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 of trust between Chad Smith — CEO of the Boston Symphony and a well-known champion of Ms. Chan — and that orchestra, the likelihood of anyone tied to Mr. Smith being accepted by the BSO dropped to Zero. With that, all signs pointed to the Bay Area.
Today, the San Francisco Symphony made those predictions a reality.
Joshua Kosman has just reported in the San Francisco Chronicle that Ms. Chan has been named as the new SFS Music Director. Her tenure officially begins Fall 2027, with an initial term of 6 years. (Full story HERE, behind paywall). UPDATE: KQED has the details, without paywall, HERE.
Bravi tutti!! Congratulations to both conductor and organization.
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photo credit: courtesy of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (via sfcv.org)
All is Yar 
Tragedy adverted…for now. As the months roll on I’m beginning to trust Ms. Noltemy taste & judgement more & more…😅
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Fall of 2027 rather than 2026 (possible typo…); she joins immediately as Music Director Designate.
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Yes, typo. Thank you for catching!
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P.S. …sorry & apropos of nothing/everything with regards to LAPhil MD stuff but I’d encourage all interested parties to check out DG’s fantastic, out-of-nowhere drop last week of Jakub Hrusa’s complete Martinu symphonies with the Bamgbergers. Fueled, I imagine, by copious liters of rauchbier, they make the compelling case that almost all of these have a deserved place in regular rotations by great orchestras around the globe.
My only reference was his performances of the 1st with the NYPhil 4-ish years ago, but Hrusa makes an even stronger case here with a stronger, more lithe & dynamic band (imagine the “Largo” inside Disney!)…and maybe if he comes to LA he can finish the LAPhil Dvorak cycle for DG that Dudamel abandoned(!?)… raise your hand if you’ve every heard/played Dvorak’s 1st!
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Sadly, Mr. Hrusa has only conducted the LA Phil twice — 2013 (HB) and 2016 (WDCH). As much as I REALLY want to see him here, it’s not gonna happen until 2027 at the absolute soonest. If he takes a job in the US, I’m guessing Cleveland or Boston since he’s been at both much more frequently, and makes the commute from Covent Garden and Prague much easier.
Regarding never having heard/played Dvorak 1st (guilty as charged BTW), I’m reminded of a story Andre Previn told when he was MD of the local band . . . he and other conductors were comparing notes of which warhorses they hadn’t yet conducted, and Mr. Previn’s answer was “Dvorak New World” — and jaws dropped. He eventually recorded some reasonably nice versions of the 7th, 8th, and 9th.
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That’s a fantastic Previn story; I don’t recall ever getting to see him play/conduct in person, but it seems like for his time he was the right choice for the band having both Hollywood & serious “classical” chops…but too bad it ended as badly as it reportedly did.
Did you see Hrusa at Disney? I was under the obviously uninformed impression that he’s never been to the West Coast (in 2016 I was almost totally in NYC) but at least he got to conduct a very good vintage of the LAPhil, so if he gets the call he knows what’s he’s in for.
But still, I’d hate to see him in Cleveland (boring! bland!), like I hate that the LAPhil missed out on Klaus Makela. With Andris Nelsons dangling out there too it’s like if Freddie Freeman was suddenly fired by Dodgers over his shoe color choices, I as GM of the Yankees, would move heaven and earth to get him here…
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