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.

My initial reactions: I’m whelmed. Nothing more, nothing less.

• Programming itself is somewhere between interesting and excellent. The LA Phil has us trained to expect nothing less.
• The list of conductors not named Salonen or Dudamel is mostly loaded with competent if unexciting baton wavers. Anyone — including and especially me — hoping for a “big name” or two who could’ve been a splashy Music Director candidate will be sorely disappointed.

I can and will share more detailed thoughts on all of that. I also want to review LA Phil guest conductors since January, Mr. Dudamel’s recent four week residency featuring works by Beethoven, an ex LA Phil executive in Boston causing a stir (again), and more. All of that on another day, hopefully soon.

But that’s not what I wanna talk about right now. Instead, let’s concentrate on the latest personnel updates from multiple local bands. For today, we’ll focus on decisions regarding:

• Pacific Symphony Principal Clarinet and LA Phil Associate Principal Clarinet
• LA Phil Principal Viola

Tomorrow, we’ll cover:

• LA Phil: the latest violinist playing guest 1st chair in the 1st violins, timing of auditions for other openings, thoughts on new Principal Oboe Ryan Roberts playing so far this year
• Pacific Symphony: multiple vacancies being filled, with more auditions there coming soon
• Other updates from LA Opera and Camerata Pacifica

Strap in and let’s do this . . .

LA Phil and Pacific Symphony pick the same clarinetist

The Pacific Symphony held Principal Clarinet auditions this past January, trying to fill the chair vacated at the beginning of the season when Robert Walker left to become Associate Principal of the St. Louis Symphony. After three days, Andrea Caputo won the position, and soon after he announced it on Instagram.

Unfortunately for the good folks in Orange County, they weren’t the only SoCal orchestra looking to fill a titled clarinet chair.

The LA Phil held their own auditions for Associate Principal Clarinet a few weeks later with hopes of replacing the distinguished Burt Hara, who retired in 2024. After a few days, the winner once again was Mr. Caputo.

While neither orchestra has confirmed anything, it’s clear which job he’s choosing: the clarinetist has already updated the biography on his personal webpage to say that he “has just been appointed Associate Principal Clarinet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic” and expressed similar sentiments on an a more recent Instagram post.

The Italian native has been an Artist Diploma candidate at the Colburn School under Yehuda Gilad, the latest of the legendary pedagogue’s many students to find success on the audition circuit. One knowledgeable musician who’s heard him play told me that Mr. Caputo is a “fantastic clarintest” and that the LA Phil would be lucky to have him. After spending some time with recordings of him playing diverse works ranging from the Mozart Clarinet Quintet to Stravinsky’s suite from The Soldier’s Tale (L’Histoire du Soldat), there’s no doubt.

If you have just one minute, check out this clip of him playing the finale of the Copland Clarinet Concerto:

View this post on Instagram

Mr. Caputo’s appointment completes a section that has historically been one of the strongest in the orchestra with two top players in titled chairs. For decades, Michele Zukovsky and Lorin Levee both had principal titles. Mr. Hara took over the re-titled Associate Principal Chair in 2013 after the untimely passing of Mr. Levee, and current principal Boris Allakhverdyan has taken over leadership of the section after Ms. Zukovsky’s 2015 retirement without missing a beat.

No start date has been announced, but I’m guessing he’ll officially join the LA Phil sometime this summer and will appear with them at the Hollywood Bowl. Once he does, the complete section — Messrs. Allakhverdyan and Caputo, plus Andrew Lowy (2nd/E-flat) and Taylor Eiffert (3rd/bass) — is relatively young. Unless any of them opt to leave for another gig, they have the potential to stay together for decades. Let’s hope it happens.

Congratulazioni e complimenti al Signor Caputo!!

---

LA Phil violas: a revamped first stand

A few days before the LA Phil’s Associate Principal Clarinet audition, the orchestra also held auditions for Principal Viola. That chair that has been vacant since the spectacular Teng Li decamped for the Chicago Symphony at the end of last summer. Coming out of it, two musicians were offered trials later the same month: Ben Ullery (then the orchestra’s Associate Principal), and Soyoung Cho (a Curtis Institute alum who is back there pursuing her Master’s degree and who won the Toronto Symphony’s Associate Principal Viola audition last year).

His official trial week notwithstanding, Mr. Ullery is a known commodity having been acting principal this whole season and sitting in the first chair many times previously. Ms. Cho played her trial the week of Feb 17–22 during the orchestra’s performances of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Both were “qualified” by the audition committee (i.e. they were officially nominated as eligible to be hired by the Music Director). Based on those trials, Mr. Dudamel offered Mr. Ullery the position, and he subsequently accepted the promotion. Soon after, He made it public, and the orchestra updated its musicians roster accordingly in advance of this past weekend’s concerts.

The Minnesota native joined the orchestra in 2011 as a section player and won the Assistant Principal chair a year later. Three years ago, he won the Associate Principal chair, taking it over from LA Phil veteran Dale Hikawa Silverman who retired in 2022. He’s also played guest principal with the Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra, among others, and he is on the faculty of the Colburn Conservatory.

Meanwhile, Ms. Cho didn’t walk away empty handed. Multiple sources indicate that she was offered the Associate Principal position that Mr. Ullery just vacated. No word yet on if she has accepted.

There is a noteworthy wrinkle to all of this going forward:

• Mr. Ullery still needs to earn tenure as principal. Not saying he won’t, just that it isn’t automatic even given the orchestra’s familiarity with him in the first chair. If for some reason he doesn’t, he would revert back to the Associate Principal chair.
• And what happens to Ms. Cho if Mr. Ullery isn’t tenured as Principal? Well, that depends on if she earns tenure herself. If she does, it’s possible that she could be offered a section position if one were open; if not, she might not have a job in the LA Phil. Is she willing to take that chance? We’ll soon find out.

In the meantime, congratulations to them both!

RELATED POSTS

• A chat with Michele Zukovsky (part 1 of 2): the LA Phil’s outgoing Principal Clarinet reflects on how her 54-year tenure began, the audition process, and more (Dec 19, 2015)
• Comings and goings at the LA Phil (Fall 2025 edition, pt. 1): a potential new Concertmaster given a trial, plus other news with the strings (Sept 25, 2025)
• Comings and goings at the LA Phil (Fall 2025 edition, pt. 2): a familiar face gets newly created percussion job, plus woodwind news (Sept 26, 2025)
• Comings and goings at the LA Phil (Fall 2025 edition, pt. 3): another new percussionist confirmed (Oct 3, 2025)

—————

Photo credits:

• Andrea Caputo: black & white photo by Mariposa Pictures, color photo by Daniel Delang; both courtesy of the artist’s website
• Ben Ullery: courtesy of the artist’s website
• Soyoung Cho: courtesy of the Curtis Institute