Coeur d’Alene Symphony has completed a two-year search for a conductor and artistic director whom its members believe is well worth all that work.

Jan Pellant will be introduced during a special 40th anniversary celebration from 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11, at The Coeur d’Alene Resort. The gala event is a fundraiser that will include performances, hors d’oeuvres and desserts, a silent auction and a chance to meet and mingle with Pellant and other musicians.

Tickets are $75 and can be purchased at: cdasymphony.org.

Merilee Updike, board chair and principal clarinet, explained that this gala event and the upcoming year will be honoring the history of the 40 years of the Symphony, which had its humble beginnings as the North Idaho College Chamber Orchestra.

Robert Singletary, well known in Coeur d’Alene as the face of the Museum of North Idaho and an avid local historian, created both the NIC Chamber Orchestra and the North Idaho Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble while he taught at the college in the early ’70s. Finding enough serious musicians at the local college was easier than recruiting from the general population, and the group expanded and eventually morphed into the Coeur d’Alene Symphony to include members of all ages and skill sets.

Updike said special invitees to the celebration include Singletary — to discuss the history of the Symphony — and exiting conductor and artistic director David Demand and his wife, Renee. Demand has led the Symphony since 2001, and Updike noted that he helped the Symphony improve dramatically over those years.

“David was great. He took us to completely new levels, bringing out the fun and intensity in the music,” she said. “David and Renee Demand have been invited so that we can celebrate the successes we achieved in the 15 years that David was our conductor.”

When Demand announced his plans to depart, the search for a new leader began. More than 60 applicants from around the world contended for the position, and the pool was narrowed to five. Those candidates conducted a five-rehearsal, two-concert series over the 2017 Summer season, which was aptly called “Voyage of Discovery.” It allowed them to establish some time working closely with the orchestra.

After each candidate’s concert, the search committee surveyed audiences and Symphony members to gather feedback to help with the search. While each candidate was well received, Pellant was the overwhelming choice for the position based on the input.

“People just knew that Jan was the one,” said treasurer and first violin Cathyanne Nonini.

Pellant, a native of the Czech Republic, received his master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon University after studying at the Prague Academy of the Performing Arts. He’s working on his doctorate from the University of Kentucky.

Pellant has been the music director of the Lexington Chamber Orchestra since 2015, and has conducted the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra, Talich Chamber Orchestra, Pavel Haas Chamber Orchestra, Vidin Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic, and the Pittsburgh Bethel Park Orchestra.

“This is a man who is working on his doctorate in conducting and he has extensive experience, so we will be working at a much higher level as musicians and as an ensemble,” Nonini said. “I imagine that things like intonation, playing together and just musicality will improve dramatically. Plus he knows the orchestral repertoire very well and he has experience with that.”

Updike noted that while here, Pellant not only blew audiences away, but he showed his worth in leadership.

“He really is a great leader, already reaching out to the community groups before he was even offered the job, making contacts with people that the artistic director really needs to,” she said.