Yet More Music Director Updates

New updates (major thanks to reader Geo. for most of these!):

• Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra appoints conductor, harpsichordist, solo bassoonist, and Olivier Award winner Peter Whelan, as of the 2026-27 season
• English National Opera: Andre de Ridder becomes music director in 2027
• Antwerp Symphony: Marc Albrecht becomes chief conductor in 2026
• Teatro Regio Turin: Andrea Battistoni became music director this past January
• Residentie Orchestra, The Hague: Jun Markl is now chief conductor, after Anja Bihlmaier finished her 4 years there
• Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra: Andre de Ridder will leave in 2027 to go to ENO
• Teatro alla Scala: Riccardo Chailly leaves at the end of 2026. Myung-Whun Chung begins at the start of 2027
• Norwegian Radio Orchestra: Holly Hyun Choe becomes principal conductor in January 2026
• Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie: Marzena Diakun becomes chief conductor in 2026
• Delaware Symphony Orchestra: Michelle Di Russo becomes music director this fall
• Korean National Symphony Orchestra: Roberto Abbado becomes music director in January 2026
• Domingo Hindoyan will be the next music director of L.A. Opera
• Iván López Reynoso is the new music director of the Atlanta Opera

Open positions:

• San Francisco Symphony, with the departure of Esa-Pekka Salonen
• Orchestre Philharmonique of Monte-Carlo, in August, 2026 , when Kazuki Yamada leaves
• National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada, in 2026 when Alexander Shelley leaves.
• Czech Philharmonic, when Semyon Bychkov leaves in 2028
• Symphony Tacoma when Sara Ionnides leaves in 2026
• Boston Baroque, when Martin Pearlman leaves.
• Berkeley Symphony, when Joseph Young leaves.
• Milwaukee Symphony, when Ken-David Masur leaves.
• New Jersey Symphony, when Xian Zhang leaves at the end of the 2027-28 season.
• Ulster Orchestra, when Daniele Rustioni leaves
• Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, when Daniel Harding leaves
• Oslo Philharmonic, when Klaus Mäkelä moves on in 2027
• Orchestre de Paris, when Klaus Mäkelä moves on in 2027
• Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, when Santu-Matias Rouvali leaves in 2025
• Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra because of the departure of Lorenzo Viotti in 2025
• Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, because of the departure of Lorenzo Viotti in 2025
• Dutch National Opera, because of the departure of Lorenzo Viotti in 2025
• Bergen Philharmonic
• Phoenix Symphony
• Cleveland Orchestra, as of June, 2027
• Lahti Symphony, when Dalia Stasevka leaves.
• Antwerp Symphony, with the departure of Elim Chan.
• Paris Opera is currently without a music director.
• Nashville Symphony, when Giancarlo Guerrero leaves.
• Deutsche Oper Berlin, when Donald Runnicles leaves.
• Rottedam Philharmonic, when Lahav Shani leaves.
• Los Angeles Philharmonic, at the start` of the 2026-27 season, when Gustavo Dudamel leaves for NY.
• Teatro Regio Turin: Open now with departure of Gianandrea Noseda. The Teatro Regio has not named a new music director.
• Marin Symphony
• Vienna Staatsoper, when Philippe Jordan leaves at the end of 2025.

Conductors looking for jobs (that is, as of the near future, or now, they do not have a posting). The big mystery, to me, is why an orchestra hasn't snapped up Susanna Mälkki. Slightly lesser mystery: Henrik Nanasi, whose superb Cosi fan tutte is still lingering in my ears.

• Ken-David Masur
• Joseph Young
• Kirill Karabits
• Marc Albrecht
• Markus Stenz
• Esa-Pekka Salonen, if he wants such a position again
• James Conlon, if he wants such a position again.
• Dalia Stasevska (though her contract at Lahti has been extended by a year)
• Elim Chan
• Kirill Karabits
• Tito Muñoz 
• Andrey Boreyko
• Osmo Vänskä
• Susanna Mälkki, who left the Helsinki Philharmonic at the end of 2022-23.
• MGT (apparently does not want a full-time job, as of early 2022)
• Miguel Harth-Bedoya (seems settled in at Baylor)
• Sian Edwards
• Ingo Metzmacher
• Jac van Steen
• Ilan Volkov
• Aleksandr Markovic
• Lothar Koenigs
• Henrik Nanasi
• Philippe Jordan, eventually
• Franz Welser-Möst, if he wants such a job

And closed:

• Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, with the appointment of Markus Poschner
• Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España, with the appointment of Kent Nagano
• Eugene (OR), with the appointment of Alex Prior
• Utah Symphony, with the appointment of Markus Poschner.
• Bournemouth Symphony appoints Mark Wigglesworth as Chief Conductor (some time ago).
• Colorado Symphony appoints Peter Oundjian, effective with the 2025-26 season.
• Pacific Symphony appoints Alexander Shelley to succeed Carl St. Clair, starting with the 2026-27 season.
• Milwaukee Symphony, when Ken-David Masur leaves at the end of 2025-26.
• Seattle Symphony, with the appointment of Xian Zhang as of the 2025-26 season.
• Edward Gardner starts as music director of Norwegian National Opera this season,
• Sarasota Orchestra: Giancarlo Guerrero has been named music director, as of 2025.
• Hong Kong Philharmonic: Tarmo Peltokoski becomes music director in 2026.

Older closed appointments

Tartuffe at Pocket Opera

 

Baritone Eugene Brancoveanu, standing, as Tartuffe and mezzo-soprano Courtney Miller as Elmire in Pocket Opera’s production of Kirke Mechem’s Tartuffe | Courtesy of Pocket Opera

I reviewed Pocket Opera's production of Kirke Mechem's Tartuffe the other day. The review is a rave, because the performers and direction are terrific, and it is quite simply one of the funniest and best-constructed recent operas that I've ever seen. 

Consequently, I found myself wondering why on earth it's not a repertory staple at U.S. opera companies large and small.  I mean, it has gotten some 400 performances or so worldwide, nothing to sneeze at, but still!

All I can come up with is that you need eight strong soloists who can also act, putting it on the expensive side. On the other hand, it can be performed with a big orchestra or a small orchestra; none of the roles are extreme for their voice type, and it seems perfect for a conservatory or program like Merola Opera, where you want opportunities for as many singers as possible.

I've seen two other recent operas that were this funny; they are also not exactly staples and they also should be. They are Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell's Elizabeth Cree and Mark Adamo's Lysistrata. 

Bring on the comedies! We all need a good laugh.

Elsewhere:

• Joshua Kosman, On a Pacific Aisle
• Cordell Reports
• DB at Kalimac's Corner

Finckel and Wu Han to Retire from Music@Menlo

 

Uncredited photo from Music@Menlo email

Twenty-five years after cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han founded the annual summer festival Music@Menlo, they've announced their intention to step down from leadership of the festival following the 2026 festival. The full press release is here.

I went to a few concerts at the festival back in 2005 and maybe 2006, seeing, among other things, a blazing performance of the Brahms piano quintet, the St. Lawrence String Quartet plus Finckel in the Schubert Quintet, and Jeffrey Kahane giving a talk, playing the Goldberg Variations, taking a lunch break, playing the Diabelli Variations, and answering questions ("I never have to do that again," he said at the Q&A).

Besides work and distance (I live in Oakland), what has mostly kept me away since then is the comparatively staid programming. Yes, great performers, yes, high-quality music, but an almost complete neglect of living composers and minoritized composers of the past. I will never forget Javier Hernandez, of the NY Times, asking Finckel about diversity in programming at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and receiving the answer "I mean, there is more variety and diversity in a single string quartet of Haydn than you can find in about a hundred works of other composers."  It will be very interesting to see who the next artistic director or directors of Music@Menlo will be and what their programming philosophy is.

Museum Mondays

Christ on the cross, between the Virgin and Saints Mary Magdalene and John the Evangelist; The Agony in the Garden and Saints Peter and Paul; Saints Catherine of Alexandria and Margaret of Antioch, Saints James Major and Benedict

Bernardo Dadi, 1334

Fogg Museum, Cambridge, MA

April, 2025

 

Friday Photo

Seen in Oakland

June, 2025

 

Music at Kohl Mansion

I'm sorry to say that I've never been to a concert at Kohl Mansion, which for many years has had an excellent chamber music program. Next season is quite extraordinary and I will be making a special effort to get there. 

Sunday, October 19, 2025,  7 p.m.
BENNEWITZ QUARTET* (Prague, Czech Republic)

Jakub Fiser & Stepan Jezek, violins; Jiri Pinkas, viola; Stepan Dolezal, cello

Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 77, No. 2

Leoš Janáček: String Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters"

Antonín Dvořák: String Quartet in A-flat Major, Op. 105

 

Sunday, November 16, 2025, 7 p.m.
TRIO BOHÉMO* (Prague, Czech Republic - founded in Budapest, Hungary)
Jan Vojtek, piano; Matouš Pěruška, violin; Kristina Vocetková, cello
Joseph Haydn: Piano Trio in A Major, Hob.XV:35
Bohuslav Martinů: Piano Trio No. 2 in D minor, H.327
Jan Vičar: Cycle of folk songs, “From Moravia”
Bedřich Smetana: Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15

 

Sunday, December 14, 2025 - Baroque Holiday Program,   7 p.m.
MUSICA PACIFICA (San Francisco)
Judy Linsenberg, recorder; Ingrid Matthews, violin; Alexa Haynes-Pilon, viola da gamba; Charles Sherman, harpsichord
Hijinks of the High Baroque: Composers Behaving Badly
Festive music of Handel, Telemann, Veracini, Rameau, Purcell punctuated with hilarious stories of the composers' misdeeds and shenanigans.

 

Sunday, January 18, 2026,  7 p.m.

BALOURDET QUARTET* (Bloomington, IN)
Angela Bae & Justin DeFilippis, violins; Benjamin Zannoni, viola; Russell Houston, cello
Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 3
Amy Beach: String Quartet in One Movement, Op. 89
Eleanor Alberga: String Quartet No. 2
Johannes Brahms: String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat Major, Op. 67

Sunday, February 22, 2026,  7 p.m.
LYSANDER PIANO TRIO (Athens, GA – founded at Juilliard School, NY))
Itamar Zorman, Violin; James Kim, Cello; Liza Stepanova, Piano
W. A. Mozart: Piano Trio in E Major, K. 542 

Rebecca Clarke: Piano Trio
Shulamit Ran: Soliloquy
Antonín Dvořák: Piano Trio in F minor, Op. 65

 

Sunday, March 22, 2026,  7 p.m.
WINDSYNC* (Houston, TX)
Garrett Hudson, flute; Noah Kay, oboe; Graeme Steele Johnson, clarinet; Kara LaMoure, bassoon; Anni Hochhalter, horn
Nadia Boulanger/arr. LaMoure: Prelude in F
Nadia Boulanger/arr. LaMoure: Three Pieces
Elliott Carter: Woodwind Quintet
Philip Glass/arr. LaMoure: Etude No. 17
Dieterich Buxtehude: Passacaglia in D minor, BuxWV 161
W. A. Mozart/arr. Rechtman: Serenade in C minor, K. 388

Sunday, April 19, 2026,  7 p.m.
BEO STRING QUARTET* (Pittsburgh, PA) with guest artist Michel Taddei*, double bass
Jason Neukom & Andrew “Gio” Giordano, violins; Sean Neukom, viola; Ryan Ash, cello
J.S. Bach: Selections from The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080

Philip Glass: String Quartet No. 3, Mishima
Sean Neukom: El Balcón

Gabriela Ortiz: Mictlán (Place of the Dead), from Altar de Muertos                

Antonín Dvořák: Double Bass Quintet in G Major, Op. 77

Sunday, May 3, 2026,  7 p.m.
CALIDORE STRING QUARTET (New York, N.Y.)
Jeffrey Myers & Ryan Meehan, violins; Jeremy Berry, viola; Estelle Choi, cello
W. A. Mozart: Divertimento in F Major, K. 138
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 34
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3, “Razumovsky"  

SFS: Mahler 2nd Brass

Well, you know, they were great, but there's no space for listing them all in a review, so here they are:

Horns

1. Diego Incertis Sanchez
2. Jessica Valeri
3. Jesse Clevenger
4. Alicia Waite
5. Amy Sanchez
6. Bruce Roberts
7. Caitlyn Smith Franklin (playing Assistant)
8. Chris Cooper (offstage)
9. Alicia Mastromonaco (offstage)
10. Jack Bryant (offstage)
11. Dan Wions (offstage)

 

Trumpets

1. Mark Inouye
2. Guy Piddington
3. Aaron Schuman (also offstage)
4. Jeff Biancalana (also offstage)
5. Jack Farnham
6. Dave Burkhart
7. Ari Micich (offstage)
8. Owen Myoshi (offstage)

 

Trombones

1. Tim Higgins
2. Paul Welcomer
3. Chase Waterbury
4. Christopher Bassett

             Tuba

                   1. Jeffrey Anderson

The clarinet section had an extra player whose name I didn't get. I saw Associate Principal Matthew Griffith in the orchestra for the third performance and Steven Sanchez for the first and second, both on E-flat clarinet, I believe.

Esa-Pekka Salonen at SFS

Esa-Pekka Salonen and members of the San Francisco Symphony

June 12, 2025

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

The last few weeks have felt like all Salonen, all the time, because they have been. I attended his last four concerts as music director of SFS, reviewed two of them, and wrote a scene piece about the last. He conducted splendidly across a wide range of music, introduced a new work by Gabriella Smith, and closed with three transcendent performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection."

You don't have to be a Christian to be deeply moved by Mahler's vision of renewal, and I regret that I missed the chance to sneak a riff on "You don't have to be Jewish to love Levy's [rye bread]" into my review. On the other hand, I'm not sure how many current readers are familiar with that classic advertising campaign from the 1960s and 70s.

I will note that I cried at different points in the different Mahler performances - I attended all of them and the open rehearsal, so, yes, four Mahler 2 performances in three days. At the rehearsal, the tears came in Sasha Cooke's first lines in the "Urlicht" movement; in the first performance, somewhere in the staggering last movement. I have never heard Cooke sing with greater beauty or feeling and I think I've heard most of her Bay Area performances.

Fun trivia about the performances: I wrote down the start and end times of the four movements, and over the three performances, the movement timings.....did not vary from each other by as much as a minute. 

This round-up will cover all of Salonen's last four programs as music director, in reverse chronological order, but not all at once. 

June 12-14: Mahler, Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, "Resurrection"

Gift links for the Chronicle and WSJ.

• Joshua Kosman, Chronicle
• Joshua Kosman, On a Pacific Aisle (remarks, okay, righteous fulminations on Salonen's departure)
• Lisa Hirsch, SFCV (review)
• Lisa Hirsch, Chronicle (reporting on the last concert)
• David Mermelstein, Wall Street Journal
• Mark Swed, L.A. Times 
• Richard Ginell, Classical Voice North America
• Thomas May, Memeteria (post contains a link to Musical America review)
• Harvey Steiman, Seen & Heard International
• Patrick Vaz, The Reverberate Hills
• Michael Strickland, SF Civic Center
• Stephen Smoliar, The Rehearsal Studio
• DB, Kalimac's Corner

June 6-8: Strauss, Smith, Sibelius

• Joshua Kosman, On a Pacific Aisle
• Lisa Hirsch, Chronicle & SFCV
• Patrick Vaz, The Reverberate Hills
• Stephen Smoliar, The Rehearsal Studio
• DB, Kalimac's Corner

Belated Museum Monday

Jan Provost, early 1500s

The Annunciate Virgin; Saint Andrew with a Donor and His Sons; Saint Catherine of Alexandria with a Donor and Her Daughters; and the Annunciate Angel

Philadelphia Museum of Art

April, 2025

(Click to enlarge)

 

SF Opera: La Bohème Casting Update

Lucas Meachem as Marcello

Photo: Cory Weaver, courtesy of San Francisco Opera

Lucas Meachem will be singing Marcello in all performances of La Bohème, joining the alternate cast in place of Will Liverman, who was to make his SFO debut. Liverman has withdrawn for "personal reasons." I was looking forward to hearing Liverman, whom I've liked elsewhere. Meachem is a wonderful Marcello, though!

Here's the press release:

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (June 12, 2025) — San Francisco Opera announced today a casting update for its 2025 Summer Season production of Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème. Baritone Lucas Meachem, who is currently performing Marcello in La Bohème, will now sing the role in all remaining performances, replacing Will Liverman who was scheduled to perform Marcello on June 13, 18 and 21. Mr. Liverman has withdrawn from the production for personal reasons.

 

Meachem made his San Francisco Opera debut in 2004 and has performed a wide repertoire in his 13 seasons with the Company. His gallery of portrayals on the War Memorial Opera House stage includes the title roles in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), Frank/Fritz in Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Dr. Malatesta in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Mercutio in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Marcello in La Bohème. The American baritone and former San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow was also a featured soloist in Opera Ball: The Centennial Celebration and The 100th Anniversary Concert during San Francisco Opera’s 2022–23 Centennial Season and has appeared in the Company’s annual Opera in the Park concerts on five occasions.

 

The performances of La Bohéme on June 13, 18 and 21 introduce three new cast members in leading roles with Evan LeRoy Johnson as Rodolfo, Nicole Car as Mimì and Brittany Renee as Musetta.

 

San Francisco Opera’s 2025 Summer Season opened June 3 and continues through June 27. The season features La Bohéme (June 3–21), Mozart’s early masterpiece Idomeneo (June 14–25) in a new-to-San Francisco Opera production by Lindy Hume conducted by Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim, and a special Pride Concert and dance party which closes the mainstage season on Friday, June 27.

Friday Photo

Pelicans in flight

Pillar Point, CA

May, 2025

 

Museum Mondays

 

Reliquary bust of St. Benedict

Italian, Late 1400s

Philadelphia Museum of Art

April, 2025

Rear view

Friday Photo

Great Blue Heron?

Pillar Point, CA

May, 2025

 

La Bohème, San Francisco Opera

Samuel Kidd as Schaunard, Bogdan Talos as Colline, Pene Pati as Rodolfo, Karen Chia-ling Ho as Mimì, and Lucas Meachem as Marcello in Puccini’s "La Bohème."

Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

A winning cast and sharp work by the revival director make this one a hit.

• Joshua Kosman, On a Pacific Aisle. Loves the direction and singers, but not the conducting.
• Lisa Hirsch, SFCV & S.F. Chronicle. At the primo, I really liked the conducting, which seemed expansive. Watching the third performance on the livestream, I found the conducting more sluggish than expansive. I'm also seeing the alternate cast, so, I'll see what I think then.
• Lisa Hirsch, right here. I saw the alternate cast, still thought Ramon Tebar's conducting was fine. Nicole Car was very different from Karen Chia-Ling Ho, who was a shy and very sweet Mimi. Car was more extroverted and has a more pointed voice with a rapid vibrato. I liked them both - there are lots of ways to play Mimi! - but something about the sound of Car's voice had me sobbing almost as soon as she opened her mouth in Act III.
• Joshua Kosman, On a Pacific Aisle, likes the alternate cast, still dislikes Tebar, notes that Evan LeRoy Johnson is costumed exactly like Lucas Meachem, whech is, indeed, a bad move. This wasn't the case with the opening night cast.
• Gabe Meline, KQED
• Michael Strickland, SF Civic Center, liked the conducting.
• Charlies Tiee, The Opera Tattler
• Stephen Smoliar, The Rehearsal Studio
• Thomas May, Memeteria. "Puccini’s savvy recapitulation of musical material – most movingly in the final act’s return to the music of Mimì and Rodolfo’s first meeting – carried incalculable expressive weight in Ramón Tebar’s sensitively detailed conducting, a highlight of the production."

Harvey Milk Reimagined

 

Harvey Milk Reimagined

Photo by Cory Weaver, courtesy of Opera Parallèle

The original Harvey Milk, by composer Stewart Wallace and librettist Michael Korie, was a co-commission of San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and New York City Opera. It made its way around the country, opening in Houston (Edward Rothstein, NY Times), then playing in NY (Bernard Holland, NY Times, then finally coming to San Francisco (Joshua Kosman, S.F. Chronicle). Between New York and San Francisco, some revisions were made by the composer with input from conductor Donald Runnicles, who led the S.F. performances and was then music director of SFO (that's from Joshua Kosman's review, a detail that stuck in my mind, though not the source, from 1996 until a couple of weeks ago, when I re-read that review).

Now it's been further revised, on commission from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Opera Parallèle, and it's playing in San Francisco again.

• Joshua Kosman, On a Pacific Aisle (link to his 1996 review is above)
• Lisa Hirsch, SFCV and S.F. Chronicle
• Charlise Tiee, The Opera Tattler
• Harvey Steiman, Seen & Heard International
• Caroline Crawford, Bay City News
• James Ambroff-Tahan, SF Examiner
• Christian Ocier, Parterre Box

It's interesting that Joshua, Harvey, and myself all think that the revised version is overloaded. 

Related:

• Georgia Rowe, preview
• Emily Wilson, preview
• Philip Campbell, preview
• Michael Milenski, preview

Museum Mondays

Taddeo di Bartolo, The Virgin and child with angels, c. 1418

Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge

April, 2025

 

Tania León Receives the William Schuman Award

Tania León

Photo by Rob Davidson for Miller Theatre at Columbia University

Tania León is the recipient of the 2025 William Schuman Award, which is awarded by Columbia University and "is given to recognize the lifetime achievement of an American composer whose works have been widely performed and generally acknowledged to be of lasting significance." That would certainly cover León. The award carries a $75,000 unrestricted grant.

There's a concert at the Miller Theater, too:

Thursday, September 25, 2025, 7:30PM TANIA LEÓN William Schuman Award Concert Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street) Tickets available July 14, 2025 at noon

Tania León is a lauded composer, conductor, educator, arts advocate, and the newest recipient of the William Schuman Award. This concert celebrates her transformative contributions to the field with a program of works that exemplify her vibrant oeuvre. An incredible cast of musicians join together in tribute to this inspirational cultural icon. Program Singsong for flute (2023/25), New York premiere In the Field for soprano, string quartet, and piano (2022), New York premiere Esencia for string quartet (2009)  Tumbao for piano (2005)  A La Par for piano and percussion (1986)  Artists Rachel Doehring Jackson, soprano Sophie Thompson, soprano Claire Chase, flute Han Chen, piano Camila Cortina Bello, piano Orion Weiss, piano Ian Rosenbaum, percussion Bergamot String Quartet Na’Zir McFadden, conductor