Principal Guest Conductor: Marin Alsop

The Philharmonia Orchestra is delighted to announce 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.

Philharmonia Chief Executive, Thorben Dittes said: “I’m thrilled that Marin Alsop is joining the Philharmonia family. She has a tremendous stylistic versatility to bring to ourmusic-making, paired with a passion for audience development. Adding Marin’s and Sir John Eliot’s distinctive, and complementary, artistic voices to that of Santtu, our Principal Conductor, creates a musical powerhouse of excellence and innovation on the Philharmonia platform. I can’t wait to see where the three of them will lead our players and our audiences in the years to come.” 

Kira Doherty, President of the Philharmonia said: “We are hugely fortunate to welcome Marin Alsop to the Philharmonia Orchestra under the title of Principal Guest Conductor. Alsop created an immediate rapport with the players in her three concerts with the orchestra last year through her strong musical vision and her collaborative approach to music making. She is a true trailblazer and visionary who challenges the accepted norms of the classical world through her innovative programming and education work. Alsop holds a position in the industry that few have managed to replicate: an esteemed and highly respected custodian of musical tradition who simultaneously works to reimagine its future and ensure its continued relevance. We are thrilled to have her on board in this new and exciting partnership.”

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.