.