The UK-born Harding will serve an initial six-year contract, succeeding Gustavo Dudamel, who will leave the role in August 2026 — Dudamel is transitioning to the New York Philharmonic but will maintain ties with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as its artistic and cultural laureate.

Harding’s Responsibilities and Programming

In his role. Harding will oversee programming across the organization, including performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Ford, as well as Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (Yola). He will conduct eight weeks of programming in his first season, increasing to 12 weeks in subsequent years.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic was founded in 1919 and has commissioned works from composers including Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Lutosławski, and John Adams; Over the past 14 years, it has won 11 Grammy awards for recordings made with Dudamel.

Leadership and Background

President and chief executive Kim Noltemy stated: “We are immensely proud to welcome Daniel Harding as the LA Phil’s next music director, following an extensive search led by a committee of our musicians, board and staff. He is greatly admired by the orchestra and was the overwhelming choice based on their feedback. His intellectual curiosity. Passion for bringing in and engaging with new audiences, global perspective, and talent for nurturing emerging voices directly align with the LA Phil’s mission and vision.”.

Harding said: “Making music with the magnificent LA musicians is a thrill and an inspiration, though Inheriting an orchestra with a tradition that includes Giulini and Mehta and shaped most recently by Esa-Pekka Salonen and Gustavo, is an extraordinary gift. I come to California full of excitement for what we will discover and create together.”

Harding was born in Oxford in 1975 and came to the attention of Simon Rattle as a teenager. He worked as an assistant at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and joined the Berlin Philharmonic as Claudio Abbado’s assistant at 21, becoming the youngest ever conductor in Proms history the same year.

Harding’s career includes 19 years with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and over two decades with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, which he helped found. He was the principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra from 2007-2017 and has long-standing relationships with the Berlin Philharmonic, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and the Vienna Philharmonic.

Additional Roles and Perspectives

Harding is a renowned opera conductor. Having led productions at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, London’s Royal Opera House, and festivals in Aix-en-Provence and Salzburg. He is currently music director of Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and has conducted major US orchestras including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony. He first conducted the LA Phil in 1997 at the Ojai music festival.

Harding is also a qualified airline pilot, piloting Airbuses for Air France and continuing to do so. He mentioned in 2022 that his dual career helps him take risks in concerts and learn about different roles. “One of the things I say about my double life is that it’s OK to take risks in concerts, because there it’s safe to do so,” he said.

John Lofton, bass trombone of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and member of the music director search committee, praised Harding: “Daniel brings an exceptional level of focus and musical insight to his work. As musicians, we value his clarity, his respect for the orchestra and the way he invites us into the music.”

Dudamel expressed confidence in Harding’s leadership: “I’m confident that the brilliance, heart and limitless talent of the LA Phil, which has inspired me for so many years, will be in good hands under Daniel’s musical leadership as they build new worlds of sound together.”

Esa-Pekka Salonen, the orchestra’s creative director and former music director, added: “Daniel is absolutely one of the most important conductors of our time. My hope is that the beauty, optimism and openness of Los Angeles proves as significant for him as it has been for me. I look forward to collaborating with him well into the future.”

As music director designate, Harding will conduct the LA Phil in November 2026 and January 2027 in programmes featuring works by Brahms, Bernstein’s Jeremiah symphony, Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra, and contemporary composers Thomas Adès and Betsy Jolas.