LA
PHILHARMONIC's ESA-PEKKA SALONEN Steps Down
as Music Director at the end of 2008/09 Season
Young Venezuelan Conductor GUSTAVO DUDAMEL Takes Over in 2009/10
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ROOM
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Opera on AIR!
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to Selected Performances of
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LA Opera Announces
2007-2008 Season
AWARDS GALORE!!
Joyce DiDonato, Vivica Genaux, and Other Young Opera Singers on a Winning
Streak
ESA-PEKKA SALONEN Steps Down
as Music Director in 2009; Venezuelan Conductor GUSTAVO DUDAMEL Takes
Over
LA Philharmonic's TRISTAN PROJECT:
Christian Franz Replaces Alan Woodrow as Tristan
LA Opera launches Recovered Voices:
Music Suppressed by the 3rd Reich
A New Bilingual Recording of PETER &
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Esa-Pekka
Salonen will end his tenure as the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Music Director
at the conclusion of the 2008/09 season to dedicate himself more fully to
composing. By the time he steps down, he will have directed the Philharmonic
for 17 seasons, becoming the longest-serving Music Director in the Orchestra's
history.
Together with the Board of Directors, President Deborah Borda, Salonen also
announced the appointment of 26-year-old, Venezuelan conductor GUSTAVO DUDAMEL
as new Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic beginning with the 2009/10
season. He will be Music Director Designate during the 2008/09 season. Following
the terms of his 5-year contract Dudamel, in his first season as Music Director,
will conduct 10 weeks, plus summer concerts at the Hollywood Bowl. In years
two through five, this will increase to 14 weeks, plus tours and Hollywood
Bowl concerts.
Dudamel is the Music Director of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela,
and Principal Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony in Sweden. His celebrated
United States debut was with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood
Bowl in 2005, and he returned to conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt
Disney Concert Hall in January 2007. Dudamel next appears in Los Angeles on
November 1 and 2, 2007, with the Simon Bolīvar Youth Orchestra and returns
to conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic from March 28 through April 6, 2008.
Gustavo Dudamel is an exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon.
Of the appointment Dudamel said, "Almost two years ago, I made my United States
debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and from the first moment I stepped
onto the stage, I felt a special connection and deep feeling from the players.
They are wonderful. I am very honored to be chosen to succeed the great conductor/composer
Esa-Pekka Salonen, who has been so warm to me and has given me so much support.
Family is very important to me. Now my musical family includes Los Angeles,
along with Venezuela and Gothenburg, and these three will be my musical homes
and the focus of my musical activity. Playing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic
in the magnificent Walt Disney Concert Hall is a great privilege and I look
forward to many happy years together."
Source: LA Philharmonic
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