Opera News“He has long been one of classical music’s most compelling advocates, but somewhere along the way, Conlon has fully assumed the mantle of the most accomplished music director currently on the podium of an American opera house.”
Los Angeles Times”In the pit, Conlon and the orchestra sounded terrific from beginning to end. Conlon’s reading was perfectly gauged, transparent and propulsive, and able to pounce on Verdi’s more dramatic pronouncements without undue heaviness. His taut collaboration with the singers was invisible to the ear. The L.A. Opera Chorus, prepared by Grant Gershon, sang with robust precision.”
Cincinnati Business Courier“… Conlon was an energized leader on the podium, alert to every detail of the score. It was a high-voltage performance that electrified from beginning to end.”
OperaNews“La Traviata was the first opera James Conlon conducted at Los Angeles Opera back in 2006. It featured three international stars in the cast, was filmed by Decca and signalled the start of a new era. Eighteen years later, Conlon is now the star. As LA Opera’s music director for half of the company’s existence, Conlon knows his orchestra-and Traviata-even better than before, and at the final performance of this run, on April 27, the playing of the prelude that reflected it. The mournful strings brimmed with tension, evoking the burning passions of the opera’s heroine as well as foreshadowing her demise.”
Los Angeles Daily News“There was, however, one individual who wove all these threads together, and that was James Conlon. The performance he conducted combined the soufflé lightness and melodious rapture of “Cosi fan tutte,” the magnitude of sense of humanity that pervades “The Magic Flute” and the grandeur of Mozart’s never-to-be-finished “Requiem.” No doubt, after these performances “La Clemenza di Tito” may receive a long overdue renaissance.”
San Francisco Classical Voice“The brightest star of this production has to be James Conlon. The illuminating performance he conducted combined the light, melodic rapture of Cosi fan tutte, the Masonic-inspired humanity of The Magic Flute, and the magnitude of the Requiem.”
James Conlon is one of the most esteemed and influential conductors of our time—a rare figure whose work has defined and enriched the classical music traditions of the U.S. and Europe for over 50 years. Since his New York Philharmonic debut in 1974, he has led nearly virtually every major American and European orchestra and has conducted at most of the world’s most prestigious opera houses. Uniquely versatile, he is among the few conductors equally accomplished in symphonic, operatic, and choral repertoire. Through his extensive touring, acclaimed recordings, published writings, and widely recognized public presence, he stands as one of classical music’s most visible and enduring artistic leaders.
Conlon is Music Director of the Los Angeles Opera (since 2006), where he has led more operas than any other conductor in company history—over 500 performances of more than 60 works. Opera News has written, “He has long been one of classical music’s most compelling advocates, but somewhere along the way, Conlon has fully assumed the mantle of the most accomplished music director currently on the podium of an American opera house.” He will serve as Music Director of the company until his 20th season in 2026, at which time he will become Conductor Laureate.
Conlon frequently collaborates with universities, museums, and other cultural institutions, working with scholars, practitioners, and community members across disciplines. He appears throughout the country as a speaker on a variety of cultural and educational topics. Deeply invested in the role of music in civic life, he has made audience engagement a central part of his work. At LA Opera, his popular pre-performance talks—given before every opera he conducts—blend music, literature, history, and social sciences to explore the enduring power and relevance of opera and classical music. To date, he has delivered 341 talks to a cumulative LA Opera audience of 372,500.
Dedicated to bringing composers silenced by the Nazi regime to more widespread attention, he often programs this lesser-known repertoire throughout Europe and North America. In 1999 he received the Vienna-based Zemlinsky Prize for his work bringing the composer’s music to a broader audience; in 2013 he was awarded the Roger E. Joseph Prize at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion for his efforts to eradicate racial and religious prejudice and discrimination; and in 2007 he received the Crystal Globe Award from the Anti-Defamation League. His work on behalf of silenced composers led to the creation of The OREL Foundation, an invaluable resource on the topic for music lovers, students, musicians, and scholars; the Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices at the Colburn School; and a virtual TEDx Talk titled “Resurrecting Forbidden Music.”
He has served as Principal Conductor of the Paris Opera (1995–2004); General Music Director of the City of Cologne, Germany (1989–2003), simultaneously leading the Gürzenich Orchestra and the Cologne Opera; and Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (1983–91). He was also Principal Conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Torino, Italy (2016–20), served as Music Director of the Ravinia Festival (2005–15), summer home of the Chicago Symphony, and is now Music Director Laureate of the Cincinnati May Festival―the oldest Choral Festival in the United States―where he was Music Director for 37 years (1979–2016), marking one of the longest tenures of any director of an American classical music institution. He also served as Artistic Advisor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (2021-2023). He has conducted over 270 performances at the Metropolitan Opera since his 1976 debut. He has also conducted at leading opera houses and festivals including the Teatro Real de Madrid, Wiener Staatsoper, Salzburg Festival, La Scala, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Real de Madrid, Mariinsky Theatre, Covent Garden, Chicago Lyric Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
Conlon’s extensive discography and filmography spans the Bridge, Capriccio, Decca, EMI, Erato, and Sony Classical labels. His recordings of LA Opera productions have received four Grammy® Awards, two respectively for John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles and Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Additional highlights include an ECHO Klassik Award-winning recording cycle of operas and orchestral works by Alexander Zemlinsky; an audio/video release of works by Viktor Ullmann, which won the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik; and the world-premiere recording of Liszt’s oratorio St. Stanislaus.
Conlon was named Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture and, in 2002, personally accepted France’s highest honor, the Legion d’Honneur, from then-President of the French Republic Jacques Chirac. He holds four honorary doctorates, was one of the first five recipients of the Opera News Awards, and was distinguished by the New York Public Library as a Library Lion. He received a 2023 Cross of Honor for Science and Art (Österreichische Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst) from the Republic of Austria, and was named Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana by Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic. In 2024, he was honored with the Richard D. Colburn Award from the Colburn School for his exemplary contributions to classical music and the arts.
AUGUST 2025
