One of the hot topics of debate in the orchestral world right now is whether modern-day music directors are stretching themselves too thin. Many hold several such positions simultaneously, sometimes on different continents — an arrangement that is only possible because, unlike the 20th-century norm, music directors often spend as few as three months a year with their home orchestra.
What does a symphony do the rest of the year? For some, the answer is simply employing guest conductors. But Kim Noltemy, president and chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, believes that arrangement is far from ideal.
Given the large number of concerts the orchestra presents year-round, at both Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, “We’re not convinced that a different guest conductor every week [the music director is not here] is the way to go for the long-term benefit of the orchestra,” Noltemy said in an interview.
“We’re trying to create more ongoing relationships with conductors, and fewer one-offs,” she continued. “The music director leads the organization artistically, but we would like that person to have a supporting cast to help in that effort.”
To that end, the Philharmonic has appointed Anna Handler as its first-ever Conductor-in-Residence. In that new role, she will conduct three programs over the next year: one at the Hollywood Bowl in August (Beethoven’s Fifth), and two at Walt Disney Concert Hall. At the latter venue there will be a “Minimalist Icons” concert featuring music of Philip Glass on March 12 and 13 and a program of Mahler’s First Symphony and John Williams’s Piano Concerto May 27–30, 2027.
A highly accomplished pianist, she will also perform chamber music with members of the orchestra, and work with the budding musicians of YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles) on a project to be named later.
Alongside former music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, who assumes his new role of creative director in the fall, and soon-to-be former music director Gustavo Dudamel, who has pledged to return for several weeks of concerts each year, Handler will help provide the artistic continuity Noltemy is looking for.
“I am now part of the artistic leadership team, part of the creative collaborators,” Handler wrote in an email from her home base in Germany. “I feel freedom to create and experiment.”
Handler said she helped shape the contours of the new position. “From the beginning, it felt like a collaborative process,” she wrote. “We spoke about how the role could reflect both the orchestra’s artistic direction and my own interests, especially in creating connections between repertoire, new ideas and different audiences.
“It was important to me that the position remain flexible and genuinely creative, rather than predefined,” she added. “That’s why we chose a new name [conductor-in-residence] that didn’t exist before.”
Handler, 30, is a former Dudamel Fellow who has already conducted in both Disney Hall and the Bowl. She assumes the role of chief conductor of the Ulster Orchestra in the fall. For the 2026–2027 season, she will also serve as artist-in-residence at the Beethoven-Haus Bonn, curating four concerts in which she will perform as conductor, chamber musician and piano soloist.
Noltemy dampened speculation that Handler’s new position is an audition of sorts for the music director position at the L.A. Phil, which will be vacant once Dudamel departs in August. She said Handler’s initial contract is for three years and added that she wants and expects to name a new music director in time for the 2027–2028 season.
That said, “We do want to have Anna in our lives in a meaningful way for years to come,” Noltemy said. “This is the first step in that process.”
Handler agreed. “There is a shared interest in building something long-term — and I’m very open to how this can evolve,” she wrote. “I do feel that I can bring a perspective that speaks to a younger generation — not because I’m young, but because I’m asking questions about how we listen today.”
