Estonian maestro Paavo Järvi named new London Philharmonic chief conductor
Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi is to take over as chief conductor of the noted London Philharmonic Orchestra, The Guardian reported.
Järvi will replace current chief conductor Edward Gardner for the 2028-29 season, when Gardner's current contract ends, the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) announced on Tuesday.
Järvi, 63, a member of a famous family of conductors, has already worked with the LPO and said of his first collaboration that "it was immediately obvious that we matched well, that there was energy. I usually try not to work during Christmas and New Year but when they asked me to conduct them on the tour I accepted because I understood this was something very special."
He noted the LPO is an orchestra which can play practically anything extremely well, a view shared by Gardner, who said the orchestra has "an ability to turn corners with completely different repertoire, from Mozart to modern with everything in between, and always with such openness and friendliness."
Järvi had also grown up listening to LPO recordings, he added, noting: "They've been famous in our house since I was a child," and adding since he has had a home in the U.K. capital for 30 years now, he is already well familiar with a classical music scene he said is "unlike anywhere else in the world ... There are such riches and such an unbelievable offering of great music and musicians."
"I commission four or five pieces a year from Estonian composers … we will certainly be programming Estonian music, new and old," he noted.
Building audiences and challenging assumptions that classical music is "difficult" or "elitist" are among the challenges facing modern-day conductors, he said.
Järvi, 63, is the son of Neeme, while his younger brother Kristjan is also a conductor. He has worked with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Malmö Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Tokyo's NHK Symphony and the Orchestre de Paris; the family moved to the US in 1980, and Paavo studied at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music and at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute with Leonard Bernstein.
Founded in 1932 by Sir Thomas Beecham, the LPO is now a resident orchestra at London's Southbank Centre. It has served as the prestigious Glyndebourne Festival's resident symphony orchestra since 1964 and also performs in Brighton, Eastbourne and Saffron Walden, alongside international tours. Järvi is already conducting the LPO in a program of works by Tchaikovsky and Sibelius at the Royal Festival Hall this Wednesday, March 4.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
