Los Angeles Opera music director James Conlon announces retirement after 20-year tenure, to become conductor laureate in 2026-27 and continue as guest conductor.

Los Angeles Opera music director James Conlon announced his retirement after a 20-year tenure, effective at the end of the 2025-26 season. Conlon, who will turn 74 in five days, will become conductor laureate in 2026-27 and plans to continue working with the LA Opera as a guest conductor. Conlon launched a Recovered Voices project at LA Opera to bring attention to works of composers suppressed by Nazi Germany and plans to continue with the project in LA and elsewhere. A search committee will be appointed by LA Opera to find a successor.

March 13, 2024
30 Articles