Exit interview: Sir Andrew Davis, MSO Chief Conductor

After seven years in the role, the Maestro is moving on. He reflects on the highlights of his time with the MSO and the challenges facing the orchestral music sector.

The challenges of multiple long-distance flights to Australia each year have begun to weary Sir Andrew Davis CBE, the Chief Conductor of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO).

‘I’ve just completed seven years as Chief Conductor and quite frankly, I’m ashamed to say, the main reason that I decided not to carry on longer was simply the fact that I’m now 75 and I’m finding the travel and the jet lag three times a year more and more of a strain,’ he confessed.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts