Esa-Pekka Salonen Tours with the New York Philharmonic

Lincoln Center Fountain

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

A press release from the NY Philharmonic landed in my in-box a few weeks ago, and wow, it is certainly interesting to read in the context of goings-on at San Francisco Symphony, which cancelled a planned European tour originally scheduled for this spring, meaning a new partner had to be found for Esa-Pekka Salonen's new horn concerto.

Read it and weep, and wonder what Matias Tarnopolsky and the NY Phil board know that their counterparts at SFS don't*:

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC TOUR TO SOUTH KOREA AND CHINA, SUMMER 2025

Concerts in Incheon and Seoul, South Korea, and Shanghai, China

Conducted by ESA-PEKKA SALONEN **

Featuring Works by Beethoven, Ravel, Debussy, and Berlioz

Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 Performed by
KRYSTIAN ZIMERMAN in South Korea and
ALEXANDRE KANTOROW in China

June 26–July 2, 2025

The New York Philharmonic returns to Asia in summer 2025 for a five-concert tour to South Korea and China, June 26–July 2. Esa-Pekka Salonen will conduct performances in Incheon — marking the Orchestra’s debut in the city — as well as Seoul and Shanghai. The programs feature Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, with Krystian Zimerman as soloist in Incheon and Seoul, marking his first appearances with the NY Phil since 1996, and with Alexandre Kantorow as soloist in Shanghai, in his NY Phil debut. Additional repertoire includes Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, Debussy’s La Mer, and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique.

President & CEO Matías Tarnopolsky said: “The importance of international touring cannot be overstated. To return to Asia at this moment — to three great cities — is a powerful statement of cultural outreach and a reaffirmation of our belief in music’s unique ability to build bridges across languages, oceans, and cultures. Over just a few days we will refresh our connection with audiences in Seoul, make new friends in Incheon, and reunite with our partners in Shanghai.”

Starr International Foundation is the Presenting Sponsor of the New York Philharmonic–Shanghai Orchestra Academy and Partnership and the 2025 Asia Tour.

* I'm going to here point out that SFS's endowment in the most recent 990 (filed in July, 2024) was $333 million versus the NY Philharmonic's $236 million. The Philharmonic's net assets are considerably more than those of SFS and I can't explain that. Still, the Philharmonic thinks it's important to tour, SFS says they can't afford it. It is also interesting that the NY Phil musicians won a 30% salary increase over several years in their last contract negotiations, where the SFS musicians have been working without a contract for quite some time.

** Salonen's departure from SFS presumably freed. up enough time for him to go on this tour. Gustavo Dudamel, the incoming music director of the Philharmonic, is presumably busy with the LA Phil this summer.

Pointer Report on Jaap van Zweden

Pointer is a platform in The Netherlands that describes itself this way:

Pointer is the platform for investigative journalism of KRO-NCRV on TV, radio and online. TV and radio makers, data journalists and researchers bring revealing, in-depth stories, with social impact. A platform that makes modern investigative journalism such as crowdsourcing and open source intelligence accessible to all Dutch people. In the middle of society, for and by the people.

Today, they released a report on Jaap van Zweden, the Dutch conductor who has been the music director of the Dallas Symphony, NY Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Seoul Philharmonic (among others) and who has guest conducted worldwide. Next year, he's conducting four concerts, including the opening gala, at the San Francisco Symphony, which has also announced that over three seasons (2025-26, 2026-27, and 2027-28), he'll be leading a cycle of the Beethoven symphonies.

Here's the start of the article on Pointer's web site:

In several orchestras where Jaap van Zweden was the conductor, there has been evidence of transgressive behavior. This is evident from research by Pointer (KRO-NCRV) based on conversations with dozens of musicians and other insiders. They outline a pattern of fear in places where the most famous conductor in the Netherlands has been in charge. Watch the extra long broadcast of Pointer on the YouTube channel of Pointer this afternoon at 4 p.m. and on Sunday evening on NPO 2.

In recent months, Pointer journalists spoke to more than 50 musicians, directors and staff members from seven of the orchestras that Jaap van Zweden conducted in the Netherlands and abroad over the past 25 years. Van Zweden's tough, sometimes intimidating manners keep recurring. Individual musicians from the Netherlands and abroad tell of being insulted and belittled in front of colleagues. For a number of them, working with the Dutchman has had a lasting impact.

There were reports about van Zweden behaving in a borderline abusive manner when he was at the Dallas Symphony before he was appointed to the NY Phil position. It was clear at the time that Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim had him in mind when she wrote her comments for this article, for example. And a friend mentioned that the Dallas News reported on these issues as well; here's a 2014 article about van Zweden.

I own that I have no idea what to make of "the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra became the best orchestra in the world under his leadership in 2019." Maybe Google Translate didn't accurately render that in English, but I do not think it likely that the Hong Kong Phil was somehow better than the Berlin Phil, the VPO, the LSO, Cleveland, etc., etc.

Over the last few years, U.S. musical institutions have shown at least some increased willingness to do something about abusive conductors and musicians. Plácido Domingo was disinvited from San Francisco Opera, Charles Dutoit has barely worked in the United States, the NY Phil appears to have finally fired two of their musicians, etc. I don't know what impact this report will have on van Zweden's future engagements at the San Francisco Symphony, but I do hope it means that he has no chance of being the next music director of SFS. I've never heard any rumors of abusive behavior on the part of Herbert Blomstedt, MTT, or Esa-Pekka Salonen, and I hope that SFS will continue to hire music directors of unimpeachable character.

Matias Tarnapolsky to the NY Philharmonic

 

Matias Tarnopolsky

Photo by Jeff Fusco, courtesy of the NY Philharmonic

There had been rumors that the NY Phil was negotiating with Matias Tarnopolsky to succeed Gary Ginstling as President and CEO of the orchestra, following Ginstling's 18 months in those positions. Apparently they were true, as the orchestra announced Tarnopolsky's appointment today.

He has been president and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2018. Previously, he was executive and artistic director of Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley. (This is the reason that he is the only head of a large U.S. orchestra with whom I am on first-name terms.) He has also been Vice President, Artistic Planning, at the New York Philharmonic, 2005–09, as well as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra. 

For more information, read the NYPO's press release and the NY Times article (gift link) about this appointment.

The New York Philharmonic in the New York Times

Lincoln Center Fountain

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

Javier C. Hernandez published an article in yesterday's NY Times about the NY Philharmonic, which is having troubles that might seem familiar to anyone in the Bay Area: the musicians haven't gotten a raise since 2019; they are between music directors (Jaap van Zweden is gone, Gustavo Dudamel comes on board in two years); their chief executive, Gary Ginstling, resigned after less than 18 months on the job. They also are dealing with an old scandal, where two players were investigated for raping a third player, but they were never charged; the orchestra fired them in 2018, but the contract required arbitration and the arbitrator restored them. The two are currently on paid leave and at least one is suing the heck out of the orchestra. (You can read about the case in Sammy Sussman's Vulture article and various other places around the web.)

The comments....well, they're closed or I would have a couple of my own, mostly in response to people who don't actually know how the orchestra business works and aren't familiar with, say, 990 forms. So a few responses to those comments here.

• "It takes special talent for an orchestra to drive out both its executive AND artistic leader in the same period. " A reminder that the artistic leader (music director) is hired by the board of directors, not the orchestra, though generally there are musicians on the search committee. As far as is publicly known, Jaap van Zweden wasn't driven out by the orchestra, but decided to resign. Whether he was actually let go by the orchestra, we'll never know. He did stay for a year past his initial contract.
• "The NY base salary is low, but the principal players are paid twice as much as principals from Chicago and LA, so it's a question of priority, financial and artistic." Let's check the 990s and see if this is the case. Well, it is; the NY Phil's principals are paid extremely well, based on what I can see on the 990s.
• Concertmasters: Frank Huang, NY: $909,000 (whoa), Martin Chalifour, LA: $476,900, Robert Chen, CSO, $576,000. Okay, Huang's salary....a lot.
• Second highest paid principal: Carter Brey, principal cello, NY: $589,000; Denis Bouriakov, LA, principal flute; $345,000 David Cooper, (former) principal horn, CSO, $329,000.
• Third highest paid principle: Liang Wang, NY, principal oboe (on leave): $580,000; Andrew Bain, LA, principal horn, $342,000; Stephen Williamson, CSO, principal clarinet, $324,000
• "The odds are high that Dudamel stays in Los Angeles." I expect that he will fulfill his contractual obligations in NY. The LA Phil is undoubtedly already looking around for its next music director, and they've got a new CEO who might or might not want Dudamel back.
• "I believe the Chicago Symphony is still paying for the 1990s renovation of Orchestra Hall (I refuse to call it Symphony Center), and doesn't have the endowment the NY Phil has." I cannot speak to the renovation of the CSO's concert hall, but the CSO's endowment on its most recent 990 is $373 million, while the NY Phil's is $236 million. The CSO's endowment, in other words, is $140 million more than the NY Phil's. The LA Phil's is $344 million. (The largest orchestra endowment in the country is the Boston Symphony's, at something approaching a half-billion.)
• "A Music Director who only spends SIX weeks actually conducting his orchestra is just a Principal Guest Conductor, and not worth whatever he is being paid." This is a reference to the amount of time Dudamel will conduct the NY Phil in the year before he becomes its music director. I don't know what his contract says about the first year he is actually music director. (How much time a music director should spend with his or her orchestra is an interesting question, isn't it.) The rest of this person's comments...oy. I certainly wonder why James Conlon's U.S. career hasn't been bigger, as he has been terrific nearly every time I've heard him, in opera or orchestra concerts. But the comments then go on to say that the accusations against the two players seem bogus, and well, they don't look that way to me.

 

Wait, What? Chad Smith to the BSO.

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

A huge surprise today: Los Angeles Philharmonic chief executive Chad Smith is leaving in the fall for the Boston Symphony. Smith was the longtime artistic administrator of the LA Phil, then became CEO after the short tenure of Simon Woods, who succeeded Deborah Borda. 

Smith is filling a position most recently vacated, after only 18 months, by Gail Samuel, who had similarly been a successful executive at the LA Phil.

This leaves the LA Phil in the position of losing its CEO when they are starting the search for a new music director, pending Gustavo Dudamel's departure at the end of the 2025-26 season.

Knowing that few people are qualified to run a big, important orchestra that has a large budget: Is LA possibly going to hire Gail Samuel back, this time as CEO? Are we looking at....interim CEO Deborah Borda, because she is about to retire from the NY Phil?

Update: adding the BSO press release, after the cut.

New Music at the NY Phil

David Geffen Hall

Photo courtesy of the NY Philharmonic (I think)

In today's SF Chronicle Datebook, Joshua Kosman speculates about who's next as the LA Philharmonic music director, and like everyone else, reaches no conclusion. He has linked to my own speculation on the subject.

I want to add just one thing to what he says about orchestral innovation elsewhere in the United State:  over the last 14 years, the NY Philharmonic has done more than you might think, if you're not reading orchestra season announcements. 

From the orchestra's web site, here's a bit from Alan Gilbert's bio about his eight years as music director:

Gilbert’s tenure as Music Director at the New York Philharmonic was defined by the expansion and redefinition of the symphony concert experience. In 2010, the Orchestra performed the New York Premiere of Ligeti’s avant-garde opera Le Grand Macabre. In 2012, Gilbert led the Philharmonic 360 performance at the Park Avenue Armory. Gilbert was also responsible for CONTACT! and the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, two new-music series that together unveiled 92 World Premieres.

When Gilbert left the orchestra, the CONTACT! series was in danger of being cancelled (and I think eventually was). Sadly, the NY Times reported that, for all the new music in the series, it didn't reach many people because so many of the premieres were for small ensembles and were performed in small venues.

Here is some information from outgoing music director Jaap van Zweden's bio about his new music efforts:

Highlights from recent Philharmonic seasons include the launch of Project 19, the multiyear initiative marking the centennial of the 19th Amendment with commissions by 19 women composers, including Tania León’s Stride, which was awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music; the new, staged production of Schoenberg’s Erwartung and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle; his first Young People’s Concert; and works by Barber, Beethoven, Bruckner, Philip Glass, Mozart, Steve Reich, Ellen Reid, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Nina C. Young, and more, including the school-age participants in the New York Philharmonic Very Young Composers Program.

Jaap van Zweden’s most recent recording is the 2020 release of the World Premiere of David Lang’s prisoner of the state, following the 2019 release of Julia Wolfe’s Fire in my mouth,

Yeah, this isn't on the scale of what MTT and Esa-Pekka Salonen did and are doing at their respective orchestras, but these efforts at the NY Phil were certainly forward movement from the days of Mehta, Masur, and Maazel. 

Previously: Speculation: LA Philharmonic's Next Music Director

Dudamel to NY Philharmonic

Gustavo Dudamel

Photo courtesy of NY Philharmonic

Gustavo Dudamel will be the next music and artistic director of the New York Philharmonic, succeeding Jaap van Zweden. Here's the announcement that just landed:

We are thrilled to announce today that Gustavo Dudamel will join the NY Phil as Music and Artistic Director in the 2026–27 season, serving as Music Director Designate during the 2025–26 season. Dudamel will become part of a storied legacy that includes Gustav Mahler, Arturo Toscanini, and Leonard Bernstein. 

“I am grateful to the musicians and leadership of the New York Philharmonic as we embark on this new and beautiful journey together,” said Dudamel. “As the great poet Federico García Lorca said, ‘Every step we take on earth brings us to a new world.’ I gaze with joy and excitement at the world that lies before me in New York City. All of us are united in our belief that culture creates a better world, and that music is a fundamental right. I look forward to the work ahead.” 

More gushing information at the NY Phil web site. 

His commute to Paris will be half the length, and now the LA Phil will choose a music director to succeed him. (Do not look to the north, please. You had him for 17 years, right?)

In the news:

• NY Phil press release
• Javier C. Hernández, NY Times. "Gustavo Dudamel, Star Maestro, to Leave L.A. for New York Philharmonic."
• Zachary Woolfe, NY Times. "Will Dudamel Be New York's New Bernstein?" Is that the right question here? Regarding reactive appointments, Alex Ross made the same point when Jaap van Zweden was appointed to the NY Phil. I will also stick my neck out far enough to say that the living conductor who most resembles Bernstein is Michael Tilson Thomas.
• Justin Davidson, Vulture
• Joshua Barone, NY Times. "Gustavo Dudamel: An Introduction in 10 Recordings." (The only one I know is Adams, Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?, which is fine.)
• Javier C. Hernández, NY Times. "A Maestro at the Crossroads."
• James Barron, NY Times. "Can Gustavo Dudamel's Star Power Boost the Philharmonic?"
• Mark Swed, LA Times. "Dudamel Transformed LA. That's Why NY Poached Him."

One of the things I'm struck by, looking at the list of U.S. orchestra openings and appointments, is how few music directors at the large-budget groups are from the U.S. It's not as though American conductors are less talented than than European and South American peers.

Stanley Drucker

The legendary clarinetist Stanley Drucker has died at 93. He was a member of the New York Philharmonic for an astounding 60 years.

• Daniel J. Wakin, NY Times obituary
• NY Philharmonic remembers Drucker: "The New York Philharmonic deeply mourns the passing of the legendary orchestral clarinetist Stanley Drucker, who joined the Philharmonic in 1948, at age 19, and was appointed Principal Clarinet by Leonard Bernstein in 1960. Over the course of his 60-year tenure he appeared in more than 10,200 concerts in 60 countries, with solo turns including 64 performances of Copland’s Clarinet Concerto, and worked during the tenures of nine NY Phil Music Directors. Accolades on his retirement in 2009 included the Guinness World Record for “longest career as a clarinetist” and being named an Honorary Member of the New York Philharmonic. At the time, then Music Director Lorin Maazel said: “He stands alone in the world of clarinetists. His contribution to the orchestra and its fame is immeasurable.” The Philharmonic extends condolences to his wife, Naomi, and to his children and grandchildren."
• NY Philharmonic slide show

Update on Deborah Borda

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

Huge news this morning from the NY Philharmonic: Deborah Borda, president and CEO of the organization, will step down from those positions next June. Gary Ginstling, currently in an equivalent position at the National Symphony Orchestra, will succeed her.

Borda has been an immensely important orchestra executive for the last 30 years. She was previously CEO of the NY Phil, then joined the LA Philharmonic, where she made sure that Walt Disney Concert Hall was completed, hired Gustavo Dudamel, and helped make that orchestra perhaps the most forward-looking symphony in the country. Her return to the NY Phil was a gigantic surprise to, well, everyone. At the NY Phil, she has overseen the desperately-needed remodel of their concert hall, and very likely she is going to play a big role in find a music director to succeed Jaap van Zweden, who is leaving at the end of the 2023-24 season.

The succession plan is a little complicated; Ginstling comes on board in November as executive director. Here's the press release:

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC ANNOUNCES LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION PLAN

Gary Ginstling To Join as New Executive Director in November and Succeed Deborah Borda as President and CEO in July 2023; Borda To Take on New Role as Executive Advisor Beginning July 2023

New York Philharmonic Co-Chairmen Peter W. May and Oscar L. Tang, on behalf of the Board of Directors, announced today that Gary Ginstling will become the New York Philharmonic’s Executive Director, effective November 1, 2022. In establishing a new precedent in succession planning at the NY Phil, Ginstling will serve as Executive Director from November 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023, at which time he will succeed Deborah Borda as the Philharmonic’s President and CEO.

At the Board’s request, Deborah Borda — who remains the institution’s President and CEO through June 30, 2023 — has agreed to become Executive Advisor to the President and Board of Directors, starting July 1, 2023.

Peter May and Oscar Tang stated: “We couldn’t be happier with this succession plan. We welcome Gary Ginstling as Executive Director and as the Philharmonic’s future President and CEO. Throughout our extensive search, Gary embodied all the qualities that we were seeking. We are extremely pleased that Deborah Borda will continue on with us as Executive Advisor to the President and Board, beginning July 1, 2023. Deborah has been a remarkable and inspired leader during a period of unprecedented challenges. We feel so fortunate that she will continue on with us in a newly created role.”

They continued: “This succession plan ensures continuity, stability, and forward progress as our organization pursues its mission, strategic plans, and operational effectiveness. With Deborah continuing in her new capacity and in welcoming Gary to the Philharmonic family as her successor, we have the best of all possible worlds.”

Deborah Borda said: “The mark of a strong institution is its ability to plan for the future. The creation of a thoughtful succession plan and an executive team to ensure its success is a ‘must’ as we move our beloved institution into a new era. The challenging cultural ecosystem of our times requires vision, knowledge, and courage. Gary embodies all three. His training as a musician, experience as CEO of important US orchestras, and background in communications and technology is a perfect fit for the NY Phil. He is a trusted colleague whose track record speaks for itself.”

Borda continued: “As I welcome Gary, I could not be more energized as we move into the new David Geffen Hall, charting the pathway to a vibrant New York Philharmonic future with Gary

at the helm. And, I add my gratitude to the NY Philharmonic Board and its Co-Chairmen for their wise and profound leadership.”

Incoming Executive Director and future NY Phil President and CEO Gary Ginstling said: “It is the honor of a lifetime to be joining the New York Philharmonic as part of this innovative leadership succession plan. The NY Phil was my ‘hometown’ orchestra growing up and played a huge role in instilling in me a love of this art form. It is a tremendous privilege to be joining under Deborah Borda’s visionary leadership, and to transition into the President and CEO role next summer. The Philharmonic’s future has never looked brighter with the reopening of David Geffen Hall, and I cannot wait to be a part of it.”

Bychkov Withdraws from NY Phil Program

Dima Slobodeniouk

Photo: Marco Borggreve, courtesy of the NY Philharmonic

Press release this morning:

Dima Slobodeniouk To Make His New York Philharmonic Debut Replacing Semyon Bychkov

November 17–19, 2021, at Alice Tully Hall

Semyon Bychkov will be unavailable to conduct the New York Philharmonic’s performances at Alice Tully Hall, November 17–19. He will be replaced by Dima Slobodeniouk in his New York Philharmonic debut. The program — featuring Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with soloist Karen Gomyo in her Philharmonic subscription debut and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1, Winter Dreams— remains unchanged.

I saw Dima Slobodeniouk at the BSO two years ago conducting Elgar and Nielsen and thought he was excellent, so don't turn in your tickets!

Welcome News from the New York Philharmonic, MTT Edition

Michael Tilson Thomas

Photo by Brandon Patoc, courtesy of San Francisco Symphony

Michael Tilson Thomas will conduct his scheduled programs at the NY Philharmonic in early November. From their press release:

MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS RETURNS TO CONDUCT THE
NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC 

___________________

 

GIL SHAHAM To Perform BERG Violin Concerto

 

Program Also To Include

CRAWFORD SEEGER Andante for Strings

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3, Eroica

 

Alice Tully Hall, November 4, 5, and 7

___________________

 

Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas leads the New York Philharmonic in works by Crawford Seeger, Berg, and Beethoven, November 4, 5, and 7, 2021, at Alice Tully Hall. These performances mark Tilson Thomas’s first conducting appearances since undergoing brain surgery in July 2021. Tilson Thomas, who served as Music Director of the Philharmonic’s Young People’s Concerts from 1973 to 1977, last conducted the Orchestra in 2011. He said:

“Through these past difficult months, my love and appreciation of music has remained undiminished. The thought of sharing it with New York audiences gives me great joy.”

Tilson Thomas is joined in these concerts by frequent collaborator Gil Shaham, who performs as soloist in Berg’s Violin Concerto. In 1989 Tilson Thomas conducted Shaham’s breakthrough performances with the London Symphony Orchestra, in which the violinist replaced Itzhak Perlman. The two have bonded over and explored many works together throughout the years, including Berg’s Violin Concerto, which Tilson Thomas strongly encouraged the young Shaham to integrate into his repertoire. Their latest collaboration, a recording of this concerto with the San Francisco Symphony, was released by the SFS Media label in February 2021.

Again, best wishes to MTT for successful treatment and the best possible outcome.

Visa Issues

Big sigh over visa issues at the NY Phil....

Alessio Bax To Make His New York Philharmonic Debut Replacing 
Leif Ove Andsnes in Works by Clara and Robert Schumann
October 14–16, 2021, at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Pianist Alessio Bax
Photo credit: Marco Borggreve

 

Pianist Alessio Bax will replace Leif Ove Andsnes, who is unable to enter the United States due to visa issues. Bax will make his debut with the New York Philharmonic in these performances led by Music Director Jaap van Zweden, October 14–16, 2021. The program — featuring Clara Schumann’s Romance in A minor for solo piano, Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto, and Brahms’s Serenade No. 2 — is unchanged. 

and at the Boston Symphony:

BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ANNOUNCES ARTIST CHANGE IN PROGRAMS TAKING PLACE AT SYMPHONY HALL OCTOBER 7-12 

With great disappointment, Dutch pianists Lucas and Arthur Jussen have had to withdraw from their BSO performances, October 7, 8, 9, and 12, at Symphony Hall, due to unprecedented delays in the issuing of their travel visas. 

The program will remain the same with the Philadelphia-based Naughton sisters, Christina and Michelle, making their BSO debuts performing Mozart’s Concerto in E-flat for Two Pianos, K.365. The opening two works on the program are Strauss’s Love Scene from Feuersnot and Death and Transfiguration.

Someone's Priorities are Right.

Lincoln Center Fountain

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

No sarcasm here: Anthony Tommasini reviewed the NY Philharmonic's opening program for 2021-22, spending three paragraphs on the concert and eleven evaluating Jaap van Zweden's tenure and speculating on the future. 

He raises the important issues: was van Zweden the right conductor at the right time? He doesn't explicitly answer, but he's obviously thinking "no" or maybe the more equivocal "probably not." His evaluation is really interesting, because he found JvZ most persuasive in new music and wanting in "core repertory." I don't think that is what anyone expected when the conductor was appointed to the post.

In any event, this does bring up the question of who will be next in one of the hottest seats for a conductor.  Whoever it is has to take into account these things:

• The orchestra has a reputation for being difficult to work with. I have no specifics on this; I just know it's been their reputation for as long as I have known they existed. You have to wonder about the social culture of the group if they've managed to stay difficult to work with for forty or fifty years.
• The orchestra has been playing in a terrible hall, though this might be fixed: it's currently under renovation and should re-open in September, 2022. It's an ill wind, etc., and the lack of performances during the pandemic sped up the renovation process by eighteen months.
• The orchestra had weak management for decades before Deborah Borda's return.
• Borda has evidently been hinting that she might step down after the renovation is done. She is 72 and so one can understand that she is considering when to retire. But she's also in a position to be a genuinely transformative CEO for the organization.

So who might be willing to take this very difficult position? Tommasini more-than-hints that he'd like the orchestra to have a woman as its music director. Let's consider some possible candidates, not all of them women; I will note that there are some female candidates I'm not saying anything about because I don't know enough about their careers. Some of the possibilities are conductors suggested by friends. In all cases, you should ask yourself why the NY Phil is a good career move for the possible candidate and whether they already have any kind of working relationship or history with the orchestra.

• Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. MGT has given notice at a really great post, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. The CBSO is an excellent orchestra with a long history of launching the careers of top-notch conductors: going back a ways, we have Simon Rattle, Sakari Oramu, Andres Nelsons, and MGT. Brexit might well have something to do with this; also, her two young children, also, having a partner whose job is in Germany, if I have this right. She is a huge talent who could be hired by any number of orchestras in Europe.
• Susanna Mälkki. Well, she's music director at the Helsinki Philharmonic and principal guest conductor of the LA Phil. Gustavo Dudamel, that orchestra's music director, has a new job at the Paris Opera. He might not want two jobs that are five thousand miles apart, and Mälkki could very well be next in line to be music director of a well-managed, forward-looking, financially-sound orchestra that plays in one of the greatest halls in the world. If you had a choice, would you take the NY Phil over that? I sure wouldn't, although it's true that New York is closer to Helsinki than LA is.
• Marin Alsop. She'll be out of the Baltimore job at the end of this season. She's a New Yorker with deep NY roots; her parents were both professional musicians in NYC, with each having a long career with the orchestra of the New York City Ballet. The NY Phil has already tried this with Alan Gilbert....and that didn't last.
• Barbara Hannigan. She conducts, she sings, she's a fantastic musician and was amazing the one time I've seen her live. Does she want to be a full-time music director of a difficult orchestra?
• Vladimir Jurowski. He has one of the best jobs in the opera world, at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, succeeding Kirill Petrenko. Would he consider adding the NY Phil to that?
• Jeri Lynne Johnson. Music director of the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra. I have never heard her conduct and haven't read much about her; a friend who is familiar with her work said "She has cross-section of skills that fit with what the new music director is going to need in terms of background, key mentors, ability to present new music, while maintaining a schedule with older works, and ability with community outreach."
• Krzysztof Urbański. Here's another huge talent; anyway, that's my view based on the astonishing concerts he has led with the San Francisco Symphony. He's currently the music director of the Indianapolis Symphony and very likely would be available for a job at a bigger and more important orchestra. I'm counting him as a candidate because Deborah Borda already has a proven record of hiring a young talent who doesn't have a lot of music director experience.
• Gustavo Dudamel. Well, he does have this big job coming up in Paris, where there are two opera houses and a gigantic budget. Would he leave LA for NY? It's closer to Paris but a much bigger headache than LA. Of course, Deborah Borda is a great administrator, so maybe it will be less of a headache than it has been.
• Manfred Honeck. Has a great reputation, but just re-upped in Pittsburgh. Presumably not taking the CSO job (see below), maybe not available for NY.
• Osmo Vänskä. He's the outgoing music director of the Minnesota Orchestra, where he has done great work. I believe that he is generally considered to be demanding, but in adult ways: he isn't a bully, just knows what he wants and how to get it. He is probably tough enough for the NY Phil, but didn't they try this with Masur?
• Riccardo Muti. They could try again, I guess! His contract at the CSO will be up fairly soon, but he is 80, his programming at the CSO has been incredibly dull, and he's probably not the kind of transformative talent that the NY Phil needs.
• Esa-Pekka Salonen. Forget it. He made it pretty clear that he didn't want this job, and as you know, he likes California.

Big News: Jaap van Zweden to Leave NY Phil

Jaap van Zweden

Photo courtesy of NY Philharmonic

 © Bert Hulselmans

Well, here's a major change: Jaap van Zweden and the NY Phil announced today that he will leave the orchestra at the end of the 2023-24 season. He originally told Deborah Borda that he'd be leaving when his first, five-year contract ran out, at the end of 2022-23, but she talked him into a one-year extension.

From The NY Times article that I linked to above:

Van Zweden, 60, said in an interview that the upheaval of the pandemic had prompted him to reconsider his relationship with the orchestra, which he has led since 2018, as well as with his family, which he rarely got to see during his globe-trotting days before the Covid crisis. He said he felt it would be the right moment to move on, with the orchestra set to return to the newly renovated David Geffen Hall next fall, a year and a half ahead of schedule.

Later in the article:

Freed from an intense performing schedule during lockdown in the Netherlands, van Zweden underwent something of a transformation. At one point, he contracted Covid. He began to focus on his health, losing about 70 pounds. He tried his hand at composing, and listened to more popular music, including Frank Sinatra, Van Halen and Lady Gaga.

He spent more time with his family, including his wife, father, children and grandchildren. He also put new energy into his foundation, which is focused on using music to help families of children with autism.

One can hardly argue with these reasons and with rethinking one's life. I'm sorry to hear that he contracted COVID-19.  (I regret that the Times automatically associated weight loss with "focussing on health" but maybe that's how JvZ put it.)

He's also stepping down from the Hong Kong Philharmonic at the same time. I'm not surprised; it's a long commute from NY or the Netherlands.

I wonder whether the orchestra is having any regrets about whatever it was that led to Alan Gilbert's departure and about not having hired....someone else. Now they'll be doing it again.

Open positions:

• New York Philharmonic, when Jaap van Zweden leaves in 2024.
• Hong Kong Philharmonic, when Jaap van Zweden leaves in 2024.
• Oakland Symphony, owing to the death of Michael Morgan in August, 2021.
• Royal Opera, when Sir Antonio Pappano leaves for the LSO in September, 2024.
• Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, when Robert Spano leaves at the end of 2021-22. 
• Baltimore Symphony, because Marin Alsop did not renew her contract there
• Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra following the firing of Daniele Gatti
• Opera Theatre of Saint Louis: Stephen Lord resigned following accusations of sexual harassment. OTSL has not named a new music director.
• Michigan Opera Theater: Stephen Lord resigned following accusations of sexual harassment. MOT has not named a new music director.
• Teatro Regio Turin: Open now with departure of Gianandrea Noseda. the Teatro Regional's has not named a new music director.
• Minnesota Opera: Michael Christie has left. MO has not named a new music director. 
• Virginia Symphony: JoAnn Falletta is now laureate, but no successor has been named.
• Shanghai Symphony Orchestra
• Minnesota Orchestra, when Osmo Vänskä leaves in 2022.

Conductors looking for jobs (that is, as of the near future, or now, they do not have a posting):

• Jaap van Zweden, who leaves the NY Phil at the end of 2023-24
• Andrés Orozco-Estrada 
• Miguel Harth-Bedoya
• Lionel Bringuier
• Juanjo Mena
• Ludovic Morlot
• Sian Edwards
• Jun Markl
• Ingo Metzmacher
• Jac van Steen
• Mark Wigglesworth
• David Robertson
• Peter Oundjian
• Philippe Auguin
• Kwame Ryan
• Ilan Volkov
• Aleksandr Markovic
• Lothar Koenigs
• Henrik Nanasi
• Carlos Kalmar

And closed:

• Opera de Paris: Gustavo Dudamel succeeds Philippe Jordan.
• Melbourne Symphony: Jaime Martin becomes chief conductor in 2022. Sir Andrew Davis left at the end of 2019. 
• City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra: Kazuki Yamada replaces MGT when she leaves at the end of 2021-22
• London Symphony Orchestra: Sir Antonio Pappano becomes Chief Conductor Designate in September, 2023, Chief Conductor the following year.
• Fort Worth Symphony: Robert Spano to succeed Miguel Harth-Bedoya.
• Oregon Symphony: David Danzmayr succeeds Carlos Kalmar at the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
• Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Maxim Emelyanychev has succeeded Robin Ticciati
• Orchestre de Paris, Klaus Mäkelä to succeed Daniel Harding
• Montreal Symphony Orchestra: Rafael Payare has succeeded Kent Nagano.
• Richmond Symphony: Valentina Peleggi succeeds Steven Smith.
• Singapore Symphony: Han Graf succeeded Lan Shui.
• BBC National Orchestra of Wales: Ryan Bancroft succeeded Thomas Søndergård
• BRSO hires Sir Simon Rattle to succeed the late Mariss Jansons, effective 2023.
• Jader Bignamini is now Music Director of the Detroit SO, succeeding Leonard Slatkin.
• Opera North: Garry Walker is music director designate
• Sydney Symphony Orchestra names Simone Young their chief conductor; she takes over in two years, succeeding David Roberts.
• San Francisco Opera appoints Eun Sun Kim its music director, starting August 1, 2021. She succeeds Nicola Luisotti.
• Philharmonia Orchestra names Santtu-Matias Rouvali as its next Principal Conductor, starting in 2021-22.

Now We Know

Geffen Hall

Courtesy of the NYPO

It's just about four years since the New York Philharmonic announced that Deborah Borda would return to the orchestra from her wildly successful time at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I wrote about it then, in a post called I Did Not See This One Coming. 

Matthew VanBesien's departure had been announced in January, and somehow, in the interval, the orchestra had managed to get Borda under contract. (Yes, I did wonder whether VanBesien had been shown the door, but he resigned to take a job elsewhere, so that seems doubtful.)

Anyway, I quoted Anne Midgette on the subject of why Borda accepted a job with an orchestra that was not in great shape, to say the least, and among the reasons she mentioned was the Board offering her "boatloads of money."

The 990 forms have been published for the period ending in August, 2019, and Borda's salary is published there, along with that of Music Director Designate Jaap van Zweden. Borda was paid $1,431,771 plus an estimated $23,823 in "other compensation." Van Zweden made $816,375 as MDD.

NY Philharmonic Cancels Fall Concerts

Lincoln Center Fountain

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

The NY Philharmonic has taken a hard look at the current state of affairs and canceled its fall concerts:

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC CONCERTS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED THROUGH JANUARY 5, 2021

The New York Philharmonic’s concerts through January 5, 2021, have been cancelled. “While the New York Philharmonic deeply regrets having to cancel our fall concerts, we had no choice,” said President and CEO Deborah Borda. “Our number one concern is the health and safety of our audiences, musicians, and employees. It has become very clear that large groups of people will not be able to safely gather for the remainder of the calendar year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our decision to let the entire Philharmonic family and our public know at this time has been strongly informed by New York State government regulations, along with the advice of medical experts.”

The New York Philharmonic hopes to resume live performances on January 6, 2021. Currently, the Philharmonic is exploring options for concerts in smaller gatherings when possible. Meanwhile, the Orchestra will continue to share broadcasts of past performances and new videos featuring Philharmonic musicians through NY Phil Plays On, offering more than 150 hours of free digital content.

Music Director Jaap van Zweden said: “This has been a challenging time for all of us. My family and I have been at home in Amsterdam and, throughout these very long months, our New York Philharmonic family has been in our thoughts and hearts. I am so looking forward to 2021, when the great musicians of the New York Philharmonic and I can join together through live performances and be reunited with our public.”

Programming for concerts in 2021 is subject to change. For information about donating the value of unused tickets, applying ticket value to a concert that has not been cancelled, or obtaining refunds for the cancelled concerts, ticketholders may visit nyphil.org/health or contact New York Philharmonic Customer Relations at (212) 875-5656 or customerservice@nyphil.org.

NY Phil's Mahler's NY Digital Festival

Lincoln Center Plaza Fountain

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

I've got a promotional email from the NY Philharmonic about their Digital Festival Mahler's NY, which runs April 16-30. Oh, boy, does it look to me like a missed opportunity.

It's not that there's anything wrong with what the Phil is going to make available, which includes performances of Kindertotenlieder, at least some of the symphonies, Lenny B. discussing Mahler, and, on the fun side, a digital walking tour of New York City in 1911 and 1911 recipes.

It's what doesn't seem to be included, but maybe I'm premature:

• A look at other classical composers then active in NYC, especially American composers. 
• A look at composers in other styles, especially ragtime, early jazz, Tin Pan Alley.
• A look at the popular music of the era.
• A look at the music of NY's many immigrant populations.

It's not as though we're lacking in performances of Mahler's works, whether live or studio, or knowledge about him. It would be great if the NY Philharmonic got its nose outside Avery Fi er David Geffen Hall and looked around a bit.