Orchestre National de France Names New Chief Conductor

Philippe Jordan will step into the role from the opening of the 2027/28 season

The Orchestre National de France has announced that Swiss conductor Phillipe Jordan will succeed Romanian conductor Cristian Macelaru, who has been in the Chief Conductor post for the last seven years.

Jordan's conducting career began at the Stadttheater Ulm and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin. From 2001 to 2004, he was principal conductor of the Graz Opera and the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra

In 2009, he was appointed Music Director at the Opéra National de Paris and stayed in the post until 2021. During this time, he conducted numerous premieres and revivals, including Moses und Aron, La damnation de Faust, Der Rosenkavalier, Samson et Dalila, Lohengrin, Don Carlos (in its original French version), Les Troyens, Don Giovanni, a new production of Borodin’s Prince Igor, and Wagner's Ring cycle in a concert version.

Jordan also spent six years as the principal conductor of the Wiener Symphoniker. He has led orchestras including Berliner and Wiener Philharmoniker, the Concertgebouworkest, Münchner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, among others, plus the symphony orchestras of Boston, Seattle, St. Louis, Dallas, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Washington, Minnesota, Montreal, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

"After two stints in major opera houses – my 12 years at the Paris Opera followed by five years at the Vienna Opera, whose final season will come to an end in the summer of 2025 – it was obvious to me that I wanted to move into the symphonic field," Jordan told Le Monde. "As soon as I gave my first concert with the Orchestre National de France on October 3, 2022, I realized that I had found a partner that corresponded with me in its way of making music. This feeling grew even stronger when we met for the second time on October 14, 2023. I said to myself, 'Finally!' Everything then followed naturally."

(PC: Michael Poehn)