Conductor Sir Simon Rattle appointed as music director of London Symphony Orchestra

 
New role: Sir Simon Rattle (Picture: PA)
Louise Jury4 March 2015

Sir Simon Rattle will come to London to become music director of one of its top orchestras, it was announced today.

The world-renowned conductor, who has been long courted by the London Symphony Orchestra, announced his appointment saying: “We share a dream.”

The 60-year-old will take up the post in 2017 as he prepares to leave the Berlin Philharmonic where he has been chief conductor since 2002, returning to an orchestra with whom he first appeared in 1977 when he was just 22.

Speaking today, he emphasised the LSO’s vision for the future and its long-established work with children and young people – one of his own personal passions - as inspirational. Under the title of music director, he will be involved in every aspect of the LSO’s work as well as championing the importance of music and music education.

“During my work with the LSO over the last years, I noticed that despite the orchestra’s long and illustrious history, they almost never refer to it. Instead, refreshingly, they talk about the future, what can they make anew, what can they improve, how can they reach further into the community,” he said today.

“In terms of musical excellence, it is clear that the sky’s the limit, but equally important, in terms of philosophy, they constantly strive to be a 21st century orchestra. We share a dream in which performing, teaching and learning are indivisible, with wider dissemination of our art at its centre. I cannot imagine a better or more inspiring way to spend my next years, and feel immensely fortunate to have the LSO as my musical family and co-conspirators.”

He promised his appointment would generate new partnerships between London and the whole country to confirm the UK as a world leader in the arts.

Although Sir Simon made his name in Britain by transforming the fortunes of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon has a long history with the LSO which he conducted at the opening of the London 2012 Olympics, when it performed Chariots of Fire with Rowan Atkinson. He last appeared with them at their Barbican home in January.

Kathryn McDowell, the LSO’s managing director, said they looked forward to “a new chapter of ambitious music-making that reaches deep into the communities we serve and touches people’s lives with the power of music”.

She added: “This is the realisation of a dream, to bring Simon Rattle back to his home country to lead the extraordinary musicians of the LSO.”

The appointment comes as a study ordered by Chancellor George Osborne is about to begin into the feasibility of building a new concert hall for London, a move made partly in response to criticisms from Sir Simon at the lack of a world-class venue in the city.

But any new auditorium would never have been ready by the time Sir Simon leaves the Berlin Philharmonic in three years’ time and supporters argued it was necessary whether or not he came.

Sir Nicholas Kenyon, managing director of the Barbican where the LSO has been based since the centre opened, said they looked forward to “a period of thrilling development” as Sir Simon took the orchestra to new heights: “The presence of a world-class orchestra at the heart of this world-class arts centre, serving the widest range of audiences across London and beyond, has been an indispensable part of the Barbican’s success.”

Sir Simon will succeed the star Russian Valery Gergiev, who was the latest in an illustrious list of principal conductors also including Andre [e acute] Previn and Sir Colin Davis.

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