The Philharmonia Orchestra announces that it is appointing Marin Alsop as Principal Guest Conductor, as it launches the first half of the 2023/24 London season.
Following three highly acclaimed programmes with Marin Alsop in the past year, the Orchestra was keen to forge a long-term relationship, recognising her exceptional musicianship, commitment to diversity and education, and the breadth of her repertoire.
Marin Alsop said: “This appointment as Principal Guest Conductor with the Philharmonia Orchestra is a fantastic opportunity to deepen my relationship with these wonderful musicians and audiences. My work in London has been some of the most rewarding of my career. I am so looking forward to working more closely with this innovative, forward-thinking orchestra to create programmes and projects that draw from its long history of exceptional music making and continue to embrace the new and the bold.”
Alsop will join the Philharmonia’s artistic family in the 2023/24 season, with a programme to open the Orchestra’s centre-piece Let Freedom Ring series, which exemplifies her trailblazing approach to programming and musical rediscovery. For the following three seasons Alsop will be developing three distinctive projects per season with the Orchestra, which will include new repertoire, concert formats and modes of presentation.
The 2022/23 season marks Alsop’s fourth as Chief Conductor of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. As Chief Conductor and Curator of Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, she conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s summer residencies. She regularly guest conducts such major international orchestras as the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala. Her record of achievement in leading significant orchestras on three continents, has contributed to her being widely acknowledged as one of the most important musical figures of her generation.
Marin Alsop and Sir John Eliot Gardiner, recently appointed as Principal Guest Conductor Emeritus, will join a family of titled artists, including Santtu-Matias Rouvali as Principal Conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen as Conductor Laureate, and Christoph von Dohnányi,Honorary Conductor for Life.
On 19 October, Alsop will open the Philharmonia’s series Let Freedom Ring with a jazz-infused, all-American programme. Beginning with Drums – A Symphonic Poem, by James P. Johnson, the programme also includes two fanfares – Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man followed by Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, composed by Joan Tower and dedicated to Alsop. Alsop’s mentor Leonard Bernstein features with Three Dance Episodes from On The Town, including the hit New York, New York. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, a masterpiece of the jazz age, highlights the virtuosity and almost telepathic rapport of the Marcus Roberts Trio.
Other highlights from the 2023/24 season include:
- Principal Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali conducts Verdi’s Requiem for the opening concert of the season. Soloists include soprano Natalya Romaniw.
- Let Freedom Ring series celebrates the diversity of American music, and the creative crosscurrents between classical music and jazz.
- Nicola Benedetti and Julia Bullock announced today as Featured Artists for 2023-24 season
- Esa-Pekka Salonen returns for the first time as Conductor Laureate, in a reunion with Mitsuko Uchida
Full listings and further details can be found here
