San Antonio Philharmonic Names Jeffrey Kahane as Music Director

Kahane will begin his initial three-season term at the opening of the 2024/25 season

The conductor, pianist, and pedagogue Jeffrey Kahane has recently been named as the new Music Director of the San Antonio Philharmonic. Kahane will begin his tenure at the opening of the 2024/25 season, and will serve an initial term of three years.

Kahane is equally at home on the podium and at the keyboard. He launched his career after winning the Arthur Rubinstein International Competition in 1983, and began conducting a short while later at the Oregon Bach Festival and then as Music Director of the Santa Rose Symphony.

He has spent twenty seasons as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, during which time he led acclaimed tours of the East Coast and of Europe. He also introduced a commissioning initiative, Sound Investment, which allowed commissioners to follow the journey of a new work from commission to premiere.

"The San Antonio Philharmonic’s dedication to inclusivity across all segments of our community is underscored with the selection of Jeffrey Kahane, who understands the significance of engaging with all members of the community," said Roberto Treviño, the Executive Director of the San Antonio Philharmonic.

"It is tremendously moving and genuinely thrilling for me to have been asked by the San Antonio Philharmonic to assume the role of Music Director of this wonderful orchestra at a critical juncture in its history, in one of America’s largest and most historically significant cities," Kahane said.

"My relationship with the orchestra goes back to the early years of my conducting career more than three decades ago, and my most recent experiences conducting and playing with the orchestra were truly joyous and inspiring occasions."

"I believe that a great orchestra is one of the most beautiful and powerful symbols available to us of the idea of human cooperation and the capacity of people of widely differing backgrounds and points of view to come together in the service of a higher calling."