Manchester Camerata has appointed Gábor Takács-Nagy as its new music director. He will take over from Douglas Boyd as head of the chamber orchestra next year. The founding leader of the Takács Quartet, Budapest-born Takács-Nagy began to shift his focus to conducting in 2001. He was appointed music director of the UBS Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra in 2007, and is also principal guest conductor of both the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra and the MAV Symphony Orchestra in Budapest, and founder of string orchestra Camerata Bellerive. Along with Manchester’s BBC Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras, the Camerata shares in the city’s particularly rich musical life based around the Bridgewater Hall. All three orchestras are involved in the Mahler in Manchester project, to which the Camerata contributed Schoenberg’s transcription of Das Lied von Der Erde. “To find such a wonderful group of artists such as Camerata, such warm audiences as those in Manchester, is a joy. I look forward to many years of making and sharing music in your great city,” Takács-Nagy said in a statement. Boyd, who took over the Camerata in 2001, wished his successor well. “My dream has always been, at some stage, to hand the baton on to a wonderful musician who can inspire the orchestra and continue to develop this dynamic organisation. I am delighted that the orchestra and Gábor have found each other. I am absolutely sure that together they will forge an exciting future for Manchester Camerata.”