Anja Bihlmaier has been announced as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic. Bihlmaier, who has been Chief Conductor of The Hague-based Residentie Orkest since August 2021, begins her three-year tenure with the BBC Philharmonic in September.
Jonathan Manners has been appointed as the new Director of the BBC Singers following a competitive recruitment process. Manners, who has served as the group’s Producer since 2016, has been responsible for their artistic direction and broadcast output, leading the BBC Singers to broaden their repertoire, champion diverse composers, and collaborate with a wide range of artists. Under his leadership, the ensemble received back-to-back nominations for the Royal Philharmonic Society Ensemble Award in 2023 and 2024, winning the latter. In his new role, Manners will continue to provide artistic leadership while also representing the individual members of the BBC Singers and championing their artistry and musicianship.
The group also works closely with the local community in East London through music
education, outreach events, and live performances, and it has recently announced a partnership
with The VOCES8 Foundation to build on this community engagement.
The Houston Symphony has announced the departure of its visionary Executive Director, CEO, and holder of the Margaret Alkek Williams Chair, John Mangum, who has accepted the role of General Director, President, and CEO of Lyric Opera of Chicago beginning in Autumn 2024. During his six-year tenure, Mangum successfully guided the organisation through the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and the global Covid-19 pandemic, led the search for a new Music Director and Concertmaster, increased the orchestra’s endowment by 50 percent, and secured major capital gifts for a $60 million campaign to support the renovation of Jones Hall. Under his leadership, the Symphony’s Education and Community Engagement programmes also made tremendous strides, growing the Student Concert Series into the largest school programme of any major American orchestra, serving over 53,000 students annually, and launching the In Harmony programme in partnership with the 5th Ward Cultural Arts District’s DeLUXE Theater and the American Festival for the Arts.
Following Mangum’s departure, Elizabeth S. Condic, the Houston Symphony’s Chief Financial Officer, will assume the role of Interim Executive Director and CEO beginning in October 2024. Condic, a native Houstonian with 20 years of CFO experience, has been a strong leader since her arrival at the Symphony in November 2017. She has a broad understanding of the organisation and its financials and contributed to the new strategic plan launched in 2024. The Houston Symphony has launched an extensive search for a permanent Executive Director and CEO, with the Catherine French Group, a national executive search firm focused on the arts, selected for this process, guided by a Search Committee led by former Board Chair Janet Clark.
Sir John Eliot Gardiner has announced his decision to step down as leader and Artistic Director of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras (MCO) with immediate effect. Gardiner, who founded the MCO in 1964, described the ensemble as “the proudest and most inspiring project” of his life. The announcement follows an incident at the Festival Berlioz at La Côte-Saint-André in August 2023, when Gardiner allegedly hit bass singer William Thomas for incorrectly exiting the podium, for which Gardiner has “apologised unreservedly”. The 81-year-old British conductor emphasised that he is not retiring and will focus on guest conducting, recording, writing, and creative and education projects as part of a “lighter, lower pressure schedule.”
The Dudamel Fellowship Program, created in 2009 by Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil), has announced its 2024-25 Fellows: Dayner Tafur-Díaz, Holly Hyun Choe, Luis Castillo-Briceño, and Molly Turner. This unique opportunity is awarded to promising young conductors from around the world, enabling them to work alongside Dudamel and the LA Phil musicians, as well as visiting artists and conductors.