WILLIAMSBURG — Only weeks before the opening of the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra’s 40th anniversary season, music director Michael Butterman will be stepping away from the podium.
Butterman, who is undergoing health issues, will be replaced by guest conductor Brian DeMaris for the season’s opening program.
In a letter to the WSO board on Friday, followed by an online video to WSO subscribers, Butterman explained that he has been diagnosed with lymphoma.
“I have recently encountered a health challenge … which will impact my travel schedule for some period of time,” Butterman said. “I hasten to add I am feeling well and really quite upbeat, everything considered.”
Doctors told him that due to his youthful age and otherwise good health, his treatments are predictive of a cure, a fact that Butterman eagerly endorsed in his video.
“While unable to travel due to treatment schedule and the need to be cautious about exposure to large gatherings, I expect to remain deeply involved in administrative matters, promotional work, and, when possible, make remote/virtual appearances in order to maintain a presence in our communities and to help present the programs that I have been looking forward to sharing.”
Butterman joined the WSO as its music director in 2022 and has been credited with much of its recent success. He said he expects his hiatus to last through the first two to three months of the season while he undergoes treatment near his home in Shreveport, Louisiana. He said he hopes to be back as soon as possible, but more guest conductors will likely be needed.
To ensure the season carries on, Carolyn Keurajian, WSO‘s president and CEO, said the WSO has secured the conducting talents of Brian DeMaris to open the Sept. 26 concert. She said Butterman and DeMaris have been in touch and are working through details of the opening concert.
DeMaris’ background is in opera, musical theater, symphony, pops and ballet. His symphonic endeavors have found him conducting a number of groups across the country, the Middle East and in Europe. A multi-award-winning conductor, DeMaris currently serves as professor and artistic director of Music Theatre and Opera in Arizona State University’s School of Music, Dance and Theatre.
As a pianist of note, he has appeared at the United Nations, Aspen Music Festival, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
WSO’s opening program is titled “An American in Paris,” and is an all-Gershwin affair. It begins with the sweet “Lullaby for Strings” and the always popular “An American in Paris.” The focal moment, however, is the Piano Concerto in F, here reworked for the Marcus Roberts Trio. As such, the ensemble replaces the solo piano with what Butterman calls “a freewheeling jazz trio.”
The celebrated group consists of Marcus Roberts on piano, Rodney Jordan on bass and Jason Marsalis (of the famed Marsalis family) on drums.
Keurajian said that there will be a box for cards at the opening concert in the Williamsburg Community Chapel, which will be forwarded to Butterman. Cards and well wishes can also be directed to the WSO office at P.O. Box 400, Williamsburg, VA 23187.
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. For information, visit williamsburgsymphony.org or call 757-229-9857.
John Shulson, johnshulson@gmail.com
