The Columbus Symphony Orchestra is in the home stretch of a 3-year-long search for a new music director. The search process, which began in July 2002, has taken the CSO search committee to different corners of the world in hopes of finding the next face of Columbus arts.

The search to replace Conductor Laureate, Alessandro Siciliani, who officially left his post as music director in May 2004, began as soon as the CSO found out about his intended departure.

“The first year we spent establishing the parameters of the search,” said Donald Harris, the head of the search committee and a professor in the Ohio State school of music.

There were several focus groups that were held, with a number of constituents, that allowed the CSO to find out what kind of person would make an ideal music director for Columbus, Harris said.

Fifteen focus groups were assembled and the CSO received 1,425 responses, according to the CSO’s music director profile report. The groups, which included arts leaders, community leaders, members of the education community, media, musicians and various other people who come in contact with the orchestra, shared their ideas and hopes of what the next music director would be.

According to the 36-page report, most of the groups were looking for an individual who was not only gifted musically but also one who would be visible to the public.

“The new CSO music director needs to be an excellent communicator, both on and off the podium,” the report said.

“During that first year we also did many, many sight visits. Members of the committee would travel throughout the nation to listen to conductors and many of the conductors we heard we would invite to conduct during the regular season,” Harris said.

With just eight shows remaining in the CSO’s 2004-2005 classical season, there are still five guest conductors who have their shot at impressing the Columbus community. The conductor search was not just limited to the United States. There have been and will be several international conductors, including the remaining five, who have performed or will perform with the CSO before the selection process is finished.

Guest conductors began performing with the orchestra during the 2002-2003 season and have been doing so ever since, said Susan Rosenstock, the Interim Executive Director of the CSO. This is a very good time for the orchestra, it has given the musicians a chance to work with conductors they would not normally work with, she said.

“We’re looking for someone who is accomplished. Who has an understanding of musical instrumentation. Someone with a large repertoire,” Rosenstock said.

There are problems that the CSO and the future music director will have to face, according to the profile report. The report said that several of the focus groups fear that the decline of the downtown area, combined with suburban-sprawl has hindered the CSO from reaching a larger community. The report also said that there is a fear among the focus groups that elitism has prevented many from enjoying the orchestra. The report added that an increase in contemporary work will help draw larger audiences.

With only a few months before the end of the classical season on May 21, the CSO selection committee is preparing to make their recommendations to the CSO board of directors.

“Classical music is in a crisis mode today and orchestras cost a lot of money, and attendance isn’t always as good as it should be,” Harris said. “We need somebody with vision who can develop programs that will attract the public, who can raise the standards so that people will take greater pride in their orchestra.”