Wednesday (2/20) on the Los Angeles Times blog Culture Monster, David Ng writes, “James Conlon is a born and bred New Yorker but sunny Los Angeles apparently agrees with him. The 62-year-old conductor has renewed his contract with the Los Angeles Opera for five more years, and will remain music director at least through the end of the 2017-18 season. The company made the announcement Wednesday evening at an event honoring Conlon at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Conlon works closely at L.A. Opera with Plácido Domingo, the tenor who is the general director of the company. They’ll continue to work together: Domingo’s most recent contract with L.A. Opera was set to expire at the end of the current season. But the tenor now has an ‘evergreen’ contract with L.A. Opera that renews on a biannual basis. … [Conlon] is next scheduled to lead L.A. Opera performances of Wagner’s ‘The Flying Dutchman’ and Rossini’s ‘Cinderella’ starting next month at the Dorothy Chandler. … Among Conlon’s accomplishments at L.A. Opera are conducting the company’s first stagings of Wagner’s ‘Ring’ cycle operas as well as championing its ‘Recovered Voices’ series, dedicated to presenting the works of composers whose careers were cut short during the Holocaust. … In addition to his duties in Los Angeles, Conlon serves as music director of the Ravinia Festival in Chicago and the Cincinnati May Festival.”
Posted February 22, 2013
