The Honolulu Symphony's appointment of Andreas Delfs as its new principal conductor should be sweet music to the ears of symphony fans, who have wondered since June 2004 who would take the baton from Samuel Wong.

For the past 10 years, Delfs has been musical director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel music critic Tom Strini said of Delfs' tenure: "...the orchestra is playing spectacularly, the audience is beginning to grow, finances appear to be stabilizing and a strong management team is settling into place."

That's exactly where the Honolulu Symphony wants to be.

If there's one catch, it's that just as Wong did not reside here full-time, neither will Delfs. He is expected to continue to live in Milwaukee, where his contract with the orchestra runs through 2009.

Delfs himself acknowledged the Honolulu Symphony faces a number of challenges, including filling seats and boosting the orchestra's presence. Given the magnitude of those challenges, we hope Delfs can prove that a maestro can have two masters.

Delfs has juggled two jobs before — between Milwaukee and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. But the distance between Milwaukee and Honolulu is far greater.

Honolulu deserves a first-class symphony orchestra, and it is certainly a step in the right direction that a new permanent conductor has been named.

Known as a hands-on leader with an interest in marketing and management as well as music, we hope Delfs will be present in the Islands more often than not so he can can get a real feeling for Hawai'i and lead our symphony to new heights.