If you're in politics, late Friday is a notoriously typical time for press releases containing bad news. Apparently that's not the case in the arts, because at 8:59 p.m. tonight (and again at 10:59), I received email from LA Opera naming Domingo Hindoyan (full name Domingo Garcia Hindoyan) Music Director Designate of the company. He'll succeed James Conlon as music director on July 1, 2026.
Hindoyan is variously described as Venezuelan-Armenian and Venezuelan-Swiss. His father is Venezuelan; his mother was born in Syria and is of Armenian descent. A Spanish-speaking conductor of Armenian descent will fit in very well, culturally, in Los Angeles, which has many Spanish-speaking residents and one of the largest populations of people of Armenian descent outside Armenia.
Oh, the Swiss part? He lives in Switzerland with his wife and their two children. She is the Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva, a big star.
I visit L.A. at least once a year (given the...unsatisfactory 2025-26 SFS schedule, maybe more than once a year), and I'm looking forward to hearing Hindoyan, who I believe has not conducted at SFS. Conlon's are big shoes to fill, and I wish Hindoyan all success in his new position.
Full press release here.
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