Christian Baldini, conductor and music director of the Symphony Orchestra of the State University of New York at Buffalo, has been named the new conductor of the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, following a national search.

The Argentinean-born conductor and composer will join the faculty of the UC Davis Department of Music as an assistant professor on July 1, pending final approval of his appointment by a faculty personnel committee.

Baldini is expected to make his campus conducting debut at a June 2 concert at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. Baldini succeeds Kern Holoman, who is stepping down after 30 years as symphony conductor.

“I am truly honored to be offered this position and delighted to continue the wonderful work that Professor Holoman has done during his greatly successful tenure,” Baldini said. “The UC Davis Symphony Orchestra has a very rich tradition, and I am looking forward to sharing all my passion and love for music with such a vibrant community.”

Holoman, who continues as a professor of music at UC Davis, hailed Baldini’s record of accomplishments as “exceptional.”

“I am delighted that Professor Baldini will become the fifth conductor of the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra,” Holoman said.

Baldini was selected following a national search that included a February visit to campus to work with the orchestra and music department faculty and students.

Jessie Ann Owens, dean of the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies, said, “Baldini has begun what looks like a very promising career, working already with orchestras in Europe and Latin America.”

She added, “I am especially pleased that we used a very open and transparent process, and that many faculty, staff, students and other members of the community contributed to bringing Mr. Baldini on board.”

Baldini has won awards in global music competitions including the 2005 Seoul International Competition for Composers in South Korea, the 2005 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Tribune of Music, the 2006 Sao Paulo Orchestra International Conducting Competition in Brazil, and the 2008 Ossia International Competition in Rochester, N.Y.

Global experience touted

Baldini regularly conducts orchestras in Chile, Argentina and Brazil, has served as the assistant conductor of the Britten-Pears Orchestra in Aldeburgh, England, and has worked with soloists of some of the world’s premier orchestras, including the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Berliner Philharmoniker, Halle Orchestra and Alban Berg Quartet.

Last year he was invited to conduct the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as a participant in the center’s National Conducting Institute.

His compositions have been performed in festivals and venues throughout Europe, South America, North America and Asia.

Baldini holds a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor’s degree in conducting and composition from the Catholic University of Argentina.

At SUNY Buffalo, Baldini has also served as music director of the Buffalo Contemporary Ensemble, conducted the Slee Sinfonietta, a professional chamber orchestra in residence, and taught orchestral conducting.

Founded in 1959, the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra is a principal resident ensemble at the Mondavi Center and performs at major campus events and ceremonies, including fall convocation and commencements. The 96-member orchestra is made up of undergraduate students, graduate students and members of the university community. It has toured in California, Canada, France, Australia and French Polynesia.