Leslie B. Dunner, in his fifth year as music director of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, has been informed by the ASO's board of trustees that his contract will not be renewed for the 2003-2004 concert season.

The decision to terminate Dunner's association with the local orchestra was reached by the board's five-member executive committee, and presented to the full board of trustees at a Nov. 20 meeting, board President Fred H. Billups said yesterday.

"There had been some talk among us about the right length of time for a music director to remain at the head of the orchestra," Billups said. "And we concluded that five years was a good time frame. We felt now was the time for the orchestra to move in a new direction rather than continue on in the same framework."

Dunner was the first African-American to conduct the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra.

His two immediate predecessors, Gisele Ben-Dor, now music director of the Santa Barbara Symphony, and Peter Bay, current conductor of the Austin Symphony in Texas, each had six-year tenures with the Annapolis orchestra.

"This wasn't an easy decision," Billups said. "Leslie has performed a great service for the ASO. He's worked extremely well with our musicians and with our educational programs. I think a lot of him, but we felt we needed to move on."

The executive committee's decision that Dunner, 46, not be offered a contract for a sixth season in his $38,000-a-year post came as a surprise not only to the charismatic conductor, but to some ASO trustees as well.

"The committee's decision was a total shock to almost everyone sitting around the table," said one board member, speaking on condition of anonymity. "I think most of us had no idea it was coming."

Dunner, who took up full-time residence in Annapolis last year, was surprised and dismayed by the decision.

'An emotional time'

"This is an emotional time," he said yesterday. "It was quite a shock. I thought the leadership and I had reached mutual agreement on processes that worked best for running the ASO, but I guess that just wasn't the case.

"But I have truly loved every minute of working with the terrific players of this orchestra. My connection with them continues to get stronger, closer and better."

His musicians returned the compliment.

"I adore him as a conductor and as a person," said Michele Monico, an ASO violist for 14 years. "He brought the orchestra up to a much higher standard, and I'm perplexed and upset that he's going to be leaving. I don't think it's the best thing for the symphony at all."

"I've been talking to other players and many of us are disturbed that the musicians weren't consulted at all," said Fatma Daglar, whose 1998 appointment as principal oboist has remade the ASO woodwind section under Dunner's command. "We have a great time working with Leslie, and we support him."

'Superb musician'

Violinist Paul Herman agreed. "Leslie is a superb musician who is remarkably clear and well organized at rehearsals, which endears him to the players," he said.

"But what I respect most is the interest he's taken in Annapolis as a community. He moved here. Last summer, he acted in the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre's production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. He's become one of us."

Appointed to the ASO post at the start of the 1998 season after a one-year national search, Dunner, a clarinetist and composer as well as conductor, has advanced the orchestra's artistic fortunes in a number of respects. His balletic, rhythmically charged presence on the podium has given the standard repertoire a buoyancy and lift that had been noticeably lacking before his arrival.

While many conductors shun educational programs, Dunner has eagerly embraced the orchestra's "Adopt-a-School," "Music Van" and annual instrument drive programs, placing outreach at the center of the orchestra's mission.

"The sense of spontaneity and fun he brings to those kids is wonderful," said Pamela Chaconas, who retired in June as the ASO's education director. "You couldn't dream of someone better for education."

During the orchestra's 40th- anniversary season, Dunner helped arrange a prestigious grant that led to an Annapolis residency for composer Stephen Paulus as part of the American Symphony Orchestra League's "Music Alive!" grant program. He also has proven himself a hospitable accompanist to distinguished visiting soloists such as violinist Hilary Hahn and guitarist Christopher Parkening.

Guest conductors

While the ASO already is saying that the 2003-2004 season will be given over to guest conductors in line to succeed Dunner, he said he hopes to remain on the Maryland Hall podium through 2004 to conduct the concert season he's already programmed.

"I hold no personal grudges or ill feelings," Dunner said. "The staff is a joy, and my feeling is there's a basis on which the board and I continue on with the work."

The maestro's dismay was apparent as he spoke of his planned programs full of subscriber-friendly works by Beethoven, Mahler, Rachmaninoff and Bach.

"I'd be very disappointed to have my vision turned over to others," he said. "It just wouldn't be fair to take my ideas after so much work and have audiences believe they came from someone else."