Windsor Symphony Orchestra maestro Franz faces another cancer battle

Article content

Maestro Robert Franz is in the fight of his life — again.

The popular head of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra announced Wednesday that the cancer he thought he beat three years ago has returned.

“I began treatment two weeks ago,” said Franz. “I have a significant protocol to go through for the next three months. That will be followed by a stem cell transplant at the end of spring.

Article content

“I can assure you I will attack this as intensely as humanly possible and that I am ready for the fight.”

Franz received his first cancer diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Oct. 2021. It was already Stage 4. A CT medical imaging scan revealed a 10-centimetre tumour enveloping a nerve bundle, but the cancer had also spread to his spleen, liver, right leg, left arm, ribs, and bones.

After an intensive chemotherapy regimen, Franz’s cancer went into remission about three years ago.

“In January after many tests, my Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma returned,” Franz, who has been the WSO music director for 12 years, said in a statement. “I have an amazing team working with me at the Windsor Cancer Centre.”

The WSO said Franz has a comprehensive treatment plan — he had a platelet transfusion on Wednesday — and his medical team is “confident in his ability to continue his fight.”

That means on and off the stage. The symphony said he is committed to staying active in both his treatment and leading the orchestra with a passion that has made him the “face of live music in the region.”

It’s the same defiant approach Franz took to his cancer battle four years ago, staying outwardly upbeat and continuing to lead his orchestra, while enduring gruelling cancer treatments.

Article content

“We are sad that Robert has to go through this again, but we know his spirit and strength will pull him through,” said WSO board president Deborah Severs. “He is so positive and tenacious. His WSO family is here to support him in every way we can.”

Franz, an American who uprooted his family and moved from Idaho to Windsor, conducted his first concert at the helm of the WSO in 2013. Under Franz’s leadership, the WSO expanded its audience and outreach programs, developed new concert series, and came back from the brink of collapse under a $400,000 deficit.

Among those new series are the OnStage and Cafe concerts, which regularly sell out. Franz will bow out of conducting the season’s remaining concerts in those series. Resident conductor Geoffrey Larson will step in for him.

But Franz will take the stage to lead the two final Masterworks concerts, Lucid Dreams Cello Concerto, on March 22 and 23. He will also conduct the season’s closing concerts, Masterworks Tchaikovsky on May 3 and 4.

“Making music with my amazing colleagues brings me such joy and energy,” said Franz.

[email protected]

Share this article in your social network