Britt honors Maestro Peter Bay in his final season as Music Director

This month will be a bittersweet time on the Britt hill. Even as the organization celebrates 50 years of concerts under the stars, Britt will honor a time of transition for someone dear. When the Britt Orchestra begins rehearsals, Maestro Peter Bay will pick up his baton for his 20th and final season at Britt.

Peter Bay. Photo by Kenny Trice

Britt’s Executive Director Donna Briggs said the 50th season will be a celebration of Peter Bay’s 20-year legacy, but it’s going to be hard to say farewell. “That’s going to be a rough time,” she said, noting that, “Peter is treasured by the Britt family, not only for the music he brought us, but for the lessons he gave us about how to treat and work with one another.”

Peter Bay was named Music Director of the Britt Festival Orchestra in 1993. He first learned of the position from his predecessor, James DePreist, who was ending his tenure leading the Britt Orchestra after five years. Jimmy and Peter were working together at the Aspen Music Festival in 1991, and it was there that the Jimmy suggested to Peter that he audition for the post at Britt.

Two years later, Peter was at the helm, becoming only the third person to lead the Britt Orchestra in its 50-year history. In 1998, Peter was named the Music Director and Conductor of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, where he still makes his home.

When Peter finishes this season, he will have conducted 154 Britt Orchestra concerts. Some of the highlights of his tenure include the production of EGBDF with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 1994; a concert dedicated to the music of Merchant Ivory films, in 1998; the SOPTV partnership on Who’s Afraid of Gustav Mahler in 2000; the Festa Italiana celebration in 2002, honoring the Medford/Alba sister city relationship; and sharing the stage with both DePreist and Britt Founder John Trudeau for The Three Conductors concert in 2002. He’s also made a point of working with the students from Britt’s String Quartet Academy, conducting them on the Britt stage in recent years.

Perhaps Peter’s most important Britt legacy, however, is the present-day orchestra. Throughout his 20-year tenure, he has increased the level of playing in the orchestra significantly. Long-term audience and orchestra members alike attest to this, as does the fact of increasingly competitive orchestra auditions. While the Britt hill and the surrounding community make the Classical Festival an appealing job for any orchestra musician, the quality of the orchestra makes the experience even more rewarding.

 Britt’s Director of Performing Arts Angela Warren says, “It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with Peter. He’s a true gentleman. In his 20 years here, he’s taken the Britt Orchestra from a good orchestra to a great orchestra and it has been a joy to watch! I’ll miss him.”

When asked to recount some of his memories of summers in the Rogue Valley, Peter remembers trips to Crater Lake and the Oregon Coast, post-concert dinners at the Jacksonville Inn, and most of all, his relationship with his host family. Since 1995, Peter has stayed with John and Tommi Retzlaff, and they are now people that Peter counts as family, even serving as godparents to his son, Colin.

As anyone who enjoys the Britt Classical Festival can understand, Peter is nostalgic about the community where he’s made his home each August since 1993. Peter says, “There’s something magical about the Britt hill and the loyalty of the Britt Classical Festival audience. We love to play for you, and that love will continue long after me and my successors.”

Click here for the 2012 Britt Classical Season details.