The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) has revealed that Paavo Järvi is to be its new chief conductor and artistic adviser. The 63-year-old Estonian will be taking the helm of the world-leading ensemble at the beginning of the 2028/29 season, signing a five-year contract that means he will be in post when the LPO celebrates its centenary year in 2032. He will be taking over from Edward Gardner, who has served as principal conductor since 2021.
Who is Paavo Järvi?
Part of a famous conducting family that also includes his father Neeme, 88, and younger brother Kristjan, 53, Paavo Järvi is a familiar and long-established figure on the global orchestral circuit.
Beginning with the Mälmo Symphony Orchestra in 1994, his widespread list of chief conductor and music director posts have included the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Orchestre de Paris and NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, and he is currently chief conductor of Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra and artistic director of the Estonian Festival Orchestra, which he himself founded in 2011.
It was as a guest conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra that he won the Orchestral Award for Grieg’s Peer Gynt at the first ever BBC Music Magazine Awards in 2006.
London Philharmonic Orchestra: a history
At the LPO, he will be joining an orchestra that is heading towards its 100th birthday in fine fettle. Founded by conductors Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent, the orchestra gave its first concert at London’s Queen’s Hall on 7 October 1932 and rapidly rose in status to rival the London Symphony and BBC Symphony orchestras in terms of playing standards.
Following Beecham’s eight-year spell as its inaugural chief conductor, curtailed by ill health at the start of World War II, other famous names to have wielded the LPO baton have included Bernard Haitink, Georg Solti and Kurt Masur.
Since 1964, LPO players have filled the pit at Glyndebourne as the opera company’s resident ensemble, and in 1993 it was appointed resident orchestra at London’s Southbank Centre.
Outgoing LPO chief Edward Gardner says...
In the immediate future, Järvi will be familiarising himself with his soon-to-be-colleagues with March concerts in London, Budapest and Athens.
Gardner, meanwhile, says he looks forward to rounding off his time with LPO by building on his good work thus far. ‘Over these seasons we have explored extraordinary repertoire together and built projects of which I am deeply proud,’ he says. ‘With two-and-a-half years still ahead of us, I look forward to continuing that journey with the musicians and audiences who make this orchestra so remarkable.’
