After more than two years without a principal conductor, the Honolulu Symphony has named internationally known maestro Andreas Delfs to the post, another sign of the continuing revitalization of the 107-year-old institution.

Delfs, musical director for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, has signed a three-year contract with the Honolulu Symphony and is expected to make his debut as its new conductor at the Aug. 25 opening night of the Halekulani MasterWorks concert series.

He succeeds Samuel Wong, who resigned in June 2004 as music director, a post he had held since 1995.

During a news conference yesterday, Delfs admitted that the Honolulu Symphony faces the challenge of filling seats, appealing to the broad range of the city's population and boosting its presence and relevance.

"To keep the seats filled, the community needs to know that the symphony is the No. 1 entertainment choice," Delfs said. "My artistic goals are very easy to explain. In a very general sense, my goals involve bringing the best to the most."

Delfs' appointment comes on the heels of a string of leadership changes within the symphony organization and at a time when it is recovering from financial instability and public apathy. The addition of Delfs as its artistic leader is the "key element" to the symphony's revitalization, said Tom Gulick, executive director of the symphony since June.

"I was pushing very hard (to appoint a principal conductor) because you don't want to be without musical leadership," Gulick said. "We had fine conductors coming in, but an orchestra needs someone to paint a whole picture, to put a sound together. Truly we were missing that."

Born and raised in Germany, Delfs said he has "homework" to do about Hawai'i and its culture before he is able to decide on the programming direction of the orchestra. Favoring the classical works of Bach and Brahms, Delfs said his challenge is to bridge the classical music of Western culture with the rich diversity and history of Hawai'i.

"When I came here last (October), I honestly thought I was going to have a first-rate, rejuvenating vacation and maybe a little bit of music-making at the same time. But by the end, I had to admit ... it turned out the other way around," he said.

Delfs said he was impressed with the caliber of the symphony musicians when he collaborated with them during a Halekulani MasterWorks concert in October 2006.

"When you have an experience with an orchestra where the chemistry works right away and you think the level of playing is of such magnitude that you want to be involved with it, then the answer is very simple," Delfs said.

One of Delfs' major goals is to build the symphony's international reputation. He said he wants people to think "first and foremost of the high, high quality that the orchestra brings to the table and only secondarily remember that, 'Oh, yes, it's also in paradise.' "

Concertmaster Iggy Jang said the musicians faced the challenge of maintaining musical excellence in the two-year absence of permanent musical direction.

"There is no doubt that being able to land someone of the caliber of Maestro Delfs as principal conductor will immediately raise our level," violinist Jang said.

While many symphony-goers may wonder why it took more than two years to land a permanent conductor, Michael Gorman, associate principal bass and musicians' representative during the conductor search, said musicians view the transition period as relatively short.

"It's the kind of thing that you don't want to rush, but you do want to be organized," he said.

Delfs is expected to conduct half of the symphony's 14-week Classical MasterWorks season, while also making choices of repertoire and selecting guest artists and conductors. Married to classically trained pianist Amy Tait, Delfs is expected to continue to reside in Milwaukee. His tenure with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra ends in 2009.

Gulick said the Honolulu Symphony has made significant progress toward stability. The symphony's board appointed a new chairman, Jeffrey Minter, in December. Minter is the president of UniDev Hawaii LLC, which develops affordable, workforce and senior housing in the Islands.

In addition, the symphony's administration has been working to restore musician pay cuts, Gulick said.

Musicians had agreed to a 20 percent across-the-board pay cuts in 2003. At that time, the symphony's highly talented musicians were making a base salary of about $30,000 for a 34-week season.

"We restored about 12 percent this year by adding weeks and changing the base scale," Gulick said.

But he said that means an even heavier burden for fundraising. Last year the symphony raised about $2.1 million and recently received a $4 million grant from the state toward the symphony's endowment.

Based on the Honolulu Symphony's operating budget, it is categorized as a "Group 2" symphony by the American Symphony Orchestra League.

"Within our group we have the lowest basic pay scale and the highest cost of living," Gulick said. "My goal is to get us at least halfway to the middle of that pack."

The symphony's board has also been in flux for several years. It saw the resignation of influential and major donors and constant change of board leadership over the past few years. Last year, the board added 14 new members. Gulick said the board intends to reach out to other business and community leaders.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.