The Hot Springs Music Festival has appointed David Palmer as interim executive director and named Caroline Kinsey as general manager, and will return to live performances in June, according to a news release.
"As the Hot Springs Music Festival, a long-established and revered organization takes the stage post-COVID, we look forward to presenting our professional faculty mentors this year in three fabulous evenings of music at the recently restored Central Theatre in Hot Springs on June 9, June 10 and June 11," the release said.
"In addition to this summer's activities, we look forward to establishing new and exciting touchpoints to the Hot Springs community throughout the year as we begin preparing for the 25th anniversary festival in 2023 where our mentors will be joined by our students. It is indeed an exciting time in the history of this festival and our extraordinarily dedicated board of directors deeply appreciates the Hot Springs community for its unwavering support to (the) festival's focus on performance and education," it said.
Palmer, currently the artistic director of Chamber Music Amarillo, now a part of the Amarillo Symphony, has had a "distinguished career as a concert pianist performing throughout the United States, Europe, and South America and as an arts administrator," the release said.
As founder of Chamber Music Amarillo, Palmer has grown the organization during its last 24 years to include chamber music, chamber orchestra, jazz and educational outreach. In addition to his work with CMA, Palmer also founded and ran the Quartz Mountain Music Festival from 2006-2011 and currently serves on the board of directors of Lake City Arts, in Lake City, Colorado, where he is artistic director of the chamber music series, it said.
Palmer has worked with musicians across many genres of music, including Garrick Ohlsson, Pepe Romero, Michelle Kim, jazz musicians Bevan Manson and Jamie Davis, composers John Harbison and Kenji Bunch, and songwriter JD Souther. He has also worked extensively with arts administrators David Hyslop, Jack Fishman and Bill Ryberg.
A longtime mentor of the festival, Kinsey is principal horn with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra after 11 years as principal horn of the Arkansas Symphony in Little Rock. She received her Bachelor of Music degree and Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music in 1990 and her Professional Studies Certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 1993. Kinsey has toured throughout Europe and Japan, and has played and been a member of several orchestras across the United States including the Honolulu Symphony, the Corpus Christi Symphony, Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio, and the Canton, Ohio, Symphony Orchestra, the release said.
Her other orchestral appearances have been with the San Antonio Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Illinois Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Hawaii Opera Company, and the National Orchestral Institute. Kinsey was co-founder and principal horn of the Pinnacle Players Music Festival in Little Rock, as well as music librarian and outreach services coordinator for the Arkansas Symphony. Previously, she served as horn instructor at the University of Mississippi, Horn Lecturer at the University of Central Arkansas, Ouachita Baptist University and the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
"The Hot Springs Music Festival is honored that such distinguished, recognized and respected members of the international music community wish to contribute their collective experience, wisdom and lifetime of professional relationships to the continued growth and development of the HSMF," David Childs, president of the Hot Springs Music Festival, said in the release.
"They will hit the ground running, transforming the festival in numerous ways; it is an exciting time for the festival and for Hot Springs," he said.
"After having had the opportunity to visit Hot Springs and learn about the Hot Springs Music Festival, it is clear to me that this organization is a jewel for Arkansas and indeed, for the South in general," Palmer said in the release.
"The dedication put forth by founder Laura Rosenburg, the board of directors, Mentors, volunteers and Hot Springs community demonstrates an extraordinary commitment not only to the arts, but especially to the people. Through education and performance, the Hot Springs Music Festival has been able to provide a sustainable quality of life arts experience for Hot Springs and Arkansas at large for more than two decades. I am excited to join this team as they forge ahead, establishing new goals going forward that will further benefit the people of Arkansas and musicians and students from throughout the United States," he said.
"It is my honor to be appointed as general manager of the Hot Springs Music Festival. I believe this festival is an amazing opportunity for young musicians to come together to understand the world of orchestral playing and chamber music. The experience of having seasoned mentors coach and instruct them in this industry is priceless and I know this festival has changed lives and will continue to do so. I am excited for the future of this extraordinary festival," Kinsey said in the release.
