The Los Angeles Philharmonic announced earlier this week that outgoing Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel will be given two new (and rather long) titles when his tenure ends this summer: the Diane and M. David Paul Artistic and Cultural Laureate of the LA Phil and the Jane and Michael Eisner Founding Director and Conductor …
Whenever anyone would mention to me that Elim Chan was going to be the next Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, I demurred, replying somewhat quietly that she seemed to have been friendzoned by the local band. Her destination seemed much more likely to be San Francisco or Boston. Yet with the recent implosion … Continue reading
Gustavo Dudamel returns to the the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s podium for his last concerts in Walt Disney Concert Hall as the orchestra’s Music & Artistic Director. That also means that the parade of guest concertmasters vying for one of the two open chairs on first stand continues in earnest (for a review of the candidates … Continue reading
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra released details of their 2026-27 season. It will be their last one with Jaime Martin as Music Director before he steps down and becomes Music Director Laureate. (Incidentally, the prior Music Director, Jeffrey Kahane, had been Music Director Laureate since he stepped down in 2018, and now … Continue reading
What if I told you the Los Angeles Philharmonic decided to bring in a guest conductor who could ostensibly be a viable Music Director candidate, let him conduct a compelling pair of symphonies and local premiere of a concerto featuring one of the orchestra’s star principals, and yet the organization seemed to collectively shrug as … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Philharmonic announced today that Anna Handler will become the orchestra’s Conductor-in-Residence. As much as I’ve been able to research, she is the first person to be given that title. Lionel Bringuier had previously been the orchestra’s first-ever “Resident Conductor” after starting as Assistant Conductor and subsequently being elevated to Associate Conductor, eventually … Continue reading
The New York Philharmonic has auditions to fill their vacant Principal Oboe chair over the next few weeks. The musical interwebs has been rife with widespread speculation, consternation, and Kalshi/Polymarket betting (OK, I’m kidding about the last one) around as to whether Ryan Roberts, current holder of the same job with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, … Continue reading
You still pondering who could be the next Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic? Paavo Järvi has entered the chat. Continue reading
Yesterday, we talked about the Pacific Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic picking the same clarinetist to fill open titled chairs, as well as the results of the LA Phil’s Principal Viola auditions. Today we’ll cover: Continue reading
The Los Angeles Philharmonic released details of their 2026-27 Walt Disney Concert Hall season yesterday, the first without Gustavo Dudamel as Music & Artistic Director and with Esa-Pekka Salonen in his new job as Creative Director (on top of his extant Conductor Laureate title). The press release is HERE. A full chronological schedule is HERE. … Continue reading
The Pacific Symphony’s choice of Alexander Shelley as its next Music Director has been a solid so far. He has crafted compelling programs. He’s made concise yet informative pre-performance comments from the podium. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s young, dashing, personable, and therefore a marketing department’s dream. Most importantly, he’s shown the capacity for … Continue reading
Last Thursday, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel trotted out the first of two programs they’ll be taking on their upcoming tour of Asia. On the bill: ballet music by Igor Stravinsky — The Firebird Suite (1919 version) and The Rite of Spring — along with the U.S. premiere of Frenzy: a short symphony … Continue reading
Earlier this year, when the Los Angeles Philharmonic announced auditions for Assistant Principal and Section Percussion, I thought two things were possible: The auditions were for a single open position to replace Perry Dreiman, section percussionist who retired last year and who often played as acting principal. The auditions were for two separate positions, meaning … Continue reading
This past weekend marked the beginning of the end of the Gustavo Dudamel era at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The orchestra’s outgoing Music & Artistic Director kicked off his final season at Walt Disney Concert Hall with a banger of a pairing: An Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss and world premiere performances of Earth Between … Continue reading
Yesterday, in Part 1 of the latest edition of this ongoing series, I discussed efforts to fill double-digit openings in the strings sections of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. While the sheer number of strings vacancies is more than double those in the rest of the orchestra, the absence of single woodwind, brass, or percussion players … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 2025/26 indoor season kicks off tonight at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the final one of Gustavo Dudamel’s tenure before he decamps for New York. The program includes the world premiere of Ellen Reid’s Earth Between Oceans and Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony (which of course is actually a tone poem, not a … Continue reading
All is Yar 