Gustavo Dudamel, music and artistic director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Photo by Slava Mogutin.
“For more than 13 years, Gustavo Dudamel has been the public face of an orchestra that became the envy of the nation and the pride of this city,” write Adam Nagourney and Javier C. Hernández in Wednesday’s (2/8) New York Times. Dudamel recently announced that he will leave the Los Angeles Philharmonic to become music and artistic director of the New York Philharmonic in 2026. “Dudamel’s talent and star power … make him a particularly difficult figure to replace…. Given its national reputation and history as an incubator of celebrated music directors … [the LA Phil] is in a strong position as it begins to recruit a successor…. Simon Woods, the president of the League of American Orchestras, who served briefly as the chief executive of the Philharmonic, called this ‘a huge opportunity as well as a huge loss…. The L.A. Phil has a long history of hiring music directors at the beginning of their careers, at the point of maximum potential, and building great things with them. Zubin Mehta. Esa-Pekka [Salonen]. And it certainly applies to Gustavo. Whatever direction they decide to go in, they have an opportunity to build a great era. The L.A. Phil is an organization that is genetically wired for innovation.’ ”
