Conductor Gustavo Dudamel is leaving the L.A. Philharmonic to become the Music and Artistic Director for the New York Philharmonic.
Dudamel will step into the role of leading the New York Philharmonic at the beginning of the 2026-27 season. For the 2025-26 season, he will serve as the orchestra’s Music Director, and his full contract will last for five years. He has been with the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 2009.
In addition to the L.A. Philharmonic, Dudamel has been the Music Director of the Opéra National de Paris since 2021, and Music Director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela since 1999. His mission statement is wanting to bring music to people across the globe, which he has accomplished through YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles), developed in 2007, which provides 1,500 young people with free instruments, intensive music instruction, academic support, and leadership training.
Some of the honors Dudamel has achieved during his career include the Americas Society Cultural Achievement Award in 2016, the 2014 Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society from the Longy School of Music, Spain’s 2020 Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts, the 2019 Konex Foundation Classical Music Award, Distinguished Artist Award from the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA), and many more.
In a statement, he said he was “grateful” for the new title, and “grateful to the musicians and leaders of the New York Philharmonic as we embark upon this new and beautiful journey together [and] to my beloved family at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and YOLA [the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles].” NY Phil Board Co-Chairmen Peter May and Oscar Tang said they are excited to welcome him to the Philharmonic. “Building on this orchestra’s great legacy, he joins a historic list of distinguished Music Directors.”
Dudamel’s hire to the New York Philharmonic means the L.A. Philharmonic will be looking for a music director of its own. Said best by Gary Ginstling, Executive Director and incoming President & CEO, “With Gustavo Dudamel, the Philharmonic is poised for what I believe will be one of the most exciting chapters in its storied history.”
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