Daniel Harding will serve as music director for the LA Phil starting with the 2027-28 season. (photo by Polly Brown)

The LA Phil has appointed Daniel Harding as the next music director, beginning in the 2027-28 season.

Harding will oversee orchestral programming including presentations at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and The Ford, along with Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, known as YOLA. He will lead the LA Phil in its ambitious commitment to commissioning new works and expanding the orchestra’s global presence through touring, media projects and new ventures. Harding will conduct eight weeks of programming in his inaugural 2027-28 season, increasing to 12 weeks of programming in subsequent years.

“We are immensely proud to welcome Daniel Harding as the LA Phil’s next music director, following an extensive search led by a committee of our musicians, board and staff,” LA Phil president and CEO Kim Noltemy said. “He is greatly admired by the orchestra and was the overwhelming choice based on their feedback. His intellectual curiosity, passion for bringing in and engaging with new audiences, global perspective and talent for nurturing emerging voices directly align with the LA Phil’s mission and vision.”

“Making music with the magnificent LA Phil musicians is a thrill and an inspiration. Over recent years, the LA Phil has developed something extraordinary that cannot be manufactured: a kind of institutional charisma. That expands the vision of what you ask when thinking about what comes next, for the orchestra, for Los Angeles, for music and for our community,” Harding said. “Perhaps the hardest task in music is to take something already exceptional and to help it grow further. Inheriting an orchestra with a tradition that includes Giulini and Mehta and shaped most recently by Esa-Pekka and Gustavo is an extraordinary gift. So many great artists have found possibilities here that don’t exist anywhere else, and I come to California full of excitement for what we will discover and create together.”

Harding will spearhead the LA Phil’s evolving artistic leadership team, comprised of creative director Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor-in-residence Anna Handler and Gustavo Dudamel, who was recently appointed to the new positions of artistic and cultural laureate of the LA Phil and founding director and conductor laureate of YOLA. The group also includes longtime creative chair John Adams, creative chair for jazz Herbie Hancock, artist collaborator Emmanuelle Haïm, principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra Thomas Wilkins and conductor emeritus Zubin Mehta.

Among Harding’s priorities is more investment in YOLA, with plans underway for an international YOLA tour marking the Frank Gehry centennial in 2029. The LA Phil will also expand access to music education with a commitment to L.A. County public schools, including performances and interactive workshops to expose young people to the power of learning through music, with a focus on schools with dual-language education programs.

Harding is currently music director of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He was the artistic and music director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. He previously served as principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra for 10 years.

In the LA Phil’s 2026-27 season, Harding will lead the Brahms Second Piano Concerto with Leif Ove Andsnes, Leonard Bernstein’s “Jeremiah” symphony with mezzo-soprano Avery Amereau and Betsy Jolas’ Latest in November 2026, and a program featuring Thomas Adès’ “The Exterminating Angel Symphony” and Strauss’s “Also sprach Zarathustra” in January 2027.

For information, visit laphil.org.