Orchestra selects Waterbury resident

Anne Decker of Waterbury has been named music director of the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra.

She succeeds Paul Gambill, who left to pursue his own initiative with the Community Engagement Lab. Decker will begin working with the orchestra immediately.

Decker was guest conductor of the orchestra’s spring concert series, “Primavera,” performed at Vermont College of Fine Arts March 19 and 20. Her work was widely acclaimed by the audience and the orchestra, which was asked for input during the year-long process of recruiting and auditioning candidates.

“Anne’s knowledge, diverse experience, great musicality and energy will serve the orchestra very well as we begin this next chapter,” said Eben Bodach-Turner, a musician who’s on the orchestra’s board and its search committee. “Those who performed with Anne and (the orchestra) can attest to the wonderful rapport she established, instantly, with the group.”

Decker is a music education graduate of Western Michigan University and holds a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from Illinois State University. She has been making music in Vermont since joining the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association in 1999. She spent nearly 13 years with the youth orchestra and 16 years with the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble. She became a music teacher and conductor at U-32 High School in East Montpelier in 2002, and is still a full-time orchestral music teacher at the school.

In 2014, Decker became the artistic director and conductor of Vermont’s newest music series, TURNmusic, bringing new, relevant music to her communities. She has also conducted productions with the Middlebury Opera Company, the Vermont Opera Theater and the Amato Opera Company of New York City. She has been assistant conductor of the Pioneer Valley Symphony.

Decker, husband Tim Buckingham and their three daughters live in Waterbury.

Information: montpelierchamberorchestra.org.