The New York Philharmonic announced on Wednesday that Jaap van Zweden has been picked as the Music Director, starting during the 2018-19 season.
Van Zweden, who is currently the music director for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, will be Music Director Designate during the 2017-18 season, the Philharmonic said.
“This is one of the happiest and most fulfilling days of my life,” Van Zweden said in a statement. “To be asked by the great musicians of the New York Philharmonic and by the Board of this iconic institution to be its Music Director is truly an honor. As musicians, we strive to achieve the best for our audiences in sharing the music of so many gifted composers of the past and present as we look to the future. My heart is full, and my family and I look forward to being true New Yorkers, as I was during my Juilliard days.”
Van Zweden’s appointment comes at a very challenging time for the Philharmonic, notes The New York Times. He will have to help the orchestra raise $360 million renovate the David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center. Construction is set to start in 2019, and the orchestra will be without a permanent venue for two seasons. As its artistic force, van Zweden has to try to draw audiences to keep it afloat.
“It’s a challenging time, but it is also a time where I would say that there are an incredible amount of possibilities,” he told the times.
Van Zweden signed a five-year contract with the Philharmonic and will be leaving Dallas a year earlier than planned. The Juilliard School alumnus and Amsterdam native had been the music director for Dallas since 2008.
Alan Gilbert will be stepping down as the Philharmonic’s music director next year.
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