Esa-Pekka Salonen. Photo by Josh S. Rose.
In Monday’s (9/2) Los Angeles Times, Mark Swed writes, “At his is final concert as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic 16 years ago, every musician in the orchestra stood in line onstage to hug a red-faced Esa-Pekka Salonen. At every Salonen L.A. Phil appearance as conductor laureate this past year, energized audiences have begun the mantra of ‘bring him back.’ That wish is now being granted. The L.A. Phil has created a new position of creative director for Salonen beginning in the 2026/27 season. He will conduct the orchestra for four weeks next season and then for a minimum of six weeks the following seasons. While the five-year appointment makes no administrative demands on Salonen, it will allow him to pursue special projects, create festivals, commission premieres, mentor young conductors in a new Salonen International Conducting Fellowship and collaborate with Lightroom, the imaginative British high-tech and artist-led immersive art venture. This may not answer the burning question of who will follow Gustavo Dudamel. The search remains ongoing as Dudamel is about to begin his final season as L.A. Phil music director before taking over the New York Philharmonic next year. But this does assure the continuation of Salonen’s progressive vision for an orchestra of the 21st century that transformed the L.A. Phil.”
