KANSAS CITY, Mo. | August 22, 2023 — The Kansas City Symphony’s David T. Beals III Associate Conductor, Gonzalo Farias, has won the audition to be the next Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony. Farias begins his Houston Symphony post with the start of the 2023/24 season in September, acting as assistant to Music Director Juraj Valčuha. His duties include conducting the orchestra in various programs including education, family, community and summer concerts, as well as covering for guest conductors.

Kansas City Symphony Music Director Michael Stern had this to say about Farias’ tenure with the KC Symphony: “From the moment he took the podium at his audition for Assistant Conductor in 2021, Gonzalo Farias demonstrated without doubt his clarity and efficiency as a conductor and his elegant sensitivity as a musician. Throughout the last two seasons, Gonzalo has continued to make a compelling case for music and for the Kansas City Symphony in the community. He quickly became a devoted member of our KCS family, and he has proved again and again to be an invaluable partner not only to me but to all of our colleagues, on stage and behind the scenes. He made an indelible mark on the musical life of our orchestra, and we will miss him. I am sure he will continue to succeed musically and personally. I know he is going on to an exciting new chapter with the Houston Symphony, where I am sure he will continue to excel and move forward in his career.”

A native of Chile, Farias was selected as the KC Symphony’s Associate Conductor in 2022 at the conclusion of an international search with more than 120 applicants. Gonzalo conducted many of the KC Symphony’s pops, family, holiday, educational and special presentation concerts. He will guest conduct several concerts for the Kansas City Symphony during the upcoming 2023/24 season, with additional conductors announced to lead several of the concerts originally scheduled to be conducted by Farias.

We sincerely thank Gonzalo for his commitment to excellence during his time with the Kansas City Symphony.

The search for the Kansas City Symphony’s next Associate Conductor has begun, with further information to be announced in the months ahead.

About the Kansas City Symphony
Founded in 1982, the Kansas City Symphony has established itself as a major force in the cultural life of the community. Praised for performances of uncompromising standard, the orchestra is the largest in the region and enjoys a national reputation under the artistic leadership of Music Director Michael Stern. The Symphony performs more than 130 concerts each year, reaching more than 250,000 community members. The Symphony welcomes guests of international acclaim as part of its Classical and Pops series and serves as the orchestra for the Kansas City Ballet and Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

Complementing its full schedule of concerts, the Symphony enriches the lives of Kansas City residents by providing music education opportunities for children and adults, such as KinderKonzerts, Young People’s Concerts, an instrument petting zoo and concert comments. The Mobile Music Box, a popup stage created by the Symphony during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaches thousands of audience members each season with dozens of chamber music concerts throughout the Kansas City metro area.

The Symphony has released nine highly praised CDs to date with Reference Recordings. The latest release features one-movement symphonies by Samuel Barber, Jean Sibelius and Alexander Scriabin. The Symphony and Michael Stern also have recorded for the Naxos label. Kansas City’s new classical music radio station, 91.9 ClassicalKC, broadcasts Kansas City Symphony performances each week. For more information on the Symphony, please visit kcsymphony.org.