Anna Handler to become the Los Angeles Philharmonic's conductor-in-residence

With Gustavo Dudamel’s last play arsenic euphony and creator manager of the Los Angeles Philharmonic reaching its homestretch, the orchestra has announced the assignment of its latest not euphony director. Anna Handler, a erstwhile Dudamel chap and rapidly rising young conductor, volition beryllium fixed the caller rubric of conductor-in-residence for the adjacent 3 seasons.

She volition walk 3 weeks each play conducting the orchestra astatine Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, arsenic good arsenic moving with students astatine the Beckmen YOLA Center successful Inglewood. In a telephone telephone from Boston, wherever she serves arsenic adjunct conductor astatine the Boston Symphony, she says she is besides powerfully driven by exertion and wants to research each kinds of projects with the latest devises.

“The entity is the limit,” Handler exclaims with the boundless enthusiasm that is said to person won implicit the orchestra and the administration.

That mightiness include, she further fantasizes, a exertion instrumentality you don’t adjacent announcement but that focuses your attraction to dependable vibrations the mode glasses springiness clarity to blurry vision. “Why not glasses for the ears?” she excitedly asks.

Kim Noltemy, the L.A. Phil president and main executive, says Handler’s assignment does not needfully connote the orchestra won’t yet find a euphony manager who tin oversee the bigger representation of the world’s astir artistically diverse, expansive and affluent orchestra. But the L.A. Phil has truthful galore fingers successful truthful galore pies that nary 1 idiosyncratic tin bash it all.

Meanwhile, the L.A. Phil present adds what it has been missing successful what the instauration calls its squad of originative collaborators. As originative director, erstwhile euphony manager Esa-Pekka Salonen volition walk six weeks a play helping envision what a 21st period symphony orchestra mightiness look like. John Adams continues his relation arsenic originative seat arsenic bash aboriginal euphony specializer Emmanuelle Haïm (artist collaborator), Herbie Hancock (creative seat for jazz) and Zubin Mehta (conductor emeritus). None, however, is younger than 60. Handler turns 30 this month.

Born successful France, she grew up successful Germany and is Colombian German. Both her parents are electrical engineers, whom she says her emotion for exertion travel from. And she notes that her roots besides marque her consciousness astatine location with the L.A. Phil. She connects with Salonen’s pioneering fascination with exertion and the orchestra. With a Colombian mom, she is readily attuned to Dudamel’s Venezuelan heritage. Like her, Salonen, Dudamel and Mehta archetypal began moving with the L.A. Phil successful their 20s.

Handler’s assignment came, she says, arsenic a surprise. It was aft her conducting the L.A. Phil astatine Disney past period that the orchestra abruptly sprang the thought of a residency opening astir instantly with the 2026-27 season, adjacent though the Bowl and autumn seasons are already planned. Noltemy puts it to the information that Handler and the orchestra simply got caught up successful her energy.

Handler says she jumped astatine the accidental to instrumentality to L.A. adjacent though she would beryllium opening her archetypal play of her archetypal euphony manager occupation astatine the Ulster Orchestra successful Ireland. A pianist who loves enclosure euphony (which she says volition marque portion of her L.A. residencies), she besides becomes creator successful residence of the Beethoven House successful Bonn, Germany. But, she excitedly exclaims, “At the L.A. Phil you tin imagination big. And if you person immoderate large ideas, delight archer maine astir them.”

He excitement implicit euphony acquisition and assemblage outreach besides proved a draw. At 17, she formed her ain pupil orchestra, which performed successful schools, aged property homes, prisons, each over. And she points retired that she is young capable to consciousness comparatively adjacent successful property to the students astatine YOLA, oregon Youth Orchestra Los Angeles. She describes 1 of her missions successful beingness arsenic getting young radical progressive with classical music.

“My semipermanent dream,” she proclaims, “is to physique a Disney World for classical music.” There could beryllium a Beethoven’s Fifth ride. She imagines melody, rhythm, harmony and signifier arsenic small creatures whom we travel connected their travel done the piece. “I’m each astir decoding the rhythms of the music,” she adds.

Tellingly, Handler had already been scheduled to beryllium the archetypal conductor to travel Dudamel’s last Hollywood Bowl performance arsenic L.A. Phil euphony manager this summertime astatine the iconic L.A. venue. It features Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Her 2 programs astatine Disney adjacent play see West Coast premieres of Philip Glass’s Symphony No. 15 (“Lincoln”), which the composer precocious withdrew from the Kennedy Center, and John Williams’ caller Piano Concerto.