Morris to Lead Ojai Festival

The Ojai Music Festival has announced that Tom Morris, executive director of the Cleveland Orchestra, will succeed Ernest Fleischmann as artistic director beginning with the June 2004 festival.

In his 15 years in Cleveland, Morris has maintained that ensemble’s prominence as the orchestra generally considered America’s finest.

Fleischmann, who has headed the Ojai Festival since 1998, has attracted increasing national and international attention to the small but significant weekend of June concerts, inviting the likes of conductors Pierre Boulez, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Simon Rattle to create adventurous programs.

Morris, who will also continue managing the Cleveland Orchestra and commute to Ojai, praised Fleischmann for having “set the bar very high indeed, and I intend to work hard to keep it there.”

Mark Swed